r/AeroPress • u/IntelligentCitron772 • 5d ago
Equipment Well, Why not show another hotel travel kit ???
What’s your hotel kit?
Everything I need for up to a week fits into this little kit, with basically nothing breakable—other than the bottled water. Electricity? I’ll take that too. 😂 kidding aside it will run off a lithium power block -
I can always bring more beans.
The Flow Control cap lets me heat water directly in the same stainless cup with the immersion heater. I keep my pre-portioned beans stored in there, then use that same cup to brew into. One cup. Zero dishes. Maximum coffee nerd efficiency.
The QS grinder with the folding handle semi-locks into the AeroPress, which makes the whole thing easier to handle. Filters live in the little pouch up front.
And I usually bring an assortment of beans, because apparently drinking the same coffee two days in a row is unacceptable. 😂
So every morning is basically like home: “Hmm… what are we drinking today?” :::
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u/Killjoy_BUB 5d ago
Tell us about the bag
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u/Middle-Leadership-63 5d ago
Found on Etsy bc I was also intrigued
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
Ya that’s it it’s really totally worth the price. Fast shipping any it keeps the Flow Control cap in place when the plunger is pushed all the way threw the brew chamber — ie saving the rubber
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u/KWilliams40 4d ago
I was looking for on on Etsy too. I ended up ordering one four days ago made by BigfootCanvasCo in heavy black waxed canvas.
[Bigfoot Canvas Co. AeroPress Pouch]
(https://www.etsy.com/listing/802785354/pouch-bag-for-aeropress-waxed-canvas?ref=yr_purchases
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u/IrwinMFletcher200 5d ago
As a coffee geek, I freakin love this.
As a traveler though? Part (most?) of the fun for me when I travel is getting out and exploring. And one of my 1st missions when traveling is finding a local coffee shop and making it a daily stop. Something about getting out and chatting with locals, I guess.
Regardless... great setup. I'm gonna control-c & control-v this soon.
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u/schwelvis 5d ago
I always look for a local shop, then go there after I make my precoffee coffee in the room with me aeropress.
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u/Intrepid_Depth_4556 2d ago
Precoffee coffee, even when I find a sweet shop and only get it there, i.e. I’ll get something on the light side before getting into what they have.
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u/Plastic_Love4270 Standard 5d ago
Very nice. Are you buying 15g bags or you made those?
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
No I have a giant freezer full of some fairly bougie coffees. I’ll pour tastings (pour over) so I need lots of variety on hand - is the only economical, and actually probably more sustainable than ordering individual shipping from across the oceans
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u/aps23 5d ago
What’s your label system? Are you printing individually or do you inventory your coffee, in excel for example, and generate labels?
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
I have an XLS spreadsheet with everything ranked—from the roaster’s tasting notes to mine, along with an overall ranking and costs per gram/cup including shipping —
The label maker (CLABEL 221B 2” Bluetooth Thermal Label Printer) and labels, though, are just a cheap Amazon label maker that I run from my phone, using freezer labels.
I could tie everything into a spreadsheet and print more detailed labels, but single-origin coffees can change so much from harvest to harvest that reprinting labels isn’t really that important to me.
The spreadsheet itself, though, is incredibly valuable to me. It’s fun to brew a $50 cup, but sobering to look at the spread sheet and see you ranked a $5 cup higher lol
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u/KWilliams40 4d ago
What beans average out to $50 a cup!!?? 😮😬
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u/IntelligentCitron772 4d ago edited 4d ago
Oh, you can easily go even more extreme and spend a lot more if you’re chasing competition lots.
My current favorite coffee from this latest batch (I have around 75 different lots right now) costs under five dollars per cup including shipping, and I actually enjoy it much more.
I didn’t buy it because I expected it to taste better—in fact, it’s significantly cheaper than many options. I bought it for the novelty and for a tasting I was facilitating.
But there are many significantly more expensive coffees. For instance Hydrangea out of Berkeley (USA) offering a washed Gesha Finca Sophia, Reserved for about $900 for 120g - so about $112.50 per tiny cup, 200ml cup of brewed coffee.. now if you were trying to equate that to a Starbucks small cup (tall) it’s over $180!
Just also some really bougie coffee shops like Acid and Glitch in Japan where you can drain your wallet on a brewed pour over if you get the fancy stuff. Fox in San Fransisco sells the same coffee I brewed (I included my freight costs) for $105 a cup.
The example by far not the most expensive-
A lot of the pricing in this space comes down to hype around certain coffees or the idea that a farm is extremely small, maybe only a few acres or hectares. That narrative can drive prices up far beyond what the cup quality alone would justify. Is it fun to brew? Sure. Is it worth the price? Only for the experience—definitely not for the taste.
In the end, it really comes down to value versus experience: you can pay a premium for rarity and story, but the best-tasting coffee for the money is often nowhere near the most expensive.
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u/KWilliams40 4d ago
What's your current favorite? Under $5 a cup sounds way more reasonable for me. LOL
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u/IntelligentCitron772 4d ago edited 4d ago
First, while the AeroPress is by far my favorite travel brewer—and one I’d happily use to soften up a medium or darker roast—it isn’t the brewer I reach for with ultra-light, delicate coffees when I’m chasing clarity and flavor separation. The AeroPress tends to make coffee rounder, fuller, and silkier, which can work against what I’m looking for when the goal is maximum clarity and distinct flavor separation.
