I’ve had the pleasure of brewing my morning coffees with the AeroPress for quite some time now. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the AeroPress is the ease of use.
In this article, I will give you an AeroPress brewing guide, so you can easily jump into making coffee with the AeroPress when you decide to buy one yourself.
In the first part, I will show you how to brew your favorite coffees using the AeroPress. After that, I will give you some tips and tricks on how to brew your coffee the very best way I know how.
Don’t worry; this coffee brewing technique is the easiest of all the other brewing techniques. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and read away!
What is the AeroPress made of?
Mostly the parts of the AeroPress are made of hard plastic. This applies to all the coffee accessories, except for the paper coffee filters.
The AeroPress kit exists of two cylinders, the smaller cylinder, which fits inside the bigger cylinder with an airtight seal.
The first time opening the box was of the AeroPress was a bit overwhelming for me. There were lots of parts to this coffee brewer, and I didn’t know what to do with most of them. So I created a small list of accessories you are going to find inside the box, to help you get along with your new favorite coffee maker right away:
- Stirring wand
- Coffee scoop
- Coffee funnel
- Plastic filter
- Paper filters 350 pieces
- Basket for the paper filters
When unboxing your AeroPress, you will have everything at hand to start making delicious coffee right out of the box. The only thing missing is coffee beans.
You can use pre-ground coffee beans or grind your own coffee beans using a coffee grinder. The coffee grind size is very easy to achieve; read along to find out how.
If you want to buy an Aeropress as well, I suggest clicking here as this will bring you straight to Amazon. This is the same AeroPress that I bought, and it’s amazing.
AeroPress brewing guide
Now, let’s jump into the brewing guide for the AeroPress. For me, this is always the best part of writing an article. This way I can share my passion with you.
To really understand the brewing process of the AeroPress, I made a brewing guide to help you better understand the steps. Below, you will find the first 3 steps to correctly set up the AeroPress:
- Place your paper filter into the basket.
- Twist the filter cap onto the AeroPress cylinder.
- The filter should look like this when done right.
- Add one scoop of coffee into the cylinder (this equal to 17 grams of coffee)
- Place the coffee-filled cylinder on top of your favorite mug.
- Shake the AeroPress sideways a few times until the coffee bed is equally distributed.
- Pour water onto the ground coffee to initiate the bloom. The water should reach the 1 on the side of the AeroPress cylinder when using 17 grams of coffee.
- Stir through the coffee mixture for 10 seconds with the coffee wand.
- Place the cylinder with a vacuum seal on top of the other cylinder.
- Slowly press down, making sure that the AeroPress is safely on top of your mug.
- Once fully plunged, remove from your cup and press through. The coffee bed will now fall out.
- Clean the AeroPress and enjoy your coffee!
The first few times when I started brewing coffee with my AeroPress, I made multiple mistakes. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, here are a few quick facts:
- For the best extraction possible, use a fine/ medium coffee grind size. I will talk about this a bit further down.
- The water temperature should be between 80 and 85 °C (176 to 185 °F)
When reading along, you will find more information about the Aeropress, including the correct coffee grind size, recipe tips, and much more!
Which coffee grind size is right for the AeroPress?
Getting a good grind size is important for every coffee brewer out there. But which grind size is right for the AeroPress?
When brewing your first coffee using the AeroPress, I recommend using a fine/ medium grind size. Similar to a pour-over grind size you might use for the Chemex and/ or V60.
Make sure not to go too fine for this grind size. You don’t want espresso fine for this grind. It should still feel like there are a few bits and pieces in the ground coffee beans. This is what the grind size looks like that did the job for me:
While experimenting with the grind size myself, I must say that it is pretty hard to initially find the correct grind size. Try tasting between every grind size when finding which coffee grind works best for you. Don’t get discouraged when you can’t find the right grind size yet.
With the coffee grind size experiment I did, I went with a pretty coarse grind size to start with, similar to the French press’s grind size. The coffee tastes really weird because of under-extraction, and the water kept running through the coffee beans faster than I could pour the water in. Read my thoughts about it down below:
My coffee is dripping through the filter, what do I do?
When your coffee is dripping through your coffee beans and coffee filter before pressing on the plunger, you need to adjust your grinder to get a finer grind size. You are using a too coarsely grind size for this technique.
