Any Aeropress users?

[63PGP]

Thats the one.

That amazon link would not paste right.

 

[mensajess]

Went to a coffee competition recently, both fascinating and boring at the same time. One of the things they competed with was the aeropress and who made the best coffee with it. Watched one round of 5 hipsters, measure the color and size of each bean, grind, sift the grinds for size, then brew. 4 of 5 were stirring, shaking, and tapping the press right until the last minute.
The winner just stood there watching everyone else futz with theirs.

 

[63PGP]

That is the true definition of "less is more".......

 

[Firehawk]

How do you grind your beans? I’ve found that our Aeropress is particular to how fine the grind is. We like darker brew as well and have found that a finer grind produces a darker cup. We also let it steep for a couple minutes before pressing.

What filters are you using the Aeropress paper ones or the reusable mesh? It may make a difference. I generally like the the flavor from the paper filters a bit more (and less silt on the bottom of my cup) but usually use the metal mesh filter just because it’s reusable.

You may need to add more coffee too. We use 2 to 2.5 scoops but I don’t the volume of our scoop (it’s not marked) and it’s not the Aeropress one. I’ll see if I can measure it out and let you know.

 

[wtburnette]

How do you grind your beans? I’ve found that our Aeropress is particular to how fine the grind is. We like darker brew as well and have found that a finer grind produces a darker cup. We also let it steep for a couple minutes before pressing.

What filters are you using the Aeropress paper ones or the reusable mesh? It may make a difference. I generally like the the flavor from the paper filters a bit more (and less silt on the bottom of my cup) but the usually the metal mesh filter just because it’s reusable.

You may need to add more coffee too. We use 2 to 2.5 scoops but I don’t the volume of our scoop (it’s not marked) and it’s not the Aeropress one. I’ll see if I can measure it out and let you know.

I used the default setting on my grinder (according to the manual) that is what I'd call medium fine. A lot of Aeropress recipes called for a course grind, but James Hoffman and Alan, the inventor, more recently call for a finer grind setting. I need to play around with it more, to see if I can find the "right" grind size for whatever beans I decide to go with. I'm thinking I might have to go back to a dark roast for testing.

Yes, I definitely use the paper filters. I don't like the mouth feel from a french press and using a reusable filter is similar. Plus there are supposed to be health issues with unfiltered coffee. Not sure if that's right, but since I don't like unfiltered coffee it works for me.

I've been using a ~15g per 250ml water ratio, which is the 60g to 1L that James Hoffman recommends. You're right though, depending on the recipe, I might need to use more. I don't use the scoop, as I have a scale and want consistency, so I weigh the beans and water so that when I get the results I want, I can replicate those results. I do have to try adjusting though, especially if I try the standard method. I've tried the James Hoffman "ultimate" Aeropress brewing technique, as well as a few others. I need to keep experimenting until I find a recipe that works well for me.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Haven't tried the pour over or moka pot yet. Both seemed a bit more finicky than I'd prefer. My hopes were on the clever dripper for a while and honestly I might need to give that another try, but I'm going to keep trying the Aeropress for a while until I either make a great cup, or exhaust all attempts.

The pour over is super simple. I got just a cheap ceramic one, just have to keep the water temps consistent.
The moka pot is really finicky so it doesn't get used a lot.

Simply Charmed Pour Over Coffee Dripper - Single Cup Ceramic Coffee Maker with 40 Count Melitta Filters https://a.co/d/2Cfd6TB

 

[wtburnette]

The pour over is super simple. I got just a cheap ceramic one, just have to keep the water temps consistent.
The moka pot is really finicky so it doesn't get used a lot.

Simply Charmed Pour Over Coffee Dripper - Single Cup Ceramic Coffee Maker with 40 Count Melitta Filters https://a.co/d/2Cfd6TB

According to videos I've watched, pour pattern, bloom time, pour rate and more can affect the taste of the end product with pour overs.

 

[Tryin']

I will throw in two suggestions that help my backwoods coffee experience:

1. Two filters instead of one
2. Tamp down the grounds before pouring.

This will dramatically increase your control over the steeping time before the press. As mentioned, finer grinds help as well.

 

[Jaybird1980]

According to videos I've watched, pour pattern, bloom time, pour rate and more can affect the taste of the end product with pour overs.

Yep. I was saying all those things are pretty easy to be consistent with. Water temp is the only thing that can be tricky depending on how you do it.

I just use the same amount of water and microwave it the same amount of time every time.

 

[wtburnette]

Yep. I was saying all those things are pretty easy to be consistent with. Water temp is the only thing that can be tricky depending on how you do it.

I just use the same amount of water and microwave it the same amount of time every time.

I have a temp controlled kettle, so if I try pour overs at some point, I'm covered...

 

[Firehawk]

I measured out my scoop and I’m using between 4-5 level tablespoons of finer grind, depending on which coffee I use and how much water. I typically use 11-12 oz of water which usually comes out to 9-10 oz of coffee in my mug. I add just enough water to submerge the grounds and stir. Then I fill the press to the top and stir again and then let steep. We’ve found store ground coffee (medium drip pot grind) comes out weaker. Or trying to use up left over medium home grind for our French press also comes out weaker in the Aeropress. So based on that I think the grind makes a big difference.

 

[wtburnette]

Yeah, I watched a presentation Alan had given where he said the original instructions were for course ground coffee, but more recently he believed a finer grind worked better. I need to play around to see what works best for whatever beans I'm using at the time.

 

[wtburnette]

I might have found my recipe. Need to try it a couple more times to verify, but so far it seems pretty good. Dark roast coffee. 15g of coffee to 250g of water. Heated to 81C and poured over the grounds in the Aeropress using the standard method, with two filters. Once the water is poured over, I insert the plunger and pull back slightly to create vacuum and slow/stop the drip. Give it two minutes to steep, swirl, then allow 30 seconds to let it settle, then a slow plunge. Coffee was ground at setting 14 on my grinder, instead of the recommended 12. So far so good.

 

[indyblue]

I've been using this grinder for about a year now, it works wonderfully. It produces nice angular consistently sized particles of coffee. I make it finer (#4) for my drip maker and setting 5 for the press. If I go too fine for the press (it's a regular french press) I get too much fine sediment and the coffee becomes more bitter. For coarser grinds I add steeping time which brings out the "fruity" flavors.

Not inexpensive though ~$40 but the burr is CNC machined from SS.

 

[wtburnette]

That's the other thing I wanted to test, adding more to the steep time. I've watched a couple videos where they did more like 5 minutes and said the flavor was better.