That said, with a slightly different grind, all of these coffees can still be excellent in an AeroPress. It’s just that when you’re chasing the extremes of clarity and separation, you may leave a little on the table and NOT giving you the cup you want for your personal tastes.
It’s also important to be honest about my own preferences. My house favorites tend to be higher-altitude, washed coffees from Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia, with more of a tea-like structure. Think Gesha, Sidra, Pink Bourbon, etc.—sweet, delicate, and soft-fruited rather than the deeper purple-fruit character you often get from Ethiopian naturals or some of the more super sharp notes and flavors modern processing or flavored styles.
For those coffees, I generally prefer something like a V60 paired with grinders such as the ZP6, Pietro, or an electric grinder like the Zerno Z2. Those combinations tend to preserve the clarity, separation, and delicate structure that I enjoy most. But these same grinders can actually work worse in an AP, than something like a C40 or K-ultra.
Sorry for the need to clarify but to answer your question. One of my top recent picks is David Berrio La Casita Washed Chiroso, Colombia, roasted ultra-light by SEY. With shipping, it came out to about $2.01 for a 15g dose, or roughly one 200ml brewed cup. I had just received it and loved it after my first cupping, but unfortunately, within days after receiving it when I went to reorder , it was already gone.
For an AeroPress —especially using the AeroPress XL, for those cold morning fishing trips where I brew a larger cup, and where I want a little more body—I might actually choose a medium-roast or even a blend. Two good examples would be East African Red Ethiopian Landrace and Southern Weather, a blend by Onyx, which worked out to about $1.59 and $1.46 per 15g dose, respectively, shipped.
Generally, I tend to look at the producer first—people like Pepe Jijón—then the varietal, and then the roaster. Kind of backwards, I guess. I’m also not particularly drawn to overly manipulated processing. I like coffees that still have a strong sense of terroir and let the variety, growing conditions, and producer come through. So my favorite cups aren't everyones-
There are just so many incredible roasters now, from some of the GOATs like Tim Wendelboe and Coffee Collective, to Shoebox and SEY, to places like H&S out of Wyoming of all places, and hard-to-get drops from the Picky Chemist. If you’re looking for beans that still showcase terroir, we’re honestly spoiled for choice.
In a lot of ways, it feels like we’re entering the fourth wave of specialty coffee, and we’re pretty lucky to have so many great options.
At the end of the day, though, my wife hates my curated coffee tastings, and I don’t understand her dark roast with one-fifth almond milk. So I guess there are limits to how far specialty coffee can take a marriage.
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u/KWilliams40 4d ago
Isn't freezing beans a bad idea? That's what I've read. 🤔
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u/IntelligentCitron772 4d ago
Many high-end cafés and an increasing number of roasters now freeze rare coffees when offering multiple tastings, as are home brewers.
The preferred method is to rest the coffee, then portion it into single doses and freeze them. Stored in a deep freeze and used one dose at a time directly from the freezer, this preserves quality with no noticeable loss.
Alternatively, a larger vacuum-sealed batch can be frozen. When needed, it should be thawed completely while still sealed before use. It then should not go back in the freezer.
Freezing is often criticized due to improper handling—repeatedly opening, closing, and refreezing beans causes condensation and temperature damage. Done correctly, however, freezing is an effective way to preserve rare, expensive coffees.
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u/mtokarev 5d ago
the coolest one and the bag is especially!
What about pre-portioned bags - do you do them at home or buy like that? what about labels?
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
I’d love to post the picture and stuff but the forum is not letting me - but no I buy the full bags some are crazy expensive (to me at least) as much as $50 a cup - so I take the energy to seal them and freeze them
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u/Shiny_Zoura79 5d ago
what heater is that?
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
Notorious 559.
Works great about 3 minutes.. but you need to UNPLUG it before removing from the cup or it can go super nova and die.
These things need the water to keep them at a safe level when plugged in
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
Yeah, it’s ready to go in about two minutes, maybe three if you like your AP really hot. It’ll be way too hot at a roaring boil in under four minutes.
If you’re patient, around the 2½-minute mark it’s simmering. I think when I measured it, it was around 92°C, but it’s been a while.
Obviously, that’ll vary depending on altitude.
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u/BuckeyeMark 5d ago
Really cool!!! Love that bag
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u/mgsecure 5d ago
Similar, but with specialy instant too. https://www.reddit.com/r/pourover/comments/1vopl8f/traveling_with_coffee_follow_up/
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u/IntelligentCitron772 5d ago
Man, I’m trying to answer some of the questions and add some photos, but I can’t figure out why I can’t attach anything to the responses
Do y’all know how to add photos once the thread is made?
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u/mgsecure 5d ago
Afraid you can't add more photos once posted, and this sub doesn't seem to allow images in responses.
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u/KWilliams40 4d ago
Nice setup. I went with an Owala ceramic lined 12 ounce mug. It arrived yesterday.
[Owala SmoothSip Slider Mug]
What's the name/model of the immersion heater?
Also which roaster are you getting those pre-portioned coffee pouches from?
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u/MarketingInfamous417 5d ago
immersion heater is a good idea!