Today, there are AT LEAST three AeroPresses. (There are actually more nowadays, but here we’re focusing on the “Go oriented” ones.) And while all of them make good coffee, it makes a lot of sense if you don’t know which to buy. Not all differences are immediately obvious, and if you spend a few minutes with me, you will buy the right one for you.
In the end, one AeroPress will reign supreme (for you) in the Original versus AeroPress Go versus Go Plus games. We will get to that in due time, but first a little story…
The AeroPress, a brief history
Alan Adler invented the AeroPress in 2005. Adler was an engineer, not a barista. One of his most famous products before the AeroPress was a Frisbee-competitor called the Aerobee. And his inventive backgrounds changed how he approached coffee.
As a new problem to be solved, rather than a time-tested ritual to be preserved, he did things differently. What he came up with is plastic cylinder that uses air pressure to push hot water through coffee grounds for a great brew in under two minutes. People loved it, and it has become a strong niche interest the world over. All because its hard to make a bad cup with one.
My original AeroPress is almost a decade old. The plastic has not cracked. The seal still holds. My filter cap is getting a little harder to screw and unscrew, but it still works fine. Nothing has broken or worn out or needed replacing. Some of the paint has worn off, but I know it’s an AeroPress and mostly ignore the number markings on the side of it anyway.
For years, there was only one AeroPress. But in 2019 they made the AeroPress Go, built smaller and lighter for people on the move. Then came the Go Plus, which offered a dramatically different take on where you were “Go”ing to. Each of these three iterates on the same idea but for a slightly different lifestyle. The question is which fits you best.
All AeroPress Coffee is Great
All three of these AeroPresses make the same basic coffee. The immersion step is the same. The pressure through the filter to finish the extraction is the same. The filters are interchangeable. The process is identical. There is no version that produces a significantly better of different cup than the others, provided you measure and mix your coffee grounds the same.
Good AeroPress coffee comes from good beans (ground fresh) and good water at the right temperature. The device handles the rest. If someone tells you the original makes a superior cup because it is the original, they’re lying. Or they are tasting something else entirely — better beans, better water, more attention. The AeroPress (Go (Plus)) is not the variable. That is one of the things that makes it a so hard to decide which to get.
The Original AeroPress
$39.95
OG AeroPress Coffee Press
- The original is hard to argue with
- David uses that stirring paddle EVERY DAY whether or not he's making AeroPress
- Ours has lasted over 10 years, so you know it's durable
Low-Key Coffee Snobs is funded by affiliate commissions which we (often) make when you buy products we link.
The original is a wide cylinder, a little taller than an average American coffee mug, and made of durable translucent black plastic. You put it on top of your mug, add your preferred dose of ground coffee (20 grams is my preference), add water just off the boil, stir, and press. The whole thing takes about two minutes from start to finish, and cleanup is a simple push of the plunger that ejects the spent grounds in a neat puck right into your compost or trash bin.
AeroPress filters are cheap, easy to find, and interchangeable across all three versions — you can use paper for a cleaner cup. Or metal if you prefer more body and want to have to peel it off your hot coffee grounds before ejecting. #nerdsniping 🙃
All three of these AeroPresses come with a small accessory kit. There is a scoop—which for each you should immediately disregard—but for the Original, it’s got a long plus-shaped handle. The mixing stick though is a different matter. I’ll go into more detail of my comparison of those below. But the Original comes with a wide flat paddle that fits the chamber perfectly and does the job right. And I even use mine when making pour overs, because I like mixing and don’t want to dirty a spoon. But that’s a whole other matter…
If you’re seeking an AeroPress coffee maker for camping (or other mobile situations), the original works but it is large, does not include a compatible mug, and doesn’t pack very efficiently. For car camping (or traveling via minivan, not aeroplane) where space is not an issue, it is perfectly fine. For on the go situations, I’d recommend you consider the smaller Go or Go Plus versions, but more on that below.
The OG AeroPress is for: home brewers, offices, car campers, and those wanting to make a larger volume of coffee.
