How to Use the AeroPress

Looking for a simple, fast and inexpensive way to brew a good cup of coffee? You might want to give the AeroPress a try. It’s a great little gadget for brewing your favorite Charleston Coffee Roasters coffee. Here are our tips for how to use the AeroPress at home.

The AeroPress was created by Alan Adler, a Stanford engineering professor that wanted a faster and easier way to brew just one cup of coffee. After some tinkering in his lab, he settled on this plunger method to quickly press the hot water through the ground coffee.

Despite the method being so simple, the AeroPress results in a very good cup of coffee with clear and clean flavors. The coffee is strong, but with low acidity and bitterness. In combination with our signature “smooth, never bitter” coffee roasts, you will quickly be hooked on this brewing method!

Using an AeroPress to brew your coffee is similar to brewing in a French Press. But there are definitely a few benefits over the French Press method. First off, there is a small paper filter that captures the grounds, which is part of the reason that the resulting coffee is so clean and flavorful. But also, cleanup is ridiculously easy! Instead of scraping out the coffee ground sludge at the bottom of a French Press, you just need to use the plunger to pop out the used grounds and filter directly into the trashcan.

Since the AeroPress is made of durable plastic with just a few small parts, it is perfect to take along with you when traveling or camping. The only downside is that it can only brew a few cups at a time. But since the longest part of the process is boiling water, it’s easy to make multiple cups fairly quickly.

GRIND IT RIGHT

The optimum grind for the AeroPress is going to be coffee ground to a fine drip or espresso grind. The coarser the grind, the more pressure and time it takes to press the plunger. A good roast to try is our Breakfast Blend, which is a medium roast that is perfect for starting your day.

WATER TIPS

The ideal temperature for medium or dark roasts is around 175 degrees F. There are two ways you can heat the water. Either heat a kettle of water to boiling, and then take the kettle off the stove until it cools to around 175. Or you can watch the water as it boils, and catch it before it starts to boil. Either way, using an instant read thermometer is the best way to measure the water temperature.

STEP-BY-STEP

When you first open the box, you might be intimidated by the number of pieces. But the process of using the AeroPress is really quite simple. Here are our tips for how to use the AeroPress at home.

1. Heat water to 175 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, push the plunger out of the cylindrical chamber.
3. Place a filter into the bottom of the cap, and twist the cap onto the bottom of the chamber.
4. Set the chamber, cap side down, on top of a sturdy mug, and add 1 tablespoon of ground coffee to the chamber. You can use more coffee grounds for a stronger cup of coffee.
5. Shake the chamber slightly to level the coffee grounds.
6. For American style coffee, fill the chamber with hot water to the number 2 mark. If you want stronger coffee, more similar to espresso, just fill it to the number 1 mark. Or if you are making a big cup, enough for two people, fill it to the number 3 or 4 mark.
7. Use the paddle to stir the coffee and water mixture for 10 seconds.
8. Insert the plunger into the chamber, and press gently but firmly for 20 to 40 seconds.
9. Remove the cap from the chamber, and push the plunger again to eject the coffee grounds and filter.