The Aeropress coffee maker is ideal for those who prefer their coffee with a pronounced body, clarity, and differentiation in its flavor. This work of ingenuity, created by Alan Adler in 2005, is small, light, easy to transport, and difficult to break.
This small manual coffee maker is ideal for taking to the office or on a trip and preparing a delicious coffee anywhere. The coffee brews relatively quickly and is very easy to use, making it ideal for one person.
Although there are many ways to prepare coffee with the Aeropress, the recipe I bring you here never fails and will adapt to practically any coffee you use.
What is the perfect ratio for the Aeropress? My ideal recipe
This recipe differs from the last recipes I published for the Hario V60 and the Chemex. This is because the amount of coffee we will prepare is much smaller, and instead of letting the waterfall by gravity, here we will apply a certain pressure.
Remember to start from a basic recipe; with a certain amount of grams of coffee, a certain type of grind, and a fixed amount of water. From this basic recipe, consider making slight modifications until you achieve the desired coffee that best adjusts to your tastes.
- Coffee beans: 16 grams.
- Type of grind: Medium/fine (size slightly coarser than table salt, similar to my Siphon recipe).
- Filtered water: 240 grams.
- Water temperature: 92 ºC.
Always use a scale and a timer when brewing coffee with your Aeropress to get consistent results over time. If you don’t have a scale, you can use the spoon that comes with the Aeropress, which makes just 16 grams when filled.
Use a correct grind in the preparation of coffee with the Aeropress
Add the 16 grams of coffee to a grinder (not a blade grinder), and we will grind it to a medium fine size. Obtaining an even uniform grind is essential to achieve a correct extraction; therefore, this is considered one of the most important steps when preparing coffee.
The ideal would be to use a portable grinder, which would combine perfectly with the Aeropress since a travel coffee maker deserves a companion of the same class.
With the Aeropress coffee maker, the coffee and the water will be in contact for a short time, so we need a finer grind so that the coffee can be extracted completely and more quickly. Ideally, the ground beans should be just finer than table salt.
Preparation of the coffee with the Aeropress step by step
We will use the inverted method, where we put the Aeropress upside down, allowing us more contact time without the coffee starting to filter.
- We place the Aeropress on the scale, add the 16 grams of coffee, and tare to zero.
- We start the timer and begin to pour water for the blooming or pre-infusion process. We will add 50 grams of water at 92 ºC or enough to cover all the coffee and stir about three times to saturate all the beans.
- When the time reaches 30 seconds, add the remaining water up to 240 grams and let it infuse for a minute and a half. The water should be about two centimeters from the edge.
- While the coffee rests, we will wash one of the filters of the Aeropress coffee maker, and we will place it on the lid. We pass a little hot filtered water over the filter to remove the papery taste.
- We place the filter’s lid, screw it, and ensure it is fixed.
- When the time reaches two minutes, we will turn the Aeropress carefully to where we will serve it, ensuring it is firm and that the container does not break with the pressure we apply.
- Press firmly on the plunger for about 30 seconds until the coffee has been drained. The plunger creates a vacuum causing the high pressure to help generate a complete and even extraction.
Now remove the Aeropress, and it’s time to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee:
