Somewhat bewildered by the millions of Aeropress recipes on youtube, I’m wondering if daily users end up settling into a reliable, simple process that’s similar from person to person.
In particular, I note that my method (basically a french press) is vastly different from the one in the instructions which is ground much finer, uses less water, and starts dripping through the filter immediately.
Anyway, here’s me:
- 12g mild-roast (coarse ground a touch finer than most people would use for a french press, done with a C2)
- inverted
- one filter paper, not washed, but damp enough to stick
- fresh boiled water (so probs 95°+) 180g
- stir enough to break up the floaties
- push the plunger in far enough that the liquid is almost at the top before I put the filter on
- tip over and start plunging at 1:30, finish by 2:00
- into ~70g warmed milk
I’d love to hear yours.
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unpopular opinion. The beauty of the aeropress is it doesn’t matter.
I was like you when I first got my press. All the recipes were overwhelming and I worried entirely too much about figuring out my favorite. This was a barrier to what, to me, is the true beauty of the brewer.
- As an immersion brewer it is super forgiving. Give it anywhere from long enough way up to like 5-6min and it’s pretty much the same.
- Do you like flipping tubes of boiling water around? Then do inverted. Do you prefer to keep your skin? Do conventional and use the plunger to make a seal an hold the water in. They are the same.
- Do you want to brew concentrate and cut it or pour all the water through. Again are they a touch different? probably. Will I notice if I am not blind tasting 2 side by side cups? No
If what you enjoy is something you can constantly fiddle with, the aero press is great because the recipes are endless. BUT if what you want is a good cup of coffee, accept that this brewer makes it easy, travels well, doesn’t need a goose neck kettle or even a scale if you brew to the volume of a known mug.
lol - you are probably right, I’m over-thinking it. The coffee I drink every day now (with an acceptably small amount of fiddling around) is reliably excellent. Perhaps I don’t need to watch the Aeropress movie ;-)
15g, inverted, wet filter, hand grinder to between espresso and pour over grain size. No stir, water all at once, fast. Wait until grains start to fall +2mins, plunge.
Inverted brew method, very dark roast, fine grind, about 1.5 spoons (the one that came with the press), didn’t measure the weight. Fill with boiling water to the highest fill line, stir, let it settle for a minute. Stir again, wait another minute, put the cap on, set a cup on top, rotate the whole thing, and then slowly but firmly push the plunger down.
I’m guessing by the time I start pushing we’re at about the 2:10-2:15 mark. Press right through the hiss until completely dry (maybe 15 secs), open, knock the puck out, rinse the press under cold water.
By the time I’m done cleaning, the coffee temperature should have dropped a few degrees, so I can start sipping gently.
If you’re into Aeropress and want to experiment, check out the Aeromatic app. It has dozens of recipes and uses a timer to step you through them. You’ll need a scale. It also tries to account for the grind size you get from your particular model of grinder. I’m not sure how accurate its compensation is, but it should get you in the ballpark.
I’ll have to check out Aeromatic
One aeropress scoup of mostly Lairds functional focus blend.
Similar process I leave the preground coffee as is. No probe, do fresh boiling water, plus added metal filter with the paper filter.
Wait 10-20 mins for language to make sense again
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Can you clarify what you mean by “Watching for the bloom”? I’m an espresso boy, I don’t generally get to see what’s happening in the brew chamber, so I’m unfamiliar with what that term actually means. I’ve watched James’ videos pretty religiously, but it’s your comment that’s made me realise I don’t know what that actually means!
Bloom is the grounds offgassing carbon dioxide. The darker the roast, the greater the bloom. When you’re brewing in a filter or a French press you can watch the grounds bubble up and expand as the gas is released.
Perfect, that makes it clear thanks. Explains why I have to time it in the espresso
I follow this guide:
mine’s just about the same except i tend to push the grind size down as much as i can, up to the point it tips toward bitter. and that seems to depend significantly on the particular coffee itself, i expect both for flavor/roast reasons and for innate properties of the variety. i start around 20 on the encore and if thats tasting fine, go 2 clicks finer each time until it doesn’t, then back off by one. and it’s grind one or two clicks finer with an aged bag vs a fresh one.
