Aeropress Coffee 101: What is an Aeropress?

Innovation and experimentation in the world of home coffee brewing may have hit something of a plateau. The reason being that as far as most coffee connoisseurs are concerned, the gadgets we already have at our disposal are just about as good as it gets.

One of which being the Aeropress, which simplifies the process of brewing flawless coffee at home, each and every time.

For anyone new to the whole thing, the Aeropress is essentially an innovative take on the classic coffee plunger, which forces heated water though the grounds which are held in place with a filter. There’s really nothing more to it than that - the picture above giving a clear indication of how the whole thing works.

But what is it about the Aeropress that has made it such a superstar in superior coffee circles worldwide?

Simplicity and Consistency

The long and short of it with the Aeropress system is that just as long as you follow a few basic rules, it’s practically impossible to go wrong. It really is about as far as it gets from other more complex and time-consuming brewing methods.

With Aeropress, you simply toss the grounds into the chamber with a paper filter, pour in the water and give the whole thing a firm press for approximately 30 seconds. There are literally thousands of different ways you can brew a cup of coffee with Aeropress, but the key to getting it right lies in simplicity and consistency.

As an added bonus, the system itself is practically fool proof, almost indestructible and as portable as it gets.

Helpful Hints for Superior Results

Once you’ve got to grips with the basics of the Aeropress system, it’s simply a case of refining a few aspects of the process for consistently outstanding results.

The easiest yet most effective of all being as follows:

• Use some of the water you’ll be using to brew the coffee to give the paper filter a rinse beforehand. Along with helping to pre-heat the Aeropress, this will also eliminate any unwanted fragrance or flavour the filter may otherwise impart.
• As a general rule of thumb, use approximately 17g of the highest quality coffee you can lay your hands on. Feel free to experiment, but this is the weight we would suggest.
• We would recommend a grind coarseness slightly finer that a filter grind, as well as switching to a quality manual coffee grinder if you have access to one.
• Always use water that’s slightly off the boil, having been left to stand for a good 30 seconds or so at least before pouring. Add a small amount of hot water first to bloom the coffee grounds, before adding the rest.
• The speed at which you plunge will have a huge impact on the fragrance, flavour and mouthfeel of the resulting cup. Hence, experimentation in order to come up with the perfect plunge time also comes highly recommended.
• Dilute two parts water to one part Aeropress brew and enjoy!

That’s it - all you need to know to brew outstanding coffee with an Aeropress device, each and every time.

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