AeroPress — brewing guide

The AeroPress is two brewers in one body: an immersion steep followed by a pressure-assisted filtration through paper. Most of your extraction happens during the steep — the press mostly just separates the brew quickly and cleanly. That split is what makes it so tolerant of experimentation: you can vary steep time, grind, and temperature across enormous ranges and still land a drinkable cup.

Because paper catches fines and the total contact time is short, you can grind much finer than for any other immersion method. Finer grind means more surface area and faster extraction, which is how a ninety-second AeroPress brew can taste fully developed. Press gently, taking 20–30 seconds. Forcing it fast pushes fine particles and harshness through the paper and rewards you with sore wrists, not better coffee.

Temperature is your roast lever. Light roasts are dense and less soluble: use 90–95 °C. Darker roasts give up their solubles easily and turn bitter when scalded: drop to 80–85 °C. The inverted orientation exists for one reason — it stops water dripping through the bed during the steep — so treat it as a control decision, not a party trick.