Have y’all seen this fantastic coffee making contraption called an AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker? {Really, I never SAY “y’all” – it just slips in when I write sometimes, and I usually edit it out, but I gotta stop fighting that. Sometimes that sweet southern drawl just works.} But back to Aeropress.
Have you ever seen one? Or even heard of one? I am so excited to not only introduce this to you – but to give one away!
The Aeropress makes an amazing cup of coffee – it’s easy, quick and versatile.
In a nutshell the Aeropress makes espresso, which you can then drink as is or turn into a latte {add hot milk} or Americano coffee {top off your mug with hot water.}
First, here’s what it looks like and a simplistic explanation of it:
While you can make more than one serving at a time, I have only ever made one at a time, making a double espresso. It takes about 30 seconds {not counting the water boiling time} so making two cups in a row isn’t a hassle at all.
The process is simple; place filter in cap, screw onto chamber, add two scoops of finely ground coffee to the chamber, slowly add hot water, stir gently and slowly push down with plunger.
Complete instructions and additional tips can be found here and are, of course, included with each purchase of the Aeropress.
It is recommended you use water at a temperature of 175 F. We don’t have a thermometer (nor could I be bothered to use one if I owned one!) so I bring the water to almost boiling and use that.
Clean up is as simple as unscrewing the cap, pushing the plunger until the coffee “puck” and filter fall out {do this over the trash can} and then rinse of the end. The chamber has cleaned itself due to the rubber seal on the plunger.
Pros:
- Makes a fantastic cup of coffee. Starbucks Americano is the only coffee I drink black – the Aeropress makes the same bold flavor and I can now drink my made-at-home coffee black. {Makes the hubby proud!}
- Easy to clean. I appreciate how easy it is to push the coffee out – and it is mostly self cleaning – you simply need to rinse off the end that the coffee disk comes out of.
- Filters are reusable. Simply rinse and lay flat to dry. Or you can use once and toss. They are inexpensive and come in packs of 350 so you won’t run out for a long time!
- Easy to learn how to use.
Cons:
- It uses more coffee grounds per cup than a French Press or conventional coffee maker.
- Has several parts to it. I don’t like clutter, so the multiple pieces is a slight nuisance. We have discarded the funnel {never used it} and I wish the scoop and stir stick were combined as one happy tool so as to minimize parts.
- You can’t make much coffee at a time.
- You are hands on for the 30 seconds it takes to make this {not a con in my opinion, and not as much work as a French Press, but thought I should include this for those who use a conventional coffee maker.}
The Aeropress would make a fantastic Christmas gift for a coffee lover, a family member or that hard to buy for person – it was on my list of gift possibilities to buy Paul this year before the company kindly sent me this one to review and one to give away. The other day as Paul was sipping his cup of coffee he said “You know, the Aeropress would have been a sweet gift.” He had been a die hard French Press lover – he hasn’t touched that since the Aeropress entered our lives.
Want to win an Aeropress? Even if you aren’t a coffee drinker you are bound to know people that are and you can enter yourself and gift it to them!
I have one AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker with Bonus 350 Micro Filters to give away and as a special bonus a small bag of locally roasted coffee from Buona Caffe. They are friendly, hospitable people with a passion for coffee. We had the privilege of meeting them this week and I picked up a bag of their Thousand Kisses blend for one of you!
To enter leave a comment letting me know what your favorite type of coffee is. The brand, roast, hot, cold… whatever you want. Just tell me something other than “I wanna win” – because that gets boring to read over and over again.
To enter for a second chance check out all the accessories listed under “customers who bought this also bought” with the AeroPress right here.
Let me know in a second comment which – if any – of the things listed you own {and do you use them?!}.
Isn’t it crazy all the accessories you can buy to make a cup of coffee?! We own this simple coffee grinder and this milk frother and use both regularly – and have for a couple of years now. We’ve been very happy with both.
For a third chance to enter go look at Buona Caffe’s coffee selection and tell me which one sounds the best to you!
Contest is open until Wednesday, December 14 at 11 am. I will contact the winner via e-mail and if I don’t hear back within 48 hours will draw a new winner. Random.org will be used to determine the winner. Contest is open to those in the USA and Canada.
Shepherd * Angel
When I was looking for another way to tell the Nativity story I knew finger puppets would be a creative and fun option – and, well, paint chip samples are perfect for last minute simple projects so it just naturally fell together.
I had to trim the paint chip samples quite a bit to fit on tiny fingers, then I wrapped it around and secured with a piece of tape. Accessories were added as needed. A staff for the shepherd. Wings for the angel. A crown for the wise man.
Mary * Wise man
Once the nativity cast was assembled everyone donned two characters upon their fingers and told the part of the story that pertained to their characters. It was loads of fun – especially since Paul joined us!
I know for my boys they can hear a story many times, but until they take an active role in the telling and acting of the story it doesn’t really sink in. I am fairly certain that the story of Jesus’ birth – and all the details relating to it – are well anchored in their minds. Which is exactly what I wanted as we enter this Christmas season.
