Have you seen someone brew coffee using an AeroPress before? The first time I saw the brewing process of this coffee brewer, I thought, how can this thing produce coffee?
Do you want to know how to brew coffee with it? Then you are in luck, in this article I will tell you exactly how to do so. But that’s not all…
In the first part of this article, I will go over everything you need to know about the AeroPress, and I will go over a list of equipment you’ll need before starting with the brewing part of this article.
Does that sound like something you are interested in? Then read along and find out all about it!
What is an Aeropress
The AeroPress is a coffee brewer that uses pressure to force water through a filter to make coffee. This coffee brewer is amazing to brew one cup of coffee.
It can produce espresso-like coffee, but also a bigger cup of coffee if you feel like it. It’s so versatile.
The AeroPress is a device for brewing coffee. It was invented in 2005 by Aerobie president Alan Adler.
Wikipedia
The AeroPress has just recently been invented, if you compare this to the Chemex for example, which was invented almost a decade ago.
Let me tell you a bit more about what kind of coffee this amazing coffee brewer can make, and go over everything you need to know before getting started on the brewing part of this article:
What kind of coffee does an AeroPress make?
The AeroPress can make two different kinds of coffee. It can create an espresso-like coffee and a big ol’ cup of coffee. The difference between these coffees is the amount of water added.
The instructions included in the AeroPress box tells you there’s only one way of making coffee with the AeroPress.
These instructions make the espresso-like coffee, but what if you want a bigger cup of coffee? You can easily make this by adding more ground coffee and water to the coffee brewer.
Equipment list AeroPress
Before starting on the brewing part of this article, I want to make sure you are prepared to brew some delicious coffee. Down below I’ve got a list of equipment you need to get started:
- The AeroPress itself
- Filters
- Coffee beans
- Coffee grinder
- Scale
- Stirring wand
- Your favorite cup to place the coffee brewer on
When purchasing the AeroPress, you’ll get an all-in-one package with all the stuff you need. This will include the following equipment:
- AeroPress
- Stirring wand
- Coffee scoop
- Coffee funnel
- Plastic filter cap
- Paper filters 350 pieces
- Basket for the paper filters
Having every piece of included equipment looks like this:
Having all this stuff included is great, as it will help make the brewing process more straightforward. If you are still looking to buy an AeroPress, you can check it out here.
I have ordered the same one, and it’s great in use; you’ll see it in work in the brewing guide a bit further down.
The best coffee beans for AeroPress coffee
What coffee beans you will use determine the taste of your cup of coffee. So it’s essential to grab coffee beans that you enjoy. If you haven’t decided on which coffee beans you will use, I suggest brewing with a medium roasted coffee bean from Ethiopia.
This coffee bean will give you a flowery, caramel tasting kind of coffee, with just the right amount of punch from the coffee roast.
Although a medium roast works very well, dark roasted coffee beans are excellent as well. I’ve been brewing coffee for quite a long time now, and every time I use a dark roasted coffee bean for the brewing of AeroPress coffee, it amazes me.
So it really just depends on what flavors you like to taste in your coffee.
- Do you like sweeter notes in your coffee? Stick with a medium roasted coffee
- Are you a fan of strong coffee? Try a dark roasted coffee bean for your AeroPress coffee
After you’ve chosen a coffee bean, you are going to need to determine whether or not you want to grind your coffee beans at home.
Should you grind your coffee beans?
If you want the best coffee possible, you will need to grind the coffee beans yourself. To do so, pick up the coffee beans of your choice in the whole bean variant.
I suggest going for a fine to medium grind size for the brewing of this coffee. This grind size will work the best.
Before I started brewing coffee with the AeroPress, I tested the grind size a lot and found out that the fine to medium grind size makes the best coffee.
- When you grind too coarse, the water will steep through the coffee too fast
- When you grind your coffee too fine, you will need to apply a lot of pressure on the cylinders
The fine to medium grind size looks like this:
As you can see from the photo above, the grind size looks pretty fine. However, there is still some structure in there. You can feel it between your fingers; it’s almost like a fine sea salt feeling.
If you are still unsure whether to grind your coffee beans at home, you can ask your local coffee roaster to help you out.
They will be more than happy to grind the coffee beans for you. You just have to ask to grind them into a pour over grind size.
