It's a great backup to have, that's for sure. I drink mostly cold brew, but sometimes I run out and there are a few days before I brew more. Aeropress is a fantastic way to brew a quick cup.
Scientists found a way to make cold brew in a few hours just recently. It even passed every blind taste test, too. I forget the machine name, but it's also commonly used to clean jewelry, as well as use in a lab, for like $60.
Edit: I went and found the old article, they used ultrasonic waves and it only took them 1-3 minutes depending on preference. Unfortunately after reading another article, it's a modification they made to existing espresso machines. Their initial machine was around £15,000, and was overkill. Not sure how someone would be able to replicate at home. 🥲
Ultrasound? I have one of those I use to clean all sorts of things. Never thought of using one for coffee, but I could see it really rendering the oils, even cold.
Seems very much personal taste, that spans a wide range these days.
On suggestions from YouTube I tried 20+g coarse with low volume and temperature based on competition winning recipes and hated it. No body, thin and unsatisfying.
So I'm back to 12-15g medium, inverted,
add some 90-95C water and stir out the fizz, then up to 180g water or so. Heavy repeated agitation early on, after maybe 60s uninvert for a gentle plunge. Usually dilute a little with some cold, drink black.
I checked the brew temp and full boil gives 96C in the press. I often do 200F 93C on the kettle for about 90 in the press. Sometimes I just boil and add a splash of cold.
My beans are medium roast - city+, no oiliness. I like pretty trad rich coffee and hate thin acidic tea like brews. Tea makes better tea than coffee does IMO. But I also hate acrid flat bitterness of dark roasts.
A bit of risk/reward there, can't do this method anymore since my cat has toppled it more than once. At least with the plunger in approach I have maybe a second or two to stop a mess from happening...
I’ve found you can extend the life of the plunger by placing the plunger rubber-side down on a table or counter top, tilting it slightly onto the edge of the rubber and then rotating it. This essentially presses the rubber and extends it outwards and seems to help achieve the seal you expect. I’ve been doing it for a while now and it’s worked well for me.
I’m sure it won’t last forever but it’s something worth trying to get a bit more life out of it.
I didn't do that and it lasted a decade. Just don't store it compressed in the tube or wash it every day (just rinse or rinse and wipe. Dish soap dries out rubber.
Mine died after 9 years or so. Did that thing where the rubber breaks down and gets super sticky and oily. Never had an issue with it losing its shape - you just have to make sure you store it fully pressed in so the lip pops out the far side of the tube
I've kept the rubber plunger out of the tube when in storage. When kept inside the tube it compresses the rubber and retains the shape memory which causes it to fail. Haven't ever replaced mine and it is eight years old. Still works perfectly.
My original one i had to do this but the one i have now, if you fully depress the plunger with no coffee in it it comes out the bottom just enough to not squeeze the sides.
Just push the piston all the way in, and the rubber clicks when it comes out the other end of the cylinder. This way you can store it in a compact package.
Interesting. I’m using the AP Go, so maybe the normal one doesn’t extend all the way through.
Edit: just checked how my normal AP works. It’s basically the same as the AP Go, but I guess this is a fairly new model, so there may have been some changes.
It seems that the older models had a problem that was fixed. So, the tip needs to be tweakws a bit.
If you have an older model, store the pieces separately in order to prevent the rubber from being under constant compression. If you have a newer model, push the piston all the way in until the end of the piston pops out the other end. Oh, and that is only possible if the cap isn’t screwed on. That piece needs to be stored separately anyway.
Mine lasted literally 10 years before it started to go a bit. I blame half that on my spouse using it for non coffee things and scraping up the inside of the cylinder pretty badly.
