In 2005, Aerobic, a leading manufacturer of Frisbees that fly further than what you expect, introduced to the market another amazing artifact: the Aeropress. This curious little test tube-like machine doesn’t fly like its cousins, but it sure can brew great coffee, with quality and strength similar to those brewed in an espresso machine. When you see it for the first time is hard not to feel some distrust, as it seems and costs the same as one of those useless kitchen tools that you buy fooled by a TV show, you poorly use once, and then store and forget, happily, forever after. The truth is the Aeropress is far from being that, indeed, if anything, is exactly the opposite. It’s quite a coffee machine, a useful kitchen tool for everyday use that anyone who likes a good cup of coffee can use and enjoy.

The Aeropress has several features which make it a very attractive option when brewing coffee. The price is very affordable, ranging in the U.S. around 25 to 35 dollars, making it just a little more expensive than a good French press and a lot cheaper than a good espresso machine. It’s easy and fast to use, anyone can brew a good cup of coffee in less than a minute. It´s made of durable plastic, making it easy to carry and difficult to break. Its design is simple, without many parts that may be lost or damaged, which guarantees that it may be used for several years. The Aeropress makes only one cup at a time making it ideal for singles or couples. And, last but not least (ask a single person), it is very easy to clean, simply remove the used coffee, that you’ll find all compacted in the bottom, and then rinse it with a little water, that’s all.

The Aeropress consists of two cylinders, one of which has at one end a piece of rubber that can fit them together, creating an air seal. At the other end has another piece with little holes holding a filter paper (a lot included). Besides this, the Aeropress comes with a scoop, a stirrer and a funnel. The coffee is mixed with water in one cylinder (the one with the filter), and with a simple movement is pressed through the filter by pushing one cylinder towards the other.

It takes three things to brew a good cup of coffee with the Aeropress: fresh coffee grinded (preferably) fine, hot water at a temperature between 75 and 80 Celsius degrees, and a minute of your time. With the ingredients ready just follow the following simple steps:

1. Place a paper filter in the bottom of the Aeropress.
2. Put it on a little. A coffee mug is just perfect.
3. Add the desired amount of coffee to the filter chamber.
4. Add the water into the filter chamber and stir for about 10 seconds.
5. Cover the filter chamber.
6. Slowly push the top towards the bottom (caring this process doesn’t exceed twenty seconds).
7. Remove the used coffee and enjoy.

It is worth noting that the above steps are merely a suggestion. Depending on the type of coffee and its taste times of total immersion and push may vary, try to find different results. The more knowledgeable and adventurous can also play with different sizes of grind and even with water temperature.

The process of brewing coffee with the Aeropress is apparently similar to the popular French press, but this really resemblances more the way coffee its brew with an espresso machine, without being equal. An Aeropress is not the same as a French press for a simple reason: The Aeropress uses a paper filter allowing the use of a much finer grind and that perfectly separates the remaining coffee from the resulting infusion, while a French press uses a metal filter, which only works with a coarse grind, and in which the coffee remains in contact with the infusion after brewing. Nor is it the same as an espresso machine, because although both methods use a high water pressure, the Aeropress doesn’t reach the same pressure as such, so some coffee bean oils can’t be extracted. In an Aeropress one can never achieve the traditional espresso “crema”. Therefore many believe that despite what the manufacturer claims, the Aeropress isn’t able to make an espresso, but rather, what it does is a very strong coffee. This doesn’t mean that coffee that is brewed in an Aeropress is richer or uglier, it means only that its different. The Aeropress also has qualities that an espresso machine doesn’t have, such as total immersion of the grain which allows extraction at a lower temperature, resulting in milder coffees. Therefore we invite you to give the Aeropress a chance and try its coffee, many will be surprised and some, as has already happened with many others, will fall in love.

Although Aeropress is a machine with just five years of history, there are already barista championships throughout the world in which traditional espresso machines are replaced by the Aeropress. The most recent of these competitions took place in London between 23 and 24 of June, coinciding with the World Barista Championship and declaring winner to the Danish barista Marie Hagemeister. Amor Perfecto will organize a competition of this specialty in the country that will take place around the twentieth of October. Amor Perfecto invites you to attend and learn about this interesting machine, taste the delicious coffee that it brews and fell in love with it (if you really like you’ll be able to take it home with you).

For many years thousands of people have sought the best way to extract from the coffee beans  those incredible aromatic compounds that make it so tasty and appetizing, and, at the same time, discard others that aren’t that good . Compounds found in coffee such as chlorogenic acids, trigonelline, furfuryl alcohol and even caffeine, give to coffee sweet, citrus, fruity and bitter flavors that should be extracted in a balanced way. Each method and machine that has been invented has dealt with this problem differently, obtaining different results with different qualities. There are many types of coffee machines, the most popular are: espresso and drip machines, the French press (plunger machine), the stove pot, the very Colombian “greca” and the “coffee pod” machine. There are also many methods that don’t need any appliances, such as coffee made in a pot with fabric filter or instant coffees.

