All-Clad Presso vs. Aeropress

[oatmeal_cookie]

Hi,

First Time poster, infrequent reader.

Why is the All-clad Presso considered to create real espresso but the Aeropress is not?

[popeye]

the aeropress will not duplicate the pressure parameters needed to create what is generally accepted as espresso. The presso has the ability to be modified so as to produce those parameters. search on this site for info concerning the mod, but it involves a plug to reduce the headspace above the coffee puck.

[hbuchtel]

The presso has the ability to be modified so as to produce those parameters. search on this site for info concerning the mod, but it involves a plug to reduce the headspace above the coffee puck.

I have a lot of respect for Jim Schulman, but he was just plain wrong about the necessity of making that plug... (I've been using a Presso for about two years, and used the mod for a short time till I found it was unnecessary).

The Presso can make espresso, no doubt about it, but it is more like the espresso produced by home spring-levers (in terms of the amount of crema and some particular flavors produced) then the espresso made by a home pump machine.

There was a big debate on coffeegeek.com about whether or not the aeropress makes espresso, right? Not sure exactly where it is, sorry!

Henry

[Randy G.]

There was a big debate on coffeegeek.com about whether or not the aeropress makes espresso, right? Not sure exactly where it is, sorry!

I have used my Aeropress many times, and I really like it. It is the device of choice when we head out in the motorhome. All things considered (quality of beverage, ease of use, ease of cleaning, range of parameters) it is my favorite method of making coffee, second only to espresso. I have given three of them away as gifts, and everyone who uses it that I have spoken to really likes it as well. The coffee it produces is closer to press pot or moka pot coffee. The coffee is rich and has great body. The filters remove the sediment which is the greatest drawback of using a press pot. The lack of sediment also means that the bitterness it creates is also removed.

With that said, I have spoken to Alan, the inventor of the Aeropress (as well as the Aerobie flying/throwing ring) face to face on two or three occasions and have told him that the beverage is not espresso. It produces virtually no crema at all- more like a bit of foam like you get with a Senseo or such. Alan contends that using his method of analysis that the total dissolved solids in the coffee from the Aeropress match what is found in espresso quite closely.

My contention is that all the instruments you can carry cannot tell you what the beverage will taste like nor what it will feel like on the palate. The Aeropress coffee is delicious and a joy to drink, but it isn't espresso... IMO. There are probably more restrictions on what can be called "Catsup" than there are on espresso, so you could sell a special sock that you dip in hot water and call it an espresso maker- but calling it so doesn't make it so.

[popeye]

(I've been using a Presso for about two years, and used the mod for a short time till I found it was unnecessary).

really? I have a presso sitting around that i was gonna sell on ebay (still new, and unused). I didn't want to even give it a try because I figured it wouldn't be worth making it "used" to satisfy my curiosity. What do you do to counter that air gap? Do you suck in water on the upstroke? Got any good links for me?

[hbuchtel]

Got any good links for me?

Hello Spencer, I made this page a while ago but haven't really changed my technique much since then.

http://www.unmodifiedpresso.blogspot.com

There I wrote about two different methods for getting all the water out from under the piston. What I found out later is that the air doesn't really matter... it just gets compressed, no problems there... The important thing is getting enough water into the piston-chamber (but not too much!) so that you can maintain pressure for the full shot.

The video in this thread on HB shows the latter method.

There are a lot of Presso users on the coffeesnobs.com.au forum. I haven't used mine for a while 'cause it is too cold indoors for it to be practical (39F today!)

Hope this helps!

Henry