Top 3 Aeropress Methods
Here are the finalists’ Aeropress methods, all very different and all producing unique styles of brew. Generally, Alex’s brews had an intense fruit character with a heavy winey body. Ben’s however, showed transparency with crisp; citric acidity and floral notes. Lukasz delivered an extremely rounded and balanced cup.
All 3 methods are taken word for word according to their submitted technique to the judges.
Alex’s Method
Do a ‘blind’ press with boiling water to soak the paper filter.
Pour 20 grams of filter ground coffee in to the main Aeropress chamber.
Pour boiling water to “1” mark on the inner tube and wait for 5 seconds.
Pour water from the inner tube into the main chamber. Circulate water and grounds with a jug underneath, ensuring grounds are wet.
Fill water from boiler up to “3” mark on the inner tube.
30 seconds after pouring the first water in, pour in the contents of the inner tube into the main chamber. Then press firmly until the brewed coffee is extracted into the jug, but stop just before the ‘pppffssstt’ sound.
Serve.
Ben’s Method
Begin by boiling freshly filtered tap water.
Invert your aeropress.
Apply a paper filter and run it under the tap until its rinsed.
Fill your inverted aeropress with boiling water, apply the filter, flip and press the boiling water through the filter to ensure there is absolutely no paper taste and to heat up the system.
Once again, invert your aeropress. The plunger should be about 1cm from the bottom.
Grind off your coffee, slightly finer than filter grind (Should be 14g by weight) and put it into your cup or glass. Keep this handy.
Bring your water to a rolling boil.
Put your inverted aeropress on a scale and zero out.
When the kettle hits a rolling boil, shut it off, open the lid and start your timer.
Wait thirty seconds to allow the water to cool a bit.
Add 1dL or ~95g by weight of your water to the aeropress and quickly zero out the scale again.
Add start your clock and add the 14g of coffee to the water and give the coffee a quick but efficient stir to completely saturate the coffee grounds in the water.
Add the remaining 1dL or ~95g by weight of water to the coffee slurry. The scale total should now read 109g.
Wait until the clock reads 50 seconds and then slowly and carefully flip the aeropress back upright. (I would use two hands.)
Begin slowly plunging. This should take about 25 seconds. Plunge until you hear any hissing or air escaping through the coffee puck. Quickly pull the plunger back up and invert your aeropress so it doesnt leak everywhere.
Serve.
Lukasz’ Method
Start with the the Aeropress upside down.
Thoroughly pre-soak filter.
19,5 - 20g coffee, ground slightly courser than filter grind
2 dl water
Water temperature: 75 degrees Celsius
Stir 4 times
Stop stirring, secure the filter an turn at ca 10 seconds.(Total contact time ca 15 sec.)
Press and serve.
Tags: Aeropress, Brewing guides, World Aeropress Championships
June 12th, 2009 at 3:45
Sorry about those directions. They’re somehow both complicated and unclear. Its not actually that difficult.
June 23rd, 2009 at 18:49
Excellent rundown — can’t wait to try the various methods.
One question on Alex’s method: it calls for “filter ground coffee” and I’m not sure what grind level that would work out to. Pour-over, drip? Thanks for your time.
June 25th, 2009 at 17:34
[...] I am not alone. Examples of underextracted, updosed brews are abound. In the recent Aeropress Championship two of the top 3 methods (including the winner) used a dose of 100g / l. When I duplicated these [...]
June 28th, 2009 at 13:55
I confess to not being able to taste the paper flavor; either that or I’ve come to like it.
The inventor of the Aeropress, in an email to me, claimed that its brew is better for your heart than coffee made by French presses. The reason, he said, was that there are certain undesirable oils that get trapped in the Aeropress puck. These oils float to the top in a French press.
But I want these oils! I thought to myself, heart be damned, and more than a few times I have wondered what would happen if the Aeropress were to be plunged while inverted (if the mess could somehow be managed). Indeed that’s what I thought might be going on when I saw the word “inverted” on this page. But, on deciphering, no.
However, I do have something of a substitute. You know the crema-like foam left on the plunger surface just after you pop the puck into the trash? Those might be the oils we’re after. If you agitate or swirl the chamber as you press, the oils aren’t as apt to float to the top, and thereby end up in the puck.
So my method in short:
One scoop espresso grind; 195-200F water. Stir 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 c or so of cold water to stop extraction. Press agitatedly, qua non agitato. Voila.
August 28th, 2009 at 17:38
[...] Top 3 Aeropress brewing methods – Have an Aeropress? I don’t…yet but if you do, here are three methods of preparing coffee in the little – apparently – magic plastic tube. [...]
December 18th, 2009 at 21:01
I love my Aeropress, but I wish they would make one out of glass or stainless steel.
Hot water and plastic don’t go well together.
February 10th, 2010 at 9:19
Are all three using the same Coffee type and roast? If so which coffee is it?
February 10th, 2010 at 9:29
Yes, all these were using the same coffee but it might have been different roast dates. We are sold out of the coffee though, and all coffees need different brewing parameters in order to taste good.
February 11th, 2010 at 1:17
Yeah i know, that is what makes using aeropress so exciting! I didnt realize that the flavor results could vary so much using the same Coffee, winey and fruity from Alex and crisp citrus from ben?! Sounds like you are using african coffee? Kenyan?
February 17th, 2010 at 22:20
[...] I chose to use it like an Aeropress, which the design reminded me of immediately. Using Ben’s method I produced a few cups that tasted pretty [...]
February 17th, 2010 at 23:34
[...] I chose to use it like an Aeropress, which the design reminded me of immediately. Using Ben’s method I produced a few cups that tasted pretty [...]