The bean-to-cup machine having died, I’ve started using the Aeropress again. I like the simplicity, and the coffee is nice and hot … but no crema.
Is this normal?
I think the absence of crema is a consequence of lower pressure, but you get a much clearer and more complexly flavoured cup of coffee.
I got my first Aeropress as a Christmas present about 12 years ago (hipster younger brother who lives in Brighton) was initially sceptical, but am now on my second and make Aeropress coffee every morning for breakfast. Not sure if it’s the Aeropress or equally likely, the freshly ground, single estate beans, but the coffee’s a lot better than that from OH’s espresso machine.
It’s perfect for café allongé (corrected spelling - see below!) and because it’s brewed, you get a more complex range of flavours than from an espresso machine, but without the grit of a piston, or the loss of flavour through boiling in a Moka Express. I remember commending the Aeropress on an SF thread a couple of years back and Véro dismissing as ‘too much faff’ but I never understood that post, cos it’s dead simple.
Anyhow now you’ve got one you can engage in arcane debates about inverted brewing, the best way to make cold brewed coffee in an Aeropress and maybe even follow the Annual World Aeropress Championships where many past finalists have been female or Japanese, so a big bushy hipster beard isn’t necessarily an advantage. However, after a quick check I’ve just discovered that France doesn’t participate - certainly if you enquire about Aeropresses in most French coffee merchants, they look at you blankly.
The main drawback is that after a year or so you might need some more filters but can’t find them locally and the cost of postage online can be more than the cost of the filters. I get mine from Dutch friends who have a second home near us and get them from their local coffee store in Eindhoven (they bring me jars of Chinese chili oil too as that also seems to be unobtainable in the Aveyron).
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Café allongé
Of course! Merci- think it was the first time I’d ever written it. Glancing back, à longé is a grammatical mish- mash!
It is the buggering about with bits of paper and not spilling things or breaking something while you’re pushing the brute down as it is sitting on a cup that is too much faff for me. (Which you do obv while admiring your leather apron your new but pre-aged beanie hat and your luxuriant beard reflected in the oven door).
Bialetti all the way, fill it, stick it on the gas, when it roars its ready. Much easier for a clumsy non-morning person like me 
yes I’m an Italian granny. And I like my little cup of tar.
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Ah! That’s so much clearer now (unlike your morning coffee)
But, you forgot to mention the Oxo Brew Adjustable Temperature Pour-Over Gooseneck Kettle https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-home-kettle/
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I always find coffee from a stovetop thing (we call it a cafetera because my wife first encountered them in Spain) quite bitter, but not unpleasant. Unfortunately none of them works on the new induction hob, because of their size (well, maybe the jumbo one I have somewhere would)
I liked the convenience of the bean-to-cup… Using the Aeropress I haven’t overturned a cup yet - maybe I have more upper-body strength than you, Véro (not challenging to to an arm-wrestle, mind you).
Thanks: I’m reassured re the crema. I actually prefer a punch-in-the-face smoky brew to one of your single-estate-harvested-and-ground-by-vegan-hipsters, but I’m a cheap date.
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Oh, go on! I’m sure SF could sell tickets.
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I very nearly bought a Gaggia Classic Pro but decided for the amount of coffees we drink it was too much money and too much of a faff. We still use a Mokka pot. No fancy patterns but still a nice tasty coffee with freshly ground beans.
I had a Gaggia about twenty-five years ago, but it was broken by a visitin g Italian artist who was staying with me. He was so embarrassed, that was almost compensation.
On the other hand, if he’d been an honourable man , I’m sure he would have given me his Alfa Giuletta (but there again, maybe not).
I am an ex I.M. and butterfly swimmer, call me Popeye…
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Ooh - game on!
I’m open to offers for the spinach concession.
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Incidentally I love how in only a few hours,this thread has mutated from an innocuous enquiry about the popularity of Aeropresses into a virtual arm wrestling match,that by tomorrow, mayh ave ecaalated into virtual pistols at virtual dawn!
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Pffff pistols at dawn indeed what nonsense, I’m a puddy tat 
I have used an aeropress for a number of years. Initially only when camping, but found it so easy to use that this is how we make coffee all the time now. I don’t buy any paper filters. I bought a metal one from amazon. I also do the upside down method which means it can brew without dripping into a cup before you want it to. I also use a frother for the milk.
Manual or electric frother?
Also how does upside down work? Wondering if this would work for cold brew overnight.
That’s a good idea - I’ll try it.
Been doing it upside down for years (don’t snigger!)
Also you don’t have to leave it overnight to cold brew - see:-
I’m pretty sure the 9090 espresso cafetiera will work on an induction hob Porridge.
Though as it’s stainless steel you’d miss the je ne sais quoi of the normal Bialetti type aluminium. Perhaps still not as clean-tasting as the Aeropress (some would say sterile tasting).
My current fantasy is Pulcina Black.
Thanks for the Aeropress video. It’s nice to know that if I’m ever camping in summer and have no firesticks with me I can still have coffee 
.
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Stainless works on induction, aluminium doesn’t without a non-aluminium intermediate plate.
A propos Bialetti, my oldest is nearly fifty years old, but hasn’t been used this century and, if you looked at the internal corrosion in the lower chamber, you’d understand why. Where does all that metal go? If (heaven forbid) Bialetti champion Vero ever goes a bit gaga this may be why 
Along with these essential metals, there are other metals that we are exposed to through things such as food.
The body is able to tolerate these metals in small amounts by clearing through the kidneys. These include aluminium and lead, for example it has been shown that if they are not taken out by the kidneys through organ failure or by exposure to extremely high doses these metals are able to deposit in the brain.
These metals are known to cause negative effects in the brain and have been implicated in several neurological conditions.
Along with these essential metals, there are other metals that we are exposed to through things such as food.
The body is able to tolerate these metals in small amounts by clearing through the kidneys. These include aluminium and lead, for example it has been shown that if they are not taken out by the kidneys through organ failure or by exposure to extremely high doses these metals are able to deposit in the brain.
These metals are known to cause negative effects in the brain and have been implicated in several neurological conditions.