How to Make AeroPress Coffee

It’s portable, practical and quirky. It wasn’t invented until 2005 and yet it’s already got its own world championship. It’s the one-and-only AeroPress, ladies and gentlemen!

Created by a frisbee company (how’s that for a background story?!), this little brewer has been revolutionizing the coffee world and is now one of the best coffee brewing methods as well as a cult favorite among travelers.

But how do you make AeroPress coffee the right way? For a cup that’s worthy of its championship, check out our AeroPress guide.

How to Make AeroPress Coffee Like a World Champion

Use the best coffee for AeroPress and get it right

Grab the best coffee for AeroPress and, if you opt for beans, aim for the medium-fine size that you’d use for a dripper.

As for quantities, it’s easy: start by filling up the included scoop, or weigh 14-16 g.

Make sure your water game is strong

Use water that is between 175 and 205°F rather than boiling, or else you’ll burn your grounds and over-extract them. No variable temperature kettle nor thermometer? Just let the boiling water cool down for a minute.

Pro tip: pre-wet the filter before adding the grounds to get rid of any papery taste, and leave some hot water in your mug to preheat it while you follow the next steps. Discard it before plunging.

Start the extraction process

Assemble the basket with the paper filter at the bottom of the brewing chamber, and place it on top of your mug. Add the coffee grounds and evenly pour around 220 g of water onto them, or up to the clearly-indicated number 4. It should take you around ten seconds. Use the included paddle to stir the coffee, and then seal it by placing the plunger on top of the brewing chamber, without pressing it.

Let it brew

The AeroPress is much quicker than its French cousin: it only needs a minute of steeping!

Pro tip: remove the plunger and stir the coffee once more before following the next step.

Plunge

Like you would with a French press, lower the plunger, but try and do it over the course of a minute to get the very best extraction.

Enjoy your coffee!

This method will give you between 6 and 8 oz of coffee. Is it too strong or too weak? Now that you’ve tried the standard recipe you can tweak it by adding more or less coffee, trying slightly different grind sizes, and experimenting with other coffee-to-water ratios.

Clean it

Brewing on the go or during a camping trip? Remove the plunger, discard the coffee grounds and filter, and you’re done. You should still give it a proper rinse or chuck it in the dishwasher after a few uses.

How do you make espresso with an AeroPress?

In order to make espresso with your AeroPress, here are the changes that you need to apply to the standard recipe: use a finer grind, two filters (the second one on top of the coffee inside the brewing chamber), tamp the grounds, aim between 200 and 208ºF, and use around 55 g of water.

We need to specify that it won’t technically be ‘espresso’, as that’s coffee that’s brewed at 9 bars of pressure, but it’s as close as you can get to the real thing without using an espresso machine.

AeroPress or AeroPress go?

That’s right: the AeroPress has already got a younger brother! The new AeroPress Go has a slightly smaller capacity, but values portability above anything else: it comes with its own 15 oz mug, into which you can fit all of its accessories.

Now that you’ve learned how to make AeroPress coffee like a professional barista, will we see you at the next AeroPress Championship?