What is the AeroPress Clear?
The Original rebuilt in Tritan, so you can watch the brew, in clear or six colours, for $49.95.
This is not a different brewer. It is the same 10 oz chamber, the same 133 by 107 mm footprint, the same paper micro-filter and the same two-minute method, moulded in Tritan instead of polypropylene.
Immersion then pressure: coffee steeps in a sealed tube and is pushed through a paper micro-filter by hand. That is a French press without the grit and a filter brew without the wait.
The colours are the visible half of the change: clear, black, blue, green, pink, purple and red. The other half is the material, which is harder, clearer and rated for the dishwasher without the top-rack qualifier the Original carries. AeroPress say made in USA and add their own note that some products are manufactured overseas, which is more candour than most brands offer.
AeroPress Clear what it is like to use
The same cup as the Original, because it is the same brewer.
Nothing about the extraction changes with the plastic. 10 oz steeps for under two minutes and is pressed through a paper micro-filter, which gives a cup with the body of a press and the clarity of a filter brew, and no grit in the bottom.
What being able to see through it changes is learning. A first-time user can watch the water level, see the bloom, and see when the puck is compressed, which on the opaque Original are all things you infer. That is worth more to a beginner than to somebody who has made a thousand cups.
As with the rest of the range, the maker's espresso framing overstates it. Hand pressure is far short of the nine bars espresso means.
What you can brew with it
One cup at a time, hot or cold, and the same recipes as the Original.
Every AeroPress recipe works here unchanged, because the dimensions are identical: standard, inverted, cold brew in the tube, concentrate over ice. Filters, caps and the flow control accessories are all the standard size.
10 oz remains the ceiling. The Clear XL is the same idea at 20 oz for $89.95 if that is the limit you keep hitting.
Living with it, day to day
Two minutes to brew and clean, four parts, and the full dishwasher rating.
The puck ejects dry and the chamber rinses in seconds, which is the AeroPress's best habit and is unchanged here.
The one specification that genuinely differs from the Original is the dishwasher rating: AeroPress list this one as dishwasher safe without qualification, where the Original and the XL both say top rack only. On a brewer that gets used daily that is a small convenience that adds up.
Tritan is harder than polypropylene and holds its clarity rather than clouding, which is the point of choosing it for a see-through body. Paper micro-filters are pennies and a stainless steel filter is sold separately for anyone who wants the oils through.
AeroPress Clear vs AeroPress Go Travel Coffee Press
Against the Original at $39.95, ten dollars buys Tritan, visibility, colour and a better dishwasher rating.
Identical capacity, identical size, identical brew. Whether the ten dollars is worth it comes down to whether you want to watch the coffee and whether the top-rack qualifier bothers you.
Against the Clear XL at $89.95, that is this in 20 oz with a carafe. Against the Go at $49.95, that is the travel build with a tumbler and a lid, at the same price as this.
Against a glass brewer of any kind, the argument is simply that this cannot break. A see-through body that survives a dropped bag is not a combination glass offers.
Is the AeroPress Clear worth it?
$49.95, a 25 percent premium on the Original for material, colour and a dishwasher rating.
Ten dollars is not nothing on a $40 brewer, and it buys nothing that changes the coffee. That is the honest framing: this is the Original with a better body.
The counter-argument is that Tritan is genuinely the better plastic, that being able to see the brew shortens the learning curve, and that a brewer bought once and used daily for years is a thing worth liking the look of.
At the same $49.95 the Go gives you a tumbler and a lid instead of the colours and the clarity. Which of those is worth more depends entirely on whether it leaves the kitchen.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Right for a beginner, and for anyone who wants the brewer to look like something; wrong if the coffee is all that matters.
Buy it if you are new to the method and want to see what is happening, if you want a colour, or if you want the tougher plastic and the unqualified dishwasher rating. It is the nicest object in the range at a sane price.
Take the Original if you want the same coffee for ten dollars less and do not care what it looks like under the counter. Take the Go if it travels, or the XL if 10 oz keeps running out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AeroPress Clear?
The AeroPress Original made from Tritan instead of polypropylene: the same 10 oz capacity, the same 133 by 107 mm size and the same two-minute brew, in a shatterproof body you can see through. It is $49.95 and comes in clear plus six colours.
Is the Clear worth ten dollars more than the Original?
It buys nothing that changes the coffee. What it buys is Tritan rather than polypropylene, the ability to watch the brew, a choice of seven colours, and a dishwasher rating without the top-rack qualifier the Original carries.
What colours does the AeroPress Clear come in?
Seven: clear, black, blue, green, pink, purple and red, all at the same $49.95. The clear version is the one that shows the brew best; the colours are tinted rather than opaque.
Is Tritan better than polypropylene?
For this job, yes. Tritan is harder, holds its clarity instead of clouding with use, and is what makes a see-through body practical. Both are BPA free, and both are effectively unbreakable compared with glass.
Does the Clear use the same filters as the Original?
Yes. It is the same standard size, so paper micro-filters, the stainless steel filter and the flow control caps all interchange. Only the XL models take a different, larger and dearer filter.
AeroPress Clear or AeroPress Go?
Both are $49.95 and both hold 10 oz. The Clear gives you Tritan, seven colours and a see-through body for the kitchen. The Go gives you a tumbler with a built-in filter holder and a lid, for a rucksack. It is a question of where it lives.
