AeroPress XL

Makes fabulous coffee on the go. We have a single cup aeropress, which works well. This XL version is great for 2 people. It lives in our campervan. I really like the no mess pellet for simple cleaning on the go.

Although this is promoted as a travel product, I use it everyday to make the best smoothest coffee. The micro filters mean that there are no grounds that come through. The fast percolation process (10 seconds) means that taste is smooth with any acid after taste non-existent.This device makes even mediocre coffee taste great. It makes good coffee taste fantastic.Very easy to clean out after each use. Grounds are squeezed nearly dry and go neatly into a kitchen caddie. Much cheaper than buying an expensive gadget. Easy to use manually with no electrics. Will probably last for years.Highly recommended.

Was a present for my husband. He loved his last one so much I got him the bigger one as a present. Used everyday and is a quality bit of coffee making kit.

So who is this for? Some backstory: I started my coffee journey in 2020 working long, weird hours in retail while most of the world was stuck at home. I was drinking pretty awful instant coffee, heavily shrouded by copious amounts of milk, but when I changed my entire diet, milk had to go, which slowly made me realise how bad instant coffee is. I started with a cheap £10 french press and it blew my mind. I didn't like the silt and oils, and while Hoffmann's method largely eliminates the former, I soon realised I just don't like oily coffee.Then came the Aeropress, and by and large my progression ended there, because frankly, the Aeropress is the only coffee tool you'll ever need if you just want good, filtered coffee. My partner soon converted to the way of the bean, and I started brewing for 2 with the Aeropress, and ever since I've wanted a bigger Aeropress. To be honest, brewing for 2 with a regular Aeropress really isn't bad. You grind for 2 and dilute at the end, but the simplicity and added versatility of an XL version would naturally be better, right?Now we have the Aeropress XL which for all intents and purposes is a big Aeropress and nothing else. Only, as James Hoffmann pointed out last year, with new ownership of the company has come a new philosophy, something much more akin to every other business which has 1 mission: to make as much profit as possible. To that end, the Aeropress (all models to my knowledge) no longer come with 350 filters, they come with 100. They no longer come with a bespoke receptacle to house the filters either, and the XL, despite doing essentially the same job just in a bigger form, costs twice as much as the base model (which also costs more now).A lot of this probably wont matter to you if you've never had an Aeropress, as the novelty of the best manual coffee brewer you'll ever use will far exceed any worries about fewer initial filters or something for them to sit in. But to those of us that do have base models, it's a worrying sight.More worrying on initial use is how the thing operates. Firstly, you'll notice due to the bigger diameter of the filter portion itself, a lot more liquid seeps through before you create a vacuum with the plunger. I personally haven't noticed much of a difference, though I don't have much of a refined taste. Secondly, creating those initial, say, 10 vacuums with the plunger is concerning, as you wouldn't be blamed for thinking it just doesn't fit. It's tight, but thankfully loosens up over time. Lastly, the XL actually comes with something extra: a carafe. It's a hexagonal jug with a spout to make portioning off two brews easier without you needing a carafe beforehand. Stupidly though, it bleeds heat like crazy, and unless you have calloused hands like myself, you will burn yourself. Why they didn't add a thin strip of rubber to hold onto I don't know.Ultimately though, when water passed grounds, the coffee is marvellous. This isn't a surprise. The Aeropress XL is, fundamentally, an Aeropress but bigger. Bigger size, but bigger price, and both offer reasons why recommending this might not be so easy, so lets loop back to the beginning and finish there.Who is this for? For people who haven't used any sort of coffee maker before, £80 is way too high a price if you don't even know whether you're that into coffee in the first place. That sort of person is much better suited to a cheap french press. For those who've used an Aeropress before, but only sporadically make coffee for 2, I again don't know whether this is a good purchase. It's not like there's an upgrade path; you have to spend the whole £80 on what is essentially the same brewer you already have, just bigger, and if you only need to make an extra portion occasionally, you can do that fairly easily with the base model. Coffee machine-havers will likely not want to convert to manual coffee making, so in my mind, there are two potential groups:If you have an Aeropress, but frequently need to make coffee for 2 or more people AND have no other way of doing that like a big french press, then this might be for you.If you don't have an Aeropress, but frequently need to make coffee for 2 or more people AND have no other way of doing that like a big french press OR want a brewer versatile enough to brew different styles of coffee, then this might be for you.Ultimately, the XL's biggest flaw is its price. The base Aeropress is already like 90% of this thing, not in size obviously, but with the base Aeropress, you can still make coffee for 2, just not as seamlessly. If this was an extra tenner on top of the base model price, then the more interesting discussion arises of whether it's worth it or not. As is, it's too expensive to recommend widely, which is a shame because ultimately, it's a fantastic brewer.

Firstly, I wanted to address several peoples comments about the tightness of the rubber seal being hard to put in and out of the main cylinder. This loosens up from usage, mine is now perfect. Nothing to worry about at all.I came from a Aeropress 'GO' where I was making large brews via a concentrate, initially I could not get the XL to make brews as balanced as my GO. Eventually I found the formula that clicked for me, it was after reading someone's comments on reddit that the extra water keeps the slurry hotter for longer. I found that by going coarser AND leaving the cap off until the end (to let the steam off) I can get brews as good as my GO, but with the now easier sizing options. Super pleased, such a good product. For anyone not getting the same results as their standard or GO, stick with it, it really can make coffee as good as the other models.