The Easiest/Best Manual Brewer is Here
The Aeropress. An amazing, cheap coffee invention from the inventor of the Aerobie frisbee (you read that right) – Alan Alder.
It may look more like a piece of illegitimate paraphernalia than a coffee maker, but it’s the incredible and unlikely heir to the coffeemaker throne of greatness.
Parents, let me do you a solid right here – If you buy one “pro” coffee making device, make it the aeropress. It’s the easiest, fastest, cheapest, and simplest way to an incredible cup of coffee – every time.
It takes very little practice to master and provides the quickest shortcut to the most amazing cups of coffee I’ve found.
Seriously – if all you want is a great cup of coffee, stop with this post. The aeropress gets you a consistently excellent cup of coffee.
Its not complicated. Its basically a tube that you put your coffee in. And it has a plunger to push the coffee out.
Really. That’s it.
Goodness comes out the other end.
But, How Do You Use It?
There’s a ton of ways to make an aeropress coffee – you can make coffee with the aeropress inverted (upside down – popular amongst baristas in pour over bars) or right side up.
However you brew it, make sure you are setting yourself up well with good beans and grind.
Because I know you don’t have a ton of time on your hands, here’s a quick and dirty recipe that will fast track you to delicousness.
Aerpress recipe
- Grind about 16-17 grams of beans medium-fine. Maybe a touch finer than what you would use for drip coffee.
- Heat your kettle to 205F. No thermometer? It’s shortly before a boil.
- Rinse your filter. Do I need to explain how to do that?
- Put your coffee in the aeropress and put the aeropress on your cup.
- Start a timer. I use my iphone.
- 0:00 – Pour in enough water to cover the beans and gently shake the aeropress. Let the beans “bloom” until your timer gets to 45 seconds.
- 0:45 – Start adding water slowly until it nearly fills the aeropress. This should take around 30-40 seconds.
- 1:20 – Put the plunger in the top and hold it. Let it sit for about 10-15 seconds.
- 1:30 – Start pushing down on the plunger – slowly. Watch the side of the aeropress. You want to stop just before you push a puff of air through your beans.
- 2:15 – You’re done! Time to clean up.
- Take off the end cap and push the spent beans out into the trash. Give the aeropress a quick wipe under hot water to clean.
Seriously – no finesse – just follow the steps and have great coffee every time!
It’s easy as riding a bike once you get it.
Lastly – don’t stick to this method just because I said so! Experiment, mess it up! Use your taste as a guide!
To thin? Brew longer, or use a finer grind.
Too strong? Shorten your brew time, or coarsen your gind.
Don’t love the flavour? Try a different bean! (I generally prefer lighter roasts)
There are other ways to get great coffee, but they’re more finicky and inconsistent. They can yield better results than the aeropress, but require way more work to master.
Want More Help?
Hit me up! I LOVE chatting coffee and I want to help YOU!
The aeropress is by far the most consistent and convenient coffee making method I’ve come across.
Ps. This post is not even sponsored by Aeropress. I just love using it!
