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The AeroPress is not just a passing fad. Its appearance is quite different from ordinary brewing devices, and the company that invented this brewing device does not even have coffee equipment as its signature product—it makes frisbees. However, today the AeroPress has not only become a brewing device loved by many people around the world, but also has the World AeroPress Championship (WAC), and even a dedicated documentary film made for it.

The Origin of the AeroPress

This small, two-part AeroPress can quickly brew a full-bodied cup of coffee—just push hot water through the filter and the brewing is complete. Unlike pour-over devices, its invention was inspired by espresso machines, except that it does not rely on electricity or the pressure generated by a lever, but instead on pressure applied by hand.

It is also somewhat similar to a French press, although in the specialty coffee world, the French press is not that popular. In addition, the AeroPress's recommended brewing water temperature and brewing time are also much less than those of a French press. In other words, although the AeroPress is becoming more and more common, when it first appeared on the market in 2005, it was indeed a brewing device unlike any other. Alan Adler, the owner of the AeroPress company, initially invented the AeroPress using an engineer's approach. To solve the problem of coffee's bitterness, he decided to find a solution by shortening the extraction time.

In order to shorten the extraction time, he found that pressure had to be relied upon for extraction, so he created a sealed space to increase the pressure generated by pushing, allowing users to brew coffee more quickly. (However, there are now many kinds of AeroPress brewing recipes, and some even have extraction times longer than ordinary brewing methods.)

The AeroPress Makes Its Mark in the Coffee World

At first, many people in the specialty coffee industry responded with doubt, saying the AeroPress company was just a toy manufacturer, not a producer of an innovative coffee brewing device. But over time, this began to change. Alan responded to these doubts with samples of brewed coffee, and the news began to spread. After all, the most direct way to prove whether the AeroPress works is through the flavor in the cup.

But with so many brewing devices on the market, why can the AeroPress become one of the standout ones?

Coffee is a global movement, and there are a dazzling array of brewing methods all over the world. The AeroPress can brew a very delicious cup of coffee in just one minute, and it is convenient to clean, easy to carry, affordable, and versatile. Perhaps there are other reasons behind the AeroPress's popularity, but perhaps it is also because it allows for many kinds of brewing experiments, which in turn led to the creation of a dedicated World AeroPress Championship.

Brewing time, pressing time, coffee dose, coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, whether to use it upright or inverted, and so on—the AeroPress has many ways to be used, and these different methods will give you coffee with different flavor profiles.

AeroPress Champions Around the World

There are many professional competitions in the specialty coffee world, such as the World Barista Championship WBC, the World Brewers Cup WBrC, the World Latte Art Championship WLAC, the World Roasting Championship WRC, and many green coffee evaluation competitions as well. But in 2008, a brand-new competition appeared. Someone in Oslo, Norway, designed the AeroPress into a relaxed, fun competition called WAC. Despite the high level of interest, only three people competed at the time, and it was initiated by Tim Varney and the well-known barista Tim Wendelboe. (They still run this competition today together with Tim Williams.)

But just like the AeroPress, this competition began to become more famous and also became widely known in the specialty coffee world. By 2018, 3,157 people from 61 countries had attended the competition in person, and there were also 68,265 online viewers.

There are many ways to use the AeroPress, and these competitors keep finding new ways to use it and fine-tuning existing methods. This is a completely different direction of development from the Barista Championship, where baristas use espresso machines to their fullest. WAC is a competition for everyone; anyone can enter, even without the large financial resources and green coffee resources of a coffee company. This is a competition full of creativity and an experimental spirit, and these ideas and experiments inspire even more delicious coffee.

Let's Brew a Cup of Coffee with the AeroPress

The beans used this time are "Front Street Kenya Small Tomato." The pour-over coffee flavor has the bright acidity of smoked plum and cherry tomato, and the sweetness of snow pear!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.