How To Use an Aeropress
One of the simplest and most effective methods of brewing a great strong cup of coffee. The Aeropress is great for any coffee, given it's flexibility where you can adjust many variables like brew ratio, grind size, level of pressure, stirring and swirling. This is the only brewing method that brews by percolation, immersion and, to a small extent, the same principles of espresso brewing. A brief explanation is below:
The first method is through percolation - where water is simply poured from above, and as gravity does its thing - as water passes through the coffee grounds the flavour, aromatics are pulled through into your cup. Drippers, or pour over coffee makers like the Hario V60 work this way. The second method is through simple immersion where water is mixed and infused with ground coffee. The infusion itself extracts the flavours and aromas. Your cafetiere is the most common example of the immersion method. The third and last method is where high pressure pushes the hot water through a puck of ground coffee. The pressure means that the coffee is cleaner and brighter and quicker. The grind required is therefore very fine grained since the high pressure can mean the water is pushed through too quickly if the grinds are too coarse. This method is the espresso method. The Aeropress works using a combination of all 3 of these methods to extract as much of the flavours as possible.
Who Invented the Aeropress?
Aran Adler invented the Aeropress in 2005, the same inventor as the Aerobie throwing ring! Aran's aim was to reduce bitterness in his coffee. To achieve this, Aran conceptualised the design of a closed cylinder and press to create enough pressure, and reduced brewing time, resulting in strong and less bitter cup of coffee. After a series of prototypes, the Aeropress was launched in 2005, but initially was dismissed by the coffee industry as a novel toy.
It took some years before the Aeropress was embraced as a fantastic brewing method, the results spoke for themselves! In Norway the World Aeropress Championship started with a small group of people as a hobby, then over the years, grew exponentially to the international and professionally recognised standards it holds today.
World Aeropress Championship
For those that want to get really geeky, they can get into the World Aeropress championship. Competing or spectating, this is an annual event which aims to find the best cup of Aeropress coffee in the world... Each year the winning recipes are published by the champions. These recipes are nerdy, unorthodox and precise beyond imagination. Everything from the weight, timing, coffee used, perfect coffee water with a specific mineral content and temperature. The community is super avid into how complex you can go with a relatively simple brewing device.
How To Use an Aeropress?
Getting started, lay out all of the Aeropress brewing equipment, and grind 16-19g of coffee on a fine grind setting:
1. Place one of the Aeropress filters inside the Aeropress cap, screw the cap onto the tube which has measurements on the side, then position the Aeropress with the cap facing down, on top of a cup. Place a Aeropress filter inside of the the tube, on top of the cap facing down.
2. Boil 200ml of water, and let it rest for a few minutes (If you have a temperature controlled kettle. Bring it to anywhere between 80-85°C).
3. Pour some hot water over the filter.
4. Put between 11-13g of coffee inside the Aeropress tube.
5. Pour 200ml of hot water into the Aeropress, and quickly after finishing pouring, put the plunger in towards the top to create a gentle seal which holds the brew.
6. Let it sit for 2 minutes.
7. Pick up the cup with the Aeropress, and gently swirl for better extraction and flavour.
8. Leave for 30 seconds.
9. Apply a gentle level of force on the top of the plunger, pushing down until the plunger reaches the bottom. Stop pressing when you hear a hissing sound.
10. Enjoy a delicious strong cup of coffee!
What is The Inverted Aeropress method?
To get started, lay out all of the Aeropress brewing equipment, and grind 11-13g of coffee on a fine grind setting:
1. Position the piston about 2cm inside the tube, turn the whole Aeropress upside down and position it on top of some digital scales. Put between 16-19g of coffee inside the Aeropress tube.
2. Boil around 200ml of water but as before do not use boiling water. Rested boiled water at around 85C is about perfect
3. Put Aeropress filter inside of the filter cap, and pour some hot water over the filter.
4. Pour 200ml of hot water into the Aeropress.
5. Give the coffee a quick stir, and let it sit for 1 minute
6. Place the filter cap with the filter inside, on top of the the Aeropress, and turn to seal it in.
7. Slowly pull the tube a little bit down into the piston, until the coffee is nearly touching the filter cap (this helps secure the Aeropress from disconnecting during the flip)
8. Carefully turn the whole Aeropress upside down, so the filter cap is now facing down on top of a cup.
9. Slowly apply gentle pressure down onto the plunger, until all the coffee has gone into the cup.
10. Enjoy your inverted Aeropress coffee!
At Cannon we love using the Gunpowder Blend in the Aeropress. The Aeropress' unique combination of brewing methods work very well to get the most out of Gunpowder Blend, really bringing out that classic well balanced strong bold coffee taste, with subtle notes caramel and berry.