# Getting Aeropress style cup from Espresso?



## Milesy (Mar 8, 2012)

This is backwards thinking to many possibly in that I want to use my espresso machine to try and get a profile / cup that I do from the Aeropress.

The Aeropress and hand grinder resides in the office and I have grown really fond of my cups using it and I only have my Espresso machine here.

I just fixed the pressure on my Gaggia and got a good extraction of 30ml out of 18g grounds. The Espresso is lovely bodied and chocolately. I heated up a cup of milk in the Microwave (as I do with Aeropress) and dumped the shot into it.

The final cup was much weaker and thin than what I can get from the Aeropress. Is it possible my Espresso extraction was still off? (It tasted brilliant neat) or is it possible that an Espresso blend does not shine in a cup of milk as a Single Origin (that I used in the office).

Any other factors I might want to consider in my experimentation?

thanks

Chris


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

How much milk are you putting into the Aeropress brew versus the espresso brew?


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## Milesy (Mar 8, 2012)

Same in both. Half a cup of whole milk then I top with hot water.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Still got the Gaggia's pressurised basket?

I'd have a go at using the Porlex grind in the Gaggia & running the extraction for longer (more g beverage out), maybe up the brew ratio a shade...you might even line the basket with a trimmed filter paper (if unpressurised, be sure not to affect the PF seal in the group)...no naked PFs for this, it'll spurt. No guarantees...just how I would start going about your suggestion...if I wanted too, that is. ;-)

I think it's worth considering that some extraction processes produce a "different" result...though you may get closer than you currently are.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

Try using the SO coffee to make the espresso. This could just be you prefer the SO to the blend. Can you describe the specific characteristics that you did not like in the espresso based drink? e.g. did it taste bitter or flat or perhaps not as much toffee and caramel flavours?

How much does the Aeropress shot weigh? It could simply be that the Aeropress shot is a larger quantity and so tastes less diluted in the milk.


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## Milesy (Mar 8, 2012)

All Aeropress, hand grinder and SO beans are in the office. At home I just use my espresso blend. In the coffee it just tasted weak and lost. It just tasted of microwaved milk to be honest.

My AP shot is probably 6oz I guess? Roughly half of the AP capacity.

I only use 15g of beans in the AP so I would have thought that 18g of beans in Espresso would still yield as much (if not more) solids?


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

I would also expect the TDS of the espresso to be higher than the larger volumed Aeropress brew but it is difficult to tell wether the TDS would be equivalent in both after diluting to the same volume without measuring.

There seem to be a few variables at play: brew method, coffee, grinder, dose, beverage volume, etc. Maybe eliminating some of the variables might help isolate and identify the one(s) that are causing the difference. I would suggest starting with the coffee as that should be quite easy to do (assuming you are able to take some home







)


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