The AeroPress Go
$39.95
AeroPress Go is the best
- Portable in a way I really want to use it
- The plastic mug does a great job keeping your fingers cool, but still letting your coffee cool
- BUT: the mug is hardly ready for a run to the bus or a driving commute
Low-Key Coffee Snobs is funded by affiliate commissions which we (often) make when you buy products we link.
If you’re asking this which-AeroPress question, I’ll just say it here: the Go is the one I’d pick if I could only have one. Click the Shop Amazon above, and we’ll see you next time you’ve got a coffee conundrum. 👋
Read our full review of the AeroPress Go »
AeroPress designed the Go from the start as the AeroPress camping coffee maker., and we think its the best portable coffee maker for camping. The chamber is smaller, and more importantly, the whole kit nests inside its own mug. Which makes a great rounded-square sort of drinking vessel. What I love about the Go is that everything has a place in a compact solution. The lid closes securely. Nothing rattles around in a pack or gets lost at the bottom of a bag. It weighs almost nothing and takes up less space than a water bottle.
One tradeoff is capacity. You get one cup — a real cup, not a small one, but one. If you (and your crew) need two or more cups to feel human in the morning, with the Go, you may want to brew twice because the brew chamber is a bit small. And if you’re serving two or more “Big Gulp” style coffee drinkers, it probably won’t work.
But Megan and I regularly share a big-brew (think 30ish grams of coffee) from our AeroPress Go and are satisfied and caffeine-headache-free all day.
If you’re an ultra-light backpacker wanting one good cup, the Go delivers it without asking much in return. It is compact in a way the others simply are not. It disappears into your kit and stops being something you think about until the moment you want coffee, at which point it is right there. That frictionless quality is harder to achieve than it looks, and the Go has it.
The scoop is again silly, but in this case much shorter-handled and ovalish shaped. The mixer it comes with is proportioned for the smaller chamber. And it folds in a satisfying way. But again more on this topic below if you really care.
AeroPress Go is best for: backpackers, solo hikers, anyone traveling light. The best AeroPress camping option if you are moving on foot and making coffee for one, but also anyone else 🤓
The AeroPress Go Plus
$89.95
AeroPress Go Plus
- Comes with a nice AeroPress branded thermal mug
- Look at that handsome clear AeroPress
- Packs neatly into the mug, sort of
Low-Key Coffee Snobs is funded by affiliate commissions which we (often) make when you buy products we link.
The Go Plus arrived most recently, and the idea was to offer a combo of two different things: similar packability of the Go but the capacity of the original with it own perfectly compatible thermal mug. It packed fairly compactly into the (heavy) thermal mug, but not nearly so completely or cleanly as the Go.
To the perfectly compatible thermal mug, I will say that it’s not small thing. The OG used to ship with a funnel sort of adapter thing (it no longer does) and I’ve often had to dig mine out if I was looking to go somewhere with a thermal mug with a too narrow lip for the OG AeroPress. If I were to have an OG without that funnel, I guess I’d fall back to brewing into a known-compatible mug and pouring the hot coffee in into the thermal mug. LIKE AN ANIMAL! 🐖
The Go Plus costs a good deal more than the other two AeroPresses largely for the semi-packable thermal mug. If you’ve already got some of those you like you may not want a Go Plus. More immediately, I find the mixing stick of the Go Plus *wrong*. It is collapsible like the OG’s is not, but it is a fiddly two-fold piece of plastic instead of the elegant one-fold of the Go’s. (Again, more below.)
The Go Plus is best for: campers who need to brew for two and can accept the mixing stick limitation, or commuters looks for a simple brew-and-go situation
Read our full review of the AeroPress Go Plus »
Let’s Compare the AeroPress Brewers in More Detail
The above photo shows my well-worn AeroPress, the AeroPress Go Plus’s clear brewer, and the Go on the right with its red letters. The biggest things I notice is that the Go’s mug-catching section is the most trimmed (to its detriment when it comes to mug-shape compatibility). I also notice that top pusher lip is biggest on the Original AeroPress, a bit smaller on the Go, and the smallest on the Go Plus.
