BREW GUIDE
Aeropress
Everything you need to pull a great shot at home
Roast level
Medium roasts work best for AeroPress. They bring a balanced sweetness and body to your cup and give enough intensity to cut through milk too.
Grind size
Medium–fine. It should feels like table salt, finer than a pourover coffee but slightly coarser than espresso grind.
Roast date
The ideal time to start making AeroPress coffee is when the coffee has rested for about 5 days.
RECIPE
15g
DOSE
Medium - finely ground coffee into your basket
3 min
TIME
Total extraction time
240g
YIELD
Espresso liquid in your cup
15g dose / 3 min extraction / 240g yield — a 1:16 ratio in around 3 mins.
Let's break it down some more.
DOSE
Getting Your Dose Right
The dose refers to the amount of coffee grinds going into the top of the Aeropress.
So what amount should you dose at?
A standard Aeropress size holds 15g.
A good starting point is 15g. From there adjust up or down in 1g increments until you find your sweet spot.
Time
Getting Your Time Right
The Aeropress allows you to experiment with timing to highlight different flavours and intesity.
A bloom (adding the hot water to the grinds and letting it release some gas first) is 50ml of water and then wait 30secs.
Then add the rest of the water and stir and wait for 1.5-2mins.
Finally, slowly plunge over another 30 seconds.
Start with a total time of 3mins and add 30s or add an extra pour step in to see what flavours shine through.
Yield
Getting Your Yield Right
The numbers up the side of the canister allow you to fill the right amount of water for the number of cups you want to drink.
The number 4 means 4 x scoops of coffee then fill water to that level.
This provides a stong coffee of 240g which is similar to along black or strong filter.
If you cant weigh the coffee, use the numbers up the side (1=1 scoop) and then fill to the number with water.
Troubleshooting Espresso
My aeropress doesn't press down easily - what does it mean?
There are two possible reasons the plunger doesn't press down smoothly.
The most common one is that your coffee is too fine which makes the water more difficult to pass through and you need to use a lot of force. Try grinding coarser.
Another issue can be caused by the build up of oils and the break down of the rubber seal over time. If you have an older Aeropress this could be the situation. You can give the chamber a good wash with soapy warm water and see if that helps. If not, you might need to replace your rubber seals.
My Aeropress is tasting too weak
If you notice your coffee is too weak or drains through the filter without you even applying pressure, you might have ground your coffee too coarsely. Try fining up the grinds.
Another alternative is to use the inverted method of brewing. You simply turn the brewer upside down (make sure the plunger is already set in place) add your coffee, and water and then screw the cap on. Let it steep for a couple of minutes and then flip it over and start plunging.
Is Aeropress easy for beginners?
Yes, Aeropress is a great way to get started with coffee at home. Aeropress brewers are cheap and all you need is good quality coffee and water and away you go.
Does Aeropress make a strong coffee?
While not as intense as espresso or stovetop, Aeropress coffee is still a strong enough coffee to satisfy many people each morning. You can get a good deep bold tasting cup with a lot of flavour.
What grind size should I use for each brew method?
Each method uses a different grind size but as a rough guide: Cold Brew is very coarse (like salt flakes), French Press or Plunger is coarse, Filter/Pourover and Drip coffee is medium, Stovetop is fine, and espresso is very fine. Every brew guide includes a recommended grind range to make it easy.
Do different coffees need different recipes?
Yes. Each coffee extracts differently depending on the how it was roasted, when it was roasted, how the coffee was processed, and what flavours you want to highlight. However, Espresso is the most temperamental, and thats why every product page includes a specific recipe with the ideal dose, yield, time and temperature for that coffee.
Do I need special equipment to follow these brew guides?
Nope. You only need the appropriate brewing device. A grinder does make for a better tasting coffee in the long run, and a precision kitchen scale helps with accuracy. But don’t get caught up in the hype to buy fancy expensive coffee accessories!
Our brew guides help you understand what affects the flavour the most.
Which roast level works best for each brew method?
As a guideline:
- Filter / Pourover / Batch Brews→ Omni, light and filter roast
- Plunger / Drip / Cold Brews → medium and medium-light roast
- Espresso & Stovetop → medium and medium-light roast
Each coffee on our site notes which method it’s best suited to.
Coffees we recommend for Aeropress brewing
These coffees are selected for balance, solubility and flavour clarity when brewed using Aeropress
