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AeroPress Brewing Guide: How to Make AeroPress Coffee

The portable and compact AeroPress is the perfect choice for brewing a smooth cup of coffee at home or on the road. The lightweight AeroPress is about the size of a soda can, and is ideal when you don’t have a scale to measure your beans or when you’re traveling and still want a quality cup of coffee on the road.

The AeroPress uses a total immersion brewing technique which allows for all of the coffee grounds to be extracted, delivering a delicious full flavor. Typical drip coffee techniques will slowly drip water on a bed of coffee grounds, and the coffee will usually be over-extracted from the center. With the AeroPress coffee method, you are drinking a smooth, full-bodied cup of coffee.

The recommended grind for the AeroPress is fine, like the texture of table salt. Since the AeroPress uses micro-filtration, unlike other press techniques, you are guaranteed a grit-free cup of coffee. The acid level in AeroPress coffee is considerably less than other brew methods, due to the shorter brew time. The overall brew time with the AeroPress is around 1 minute and 15 seconds.

Background
The AeroPress was invented by Alan Adler from the company Aerobie in 2005. Aerobie is also famous for inventing a “flying disc” that defeated the frisbee by breaking the Guiness World Records by flying 1,333 feet into the air! The AeroPress device itself is designed similar to a syringe, with two airtight tubes in which coffee is pushed through a paper or metal filter into a coffee cup, which creates a smooth, full-bodied cup of coffee with a higher concentration that partially resembles the concentration of an espresso.

Preparing to Brew
Before you begin the brewing process for the AeroPress, you will need these items:

Quality coffee (always important)
1 AeroPress Scoop (17 grams or 2 ½ TB of coffee)
AeroPress Brewer
AeroPress Filter
Stirring utensil
Grinder
Kettle
Timer

The Grind Level
To make AeroPress coffee, you can start by grinding approximately 17 grams of coffee with a coffee grinder, preferably with a fine grind setting. You can adjust the amount of coffee slightly based on your taste preferences and the roast level. Just remember, every gram counts!

After grinding the coffee, it should resemble table salt. For reference, the AeroPress scoop is equal to 17 grams of coffee. For the AeroPress coffee, we highly recommend either our Mexican Light roast or our Honduran Medium roast as two delicious options to use with the AeroPress.

The Process
You can start by heating a kettle of water to the boiling point. For our illustrative purposes, we utilized a JetBoil to demonstrate how you can heat water and make AeroPress coffee even when you’re on the road, camping, etc. While the Jetboil or kettle is heating, prepare the next few steps of the AeroPress below. Once the kettle of water starts boiling, let it cool for 30 seconds. At this point, it will reach roughly 205 degrees, which is the temperature we want to use for the AeroPress brewing method.

To prepare the AeroPress itself, place the filter in the basket and pre-heat the filter by pouring hot water over it. This helps prepare the filter for brewing and eliminates any unwanted paper particles or paper flavor from the brew.

Next, affix the basket to the bottom of the brew chamber and place the AeroPress on top of your mug. Then, add coffee grounds to the AeroPress. If it helps, use the coffee loader that comes with the AeroPress to funnel the grounds into the AeroPress.

As you get ready to pour your hot water into the AeroPress chamber, have your timer ready to go. Start the timer as soon as you start pouring your hot water into the AeroPress. Make sure to soak all of the grounds within 10 seconds. You may need to tilt the AeroPress to get all of the grounds wet. Pour water to right above the No. 4 mark on the AeroPress. After all of the grounds are wet, stir the grounds and water mixture with your paddle or spoon.

Next, place the plunger on the brew chamber. Pull up slightly to create pressure, but do not push down on the plunge yet.

When your timer reaches 1:15, lift the plunger off and stir the mixture again. Replace the plunger and slowly press down until you hear a hissing sound.

You can now enjoy your freshly brewed coffee! This AeroPress brewing method will yield around 7-8 ounces of smooth, delicious brewed coffee.

The Cleanup
Cleaning the AeroPress is easy! Just pop off the basket containing the grounds and filter and throw away the coffee puck. Simply rinse the basket, the plunge, and the inside of the chamber with hot water to get rid of the excess oil from the coffee beans.