For those distracted by that (admittedly quite pretty) clear plastic of the Go Plus, it is worth pointing out that you can buy the normal AeroPress in clear and various other colors of tinted clear plastic. Though at Amazon, at least, you’re likely to pay a bit more for that.
And the stir-sticks (my nerdy complaint corner…)
All the stir sticks for these brewer work fine. And they’re all customized to the brewer so that you’re not going to be hitting your filter without some amazing gymnastics, which is a cool feature.
That said, I find the AeroPress Go Plus’s little collapsible stirrer just a bit ugly. It’s not that there’s a REAL problem with it. It’s just that it feels kind of ugly and breakable by my almost-three year old son, where they other two aren’t. Like I said, this is a silly nit-pick, but that’s just part of my “snob” appeal. ;p
Are AeroPresses Good for Camping?
Yes. Unreservedly and without qualification.
The AeroPress has become our standard camp coffee maker because it’s a reliable workhorse. It is light enough that you forget it is in your pack.
- – It does not shatter if you drop it.
- – It needs no electricity, no pump, no proprietary cartridge — only hot water, which you have anyway.
- – It produces real coffee, not the brown liquid that comes out of a percolator left too long on a camp stove, and not the chemical approximation that comes from even the fanciest packet of instant coffee.
If you have been compromising on camp coffee — and most people have, because the options used to be bad — the AeroPress camping experience will feel like a revelation. It belongs outside in a way that most kitchen equipment does not. You brew with the same process as at home, which is part of what makes it so great. It is our go-to item in our camping coffee kit.
Boil your water and let it rest for thirty seconds or so off the heat — you want it around 200°F, which is just below a rolling boil. Put a filter in the cap. Add your preferred dose of ground coffee to the chamber, set it on your mug, and pour in your water. Stir with the included mixer (even the one I don’t like), then attach the “pusher” and let it sit a minute or two. Then press slowly and steadily. The whole brew takes about two minutes. Cleanup is one firm push of the plunger over a trash bag — the grounds come out as a puck and there is no real need to rinse. (Though I will say I often wipe it off.)
You can shop our full camping coffee kit here »
But Which AeroPress is Best for Camping?
In short, the AeroPress Go.
It was designed for exactly this kind of use and it shows in every detail. It is the most compact of the three, with a mug already part of the kit. Every component has a designated place, and nothing floats around loose in a pack. It makes one excellent cup and then collapses back beautifully. I don’t have a vision of an AeroPress camping equation where the Go does not win.
If you are camping with a group and need to brew for multiple people in sequence, you *might* find the Original is worth the extra bulk — it does hold more per brew and is just a bit bulkier. But for one person moving through the outdoors under their own power, the Go is certainly better.
To not speak ill of it, I do think I could justify the Go Plus for camping. Mostly for a slow-sipper who is mostly lounging around a camp site for the day, and probably drove to their camp site. The thermal mug that comes with the Go Plus is nice, and there is at least a little more thought about how all the components pack down than the original can claim.
Choosing Your AeroPress
If you only drink coffee at home, and you aren’t often mobile. Or if when you camp you are in a car with room to spare. Buy the original. It will outlast many other things in your kitchen.
If you camp, hike, or travel and are making coffee in a casual environment get the AeroPress Go. In my mind it is overall best of the three, and it was built for exactly for what its name says.
If you are camping with someone else, or especially if you love thermal mugs, go for the Go Plus.
Buy the one that fits your life though, not my Go bias.
A Final Note
Some people own all three. The original lives on the kitchen counter. The Go lives in the bag that goes everywhere. This is not excessive — it is just the right tool in the right place, which is how most things work when you pay attention.
A bad cup of coffee in a beautiful place is a small but real disappointment. These devices exist to prevent that. Buy the Go, take it outside, and make coffee worth drinking!