This works great if you are just starting out grinding coffee at home as well. You can look at the structure of the coffee and adjust your grind size to it.
AeroPress coffee to water ratio
The amount of coffee and water you are going to use depends on the amount of coffee you would like to make.
For the easiest brewing methods, which I’ve listed below I use 17 grams of coffee to 50 ml of water. The 17 grams of coffee is the exact amount that goes in one coffee scoop:
| Amount of water needed | Amount of coffee needed |
| 50 ml | 17 grams of coffee |
You can always add more if you feel like the coffee isn’t strong enough, or you just want to brew more coffee at once. I would recommend trying out this coffee to water ratio for the first time brewing.
If you feel like the coffee to water ratio isn’t for you, please switch it up to the amount you do like. Your Dream Coffee is all about discovering coffee the way you like it.
Anyhow, in the brewing guide down below, I’m using the coffee to water ratio as mentioned above. This will brew me an amazing espresso-like coffee. Let’s jump into the step-by-step guide:
How to brew coffee with an AeroPress
Now for the brewing guide. Do you have everything to start? Let’s get into it. Down below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide on how to brew coffee with an AeroPress. I have included photos along each step so you can follow along as best as possible.
1. Grind your coffee beans to the grind, as mentioned earlier, and boil your water using a kettle. If you are using pre-ground coffee, you can skip the step of grinding your coffee beans and directly put the kettle on.
2. Now, add a filter into the filter cap of the AeroPress:
3. Twist the filter cap on the cylinder’s outer end and make sure this is secure:
4. Place the cylinder on your cup and add ground coffee using the funnel. Shake the cylinder to the sides a few times, this is to make sure that the coffee bed is nice and even:
5. Once the water has come to a boil, leave it on your kitchen table for 30 seconds to cool off just a bit. Then, pour all of the water into the cylinder on top of the ground coffee.
6. Grab the stirring wand and start stirring for 10 seconds. This will bloom the coffee and make sure every piece of ground coffee is thoroughly wetted.
7. After the 10 seconds have passed, remove the stirring wand from the cylinder and place the second cylinder on the coffee-filled cylinder.
8. Here comes the tricky part, you are now going to apply pressure to the top cylinder and slowly press it down towards the ground coffee. This will take a bit of strength. Make sure you are pressing directly down and keeping the brewer steady as you go:
9. When you hear a hissing sound, stop pressing down on the cylinder and remove the entire coffee brewer from your cup:
10. Now, all that is left is enjoying your coffee. Don’t forget to clean your equipment. Read along to find out how to do so the proper way.
How to clean an AeroPress
After you have finished brewing your coffee, the first step is leaving the AeroPress to cool down a tiny bit. Leave the coffee brewer in the sink for at least a minute before moving on to the next steps. This is because the coffee brewer can still be quite hot.
1. Twist the filter cap apart from the bottom part.
2. Now, push the cylinder all the way through. The coffee puck will shoot out the other side, and you are left with only the cylinders and the filter cap.
3. Slowly pull apart the cylinder and rinse the top cylinder with running hot water.
4. Also, rinse off the other cylinder and the filter cap as well.
5. Leave the parts to dry on a clean kitchen towel and dry them off completely.
6. For ultimate longevity, press the cylinders into each other when storing them. This will prevent the vacuum seal from breaking off in the long term.
I usually just rinse the AeroPress after each use; however, once a week or when I use it a bit more often in the week, I clean it with some green soap.
You will know when to clean your AeroPress more thoroughly when the cylinders’ insides get a bit oily from the coffee beans.
If you cannot get rid of the coffee stains on the inside of the cylinders, or you want to find out how to clean the coffee brewer by using different methods. I suggest you click here to find out all about the 4 ways to clean an AeroPress.
Conclusion
This coffee brewer must be one of the easiest ones to brew coffee with. The AeroPress can produce a great cup of coffee in no more than 30 seconds at most.
This article shows you how to brew coffee with the AeroPress, what coffee beans to use, and I gave you various cleaning tips.
I hope that I’ve given you all the information you need to start brewing Your Dream Coffee at home! If you want to learn more about brewing coffee at home, you can check out down below.
Will you be brewing some coffee with the AeroPress soon? 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!
