Nowadays, one can buy AeroPress practically in any specialty coffee shop around the world. Furthermore, the AeroPress Championship is held annually in over 60 countries.
The history goes back to 2005, when very few people trusted this method. In this article we’ll describe how Alan Adler came up with this idea, what inspired him to invent AeroPress coffee as well as look at the reasons why this method of coffee brewing has gained such popularity.
Alan Adler’s journey to losing bitterness in coffee and creating the AeroPress.
Professor of Stanford University - Alan Adler, is the one who invented the AeroPress. Prior to that, his earlier creation - “The Aerobie” (a type of Friesbie) set the Guinness World Record for the farthest throw.
Professor of Stanford University - Alan Adler. Source: aeropressmovie.com
The professor enjoyed drinking coffee so much that he made an interesting observation at that time - most coffee makers produced way more coffee than one person could drink, meaning that you constantly needed to have some company around, otherwise you’d end up finishing everything by yourself. This led to the idea of creating a new device for brewing coffee.
The Melitta pour-over dripper process was the coffee brewing method that Alan started experimenting with, but timing appeared to be a clear disadvantage with this method and he wasn’t happy with the result. Alan knows that the longer coffee is extracted, the bitter it tastes.
In order to reduce the brewing time, Adler decided to increase the pressure sufficiently in a closed chamber of the device by using the push of the handle, which led to a faster brewing time. These days there are tons of recipes with various timing options and you can choose which one you like more.
The first AeroPress prototype
The first AeroPress prototype appeared after a couple of weeks of efforts. Adler went through more than 40 versions created in his lab prior to deciding on the current design: a plastic tube with a piston mechanism, which is used in the device. He knew right away that he had invented something special, right after he made the very first cup of coffee in the AeroPress.
“I am not stating that I have always been right about the success of my inventions. Nonetheless, I told our team that AeroPress sales would be in line with all of our other products combined. I have never tasted a coffee with such rich and not bitter flavor”, wrote Adler.
The AeroPress espresso coffee method entered the coffee market in 2005, creating a rather skeptical reaction from representatives of the Specialty coffee industry.
This attitude started shifting gradually over time: consumers would become pleasantly surprised after they tasted the coffee prepared in the AeroPress. The news about this device started spreading around.
Price is a key
The AeroPress costs about the same as a regular coffee maker, while its limited parts are durable and easy to clean. Moreover, it doesn't require any power, which makes it super convenient and useful at places without power outlets, such as - campfires, picnics, or road trips. It’s completely portable, so the options are endless!
The 1st AeroPress Championship
The world's first Aeropress Championship took place in Oslo, in 2008 and consisted of only 3 participants. It was organized by Tim Varney and Tim Wendelboe, who worked as a team back then and continues to organize the same event nowadays.
Below, Tim Varney explains why the championship was established in the first place: “We received the AeroPress at the beginning of 2006 and couldn’t figure out how to use it. The box came with an instruction manual, however, the recommendations seemed confusing, as always. For that reason, we decided to create a very informal AeroPress World Championship, which took place in 2008 and consisted of 3 participants. The event was not serious and looked more like a tasting, given that our goal was to learn how to brew properly using the device. That’s how the history of the AeroPress started.”
The number of participants and audience increased significantly after a decade: 3,157 contestants from 61 countries along with 68,265 viewers.
Every year new recipes for the AeroPress are created, many of which are available online.
Conclusion
The history of the AeroPress began with an engineer’s desire to make delicious and not bitter coffee at home, which led to the creation of one of the most popular ways of preparing coffee and its own world championship.
There is even a documentary about this device that was filmed by the creators of an online magazine “European Coffee Trip” and released in 2018. The movie disclosed the history of this method, showed Adler’s workshop in California and depicted the stages of the Championship.
A year later, at the Specialty Coffee Expo - a new development, called “AeroPress Go'' was introduced by AeroPress Inc. in Boston. The concept of the new creation is similar to the AeroPress, except the “Go” model is more compact and includes a mug, which comes handy when you are on the move. Learn how to brew Aeropress in our guide for brewing coffee.
1 comment
Wow, if this person can write an article, anyone can.