I'm not going to lie, I really thought this thing was going to be terrible.I mean, look at it. It looks like a "As Seen On TV" gadget that promises to change your life but in reality is practically useless. How could an object that looks like a horse insemination device somehow make anything close to a good cup of coffee? How could I trust something that hipsters use to make coffee using water filtered through a shoe while hiking in the mountains? I asked myself these difficult but fair questions one stormy evening while contemplating my current coffee situation.You see, I'd gone a little crazy over the past year with coffee stuff. First it was a nice espresso machine, but I quickly got tired of that due to all the work, prep, and cleanup required. Half of my shots came out great, the other half just meh. I wasted a lot of coffee making espresso, and most mornings I don't want to go to all that work. I then tried a Chemex, which produced good coffee, but was almost as much work as espresso. I even tried a nice automatic drip machine, which was easier, but the coffee quality suffered. I was about ready to order some bagged black tea and move to England to drown my sorrows.I had come across the Aeropress first when I started looking into Chemex, and I quickly disregarded it because it looks ridiculous. I watched a video of a guy making an Aeropress in the middle of a flight, and that's when I realized I didn't want anything to do with the device. I instead went down the Chemex route, which seemed like a proper way to make a cup of joe. A few months later, I found myself exploring other options, unsatisfied. Chemex is just so finicky, and you've gotta pour in circular patterns, blah blah blah. I just wanted an easy and good cup of coffee.I ordered the Aeropress mostly because it's so cheap that I could easily afford to buy it just to write a terrible review. "It's too easy!" I chuckled to myself while unpacking the device and reading the instructions. "It even says you don't need a burr grinder!" I happily made the coffee without measuring, weighing, or worrying about anything. I wanted the thing to fail, and fail miserably. I even used 200F water, which is way above what the instructions say to use. I couldn't believe that there was no waiting, no bloom period, no nothing. Just pour in the water, stir, and press.This went against everything I had taught myself with other coffee methods in my journey.My first cup from the Aeropress was...surprisingly decent. The same clean flavor was there, like when I made pour-over in the Chemex. There wasn't any bitterness or sourness. I had used a bit too much ground coffee, so it was strong, but I just added a little hot water to my cup and it tasted just fine. I was a little taken back. The stupid horse syringe had just made good coffee in seconds without me having to really worry about anything.Let me put this into perspective for you: I've NEVER had a first cup of coffee come out good when I first start using a new method. Never. Maybe I'm stupid, but most other methods are like a science experiment in your kitchen. Espresso took me a full pound of coffee until I got the grind and tamp right, and finally made a drinkable cup. Pour-over took a while to get the right grind and the right water temp. Even French Press wasn't great the first time I tried it. I had CHARTS on my wall so I knew the proper grind setting and brew time for each coffee that I used regularly, since they were all different. However, the Aeropress was totally drinkable the first try and I BARELY EVEN TRIED.On my second cup, I paid more attention. I measured out 18g of ground coffee, and filled it up to the 4 mark with around 210-220g of water. I stirred, and carefully plunged. It was better, and more than just drinkable, it was actually good. I became a believer. The horse syringe was looking like it might not go straight back to Amazon's warehouse.Jokes aside, I can tell a slight difference in quality between this and Chemex. I think Chemex makes a slightly more complex and more flavorful brew, but honestly I'm to the point in my life where I just drink an espresso if I want really, really good quality coffee. The maybe 4% discernible difference in flavor is not worth the hassle to me. Most of the time I just want a tasty cup to slug back and get through the evening. I think some of you will be able to understand that; sometimes you just want a good cup of coffee that's convenient so you can get back to what you were doing, not spend 40 minutes in the kitchen trying to make gourmet coffee to serve in china cups for the King of Scotland. The coffee tastes great and it's easy to make.Get the Aeropress if you like good coffee, but you just want to make a fast cup in the mornings. I also recommend this to coffee beginners, because it's dead simple and the easiest method to brew coffee if you're on a budget or just starting. I would probably also recommend it for camping, if I actually went camping, but I don't do that because I have a life and prefer not to sleep in the dirt.Before you get worried, don't think I'm sacrificing quality for convenience here. I actually put fairly expensive Guatemalan, Sumatran, and Kona coffee through the Aeropress with great results, and only very, very slight flavor differences between this and my Chemex. So it's not like this thing makes dirt water that's just super convenient or anything. It's good coffee and just a lot easier than other methods.