Espresso Machine

Although there many ways to brew coffee, in these days, without doubt, the star is the espresso machine (or Italian machine). In the early twentieth century Italian engineer Luigi Bezzera developed what we know today as an espresso machine. Bezzera, being a good capitalist, sought to decrease the rest time of his factory employees, time they used to make and drink coffee. It occurred to him that by using pressurized hot water, he could brew coffee faster, so he invented machine for this. Bezzera’s coffee machine not only achieve lower brewing times, but also invented the espresso, a very good quality coffee, and the basis for many of today’s favorite coffee preparations. The advantage of this machine is that it makes a cup of coffee at a time and in a short time, thus, avoiding many of the negative effects associated to the over extraction of the bean. No doubt; a great discovery.
Driven by the worldwide boom in coffee shops, and with a lot of products and businesses developed around it, the espresso has taken over the world. People who used to drink an instant coffee cup at home, or a reheated one from the coffee machine at work, now prefer a machiatto or a cappuccino from a coffee shop. There’s no objection regarding this phenomenon, surely a machiatto from almost any coffee shop is a much better quality cup coffee than what people used to drink at home or at the office. Thanks to these coffee shops and the espresso machine, today, in general, people drink a much better quality coffee than what they used to take ten years ago.
However, this boom has introduced into the collective psyche the mistaken idea that the only possible way to drink a quality coffee is if it’s brewed in an espresso machine. This, besides being wrong, since no machines are more suitable than others, is inconvenient, as an espresso machine is by far the most expensive way to make coffee. A good espresso machine and a good automatic coffee grinder can cost something like 20 times more than other types of machines. In addition, the espresso and its derivatives are not the only styles or possible ways of brewing a quality coffee, there are many more that are as good or better, depending on the tastes of each person.
To prepare a quality coffee the only things that are needed are fresh coffee, hot water, a device for grinding and straining, and a little skill. A manual grinder, like the ones grandmothers used, can play very well the roll and cost only a fraction. A French press, a drip coffee maker and even a pot with a fabric filter are as good tools to make coffee as any, if you know how to use them well. It’s not necessary to make a barista course, just follow simple tips, and that’ll improve enormously your coffee quality. For example, if you use a French press its better if you use a wider grind, if you use drip machine it’s better to don’t leave the coffee reheating and to make more than just one cup. In this publication and the followings you’ll find small reviews and articles related to the brewing of coffee and the different machines and methods to help you brew and enjoy a better coffee, without the need for large investments (although if you really want or need to make a big inversion you’ll also find good advice here).

Having a cup of coffee is an important moment of each day for many. There are those who cannot get out of bed without his encouraging support, for others it’s his only companion in a short moment of pleasure and relaxation between a thousand daily obligations, others use it to accompany a good conversation, a little snack and even to close a business deal. People drink coffee for various reasons: some people use it to get that little bit of energy and warmth that we often need, others use it as a very effective digestive, but most drink it just for pure and healthy pleasure. Whatever the reason we consume it, coffee is part of our lives. However, there are few people who really know and understand what they drink. We usually don’t consider coffee as a variable product with millions of possibilities, as we do with wine, even though its cultivation and production are equally complex and exciting, with amazing results and very dissimilar to each other.

The ignorance of this great world of coffee means that every day millions of people buy the coffee they can and not the coffee they really desire. In a supermarket, when choosing a coffee, we usually buy the first thing we see, whatever there is on the shelf, or the prettiest label. We don’t pay attention to the origin of the coffee, its freshness, its type or its aroma because we simply do not understand them. But it’s enough just to prove a good coffee, brewed properly by a good barista, to wish to never again taste the insipid instant coffee we usually drink each morning. Fortunately, today we are far from the days in which Colombians, the owners of the best coffee in the world, had to settle for mediocre overheated office coffee, while the best of our production was exported. Companies engaged in the world of special coffees, or gourmet coffees, as Amor Perfecto, are returning to us the best of our coffee, while inviting us to learn more about a product we often boast about, but that we don’t know well.

A special coffee is, roughly, a high quality coffee that meets the highest standards of quality. Standards as a minimum score of 80, in the Coffee Quality Intistitute test. This qualification is achieved through careful selection and blending the best beans, and the guarantee of freshness of them. Amor Perfecto is a company dedicated to the selection and marketing of Colombian specialty coffees, which aims, in the words of the owner and founder Luis Fernando Velez “to serve our customers the best cup of coffee in the world.” Amor Perfecto is aware that just by selling great coffee this can’t be guaranteed, since the process of drafting the final product must also be of high quality. Hence Amor Perfecto is not only concerned with the selection of beans and their production, but it’s also involved in all stages of coffee production, from selecting the grain until it is ready serve and enjoy. Amor Perfecto is a research and training center, constantly training new baristas and seeking for better ways to prepare mixes and coffee. Amor Perfecto promotes and participates in the most important national and international barista competitions, employing people like national champion Mauricio Romero Bernal Ever. In addition, next year, Amor Perfecto will organize, for the first time in the country’s history, the Barista World Championship, between June 2 and 5.
Amor Perfecto is also a big distributor of variety of products related to the world of selected coffees, offering training in proper use of the machines and maintenance service. One of Amor Perfecto top services is the Coffee Club. This service is aimed to those looking to immerse themselves in the world of special coffees, providing people with the tools and knowledge that will enable them to better appreciate and prepare coffee. By obtaining a membership you can access to special events, tours and tastings for amateurs, gifts every year and exclusive access to winning coffees and, most importantly, you’ll have, delivered fresh to your home each month, the best special coffees.

Amor Perfecto welcomes you to what will henceforth be a regular publication that will keep you informed on the latest news in the world of special coffees, as well as events and contests in which Amor Perfecto participates. We invite you to become our fans in Facebook and participate in our blogs. We will accompany you in the learning process, experimentation and development that will lead to enjoy the best cup of coffee in your home or business.