Rant: Took me 3 months to admit pourover is better than my Aeropress

I was all about the Aeropress for 2 years. Fast brewing, easy cleanup. Then my buddy at Common Grounds cafe in Portland let me try his V60 with a single origin from Guatemala. The clarity was insane. The flavors were actually separate, not just a muddled blend. I still use the Aeropress for camping, but for morning coffee at home, the pourover wins now. Anyone else make the switch and feel dumb for waiting?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.mason21d ago

I actually read this article from Sprudge last month about how pourover brings out more of the "terroir" in single origin beans, and that convinced me to give it a real shot. The guy was saying the Aeropress uses pressure that kind of smushes all the flavors together, while pourover lets them layer out naturally. I tried a V60 with a Colombian roast from my local shop and it was night and day difference... the berry notes hit first, then the chocolate came through at the end. It took me about 6 weeks to fully switch over because I kept going back to my old habits. Now I'm actually tasting things I never noticed before, even in beans I thought I knew well.

clairem4718d agoMost Upvoted

Taste the difference then go back to your Aeropress a week later and you might be surprised what you notice. I did the same thing and realized my old setup was hiding some bitter notes I never knew were there. Now I bounce between both depending on how much time I have in the morning, each one tells me something different about the same beans.

parker_park821d agoTop Commenter

Oh so you're telling me I spent 2 years thinking my Aeropress was the peak of coffee tech and now I gotta start over with a V60 and a gooseneck kettle? That's like finding out your favorite band's songs sound better unplugged after you already bought all the electric albums. For real though I tried the pourover thing once and ended up with coffee grounds all over my counter and a brew that took 4 minutes. Maybe I'll give it another shot but my morning patience only lasts about 90 seconds before I start yelling at the kettle.