Joseph * Baby Jesus
“Christmas 2002″ -inscription on globe
Nine years ago I flew from Toronto to California to meet a friend I had met online {via a mutual friend.} We had met in person one time earlier when she had flown up to Toronto.
I was 17. It seems sort of crazy that our parents allowed us to travel across North America to visit each others families on our own, but they did, and I am so thankful for that.
My friends family went above and beyond in making me a part of their family – we traveled to somewhere in Arizona to watch her cousins graduation ceremony (military, I believe. Something extremely ceremonial.) We went to Las Vagas, to Disney, to her grandmothers house to bake cookies.
Her family welcomed me into their home – and when it was time to leave they had a white stocking with a Christmas snow globe in it for me.
This very snow globe. It is the only snow globe I own to this day, and I love it so very much. Every Christmas when I pull it out I am reminded of my dear friend, her wonderful family and the craziness of a 17 year old flying across North America to meet her online friend!
Sharing at the Bokeh Party at My 3 Boybarians
We placed the nativity stickers on cardstock and cut around the characters. I had intended to place magnets on the back for the boys to tell the nativity story on the fridge – but I couldn’t find the magnet strip in time.
I split the characters up between the boys and they provided the narration for each of their characters. It comes easily to Judah to accurately retell a story – with Wesley it takes a lot of repetition. Hence the reason we spent an entire week retelling this story. He should know the nativity story quite well now!
This was a really simple activity for encouraging the boys to repeat the nativity story in their own words – almost too simple. It would have been a lot more fun playing with them as magnets.
The nativity stickers are from Me & My Big Idea.
You may or may not have noticed tweaking and changes going on around here over the last couple months – changes will continue as I continue to make myself at home in my little corner of the web.
This site has grown quite a bit in the last little while and I am thankful for each new reader and so thankful for the faithful readers that have been here longer. The sweet messages I get mean SO much to me and I just love hearing from you!
I wanted to point out one new thing I have added, and that is a photo album. It can be found on the right hand side and this months is shown above. The plan is to update the image monthly to link to my Facebook photo album. When you click on the image in the side menu it will take you directly to the album.
Of the 685 entries the winner of the The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year is:
Congratulations Priscilla and thanks to all that entered!
We did this last year with the nativity story and the boys loved it. I have been saving the perfect box for us to recreate the nativity story using a cardboard box.
This years Christmas Story box was tall and skinny. Perfect for turning on its side and creating a donkey for them to ride to Bethlehem {picture above}.
We went through the nativity story – in our own words – drawing each character of the story on different flaps as we went, making sure the appropriate characters were able to “interact” with each other {angel had to be able to see the shepherds, shepherds had to be able to see the nativity scene, etc.}
As we would finish one scene I would prompt them to tell me what they knew of the next scene and which characters should be present in that scene.
They have since taken ownership of the box and have enjoyed playing the nativity story over and over again with the characters on the box.
This is a really fun, interactive way to share the nativity story with kids. In fact, of all the creative ways I have used to tell the story to the boys I think this is my favorite. I just have a love for cardboard boxes and depending on the size and shape of your box you have so many creative opportunities for sharing the nativity story.
This Christmas ornament was mine when I was a child – and now, years later, my own boys enjoy pulling the string to make the arms and legs dance, just as I once did as a child.
There is a regular demand from them to hear stories from my own childhood, but it is the things from my childhood – the things they can hold, touch, play with – that seem to really connect us.
They love the stories. The stories share more intimately of who I am. But the things from my childhood make the stories come alive.
… although they still refer to me as being a little boy when I was little…
Toilet paper rolls + scraps of fabric = cutest little nativity scene.
This is a close second for my favorite activity for telling the boys the Christmas story.
We used empty toilet paper rolls, scraps of fabric I had and rubber bands to secure it all together.
The boys picked the fabric and embellishments for each character, but in order to ensure the clothes stayed on I was the one who dressed each toilet paper roll. Is that last sentence as funny to read as it was to write? “I was the one who dressed each toilet paper roll…”
Once the toilet paper rolls were crafted into the nativity characters the boys told the nativity story using the characters as puppets. Three fingers slipped into the bottom of the paper towel roll makes for fabulous toilet paper roll puppets for the telling of the nativity story.
Note: Last weeks school was spent reading, acting and crafting the nativity story over and over again to reinforce what Christmas is about for us. This week I’ll be sharing a few of those activities and crafts on here for sharing the nativity story with preschoolers.
“It was love, mere love; it was free love that brought the Lord Jesus Christ into our world… shall we yearly celebrate the birth of our temporal king, and shall that of the King of kings be quite forgotten? Shall that only, which ought to be had chiefly in remembrance, be quite forgotten?
… did Jesus come into the world to save us from death, and shall we spend no part of our time in conversing about our dear Jesus?” – George Whitefield
from Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas
