Author: Julie Terebkov
Hey coffee tribe, welcome back to an exciting week for home brewing! This week will probably be the easiest of the home brewing guides to follow because, the AeroPress was made to be simple and easy to make. Funny enough I just looked up one of the US AeroPress competition and the winner of the competition had the simplest recipe. There are a few different variations of recipes out there but, I’ll stick to the simplest and in my opinion the best recipe.
Equipment
Hot water
Kettle (to hold the water… unless you used your hands-I guess that’s okay too)
Stir Paddle (or a spoon)
17 grams of Coffee (ground for a “fine drip” is what is recommended on their website. I grind the beans a touch courser than what I do for a V60)
P.S. the AeroPress is sold with filters, stir paddle, and all the necessary equipment on their website (link above). All you need outside the sold kit is a way to heat water and pour it.
How To:
Let’s start by explaining all the pieces you have set before you so that you know what we are talking about when we ask you to use them. There are three attachable pieces involved with the AeroPress: a filter cap, a plunger, and the main piece (the chamber).
To start, you’re going to want to wet your filter in the filter cap and attach the piece to the chamber. Set that on your favorite mug (filter in place, with the opening of the chamber facing up) and onto your scale they go. Now add your ground beans in the chamber and make sure your grounds are evenly distributed (level).
Go ahead and zero out your scale with the AeroPress and cup on them. Begin pouring slowly and just above your chamber (don’t hold the kettle too high from the AeroPress) adding the water evenly over all the grounds. This pour should total 277 grams and be slow enough that you end up fitting the water in the chamber. Once you’ve poured the water, give it a second to drip a bit through and stir it (carefully) with the stir paddle or spoon, to make sure all the grounds get wet and extract properly. Finally, using the plunger piece of the AeroPress fit it into the chamber and slowly press down with the weight of your arm. You should not be putting all your weight behind the press. This should just be the weight of your arm (hand on plunger and arm parallel to the AeroPress). When you’ve pressed the plunger down to the grounds, you are finished!
This doesn’t make the biggest cup of coffee but, it really allows the nuanced flavors of the coffee to come out. Not to mention, all in a short amount of time. It’s easy to clean and honestly, I think it’s the easiest way to brew coffee (other than a drip brewer). This is also a great option to take with you when you’re traveling, camping, horseback riding (just kidding please don’t burn yourself), since it’s so small and easy to use.
Stay classy coffee tribe.