Recipe · AeroPress

AeroPress: the recipe I actually use

The instructions on the box make a fine cup. After a few months of fiddling I've settled on something a bit different — inverted, cooler water, a longer steep. It's more forgiving of a slightly stale bag and tastes sweeter to me.

Method

Inverted

Coffee

15 g, medium grind (a little coarser than table salt)

Water

200 g, 85 °C

Steep

90 seconds, one gentle stir at 30 s

Press

flip, press slowly over ~30 s until it hisses

Total

about 2 minutes 15

Why these numbers

• 85 °C, not boiling. Straight off the boil scorches lighter roasts and pulls out bitterness. No thermometer? Boil, then wait about a minute with the lid off.
• Inverted. Brewing upside-down stops it dripping out early, so the full 90 seconds actually steeps instead of half-draining while you wait.
• One stir. A single stir at 30 seconds wets the grounds evenly. More than that and it turns muddy.
• Slow press. No resistance means the grind's too coarse; having to lean on it means too fine. It should take about half a minute and end in a hiss, not a gurgle.

If the cup is thin and sour, the fix is almost always: fresher beans, then a slightly finer grind, then a touch hotter. In that order.

Where the AeroPress wins is acidity and clarity — with a decent fresh bean it's the brightest, cleanest cup in the kitchen. Body is lighter than espresso because it's paper-filtered; that's the trade. It also rewards good beans and mercilessly exposes stale ones, which a capsule tends to hide.

It's more effort than pushing a button, and on a rushed morning I don't bother. On a slow one it's the best coffee I make at home.

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