My favorite way of making coffee has long been using a french press. I really enjoy the body of the coffee that comes from the french press as well as the flavors that result from the suspended coffee particles being saturated and mixing with the hot water. Coffee tastes so much better this way to me, rather than using a drip-brew coffee maker, where water simply gets dumped on top of ground coffee and brewed by gravity… not to mention, all of the precious coffee oils containing most of the flavor gets trapped in the paper filter.

When I first heard about the Aerobie AeroPress a few years ago, I was a little skeptical. Not only did it use a paper filter, but it also looked like something out of a hospital! Still, I kept reading the great reviews and decided I had to try it.

By the way, if you think the Aerobie brand rings a bell, you’re right – they’re the same makers of the Aerobie Pro Ring (the frisbee that looked more like a thin, small bike tire we used to throw around in the 80′s… then spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find, it just flew so far!).

I won’t go into all of the specific details on the basic instructions for how to use it (the video I’ve added at the bottom of this post gives a pretty good demonstration, and you can also view the product’s instructions here). Instead, I’ll give a very high-level overview of how to use the AeroPress, the pros and cons as well as some advanced techniques.

The Basics
The AeroPress is basically used like a giant syringe, where coffee, mixed with hot water for a few seconds, gets squeezed out into a mug in the form of an espresso shot. The basic process is to first place a paper filter into the cap which then screws onto the end of the cylinder. Then, the AeroPress should be placed so that it sits on top of a coffee cup or mug so that it’s resting completely on it. Scoop in freshly-ground, fresh roasted coffee (use a fine grind). Immediately pour in hot (but not boiling) water, mix for 10 seconds, place the plunger on top and push down for 20 seconds. That’s it. This makes a serving of espresso but you can always add more hot water for an Americano or build an espresso-based drink.

The Pro’s
*The coffee is remarkably smooth. This could be attributed to the fines (small coffee particles) not getting into your cup due to the filter, so you don’t get the bitter taste.
*Clean-up is a breeze. Simply remove the cap, remove the filter, push the plunger in as far as it will go and a nicely packed coffee puck shoots out. Rinse the end of the plunger under water and you’re done.

The Cons
*You might not want to use your favorite mug… I’ve never broken one, but I’ve heard it can happen to cheaper mugs due to the force of pushing down.
*You don’t get the body of coffee you’d get from a french press or other brewing methods.
*The AeroPress uses a paper filter, so coffee oils get trapped. See advanced techniques, though, as there’s a way around this.

Advanced Techniques
Although the AeroPress makes exceptional coffee, there are some limitations. For instance, using a paper filter traps the coffee oils. One option you have for this is you could buy a Swissgold filter and cut a circle out of the flat area in a way that it would fit right into the AeroPress cap. Some people use a micron polyester felt or other material instead of a Swissgold cut-out. These methods allow for more inflow of small coffee particles which creates a bigger body in the ultimate brew.

Another issue is that using the AeroPress with the directions it comes with doesn’t yield the best possible cup (even though it does give a pretty good one). The problem is, when you use freshly roasted coffee (within 7-10 days of roasting) and grind it right before brewing, it leads to a “bloom” (a layer that forms at the top of a mix of near-boiling water and coffee grounds due to C02 being emmitted from fresh beans). Within this bloom is the greatest concentrate of coffee oils. Using the AeroPress the way the instructions state, you’ll push the water mix and bloom down into the cup and the bloom will be the last part to go. The oils within the bloom get stuck in the puck and the greatest flavor from the mix never makes it into your cup.

Instead, try the “inverted method”. Basically, you set your mug aside and place the bottom of the plunger on a table and place the cylinder on top (you might want some paper towels, ’cause this could get messy). Add in the freshly-ground coffee and hot water, stirring for 10 seconds. Add the filter with the (hopefully not paper) filter and – positioning your mug just right – start pushing down in a way that the first few drops spill right in. You’re trying to capture the mix from the bloom. After a few seconds, you can (quickly) turn the AeroPress over and place it back onto your mug and push down like usual. You should taste a big difference.

There you have it. If you’ve never used an AeroPress before, I highly recommend it. Using the advanced techniques, the AeroPress can make amazing coffee. Below is a video I found on YouTube that has a pretty good demonstration of the AeroPress so you can see visually how to go about making coffee from it (note: the video shows the regular, not inverted method). However, you can see the bloom in the video and how, using the regular method, it is the last part of the mix attempted to be pushed out but gets stuck due to the puck that has formed.

We now offer the latest version of the AeroPress which includes a free nylon tote bag and along with a pack of 350 filters. Click here to buy the Aerobie AeroPress from Weekly Roast Coffee.

Return to our Coffee Library to read more coffee tips.