Tools that work & Etc.

[ebb]

Aeropress takes years of practice....
From coffee roast & apolitical bean selection, number of beans per scoop,
seconds of grind, getting it all out of the grinder, into the chamber, loading
it with correct ounces and perfect temperature sweet water, number of
paddle strokes, how many seconds of soak? too long and the grounds stay
wet.... yeah, right, just kidding.

The morning coffee ritual with the device does require a number of steps.
Do the second part next to the sink, so that rinsing the stainless strainer
is but a deft pirouette between extraction, twisting the retainer cap (which,
if the plunge has been finessed satisfactorily, will produce a puck of nearly
dry coffee grounds... that releases the disk into the cap as it's twisted off.
About 20% of the time I'll get it right.
Does require quick handling because the cap is still pretty hot when removing.
Did I plunge with aplomb? If the grounds are wet the disk sticks to the puck.
Like I say, it takes awhile to train yourself to this tool...unless you're a born
natural barista.

Bought a new press from Aerobie. Can now get the Able filter from them.
(New Ables have a very easy plunge and allow a bit of fines to settle in your
cup. Personally don't mind. But paper filters give you completely clean brew
with zero sediment.) All other parts are available as well.
Also got a new S-Filter ('S' stands for micro-wire screen) made by Kaffeologie..
This filter has a frame around the screen which makes it thicker than the laser
cut Able. Couldn't make it work, too thick to get the cap to lock on to the
chamber.
To get room for the thicker filter, I was going to fiddle with a cap and try
filing the lands down a bit (looks simple enough) but never got round to it...
The new Aeropress is gorgeous. You'd expect changes. Except for graphics
and a beautiful job of molding, all old and new parts are interchangeable.
Me? still using my ole friend.

Used up two stainless Able filters. Didn't wear them out, but krinkled the disks
into stars, eventually the slight bends became too numerous to seal the cap,
allowing grounds to escape through.
My original cap has a belly in it. Put a metal disk in it, apply lots of pressure for
lots of mornings and the disk ends up with radiating bend rays . It wasn't
until I saw the new dead-flat caps that I realized the old one had bellied out
from morning resistance exercises. It wasn't designed that way.
I think the early Able's had finer holes, too.
But heat and pressure had altered the cap and made it bulge.
Extra pressure came from reusing the paper filters, which would be rinsed
and dried on the bottoms of tumblers. The darker a filter became the more
exercise to push thru a cuppa. Couldn't bear tossing an almost white one away
....so stainless really works for me.
Ordered a very reasonably priced replacement stack of filters. Never used 'em.

Aerobie recently sent a flyer advertising a new addition to the portability aspect
of the Press. This is a stainless 'cup' that is large enough to pack the whole
kaboodle and all its parts inside. Assuming that does not include the holder and
paper filters, or any ground coffee. Sent an email, never heard back, asking
what kind of stainless the cup was made out of.* Good idea for the boat.
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Later EDIT: Bought extra caps that hold the paper or stainless filter disks.
It is for sure that the grid is molded totally flat when new. The new easy
Able disk that allows very fine sediments through, as said, requires minimum
pressure to make coffee. Only a couple months old the stainless disk is now
collecting a number of minor radiating bends. A straight-edge across the grid
of the cap tells that a permanent bulge is being made. It won't matter when
using paper filters. But it now appears that a permanent stainless replacement
cannot be depended upon, because long term use of the metal filter eventally
creates so many bends it will let grounds through.

Later edit: 3 years of daily mug of finely ground, the Able s.s filter has not
gotten 'starred' any worse. I'm more gentle in my plunging, it's all automatic,
there is a tiny amount of sediment that is so fine that, except for it collecting in
the bottom it almost is in solution. Like this fine 'dusting' on the tongue at the
end of a perfect cup of organic Pacific Rim joe.

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*The dedicated stainless steel cup may have been double-sided to keep liquid
hot. Seem to remember a reviewer complained that the container should
have had a top, or lid. The price was around $20. Can't find it on the net....
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GRIND YER OWN AWAY FROM HOME
Later even again: Just acquired JavaPresseCoffeeCompany's Manual Burr
CoffeeGrinder. Looks like a totally uneventful tube "Built with Brushed Stainless
Steel that illuminates any environment", until we place the crank on top. Tube is
actually three pieces that fit 'seamlessly' together. 7 1/2" long, and 1 7/8" D --
slips snuggly into the AeroPress plunger. Meant to pack along on global jaunts.
$24 from the Company, $30 from amazon.