I had not used my AP in a couple of months, so I decided to dust it off today:
- Beans: “Harvest Moon” medium roast (Indonesia/South Asia)
- Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
- Roast date: 10/30/2023
- JX: 2 turns (Grind setting 20)
- 96°C water
- 15 grams coffee / 200 grams water (1:13.3)
- Two paper filters, pre-moistened
- Recipe: An AeroPress Recipe by Tim Wendelboe
- Set AeroPress up in standard orientation and rinse filters
- Add 200g water to AeroPress
- Stir 3 times back to front
- Insert plunger and pull up to stop dripping
- Steep for 60 seconds
- Remove plunger and stir 3 times back to front again
- Insert plunger and press slowly
This recipe is actually very similar to one I tried back in September with a different batch of medium-roasted beans. According to my notes, that cup tasted “thin bodied”. Today’s cup, however, was pretty good. Here are the main differences:
- 95°C water in Sept., vs 96° today
- One paper filter in Sept., vs 2 today
- Grind setting 18 in Sept., vs 20 today — September’s was slightly finer
- Beans 10.5 weeks past roast date (vs 2.5 weeks)
The single biggest difference here was bean freshness. It’s possible that September’s beans may have been starting to get a little stale. Anyhow, I’ll probably try another cup using these beans with this recipe, and see if it turns out similarly to today’s.
I’m hoping to work the AP back into my “rotation” a little bit more frequently, as I’m considering using it as an option for making coffee while traveling. The idea would be to dial a recipe in for a light to medium roast, figure out the quantities of water and coffee used (to eliminate the need for a scale), and pre-grind enough beans for my trip. Then I would pack the AeroPress and ground coffee, and in theory, all I’d need at my destination would be a way to boil water.
11/22: After a slightly bitter cup a couple of days ago, I dropped the water temperature to 90° today and the resulting cup wasn’t bad. Setting 20 is on the coarse side of the “AeroPress range” on the 1Zpresso grind chart, so I might try it a little bit finer next time, just to see what happens.
11/25: I’m currently still at 90°, which seems to work well. Yesterday, I used grind setting 19, and today I tried 18, both of which have been good, with today’s maybe slightly better, although the difference is subtle, and as I’m tasting the cups 24 hours apart, also could be somewhat subjective. I think I’ll just keep nudging it finer and finer until it starts to taste over-extracted, at which point I’ll know it’s making a difference. 😀 I do think that I should probably start using an insulated mug when brewing at lower temperatures this time of year, as today’s cup cooled off very quickly in my ceramic mug, in spite of my having preheated it.
11/26: I think we are finally hitting the point of diminishing returns at grind setting 17. It was still a reasonably good cup, but with a slight hint of bitterness. So, the ideal setting would seem to be 18, or possibly one of the two positions between 18 and 17.