Aeropress Rolls Out Cold Brew and Go Kit, Plus a New U.S. Champ

2019 US Aeropress Champion Towa Ikawa during her winning routine. All photos courtesy of Aeropress.

It’s go time in Aeropressland, both figuratively and literally.

Towa Ikawa of Honolulu, Hawaii-based Kona Coffee Purveyors has emerged as the 2019 United States Aeropress Champion from the lively competitive brewing event last month at The Crown Coffee Lab & Tasting Room in Oakland, California. The brewer-making company also kicked off sales of its Aeropress Go travel brewing kit, and has expanded the feature set for its brewer in general to include cold brewing capabilities.

Aeropress Cold Brew

New information went live on the Aeropress website on August 23, including written and video instructions on how to make cold brew with the Aeropress. Nothing about the brewer has changed; it has always been possible to brew cold coffee with an Aeropress, either by flash-brewing a hot concentrate directly onto ice or by adding cold or room-temp water to the grinds for cold brew. Different now is that the company actually endorses the latter practice.

Despite the ever-expanding world of aftermarket accessories that stretch the Aeropress’s capabilities, and the myriad recipes people have devised on their own, Aeropress inventor Alan Adler has remained famously unmoved from the position that the original instructions for use of his invention have always yielded the best possible cup, and that the device has been perfect in its original, un-accessorized condition from the start.

That stance seems to have softened ever so slightly over the summer, as simple instructions for a fast and effective cold brewing method — tested and approved by Adler himself — were promoted by the company. Users are now even freer to add cold or room-temperature water instead of hot, and in that case, stir the slurry for a full minute prior to pressing, as opposed to the 10-second recommended stir for hot brew.

2019 US Aeropress Championship

2019 US Aeropress Championship finalists with the three judges and emcee Michelle Johnson.

However, no such cold-water shenanigans occurred at the U.S. Aeropress Championship on Sept. 21, co-hosted by The Crown and manual brewing equipment maker Fellow. Emcee Michelle Johnson of Coffee Manufactory and The Chocolate Barista kept roughly 200 spectators pumped for the playful press-off that pitted 15 competitors from across the U.S. against each other in a series of heats.

2019 US Aeropress Championship judges Alicia Adams, Devorah Freudiger and Candice Madison.

The panel of judges included The Crown’s roasting director Candice Madison, Red Bay Coffee Roasters Director of Coffee Alicia Adams, and Devorah Freudiger, director of coffee culture at Equator Coffees. Ikawa has now earned the honor of being flown to the U.K. to represent the United States in the 2019 World Aeropress Championship, scheduled to take place in London on Nov. 24.

Aeropress Go

The Aeropress Go all packed up.

For her, as well for anyone else packing bags for travel with an Aeropress in tow, the Aeropress Go is now available for sale. While mostly the same kit that made its public debut at the Aeropress booth at the SCA Expo event in Boston earlier this year, a couple tiny changes to the design did occur before production.

“The mug and the lid are now a ‘squircle,’ square-circle shape, instead of a circle,” Aeropress Marketing Coordinator Constance Romero told Daily Coffee News. “[This allows] you to hold more liquid more comfortably in a compact size. The stirrer stick design and the design of the filter holder have also been improved. Finally, the lettering on the AeroPress Go chamber will be red to match the lid of the mug.”

The Aeropress Go is essentially the same as a standard Aeropress, capable of brewing the same volume the same way but with dimensions altered very slightly in order to nest neatly inside a kit comprised of a cup, stirrer, filter case, scoop and silicon lid. Pre-orders officially launched on Sept. 19 via the company’s website. Products will ship to consumers as well as to additional retailers by the end of October.

The Aeropress Go with accessories.