I understand that the Aeropress is by no means the best way to make coffee, but I'd like to think I've got a good thing going with it. It's certainly a step up from the "throw x bulk preground brand from the store into the dripper", though. And it's a cheaper method, which is okay by me.
I've come to love it. I make coffee, loose leaf tea, and yerba in it, depending on what I feel that morning. For those of you that use the Aeropress, I'd like to share a sort of frankenstein recipe I made as well as hear some of yours to try out. My recipe is a combination of two champion's recipes with my own coffee measurements. According to an assortment of coffee calculators, I should be using nearly double the amount of ground coffee that I do, but I can get a great flavor and strength with a lesser amount of beans.
My Frankenstein Aeropress Recipe (Americano, Inverted Method, Standard Aeropress Size)
Makes: 20oz (US standard/ 591ml)
- Grind 25 grams of beans. The grind size will vary between roasts, but usually I do somewhere between espresso and drip on the Hario Skerton Pro for a true medium roast.
- Boil water to exactly 194f/90c. An electric kettle with temp setting helps immensely here.
- Invert your Aeropress and place your grounded material in. Add just a slight bit of water, enough to cover the grounds. This may take some getting used to; you can start small and keep adding bit by bit to get what you need. I still sometimes over-fill. Stir with a spoon until you get what I like to call a "wet concrete" consistency (not the best analogy, but...). Make sure all your ground material is wet.
- Let sit/bloom for one minute. If your roast is very fresh, you may notice your coffee rise and take on a sort of half-baked brownie appearance.
- After one minute, stir generously almost like a dough. If it's a darker roast or not as fresh, it may just make a sort of silky liquid. If it's more of a dryer concrete consistency, use a bit of chopping with your spoon and fold. Do this for just a bit.
- Add water until filled to the top of the press. Be VERY careful here. I can get it right to the lip without spilling, but a little extra air will not hurt. Please do not burn yourself.
- Stir again after filled and set a timer for two and a half minutes.
- During these minutes, get your filter in the cap and wet it with water. This doesn't change the flavor, but rather keeps the filter from slipping out when using the inverted method.
- When your brew timer is up, stir again. If you like a more bitter coffee, try to dip some of the foam from the top into the mixture. Alternatively, if you like a sweeter coffee you can place a napkin on top and soak up the foam (I did this by accident when I spilled a bit on the stir).
- Place your filter cap on and put your mug over the Aeropress. Flip both (be very very VERY careful). After the Aeropress is safely on top, shake it a little to get any leftover grounds off the plunger.
- Let the coffee settle for about twenty or so seconds.
- Slide the Aeropress left and right then back and forward to even the material for the plunge.
- Plunge slowly. This part is a bit of work, since the Aeropress wasn't really designed for this much ground material. When you hear the hiss of air, stop plunging. Plunge the little bit of leftover air into the sink and empty your Aeropress into the trash.
- Add your desired sugar and cream. Fill almost to the top with your hot water and add a bit of cold water until you get your desired drinking temp.
- Stir and enjoy.
I've found that this makes a very flavorful cup of coffee, despite using only 2/3 the suggested amount of beans to make it according to Aeropress calculators. I have not tried this recipe as a regular espresso; I haven't reached that peak of coffee enjoyment yet, having only started getting back into it in the past year. I can't remember the names of the champions that I mixed up this recipe from, but it also takes some steps from a few tip tutorials.
I will probably be switching to pour over at some point, because the amount of requests I'm getting from friends and family for coffee is getting overwhelming for the amount this makes. As a note, this method works great for loose leaf tea. Take your tea steep time and cut off a minute for steeping in just a bit of water, just like blooming. This ensures that the tea leaves stay at the bottom of the Aeropress when adding the rest of your water. So for black tea (4 minutes and 30 seconds recommended steep time) I do one minute for the "bloom" and then three and a half minutes for the steep at full water (212f/100c). I usually do 2 grams of tea for each 6 oz of water.
If you're unaccustomed to or have never heard of the inverted method, please take a moment to look up and watch how it's done. Hot water is no joke, save yourself from possible skin grafts. It is more than okay to use these measurements and timings using the regular method. Alternatively, you could use the Fellow Prismo to the same effect as inverting.
