The AeroPress is the most forgiving brewer we know. It is fast, almost impossible to break, and it makes a genuinely excellent cup with very little skill required. If you have been putting off buying one because it looks fiddly, it is not. Here is everything you need.
What you need
- An AeroPress — the AeroPress Go is our pick if you travel or work from an office, since the mug and lid pack the whole thing away.
- Filters — one paper filter per cup. The 200-pack lasts most people well over half a year.
- Fresh beans — 15g per cup. Almond Blossom gives you a sweet, easy cup. Starry Night if you want it darker and richer.
- A grinder and scales — not essential, but they are the difference between a good cup and a repeatable one.
The standard recipe
This is the method we hand to anyone starting out. It takes about ninety seconds.
- Boil the kettle and let it sit for thirty seconds. You are aiming for roughly 90°C — water straight off a rolling boil will scorch the coffee and make it taste harsh.
- Put a filter in the cap and rinse it with hot water. This washes off any papery taste and warms the brewer.
- Grind 15g of coffee to a medium-fine texture — think table salt, a little finer than you would use for pour over.
- Assemble the AeroPress on top of your mug and add the coffee.
- Pour 250g of water in steadily, wetting all the grounds.
- Stir gently three or four times, then fit the plunger and let it sit for 1 minute 30 seconds.
- Press down slowly — take about twenty seconds. If you are fighting it, your grind is too fine. If it drops straight through, go finer.
That gives you a concentrated, full-bodied cup. Drink it as is, or top with hot water for something closer to a long black.
The inverted method
Some people swear by brewing upside down so nothing drips through before the steep is finished. Assemble the AeroPress with the plunger already inserted a couple of centimetres, stand it upside down, add coffee and water, steep, then screw on the filter cap and flip the whole thing onto your mug.
It does give you slightly more control over extraction. It also risks a hot mess on your bench if you flip it carelessly. Learn the standard method first.
The four mistakes people actually make
Water that is too hot. Straight off the boil is too aggressive. Wait thirty seconds.
Pre-ground coffee. Ground coffee goes flat within days. Whole beans ground fresh is the single biggest upgrade available to you, ahead of any piece of equipment.
Pressing too hard. Slow and steady. Forcing it pushes bitter compounds through and can pop the seal.
Guessing the dose. A 15g scoop by eye can easily be 11g or 19g, and the cup changes completely. Scales cost very little and fix this permanently.
Cleaning it
Unscrew the cap over the bin, push the plunger through, and the puck pops out in one piece. Rinse the seal. That is the whole job — about ten seconds, and it is the reason a lot of people quietly abandon their other brewers.
Every few months, take the rubber seal off and give it a proper wash, since coffee oils build up and go stale.
Common questions
Is AeroPress coffee actually espresso? No. It is concentrated and it makes a very good base for a milk drink, but it does not reach the nine bars of pressure that define real espresso. If espresso is what you are after, our home espresso guide is the place to start.
What grind should I use? Medium-fine. Finer than pour over, coarser than espresso. If you want the full picture, see our grind size guide.
Can I make more than one cup? Not really — the chamber holds roughly one serve. Brew concentrated and dilute if you are making two.
Which Chambers blend suits it best? Both work. Almond Blossom is sweeter and more forgiving if you are still dialling in. Starry Night gives you a heavier, chocolatey cup that stands up well to milk.
All Chambers beans are roasted in Sydney and dispatched fresh. Shop the range — free shipping Australia-wide over $100.