# Aeropress



## Kraig89 (Mar 29, 2016)

How do I get the best results from my aeropress


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

http://worldaeropresschampionship.com/recipes/

personallly I have got my best results from the inverted method. Experiment & enjoy!


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## Kraig89 (Mar 29, 2016)

Thanks for that


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## Big-t (Apr 17, 2016)

+1 for the inverted method and water that isnt boiling I reckon about 90ish degrees C. I used an on demand hot water dispenser at work that was spot on for the Aeropress but crap for tea.

T


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Another vote for Aeropress & water 4 mins off the boil. And when pushing your coffee through, stop just shy of the filter paper.


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

14g coffee / 200ml water

inverted method

stir well after pouring water to get all the grounds wet

about 1-1:30 steeping time

adjust grind based on taste ( coarser if too bitter, finer if too thin), start with a fine drip grind.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

the_partisan said:


> 14g coffee / 200ml water
> 
> inverted method
> 
> ...


If it's bitter grind finer, or stir less. 90 seconds isn't long enough to over-extract a declining temperature, inverted AP steep, so the bitterness is coming from somewhere/something else. Overdoing agitation can introduce bitter flavours at all kinds of extraction levels..


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

MWJB said:


> If it's bitter grind finer, or stir less. 90 seconds isn't long enough to over-extract a declining temperature, inverted AP steep, so the bitterness is coming from somewhere/something else. Overdoing agitation can introduce bitter flavours at all kinds of extraction levels..


I believe it's quite hard to reach high extraction %s without having bitterness in general unless you have a very good grinder (EK43). Also I think stirring in the end has a lot more effect than stirring in the beginning, which is only used to get all the grounds wet.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

It's hard enough to reach overly high extraction % with an Aeropress full stop. Coarse grinds make it impossible.

You can reach reasonably high extraction % with an Aeropress with just about any properly functioning grinder if it is set fine enough, you don't need an EK-43, in my experience the higher the better & least bitterness.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

MWJB said:


> It's hard enough to reach overly high extraction % with an Aeropress full stop. Coarse grinds make it impossible.
> 
> You can reach reasonably high extraction % with an Aeropress with just about any properly functioning grinder if it is set fine enough, you don't need an EK-43, in my experience the higher the better & least bitterness.


What sort of EY are you aiming for / hitting with Aeropress Mark?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

jlarkin said:


> What sort of EY are you aiming for / hitting with Aeropress Mark?


25% measured with VST Coffeetools, immersion mode.


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

I find that if I grind finer and finer, the coffee becomes quite bitter after a while, so I grind as fine as I can, without it tasting very bitter. I don't have a refractometer to measure the extraction %s though...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

the_partisan said:


> I find that if I grind finer and finer, the coffee becomes quite bitter after a while, so I grind as fine as I can, without it tasting very bitter. I don't have a refractometer to measure the extraction %s though...


There are peaks & troughs of bitterness & good flavour, there is often sweetness to be found beyond the first signs of bitterness. Shorts steeps can be sweet but simpler in flavour, less complex. I grind at the finer end of drip & steep at anything up to 30min, the most bitter brews I have had were not the most extracted.

The longer the steep & higher extraction you aim for, the lower the brew ratio. So maybe 70g/l for a short one to 55g/l long steep?

If you're consistent in what you do, you should get consistent results, the refractometer is great for knowing where you are in terms of extraction, but you have already brewed & perhaps tasted the coffee before you have measured it. It doesn't alter what you have made.

If brewing inverted, perhaps taste off the top intermittently, like a cupping, then flip & plunge when things come good?


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

MWJB said:


> It's hard enough to reach overly high extraction % with an Aeropress full stop. Coarse grinds make it impossible.
> 
> You can reach reasonably high extraction % with an Aeropress with just about any properly functioning grinder if it is set fine enough, you don't need an EK-43, in my experience the higher the better & least bitterness.


What is it that cause bitterness though, if not overextraction? Maybe if the grind is not very consistent, you get low overall extraction, but some particles are over extracted? What about drip/pour over, do you also try to go as fine as possible to increase brewing time there?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Bitterness can be a stage of underextraction, it can be too many undissolved particles in the brew if unfiltered (Aeropress filter doesn't catch everything).

Many of the grinders I have used to hit good tasting 25% immersion extractions do not have special distributions, you can do it with a Porlex. If enough particles are over-extracted enough to swing the whole cup flavour, then the brew is over-extracted, as extraction yield is the average of all the extraction. In an immersion, like an inverted Aeropress, you don't get the same discrepancy in concentration like you do from start to finish in a drip brew, where they start at a low extraction and high concentration, finishing with a higher extraction & lower concentration. An immersion just climbs in both respects.

If some particles were over-extracted in the immersion, to the point that they spoiled the brew, you wouldn't be able to improve the brew by extracting more. If the brew can be improved by extracting more (longer steep/finer grind), then it wasn't terminally over-extracted previously, it was just at a lower preference point at low/nominal extraction.

Drip is a far more aggressive way of brewing with solubles being rinsed out more actively by constantly replenishing clean, hot brew water & flow. With drip I tend to aim about 21%EY for smaller brews, the actual grind size isn't critical in itself (there isn't one correct size), it depends on how soluble the coffee in question is and how frequently you pour & how big the pulses are. E.g. a very soluble coffee might hit the target extraction with one pour after the bloom, in less time than a less soluble coffee, which might need 4 pulses and a little more time. Once a specific coffee is dialled in you might only need small adjustments.

Pulse pouring with drip can make for a more uniform rate of extraction (by beverage mass, which starts as nothing & grows as the brew progresses - conversely, it stays reasonably constant with immersion). Immersion starts off extracting about half the available solubles almost immediately the brew water is added, then tails off very quickly, the other half of the solubles available, in a declining temperature steep, might take 98.5% of the brew time!


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## Dei (Aug 3, 2015)

Does anybody have any recommendations for an electric grinder to use with Aeropress please?


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

Dei said:


> Does anybody have any recommendations for an electric grinder to use with Aeropress please?


I got the Wilfa Svart a month or so ago, very happy with, can't do espresso but really good for pour over / aeropress / french press.

I got mine from Horsham Roasters and they sent a free bag of delicious Ethiopian Suke Quto!

Here's a James Hoffman review on Youtube.

.


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## Dei (Aug 3, 2015)

Cool. Thank you!


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## coggin87 (Aug 17, 2018)

Currently using a hario mini mill with my Aeropress which does an amazing job.

Had a cheap manual grinder from Dunelm before it purchased for £9 (reduced from £20) which took a lot longer to grind and broke after around 3 months.


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## duc996bp (Jun 3, 2018)

I have just ordered a Aeropress for when I'm away from home etc.... I'm assuming I'm best grinding the beans as and when I want to make a brew, rather than grinding some at home and putiing in a container to use later? If so, can someone recommend a good quality hand grider suitable for the job? I have seen porlex mentioned, is there anything better?


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

duc996bp said:


> I have just ordered a Aeropress for when I'm away from home etc.... I'm assuming I'm best grinding the beans as and when I want to make a brew, rather than grinding some at home and putiing in a container to use later? If so, can someone recommend a good quality hand grider suitable for the job? I have seen porlex mentioned, is there anything better?


Aergrind by made by knock - perfect ;-)

Steel burrs and fits inside the aeropress


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