Somewhat bewildered by the millions of Aeropress recipes on youtube, I’m wondering if daily users end up settling into a reliable, simple process that’s similar from person to person.
In particular, I note that my method (basically a french press) is vastly different from the one in the instructions which is ground much finer, uses less water, and starts dripping through the filter immediately.
Anyway, here’s me:
- 12g mild-roast (coarse ground a touch finer than most people would use for a french press, done with a C2)
- inverted
- one filter paper, not washed, but damp enough to stick
- fresh boiled water (so probs 95°+) 180g
- stir enough to break up the floaties
- push the plunger in far enough that the liquid is almost at the top before I put the filter on
- tip over and start plunging at 1:30, finish by 2:00
- into ~70g warmed milk
I’d love to hear yours.
Can confirm. The AP is far more forgiving than some other methods such as a moka pot. If you use the right amount of water and grinds, and you let it extract for more than a few seconds, the details don’t really matter all that much. If you’re really experienced, you should be able to taste the difference between two recipes, but these tend to be tiny differences that don’t really matter when all you really want is a cup of good coffee in the morning.
However, there is another area where the AP shines: flexibility. By adjusting the recipe, you can make a single cup for yourself or 4 cups just as easily. If you need even more more than that, you need a to go XL or use a pour over.