AeroPress
A forgiving AeroPress recipe (15 g coffee, 200 g water, two minutes), step by step, with how to adjust it.
What it does well
The AeroPress steeps coffee like a French press, then pushes it through a paper filter with a plunger. The result is clean like a pour-over, with more body, and it's hard to get badly wrong: the steep time does most of the work, so pouring technique hardly matters.
It's small, nearly unbreakable and easy to clean, which makes it the usual pick for travel and the office. It suits almost any coffee.
Starting recipe
- Coffee
- 15 g, ground medium-fine, like for a pour-over.
- Water
- 200 g at 90 to 95 °C.
- Ratio
- About 1:13.
- Time
- 2 minutes of steeping, then about 30 seconds to press.
Step by step
- 1. Set up
- Put a paper filter in the cap, rinse it, and screw the cap onto the chamber. Stand the AeroPress on a sturdy mug.
- 2. Steep
- Add the coffee, start a timer and pour all 200 g of water. Put the plunger in about a centimeter, just enough to make a seal: it stops the coffee dripping through while it steeps.
- 3. Swirl
- At 2:00, lift the whole AeroPress and mug slightly and swirl gently, or remove the plunger and give it a quick stir, then put the plunger back.
- 4. Press
- Press down gently and steadily for about 30 seconds. Stop when you hear a hiss; pressing the last bit through adds bitterness.
Adjusting
Sour or thin: grind a little finer or steep longer. Bitter: grind coarser or use slightly cooler water. For a stronger cup, use 18 g of coffee, or brew a concentrate with less water and top it up with hot water after pressing. More in Ratio, grind and time.