When the Aerobie AeroPress was first introduced in 2005, and became one of the hottest forum topics in the old CoffeeGeek forums, one of the most common requests put towards the inventor, Alan Adler, was for a larger version of the AeroPress.
Adler always resisted. He felt the 250ml brewing max size of the AeroPress was ideal. He rarely brewed that much coffee in it himself, preferring a shorter, more concentrated amount, something the AeroPress was more than capable of delivering.
For years, requests continued to be made in the longest thread ever to exist in CoffeeGeek’s old forums. Some just wanted a 350ml version of the AeroPress. Some wanted double the size. Even a few wanted an AeroPress that could brew a liter of coffee at a time (that’s just silly, IMO).
Nearly 20 years after Adler started tinkering with a coffee tube device that would become the AeroPress, the company, now owned by Tiny Capital (Adler is still a minority owner) acquiesced and is rolling out the AeroPress XL Model.
Double the capacity of the original AeroPress. Same silhouette, but everything’s bigger. The price is bigger too, at $79.95 MSRP (it could be less once it gets out to regular retail channels beyond REI and AeroPress direct). Still made in the US of A!
Let’s get into the new AeroPress XL a bit more, keeping in mind this is just an introduction post, not a review (that’s coming).
The New AeroPress XL
In a nutshell, the AeroPress XL is roughly 90% identical to the original and current AeroPress, except, a) everything is bigger, b) it features new branding and an updated logo, and c) there’s a design change to the piston portion of the brewer (I’ll get to that). Plus the plastic is a darker grey polypropylene material – the same kind of plastic used in the standard AeroPress, but darker (the new Clear model uses Tritan copolyester).
Here’s how the box looks next to the standard and clear boxes. It’s actually not that much bigger, all things considered, and is close to the original box size when the AeroPress shipped with a funnel and filter paper holder.
Here’s how the AeroPress XL looks next to the standard AeroPress.
The apparent max capacity of the AeroPress XL is 500ml, but it can stretch to about 550ml if you dare to do the inverted brewing method. It can be used as a nobypass brewer (indeed, it’s well suited for this trendy brewing method), which makes the capacity pretty much unlimited.
Inside the box, you get 100 filters (larger size than original AeroPress), the recognizable Aeropress paddle stirrer, and a coffee scoop. You also get a new half liter carafe that is designed to work with the XL model (but will also do fine with a standard AeroPress).
This is the second AeroPress to ship with a carafe or drinking vessel – the AeroPress Go is the first – and it is made out of the same clear shatterproof Tritan copolyester plastic that the Aeropress Clear is. It is hexagonal shaped, has a pour spout, and has an etched version of the new AeroPress logo on one side. Its capacity is about 600ml, but really only 500ml if you use the AeroPress XL with it, since the brewer’s filter area sits inside the carafe somewhat.
Everything’s Bigger
Everything about this brewer is bigger, which means most of your legacy AeroPress accessories and doo-dads won’t work with the XL.
- The diameter of the brewing tube is bigger
- The length of the brewing tube is bigger
- The filter paper is bigger
- The filter cap (and where it screws into the brewing tube) is bigger
- The inner diameter of the piston tube is bigger (your Aergrind will wobble around inside).
If you stocked up on a 1,000 AeroPress paper filters, they won’t work with this model; you gotta buy some more. Your nifty Aliexpress AeroPress display stand or leather grip won’t work with this model. If you have aftermarket metal filters for the AeroPress, they will not work in the XL model.
Depending on the popularity of the XL, look for companies like Able and others to start making their XL sized metal filters soon.
The Branding
With this model, AeroPress has updated the look of their logo and the branding on their box. I quite like the new logo style, with the sans-serif choice, rounded ends of the letters and the switch to capitalized / lower case. It looks a lot more modern.
The updated branding is everywhere on the XL: the brewer itself, the embossing on the bottom of the brewer, on the Tritan plastic carafe, and even on the stirring paddle.
The box also gets good branding updates that make it more professional looking and more informative as well.
Piston Design Change
Though this is not a review. That said, I did want to point out something I noticed right away with the AeroPress XL. The piston – that is the part you push down into the main brewing chamber, with the rubber plunger attached – is different in other ways than size from older AeroPress models, and the current AeroPress Clear. There are no guide ribs on the side of it. I should note the latest version of the standard AeroPress also has no ribs on the piston tube, something I only noticed recently.
