Tag: aeropress

Today’s Brew Notes

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: German St Coffee and Candlery Private House Blend
  • Attempt #1:
    • 13 grams coffee, 200 grams water (roughly 1:15)
    • 95°C water
    • 2 rotations (medium-fine)
  • Attempt #2:
    • 11 grams coffee, 200 grams water (1:18)
    • 99°C water
    • 1.5 rotations (fine)
  • James Hoffman’s Ultimate Aeropress Recipe

I’m not sure exactly what kind of beans these are. It looks like a medium roast (darker than light, lighter than dark) but the bag doesn’t have any info on it. I remember getting OK but unspectacular results with it in the French Press. Previous attempts with the Aeropress were underwhelming, and today’s weren’t much better. This recipe assumes a light roast, so I started out by tweaking it with a slightly coarser grind, lower temperature and more coffee per volume (Attempt #1) and that turned out underextracted. Then I tried treating it like a light roast, following the recipe exactly, (Attempt #2) and that turned out weak and flavorless.

Although neither of these cups was very good, Attempt #1 was slightly better. I might try Attempt #1 again with a finer grind, and see if I can get more extraction out of these beans. If not, maybe I’ll go back to French press with a really long steep time, or just use the beans to make cold brew.

Brew Notes

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: Starbucks house blend medium roast
  • 18 grams coffee, 210 grams water (1:12)
  • 205° water
  • Medium-fine grind (JX: 2 rotations minus 6 clicks)
  • Our Favorite Aeropress Recipe

Reused 2 paper filters (this was maybe their 4th or 5th cup). Started timer and pour at the same time. 20 seconds or so to pour. Steeped 40 more seconds (60 second total bloom per recipe), stirred 10 seconds. Flipped at 1:30 and pressed all the way through the hiss, ending at 2:00. I have had good results with these beans and this recipe in the past, but it turned out bitter today for some reason. Could be that I forgot to pre-wet the filters.Will use new, pre-moistened filters next time, and may stop pressing a little earlier, although that has not been an issue in the past.

Just an update: I brewed another cup of this after dinner with the following changes: I poured slightly faster (about as fast as I could go with the gooseneck kettle without overshooting), I used 2 new paper filters pre-moistened with warm water, and I stopped pressing as soon as I heard air escaping. Same overall brew time (60 second bloom which includes pour time, 10 second stir, flip and press at 1:30, finish at 2:00). Turned out perfect! I doubt the pour speed made any difference, so maybe it was the dry filters? Who knows.