Few years ago in 2016, I was taking early morning flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia, Turkey. It was so early that only one shop that is open at the older Istanbul Atatürk Airport. It was selling limited selection of pastry and worse, only serve instant coffee brewed from fancy machine. Thankfull I have my Aeropress and Latina Sumbawa grinder. So I ordered a pastry, and asked for hot water, which they provide for free. The next few minutes I was fiddling with grinding coffee with Latina Sumbawa hand grinder, preparing my Aeropress, pouring the hot water, pressing into my enamel mug. Other people might look weirdly at what I am doing. They can think whatever they want, but I am enjoying the rest of my waiting time with fantastic, nice smelling, freshly brewed coffee.
Things might improve in new Istanbul Airport. But as you travel around the world, you will encounter similar situation where you are in postcard-perfect location with lousy coffee. or worse, in the post-pandemic culture where more and more people join the Digital Nomad, we work in a space where the best coffee available is instant coffee. This situation will impact your productivity, and your money making capability. Hence, ever since what happened in Istanbul, the Aeropress and Latina Sumbawa has been essential part of my travel gear.
The complete gear is shown in the picture above. At first, there are plenty of stuffs and might look complicated. But fear not, because it is actually quite simple to procure. The Stirrer, Filter Paper and Filter Holder come with the Aeropress. The Grinder and its handle come together. So, what is left is the enamel mug, and of course, your best coffee beans.
Over the years, I have added Spare Part for the grinder. That part is made from plastic, and hold the rotating part of the grinder against the stationary part. I was camping at Tana Kita, Sukabumi, when that part broke, and I was left with less than average coffee for the rest of the camping trip. Carrying the small part ensure that I can easily replace it in case the grinder broke.
The coolest part of it? All of those gears (including the coffee beans too) can go into a carrying pouch no bigger than your shoe bag. The bigger part of the gear is stackable. The Latina Sumbawa grinder will go nicely into the hole of the plunger. And if you reverse the Aeropress plunger into the body, the enamel mug and the filter holder will fit into the other end of the Aeropress. The other smaller part will just go here and there into the pouch.
So no more reason to have bad coffee anywhere. And if you need recommendation of coffee beans, follow @jivekitchen and @code.in.cup for coffee beans around the world that we drink.