TL;DR: The AeroPress Go takes everything that makes the original AeroPress great and packs it into a genuinely portable travel- and camping-friendly kit. The coffee tastes the same. The brewing process is the same. The difference is that everything nests inside its own mug, giving you one compact package that’s easy to toss into a backpack, suitcase, or camping bin.
It’s not perfect. The brew chamber is a bit smaller, and the included mug isn’t something we’d commute with. But if we could only own one AeroPress, this is still the one we’d buy.
The original AeroPress mostly stays on the kitchen counter. The Go ends up everywhere else. Camping. Weekend trips. Hotel rooms. Airbnbs. The beach. My parents’ camper (where Keurig reigns, ick). Basically anywhere I have know the coffee is going to disappoint me.
If the original AeroPress is a fantastic coffee maker that you can travel with, the AeroPress Go feels like it was built around traveling first. And for me, that makes all the difference.
What the AeroPress Go Actually Is
$39.95
AeroPress Go, Extra Small Portable Coffee Maker Kit, Travel, Hiking & Camping
- Our favorite AeroPress
- Lightweight and easy to pack
- Compact kit that nests neatly inside its own travel mug
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If you’ve never used an AeroPress before, here’s the quick version.
It’s an immersion brewer that uses gentle air pressure to push coffee through a paper filter. AeroPress bills the Go as an “all-in-one French press, pour over, and espresso-style brewer.” That’s mostly marketing language, but there’s some truth hiding underneath it.
It brews by steeping the coffee in hot water like a French press, then uses gentle pressure to push it through a paper filter like…well, not really a pour over, but the paper filter does produce the “cleaner cup” you’d normally associate with one. And if you brew with a concentrated coffee-to-water ratio, you can make something strong enough to use as the base (“espresso”) for milk drinks. It isn’t true espresso since there simply isn’t enough pressure for that, but it scratches a similar itch.
Perhaps the nicest thing about it is that it’s incredibly difficult to make a truly bad cup.
The Go doesn’t change any of that from what the Original promises. The brewing chamber is slightly shorter, but the coffee-making process is identical. Same filters. Same plunger. Same recipes.
The big idea is portability. I don’t spend much time thinking about how to pack it because there really isn’t anything to figure out. When you’re done brewing, everything goes back where it belongs.
AeroPress Go vs. Original
Read David’s full take: Which AeroPress? Original vs. AeroPress Go vs. AeroPress Go Plus »
The AeroPress Go doesn’t make worse coffee than the Original. It doesn’t make better coffee either. Assuming you’re using the same beans, the same grind size, and the same recipe, you’re getting essentially the same cup. The brewing mechanics don’t really change.
Only the size is the difference. The Go brews a little less coffee than the Original, which means if you’re making coffee for two people instead of one, you’ll probably end up brewing twice.
The included mug isn’t anything fancy. It’s plastic. It won’t keep coffee hot all morning. But it means your entire brewing setup is self-contained. Show up somewhere with hot water and ground coffee beans (which we sometimes make exceptions for when packing coffee for camping, and you’re in business.
Note that the Go doesn’t fit quite as many oversized mugs as the Original.
Most normal mugs are perfectly fine, but if you’ve got an especially wide camping mug or oversized travel tumbler that you would like to brew directly into (and skip the included plastic mug), compatibility can occasionally be an issue. When vibes matter, this can be a downside.
(And trust me, I get the importance of mug vibes).
How the Go Compares to the AeroPress Go Plus
The Go Plus tries to solve a different problem. Instead of packing into a lightweight plastic mug, it packs into a stainless insulated tumbler that you brew directly into. If your travel looks like airports, hotel rooms, and office desks, that can make a lot of sense.
The Go Plus also costs substantially more, and most of what you’re paying for is the tumbler rather than the brewer itself. But it has the same compact portability as the Go, just with a (nicer, though still not leak-proof—kinda a dealbreaker for me) tumbler instead of a plastic mug.
How to Brew with the AeroPress Go
If you’ve used an AeroPress before, congratulations. You already know how to use the Go.
You put the filter in the cap, screw the cap on, drop in your scoop of coffee, pour in hot water, stir, plunge. Two minutes, give or take. You can even make iced AeroPress coffee if you’re feeling classy.
Cleanup remains one of my favorite things about the AeroPress. Press the plunger the rest of the way through and a tidy little puck of coffee pops into the trash or compost.
Give everything a quick rinse, pack it back into the mug, and you’re done.
Cost Considerations
The Go shines when portability matters and you don’t need to keep coffee hot for long (otherwise the Go Plus’ tumbler MIGHT be worth the upgrade). It usually sells for about the same price as the Original (Roughly $40-$50), but $30 to $40 less than the Go Plus.
At that price differential, I’d probably pick up the Go and put the savings toward a cool, leak-proof mug that I already know I’ll love, like an Owala coffee tumbler.
Despite the nearly identical price point, I wouldn’t recommend the Go for someone who only ever brews at home. The Original holds a bit more coffee and works with a wider variety of mugs. If it never needs to leave your kitchen, I’d probably stick with that version.
Is the AeroPress Go Worth It?
Absolutely, since it makes great coffee and takes almost no effort to bring along.
After carrying this thing around for several years, I think the ideal AeroPress Go owner is pretty easy to picture. You camp, maybe even backpack. You hike. You stay in short term rentals. You visit family. You travel for work. You spend weekends in cabins. You keep a coffee setup at your office because the communal coffee tastes vaguely like disappointment.
It’s worth it for the person who wants good, easy coffee wherever they happen to wake up.
While it brews slightly less coffee than the Original and the included mug isn’t insulated, we think the Go strikes the best balance of portability, simplicity, and value in the AeroPress lineup.
