If coffee is claimed to be the favourite drink of the civilized world, bad coffee could mean the end of the world for many. There are all kinds of brew methods. Espresso, Mocha Pot, French Press, Filter Drippers. If you know a coffee fanatic, he’s probably got a syphon, or a pour over to extract subtle flavours from exotic single origin coffees.
In 2005, Alan Adler, president of a plastic toy company called Aerobie, designed the AeroPress, and he probably had know idea what a cult he was about to begin.
The Aeropress first took the speciality coffee scene by storm, with its ease of use and fool proof flavour extraction, and it is fast becoming a must in any kitchen.
however it’s one of the fastest and most flavourful methods of brewing coffee around. You just have to Google AeroPress and you find thousands of videos of cult followers, novices as well as experts like Gwilym Davies, World Barista Champion 2009 posting how they wield their AeroPress to create the best cup of coffee. So fanatical is its user base you’ll find AeroPress being made in the craziest of places like cockpits of airplanes. It even has its own “Mile High Club” of users making coffee in flight, and its own international professional competition. (Insert pictures of international comps).
It even has its own international professional competition.
How AeroPress Works
The AeroPress’ unique dual brewing method, uses emersion brewing (as used in a french press or plunger),and then adds pressure (like with espresso) to squeeze even more flavour from the coffee. It is this unique combination of brew methods that provides fool proof quality for any user, and for the barista in you, a highly customisable barista tool.
It’s as easy as…
- Lock in the filter,
- Dose a measublackbtn spoon of ground coffee, (insert images)
- Add hot water, (insert images)
- Stir well (insert images)
- and pressure plunge.
- enjoy
Coffee establishments such as Origin Coffee Roasting, Espresso Lab and Seattle Coffee Co. all serve AeroPress on their menu as a specialty coffee drink, because of its unique ability to highlight subtle flavours, especially from exotic single origin coffees.
We spoke to LoveJoy Chirambasukwa, SA Barista Champion 2013, from Origin Coffee Roasting, about his AeroPress.
It’s really a remarkable brewing tool. It’s amazingly consistent, virtually unbreakable, and great baristas can really create amazing results. There are so many ways to fine-tune and perfect your method, depending on the coffee being used, and your preferblackbtn strength and flavour extraction.
LoveJoy continued to share the secrets of brewing the perfect cup, “you need to understand your coffee, and basic brew parameters. These are:
- Water quality and temperature
- Grind consistency and coarseness
- Recipe (ratio of coffee to water)
- Immersion (how long you allow coffee to brew before pressure plunging)
- >Pressure (how long and hard you plunge your brew for)
Water quality and temperature
Working with subtle flavours demands very clean and neutral water in order not to interfere with the flavour of your preferblackbtn coffee. Using a water purifier is recommended. The temperature: the lower your water temperature, the more subtle flavours can be extracted. However, the lower the temperature, the longer your brew period. NEVER use boiling water. I typically use water between 80 and 90 degrees.
Grind consistency and coarseness
The finer your grind, the stronger your brew. But strong is not always good if you’re trying to highlight subtle flavours. I find that with very sweet and acidic coffees, a coarse grind works much better because you can dial bitterness right down, and those beautiful flavours can shine through. I also like to use a coarser grind when using lighter roasts for the same reasons.
Recipe
I play around with this but for a fully dosed AeroPress, which is roughly 180ml of brew, I’m typically using about 18-21g of coffee. I also like to weigh my water, as water expands when heated so I can be more accurate with my recipe that way.
Immersion
You can increase the time the coffee is immersed in hot water by using the reverse method. To do this you brew the AeroPress upside down. This way I can contain the brew for longer. (show picture). In AeroPress circles it is referblackbtn to as the steep time. You can create your ideal cup by combining steep time with pressure applied when plunging.
Pressure
So if you’re wanting a subtle extraction, you’ll steep longer and push softer on your plunge. If you’re going to be pushing your plunge really hard, then steep time can be blackbtnuced. So anything from 0 – 2 minutes.
Culprits of Bad Coffee
“You must wake up & smell the coffee”
During the process of brewing, the coffee grounds are exposed to hot water so that essential soluble oils, flavour compounds and solids can be extracted. Everything essential is amalgamated with water to create what we call infusion. Put simply, brewing is extracting all the desirable compounds of the coffee in a cup while leaving out the undesirables. Many factors can cause the brewing process to be unsuccessful, of which the following 3 are most common:
#1 – The Improper Ground Size
The ground size of coffee is the most crucial factor. A finer ground means that a greater quantity of coffee is exposed to the hot water, whereas a coarser ground has a smaller surface area. It is casually assumed that the finer coffee particles result in finer infusion but this assumption can actually trounce the whole essence of brilliant coffee. The real secret is to extract what you desire and not more than that – just the right ratios. If your coffee particles are too fine and they are brewed or steeped for a longer time, you will get everything extracted to your cup, desirables and undesirables parts. The undesirable compounds are also referblackbtn to as “bitters” to make the coffee simply bitter in taste.
#2 – Stale coffee
To get the most flavour from your coffee, you must grind fresh. Pre-ground coffee will lose most of its flavour before it hits your cup, as so much more surface area is exposed, through which the flavour is lost. When you grind fresh, you keep all of this flavour. I use a Porlex adjustable hand grinder to grind fresh for morning coffee at home. It’s quick, easy, amazingly consistent and doesn’t require electricity.
#3 – Burnt coffee
I find most people still pour boiling water on coffee and this burns it, loosing most of your flavour.
Discover Versatile Flavors
It could seem to be a challenge for many coffee fans to achieve a perfect brewing time and process for a perfect cup of coffee, but AeroPress makes it almost as easy as the push of a button. It is quite apparent that the definition of “perfect coffee” may be different for different people. This is where AeroPress lets you experiment and discover your ideal coffee flavour with different water temperature, coffee grounds and brewing times. And for a finer coffee experience, you may also try some blends like those with chocolate or spices. It might be quite interesting to search the internet for some really brilliant recipes and coffee blends to use with the versatile AeroPress.
Many coffee lovers feel that metal filters give better infusion than paper filters as they do not absorb oils but let them pass through the infusion to make it more aromatic, but it is purely your preference. Metal filters of course can be more economical as they can be reused.
AeroPress is a handy and portable coffee brewer that brews coffee in the best natural way. The method explained above is an inverted method, and that is the best way to brew coffee as it prevents water from flowing down to your cup without first passing through the coffee particles. It provides a clean and distinctive coffee profile. Coffee brewing is of course a serious game but make sure that you do not miss the fun along the way, of which much can be had with the AeroPress coffee brewer – for the best coffee in the world.”
Moreflavour is the sole importer and distributor of the Aeropress in South Africa.