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Pressure Extraction

AeroPress

Fast, forgiving and portable — the easiest place to start.

Full immersion, then pressure through a paper filter. Steeping does most of the extraction, so the timing is not delicate, and the plunge simply ends it. Lower water temperature than the pour-overs keeps it sweet rather than sharp. Nothing here breaks if you are a little off.

AeroPress

Why AeroPress?

  • Almost impossible to ruin: immersion is far more forgiving than pouring.
  • It takes about two minutes from grinder to cup.
  • It packs down to nothing and survives being carried around.

What you need

  • AeroPress
  • Paper filters
  • Kettle
  • Stirrer
  • Digital scale

Step by step

  1. 1

    Set up

    Put a paper filter in the cap, rinse it, and lock it onto the chamber. Stand the chamber on your mug and add the ground coffee. Zero the scale.

  2. 2

    Add the water

    to 240g

    Pour all 240g in one go, wetting the grounds evenly as you fill. Water here is cooler than for a pour-over, which is what keeps the cup sweet instead of sharp.

  3. 3

    Stir

    from 10 s

    Stir gently three or four times to break up any clumps, then fit the plunger just far enough to seal. The seal stops it dripping through while it steeps.

  4. 4

    Press

    from 1 min 30 s

    Press down slowly and evenly — aim for about 30 seconds to the bottom. Stop as soon as you hear air; pushing past that pulls bitterness through.

If it did not come out right

SymptomFix
It is very hard to pressGrind too fineGo coarser. The press should take effort, not force — if you are leaning on it, the grind is wrong.
The cup is thinUnder-extractionGrind finer, steep a little longer, or raise the water temperature a couple of degrees.

Frequent questions

Paper or metal filter?

Paper gives a cleaner cup; metal lets the oils through for a fuller, more velvety mouthfeel. Both are correct — they are different drinks.

Is the inverted method better?

It removes the dripping during the steep, at the cost of handling a full chamber upside down. The cup difference is small; the burn risk is not.

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