Aeropress Brewing Guide
The Aeropress may have been slow to get noticed — after all, it was invented in 2005, but today, it is one of the most widely used methods of brewing coffee among baristas and casual coffee drinkers.
To help you get the most out of your Aeropress, we've decided to create this definitive guide with some tips to improve its taste.
Brewing coffee with it is not complicated, but to make really good coffee you need a lot more than just the basics!
Brewing coffee with the Aeropress
Seeking to achieve a coffee as close as possible to one made in an espresso machine, baristas devised a method that is known today as the inverted method. Normally, the Aeropress is placed on top of the coffee cup, but by doing it this way, a small portion of the water used falls directly into the cup before pressing the plunger, diluting your coffee. Using the inverted method, this problem does not exist.
The Brew
Aeropress coffee isn’t really like any other; it exists in a place separate from most others. In the words of many baristas, the Aeropress has the best of many brewing methods: the balance of the Hario V60, the strength and aroma of the espresso, and so on.
In general, Aeropress coffee is quite balanced and much more flavorful than you would expect for coffee brewed using a paper filter.
Inverted method
- What you’ll need:
- Aeropress
- Scale
- Hot water (92ºC)
- Timer
- Dosing and brew time: 18 grams/1:30
Instructions:
1. Turn your Aeropress upside down and place the plunger inside the brewing chamber.
2. Weigh out 18 grams of ground coffee and pour it into the chamber.
3. Pour in enough hot water to completely submerge the coffee.
4. Stir the coffee for 10 seconds using your Aeropress stirrer or a spoon.
5. For a mild coffee, let it sit for one minute. If you want it strong, wait two minutes. In this recipe, we will let it steep for a minute and a half.
6. Pour in the rest of the water, place the filter and the lid, and wait 30 seconds before pressing the plunger.
7. Place an inverted cup on top of your Aeropress. Quickly turn the cup and the Aeropress upside down at the same time. Press the plunger.
8. Within 30 seconds you should have fully depressed the plunger.
9. The inverted method provides a fuller-bodied cup of coffee and less chance of under-extraction.
Tips for Improving your Aeropress Coffee
#1 Experiment
Sometimes, no matter what method you use, your coffee will turn out bitter... But what causes it? The grind. Many times, too fine a grind is used, ideal for an espresso machine (with a brewing time of fewer than 20 seconds), but too fine for other methods that require more time. Of course, it will turn out bitter!
The recipes you will see below have been taken from the best competitors of the World Aeropress Championship, brewed with the inverted method and different types of grinds ranging from the finest (1) to the coarsest (10):
Xiabo Zhang (China)
Grind: 10/10
Coffee: 31 g (30 g of coarse grind and 1 g of espresso grind)
Water: 220 g
Preparation time: 1:15
Yusuke Narisawa (Japan)
Grind: 9/10
Coffee: 29.5 g (28 g coarse grind and 1.5 g fine grind as powder)
Water: 245 g
Preparation time: 1:50
Taking these recipes as inspiration, you can experiment with varying amounts of water and coffee, different types of coffee and longer or shorter brewing times.
#2 Be careful with the temperature!
Temperature makes the difference between good coffee and not so good coffee. There are many temperature changes during and after brewing, changes that affect our coffee in different ways and, when it doesn't turn out as expected, we blame ourselves, the coffee or the brewing method.
The really problematic temperature changes occur when we grind the coffee beans just before brewing, particularly when using manual grinders. The grinding wheels of manual grinders tend to overheat easily, exposing the coffee beans to high temperatures that cause the coffee to become bitter even before we start brewing.
How to fix it:
Always cool the coffee beans before grinding them. Put them in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes and you will notice how this simple tip will make your coffee richer and more aromatic.
Now you are ready to prepare better coffee in your Aeropress, good luck and have fun experimenting!
