How to brew coffee with an AeroPress

Comment préparer un café avec un AeroPress ?

Often called the "Swiss army knife" of coffee, the AeroPress is a manual coffee maker invented in 2005 by Alan Adler. Compact, light and practically indestructible, it has become one of the most versatile tools in specialty coffee. Easy to get the hang of yet remarkably precise, it lets you explore a wide range of cup profiles, from clean, delicate coffee to more intense, textured brews.

In just a few years, the AeroPress has become a cult object, loved by beginners and world champion baristas alike.


 

What you'll need

  • An AeroPress
  • 16 g of coffee beans, ground medium-fine to slightly coarse
  • 240 g of filtered water, just off the boil
  • A spoon or paddle for stirring
  • Precision scales
  • Timer

What we used for this guide

  • AeroPress
  • One of our seasonal coffees: Kamwangi AA
  • Timemore Chestnut C3S Pro hand grinder
  • Timemore Basic 2.0 scales
  • Timemore Fish Smart kettle

 

 

AeroPress ratio tip

Whatever the size of your brewer, a good rule of thumb is a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:16.

In other words, for every 1 g of coffee, add 16 g of water, which works out at about 3½ tablespoons of coffee per cup of water.

From there, feel free to experiment until you find the ratio that suits your taste best.

 

The method

Step 1: Grind the coffee

Use 16 g of coffee.
Grind it to roughly the texture of table salt. You can adjust the grind depending on how much intensity and bitterness you want in your cup. 

Step 2: Set up the AeroPress

Place a paper filter in the filter cap and rinse it with cold water.
Put the two parts of your AeroPress together, turn it upside down and stand it on your scales. This is known as the inverted method.
Add the coffee and level it by giving the AeroPress a gentle shake.

 

 

Step 3: Bloom

Start the timer and pour in about 60 ml (60 g) of water just off the boil, at around 92 °C, making sure all the grounds are wet. You can give it a gentle stir with a wooden spoon. Then leave it for 30 seconds to bloom.

 

Step 4: Steep

Pour in the remaining 180 g of water, then close the AeroPress without pressing the plunger, to keep in the heat and all the aromas. Leave it to steep for another 1 minute 30 seconds.

 

Step 5: Press

Gently press the plunger all the way down over about 30 seconds, then pour and enjoy.
If your coffee is too strong, just top it up with hot water. If you notice bitterness, adjust the steeping time.

 

What few people know about the AeroPress

  • The AeroPress was invented in 2005 by Alan Adler, a Stanford engineer. But before shaking up the coffee world, he was famous for inventing the Aerobie, the flying ring (think frisbee) that holds world distance records. He went from "how do you throw something really far" to "how do you make coffee really fast".
  • The technique most experts swear by (turning the AeroPress upside down so the coffee steeps without dripping through) was never intended by its inventor. Alan Adler himself prefers the standard method and thinks the inverted one is unnecessary. But hey, the people have spoken!
  • There's a World AeroPress Championship (WAC). What started in 2008 as a joke between three friends in Oslo has become a serious international competition. Baristas from all over the world compete for the coveted trophy: a golden AeroPress.

French press or AeroPress: what's the difference?

The French press and the AeroPress are both immersion brewing methods, but the results are very different.

  • French press: the coffee steeps fully in the water and is filtered through a metal mesh. The result is a denser, more textured cup, because the oils stay in.

  • AeroPress: it usually uses paper filters and gentle pressure to extract the coffee, giving a cleaner, lighter-bodied drink.

THE COFFEES THAT PERFECTLY MATCH THIS EXTRACTION METHOD

Kamwangi AA
Kenya
Washed
Kamwangi AA
BlackcurrantVanillaNougat
CHF 19.00
Ethiopia Almaz Teklu Gr.1 Fully Washed
Ethiopia
Washed
Ethiopia Almaz Teklu Gr.1 Fully Washed
LemonLimeMango
CHF 21.50
Idido Yirgacheffe
Ethiopia
Natural • Yeast Cultures • Extended cherry fermentation
Idido Yirgacheffe
OrangePassion fruitChocolate
CHF 20.50
BEST SELLER
Blue Mountain
Blue Mountain
Jamaica
Washed
Blue Mountain
AlmondHoneyButter
From CHF 30.00
Sold out
01PM
Ethiopia
Washed
01PM
LemonJasmineBrown sugar
From CHF 12.50
BIO

FAQ

The AeroPress likes a medium to fine grind, roughly the texture of caster sugar. That sweet spot lets the water extract the aromas properly without slowing the flow.

Too coarse and you'll get a thin, under-extracted coffee. Too fine and the filtration slows down, bringing out more bitterness.

If you use the standard method, go for a fairly fine grind. For the inverted method, a slightly coarser grind works very well. Either way, an even grind is the key to a balanced cup.

A good starting point is a ratio between 1:15 and 1:17. In practice, that's about 15 grams of coffee to 225 to 255 millilitres of water.

This simple framework gives you a balanced extraction that stays true to the coffee's profile. From there, adjust it to your taste. A shorter ratio boosts intensity and mouthfeel. A longer ratio brings more lightness and aromatic finesse.

The ratio isn't a hard and fast rule, just a guide to building your ideal cup.

The standard method wins people over with its simplicity and speed. It gives a clean, precise cup in which the aromas come through clearly. It's often the ideal way into the AeroPress.

The inverted method, on the other hand, allows full immersion of the coffee. The brew is easier to control, the body fuller and the texture rounder. It takes a little more care, but gives the kind of control that demanding coffee lovers really appreciate.

In the end, it mostly depends on what you fancy at the time. Efficiency and clarity on one side, control and depth on the other.

Technically, no. The AeroPress doesn't generate the pressure needed to make true espresso in the strict sense.

It does, however, let you make a short, concentrated and intense coffee that comes close in texture and aromatic strength. It's also an ideal base for milky drinks such as a latte or cappuccino.

Grind finer, use a shorter ratio and press slowly and steadily, and you'll get a dense, expressive result often described as espresso-style.

The AeroPress gives you plenty of freedom. A few tweaks are enough to steer the cup profile.

For a bright, aromatic coffee, go for a medium grind, water at 92 to 94 °C and a fairly short steep. Fruity notes and clarity will come to the fore.

For a rounder, more balanced cup, use a slightly finer grind, slightly cooler water and a medium steeping time. Sweetness and complexity will shine through more.

And for a more intense, structured coffee, choose a fine grind, a shorter ratio and a longer steep. You'll get a dense, deep cup with a long finish.

The AeroPress is a real playground. Every variable fine-tunes the character of the coffee.