Really Good Cup of Coffee Espresso-Style at Home w no Machine

After Super Storm Sandy, my business partner at 'PRENEUR and I wanted to send a care package to a small business friend who had lost her house and her soap making business. Without electricity for ever it seems, she's been making lukewarm, weekly filtered coffee on her grill. A girl needs good coffee if she's going to rebuild her biz, so I walked down to Mountain Tops on Main Street in Beacon to see what sort of camping style coffee maker they had. My requirements:

- not electrical
- easy, won't break
- don't have to clean it much
- no filter.

I thought I'd be getting a French press. It's what I use, has no filter, and I can do it one handed with one kid on my hip. However, the camping pros at Mountain Tops steered me to the AeroPress, a funky little coffee maker plunger thing that makes espresso shots or style of coffee! It has a filter, but is a tiny circle of paper that didn't seem like a big deal. As for cleaning, there really isn't any cleaning because of the way the coffee gets pressed into an espresso shot, and then into trash or compost. I doubted it, but ended up buying one for our friend, and one for my dad, because he likes strange, inventive ways of making things good.

And then we traveled for Thanksgiving, and I forgot my French press at my parents. Darn! I broke open the AeroPress and made myself a latte. Yes, a latte. Why? Because it makes espresso style coffee! I couldn't believe it! I've been drinking 2-3 a day now! (Sorry Bank Square for not banking coffee money with you).

You put the grounds in, then a certain amount of hot water, then comes the press part, where you press a plunger down for about 20-30 seconds. Voila. You have an espresso shot. Pour in hot milk (or half hot water and half hot milk). And I even have mocha powder, should I want to spruce it up a bit. But normally, I only put in a 1/8th of brown or white sugar, which is far less than I was putting in my regular cup of french press coffee, which used to cause major sugar crashes for me, and I'd hunt for the nearest brownie. Literally, pounding the pavement. Which is how I know where the best baked goods are in Beacon.

I know. That's a lot of passion from a cup of coffee. But it's true. And I'm happily hooked. And got another one for my dad (since I'm using that one), and one for my brother and his wife, since they appreciate coffee as well.

Thanks Mountain Tops!