The AeroPress works by putting pressure on one end of the cylinder, and out goes your fresh brew of coffee. The finer your coffee beans are ground, the harder it is for the pressure to push through the cylinder, thus extracting more flavor from your coffee beans.
Now don’t think go overboard and go ultra-fine thinking this is the way to go, as this will result in a really sour cup of joe. Just remember the following:
- Go too fine, and you will over-extract your coffee.
- Go to coarse, and you will under-extract your coffee.
Don’t worry if you have felt like your coffee is either under or over-extracted. The fun part about brewing your coffee is that you can try over and over, to get that best cup of coffee you deserve!
If you want to know more about under and over- extracting your coffee, I made an article about the differences in grind size where I will talk about why it is so important to get the grind size right every time.
What is the brewing time for the AeroPress?
The easiest way to make coffee with the AeroPress will be to follow the brewing time of 10 seconds, which I talked about in the AeroPress brewing guide.
If you want to experiment with the brewing time, feel free to do so. For me, the 10-second brewing time works perfectly. This way, I can have a quick extraction, and the coffee pulled will be subtle in flavor.
Alternately, you can add 1 minute to your brewing time. You will add the extra brewing time before pushing down on the cylinders. Add the vacuum seal cylinder, and leave for 1 minute before pressing down.
This way, the coffee will brew for a longer period of time and give you an extended flavor profile. I will, however, suggest you experiment with different grind sizes and different coffee roasts to expand your coffee horizon.
What roast of coffee beans should I be using?
The coffee beans that I am most fond of when brewing with my AeroPress are medium roasted coffee beans. The medium roast on coffee beans gives you a nice complex yet vibrant coffee taste.
I have tried brewing with a darker roast of coffee, but the flavors were too punchy if you ask me. There tends to be a more burned coffee palate in darker roasts, which is just too much for the AeroPress.
The lighter roast, however, was not bad at all. Using a lighter roast will allow you to fully taste every flavor that the coffee beans offer. I just like my coffee beans to be roasted a bit further, to a medium roast. For me, this is the perfect balance in flavor.
I would suggest you try out different coffee beans and coffee roasts when using the AeroPress at home. This will give you a clearer understanding of what I am talking about, and this will also give you a better idea of which coffee roast suits you best.
Which coffees can I brew with an AeroPress?
The AeroPress has many options regarding coffee recipes you can try. I will note a few of my favorites down here that you can try out yourself:
- Americano
- Pumpkin spice latte
- Caffè Misto
- As an espresso itself, and many more coffee recipes where espresso is needed!
There are many ways that you can enjoy your coffee made with an AeroPress. Most of the time, I will make an Americano out of the espresso pressed from the AeroPress.
For the Americano, I add twice the amount of hot water to my AeroPress espresso. This means that when you have filled the AeroPress with water until the 1 on your AeroPress is filled up, you add 100 grams of water. Roughly 50 grams of coffee is pulled from an AeroPress filled to the first figure.
This will give your coffee a nice balance. Feel free to add more water to your AeroPress coffee if you feel like it’s too strong. Or use less water to enjoy the fuller flavor profile of your AeroPress coffee. It’s all about your own preference here.
Conclusion
I have been brewing more coffee with my AeroPress because it is just so easy to use. The best part about the AeroPress is how easy it is to clean. Simply remove the filter and rinse it off!
I mostly use an AeroPress to make a nice cup of coffee, as an alternative to espresso. The flavors are so equal, and there are so many coffee recipes out there that need a good strong cup of joe. I am still amazed by this great coffee brewer.
If you are interested in brewing some espressos using your AeroPress, you can check out the recipes that I’ve listed below. These recipes will have a great espresso as the basis, making these coffee drinks amazing.
What are your thoughts on the AeroPress? Let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any other questions regarding coffee, you can also contact me directly by pressing the “Contact Me” button at the top!
2 Comments
I am just beginning to experiment with different methods to brew a great cup of coffee. I enjoyed reading your detailed ways to use different brewers. I am also interested in finding a grinder to use that can help me get the exact grind for each brewer. Thanks for your help.
Hey Debra,
I’m glad to hear that you like reading the brewing guides!
I’ve written a great article with my recommended coffee gear, you can check it out here.
Over there, I’ve listed the coffee grinders that work well with your needs. In each brewing guide, I also talk about the right grind size, which you can follow to brew fantastic coffee.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, please let me know!
-Jeffrey