Whenever I would request a drink of this strange concoction the answer was always the same...no, you are too little. To this day I still don't know what that means, after all I was allowed to eat sodium and corn syrup laced wieners, bacon that was chocked full of nitrates and salt, and sugar, sugar everywhere...and I had that stuff all the time. Ok, I get it, they didn't know what was in food back then, but it was common knowledge that coffee had caffeine, and that was bad, very bad...lol.
Eventually, I suppose when I had passed some sort of right of passage, I was finally allowed to take a sip of that wonderful smelling brew that I had craved so often, and to my utter disappointment the taste wasn't anything like the smell. It had this bold flavor with a sharp edge that I just didn't like. That was thoroughly confusing to me at the time (and still is), to have something with such a great smell yet with a bad taste.
Fast forward a few decades or so, and you'll find my taste for coffee has only slightly improved. I do occasionally make some, but it is mostly a social thing, wanting to be part of the group, and truthfully tea is still my choice of hot brews.
Now if you, like me ever find yourself in need of a cheap coffee brewer, one that is easy to use, never have to pour vinegar through to clean, one that will never short out and you'll have to replace every year or so, then I would suggest look in to getting an AeroPress coffee and espresso maker. They are right at $30, and you'll find that it makes probably the best tasting cup of coffee you'll come across. And for someone like me who's favorite brew isn't coffee, that is a very good thing.
After doing quite a bit of research before buying one, and after using it several times I've found that the AeroPress's simplicity is it's best feature. It takes less than a minute to make a cup (after you have preheated water in a kettle). Just place the unit atop a sturdy cup, place the filter, add a scoop of ground coffee and hot water, stir for 10 seconds, then press down on the plunger to force the water through the coffee, which takes about 30 seconds...and then viola you a have a small cup of concentrated coffee brew that you can dilute and or mix to taste. It is this quick brewing method and extra fine filter allows the coffee to be free of the oils that cause the bitterness, which I now know that it is the oils that I and many others find particularly distasteful about coffee.
Clean up is very simple as all you have to do is push out the used coffee 'puck', as they call it, rinse under a faucet for a second or two and that's it. It has only one moving part which is the plunger, so there is nothing to break or wear out. Some people have been using the same unit for 15 years without having to do anything but rinse them off after each use.
I use off the grocers shelf coffee, as I am not a regular drinker, but there are many coffee lovers out there that go all out. Some spending thousands of dollars on grinders & brewers, trying to make that perfect cup of coffee, but from I have read, and from some very reputable sources that this little AeroPress will make as good tasting coffee as those expensive units.
Lastly I would add that the AeroPress is one of three home coffee brewers still made in the USA.
