AEROPRESS

Brewing with the AeroPress

The AeroPress might look like a strange science experiment, but it’s one of the fastest, easiest, and most versatile ways to make a brilliant cup of coffee. It combines immersion (like a plunger) with pressure (pushed by you) to create a brew that's rich and full-bodied but also incredibly clean and smooth, with almost no bitterness.

It's the perfect brewer for at home, in the office, or even camping. This guide will walk you through a classic, simple recipe to get you started.

What You'll Need (The Essentials)

AeroPress Brewer: Including the chamber, plunger, filter cap, and stirrer.
AeroPress Paper Filters: One per brew.
A Good Burr Grinder: Essential for getting the right consistency.
Digital Scales: For accurate and repeatable results.
Kettle: To boil your water.
Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans: The AeroPress is great with all kinds of roasts.
Timer: Your phone's stopwatch is perfect.
A Sturdy Mug: Make sure it's strong enough to press down on!

The AeroPress Recipe: Your Starting Point

This recipe will make a single, standard-sized mug of coffee.

Ratio (IN/OUT): 15 grams of coffee to 250 grams (250ml) of water.
Grind: Medium-fine. Think table salt. It should be finer than you'd use for a plunger, but not as fine as espresso.
Total Brew Time: Aim for around 2 minutes.

The Step-by-Step Brewing Guide

Step 1: Prepare Your Station

Place a paper filter into the black filter cap. Twist the cap onto the bottom of the AeroPress brewing chamber. Stand the AeroPress directly on top of your sturdy mug, and place the whole setup on your digital scales. Boil your kettle. Pour a little hot water through to rinse the paper filter and pre-heat your mug. Tip this water out before starting.

Step 2: Weigh and Grind

Weigh out 15 grams of whole coffee beans. Grind them to a medium-fine setting. Add the ground coffee into the AeroPress chamber and give it a gentle shake to level the bed. Tare your scales to zero.

Step 3: Start Brewing and Steeping

Take your kettle just off the boil (wait about 60 seconds).
Start your timer and pour in all 250 grams of water, making sure to wet all the grounds.
Give the coffee and water a good stir for about 10 seconds, right down to the bottom.
Insert the plunger just into the top of the chamber, at an angle. This creates a vacuum and stops the coffee from dripping through too early.

Step 4: The Press

When your timer hits 1 minute and 30 seconds, remove the plunger, give the coffee one final, gentle stir, and then re-insert the plunger. Now, press down slowly and steadily. This should be a gentle press, taking about 30 seconds.

The most important tip: Stop pressing as soon as you hear a hissing sound. This hiss means there's no more water to push through, and pushing further will only force air and bitter compounds into your cup.

Step 5: Clean Up and Enjoy

That's it! Your coffee is ready to drink. The best part about the AeroPress is the cleanup: just unscrew the cap over a bin or compost and push the plunger all the way through to pop out a neat puck of coffee grounds. Give it a quick rinse, and you're done.

Taste and Troubleshoot

The AeroPress is very forgiving, but if your coffee isn't tasting quite right, you have two easy tools to fix it: grind size and steep time. We'll focus on grind size first.

The Golden Rule: Only change one thing at a time!

Is the coffee BITTER or harsh?
It means: Your coffee is over-extracted.
The Fix: Make your grind COARSER. Alternatively, you could shorten your steep time (e.g., start plunging at 1 minute instead of 1:30).
Is the coffee SOUR, thin, or watery?
It means: Your coffee is under-extracted.
The Fix: Make your grind FINER. Alternatively, you could increase your steep time (e.g., start plunging at 2 minutes).

The AeroPress invites experimentation, so once you've mastered this basic recipe, feel free to play with different ratios, times, and even the famous "inverted" (upside-down) method. Enjoy the journey