At present there is plenty of chat going on around the brewing method that is, the Aerobie Aeropress… and yes, it’s the same Aerobie as that flying ring thing that everyone had! And in the same way that the Aerobie revolutionised, erm, frisbees in the 80’s – for me, the aeropress has completely changed the way that I drink coffee.

It was the aeropress that was largely responsible for weaning me off espresso coffee and onto the joys of brewed coffee, with that in mind it’s ironic that most people think an Aeropress will make espresso coffee for them at home. It actually produces a very simple cup of brewed ‘filter’ style coffee that can be tailored to your own strength requirements.

Of course there are loads of ways to brew coffee at home: vacpot, french press, moka pot, chemex, drip… but for me, none of them seem to do it with the right balance of quality, ease of use, cleanliness and speed of the Aeropress. There’re downsides of course, it’s not the most elegant looking device in the world (when is someone going to make a glass one?!) and you can only really make one cup at at time, rendering it useless if you have a lot of guests. But in a selfish, uninhibited (it’s not the coolest looking device) kind of way – it does the trick for me perfectly nearly every morning of my working week.

The aeropress is essentially a syringe with a paper filter at one end. To brew the coffee you simply add in a specific dose of ground coffee (most folks prefer somewhere between an espresso and filter grind), a specific measurement of hot water, allow the coffee to steep for your preferred length of time, then press the plunger to extract the brew. The paper filter collects all but the finest dust sized pieces of coffee, which results in a very clean and crisp cup, unlike a french press, which can often be a bit sludgy.

So here is how I make a cup of aeropress coffee, feel free to add your own methods in the comments…

Part 1.

Moisten your filter paper. It is generally accepted that a pre-dampened filter paper does a better job than a dry one. I’m not sure whether there is any true evidence to back this up, but I do religiously moisten my filters before use. Some people like to use two filters at the same time, whilst others believe that a pre-used filter paper can improve results, the logic being that any large holes in the filter paper will be blocked by particles from the first brew…

Part 2.

Set the kettle to boil. Personally I like to lower the temperature of the water to around 90 degrees celsius after the boil by adding a splash of cold water. Some people claim that you can brew great Aeropress coffee as low as 80 degrees, but i’m yet to experiment at those temperatures. With my boiled water I usually like to warm the cup and the Aeropress itself before use.

Part 3.

Grind. There are many theories on how best to grind and how much to dose for Aeropress coffee. Personally I choose a setting that is probably a slightly coarser grind than most, edging towards the realms of filter brewing, with a dose of 24g, higher than most. This is of course also subject to the coffee that I am brewing.

24g Ground Aeropress Coffee by tristanstephenson, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21124304@N03/3369869623/">24g Ground Aeropress Coffee" height="220" />

Part 4.

Here’s the pretty cool bit.

Next I like to insert about 10mm of the plunger part of the press into the base of the Aeropress, with the filter off. Now turn the Aeropress upside down. This allows you to load ground coffee and water into the brewing chamber without semi-brewed coffee leaking out through the filter paper, as it does with the normal upright brewing method.

For a 24g dose I will use approx 250ml of water. 75ml of that goes straight in and I give the coffee a good stir, after 10sec I add the other 175ml (which usually fills the aeropress), followed by another stir. Time is important here so I then clip the filter on top and turn the whole contraption the right way up and onto the top of the cup.

Part 5.

I prefer to take my time pressing, with the whole process probably taking around 25sec from start to finish. Once all of the liquid has been extracted I simply pop the puck out into the bin and top up my cup of coffee with a little more fresh, hot water. Then drink!

This is by no means an exhaustive guide to Aeropress brewing, but it should be a good starting point for anyone who is getting in to it. Tim Wendelboe also has an excellent guide and be sure to check out the round up of last years first Unofficial Aeropress Championships!

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