The AeroPress was purposefully designed to make just one cup of coffee at a time. And it does that damn well.
But for those of us who are coffee addicts, who are caffeine connoisseurs, who can't imagine starting our day with "just" a single cup of coffee—we're left to wonder:
“Why isn't there an extra large AeroPress?”
Surely, there must be a demand for it. After all, sometimes one cup of velvety-smooth coffee just isn't enough.
In fact, it never is.
And for anyone who's ever used an AeroPress to brew coffee for themselves and a guest, or two, or three, or seven... you know that the process can be tedious. And time-consuming. Not to mention awkward, as your guests sit there, mug-less, staring into the kitchen, watching you repetitively plunge the AeroPress like some sort of caffeine-crazed mad scientist.
(Can you tell I've been in this situation before? Fortunately, their reaction to trying freshly-made AeroPress coffee for the first time always makes up for it.)
Hey, the AeroPress is pretty darn fast—especially for the quality of the coffee it produces—but when it comes to making multiple cups for a group of people, it's about as fast as making a cup of Keurig coffee for each of them.
Which is to say: not that fast.*
*These are what the kids call "first world problems." Kids in 2011, I mean.
So, c'mon AeroPress. Give the people what they want. Why not make life a little easier on us coffee zealots, and just create an extra large AeroPress?
Turns out, there are a couple of likely reasons. And if you're like me, you're probably not going to like any of them. So settle in, and get ready for a reality check.
Reason #1: Adler's Law
You may not have heard of Adler's Law, because I made it up. But it goes like this:
The designer of the AeroPress, Alan Adler, intended for the AeroPress to be a single-serve coffee maker.
And that's apparently all he intends for it to be going forward.
He wanted it to be small, lightweight, easy to use, and fast—perfect for making one excellent cup of coffee at a time.
According to the brain trust on Reddit, he's been asked many times about making a larger version of the AeroPress, but he's dismissed all of those requests wholesale. Wholesale!
Which is a fancier way of saying, "he's dismissed all of those requests."
Reason #2: "I mean... just picture it."
I have to admit, I hadn't thought about this before I looked for an extra large AeroPress.
But if you do think about it: the larger you make an AeroPress, the less practical it becomes to use. In fact, the lower usability ramps up (down?) quickly.
Here's what I mean:
The whole point of the AeroPress, besides making damn good coffee, is that it's small, lightweight, and easy to use. If you've ever struggled to push the plunger of the AeroPress down when it's full of finely ground coffee and near-boiling water, you'll know that it's not an easy feat.
Now, can you imagine trying to do that with two or three times the amount of coffee and water?
It would be a nightmare. And most likely a messy one.
Good luck using the inverted AeroPress method on that one. You're gonna need it.
The Bottom Line: Why We Won’t See an Extra Large Aeropress Anytime Soon
So, the overall gist of why there isn't an extra large AeroPress—and why there probably never will be one—is because it would defeat the purpose of what the AeroPress was designed to do: make a great cup of coffee, quickly and easily, with minimal effort.
So, if you're looking for an AeroPress that can make more than one cup of coffee at a time, you're out of luck.
Of course, you can always make another cup of coffee right after you finish your first one.
Or you can use a higher ratio of coffee to water during the brewing stage, and add water to your cup after brewing. You know, to make an Americano of sorts.
I've done this plenty of times in an effort to make my cup of delicious AeroPress coffee last just a little longer, though I find myself doing it less and less as time goes on. It just loses too much of the AeroPress’ richness and texture when you add water after brewing.
But those are essentially your only options. If you simply want a larger AeroPress that can make more than one cup of coffee at a time, you're out of luck. The AeroPress was designed for single servings, and that's what it does best.