These guide ribs keep the standard AeroPress piston stable when you plunge down on it. I’ve brewed only 6 times so far with the AeroPress XL (twice as inverted, because I’m nuts), and I noted it is more wobbly and can canter from side to side a bit when plunging down. It’s not enough to break the seal inside.
But given this brewing device is much larger, I don’t know why they would remove the ribs. I’ll find out for the review.
The Expanding AeroPress Lineup
With the launch of the XL, AeroPress now has four models of their brewer, as well as a few accessories, including the metal filter and the flow control cap.
The four models include the AeroPress Go, the standard AeroPress, the AeroPress XL, and the AeroPress Clear.
There’s still one more in the pipeline to come: the AeroPress Premium.
It’s Here – is it Worth It?
So after nearly 20 years of people begging for an AeroPress Extra Large, we finally have one. At $80, it is nearly 3x more expensive than the original AeroPress in 2005. It is twice the price of the current AeroPress standard, though it does come with the Tritan 500ml carafe.
As for whether it’s worth it or not, I will cover that in the forthcoming review and offer an opinion. But given that $30 in 2005 is nearly $50 in purchasing power today, it’s not a major jump in price to get twice the brewer.
One thing I haven’t seen much mention of yet (especially not from AeroPress themselves): the AeroPress XL lends itself to nobypass flow through brewing, better than the standard models. This is because the overall brewing chamber diameter is larger. People are spending $50 to $150 on dedicated nobypass brewers. With the XL, you get a pretty decent one (albeit with very tall side walls, and the semi opaque dark plastic makes it harder to see the brewing action).
That, too, adds some value to the AeroPress XL.
Mark has certified as a Canadian, USA, and World Barista Championship Judge in both sensory and technical fields, as well as working as an instructor in coffee and espresso training. He started CoffeeGeek in 2001.
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Mark Princehttps://coffeegeek.com/author/markprince/
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Mark Princehttps://coffeegeek.com/author/markprince/
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Mark Princehttps://coffeegeek.com/author/markprince/
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Mark Princehttps://coffeegeek.com/author/markprince/
8 Responses
Hola! For an “initial take” you most assuredly provide a wealth of information and background, Mark! Appreciate the insight you bring to most of your product reviews and look sees. I didn’t know aeropress was bought by an investment company; now i do.
It makes sense now why they are coming out with new products. I like that they still make the brewers in the United States. i think I might pick one of these up, to do double duty as a larger aeropress but also to dive into the no bypass brewing I keep reading about.
Thanks for the comment Cory!
Two of my writers are working on some nobypass content for this summer; we’re doing an intro to the brewing method, reviewing a few items, including this new AeroPress XL as a nobypass brewer, and hopefully will have some good insight to share about this trendy brewing method.
Once an appropriate sized metal filter is released for the XL, how would you recommend sizing up your Clover-style Aeropress recipe for the larger model?
That’s a good question, and I don’t know for sure. The Clover itself was designed to do 300-500ml brews, and it seemed to scale up or down within that range more or less the same. I will have to try and experiment with the AeroPress XL to see how the Clover clone recipe works.
Thank you for a very informed first take on the aeropress xl. It is important that we have independent, no-affiliation reviews out there, which is why I rely on your website for information when I am shopping for gear. So many reviews online today are by companies that sell the product they are reviewing.
A quick question. are the missing vanes really that important? is it possible they made the diameter of the plunger tube bigger to compensate?
Hi Keilan
That’s a good question and i will make sure to measure the diameter of the latest standard AeroPress plunger tube vs the older models (and clear model) that have the vanes, for the more detailed review of this device.
In my use so far, I noticed that the plunger can skew side to side a bit, especially at the start of the “plunge” down, with the XL. it’s not enough to dislodge the rubber gasket seal / pusher thing, which also canters a bit on the plastic plunger. But the side to side movement of the plunger near full extension as you’re pushing down on this device could possibly lead to you sending everything flying across the table if you aren’t paying attention. Just speculation at this point though. I think I’ll do some testing with water in the XL to see if this is a concern.
Isn’t it Hendrick, no “s”?
You mean Lance? He’s not mentioned in this article.