When you were initially developing the Aeropress, did you have a brewing method (Clover, Chemex, etc) that you considered the reference or the current gold standard by which you compared the various iterations? – From Danny T.

I did compare against Chemex and cone filter pourover. They required 4 to 5 minutes drip time which resulted in more bitterness than AeroPress. The Clover was developed after the AeroPress but we had a "tasteoff" with judges against it at the Intelligentsia booth at the SCAA convention in Charlotte. The result was nearly a tie.