The 8-Minute AeroPress

13 Jun 2017

Today we take a little bit of a detour into coffee land to talk about my preferred method for making coffee. Specifically, how I make an 8-Minute AeroPress.

Why 8 minutes? The trick here, is that we use the timing to get our water to within an ideal temperature range for steeping and brewing with the AeroPress. AeroPress recommends, and I have found, that along with a longer steeping time, the lower temperature produces an amazing cup of coffee.

Gear

Of course there is some gear, and disclaimer of disclaimer, these are all smile.amazon links.

• AeroPress
• Grinder - Porlex Mini
• Electric Kettle
• Mug - Level 47 Meeting Mug

Note: You don’t need these specific things. They’re the ones I’ve found to work best for me.

You’ll notice I left the actual coffee off that list. This is because that is super highly subjective. My current goto is Cottonwood from Brown Coffee Co.. Great coffee, great consistency, and roasted in a way I aspire to get to in my own roasting.

Setup

First things first, we need to get the grind right. For the Porlex Mini linked above, this is 7 “clicks”. Clicks? Yes, clicks:

On the top half of the grinder, turn the knob 6 “clicks” counterclockwise.

For other grinders you are looking for a grind a bit finer than what you’d use for French Press. This is because we’re going to be steeping for a bit longer than is typical, and want to get the extraction just so.

Process

1. Fill the kettle, set it to boil
2. Set the funnel into your mug
3. Grind 1.25 “scoops” or about 16.5 or 17g of coffee
4. Set up for an “Inverted AeroPress”:

Image CC licensed

1. Dump the grounds into the AeroPress.

At about this point, the kettle should be boiling and click itself off. Here is where the first 4 minutes of the 8 comes from. Set a timer for 4 minutes to let the water cool.

1. Add water to the first marker (should be number 3 if inverted). About 50g
2. Using the back of the scoop, stir gently
3. Place the filter in the cover, place the cover filter side up, over the end of the AeroPress, and wet the filter (just wet it, we add the rest of the water later).
4. Wait another 4 minutes (you see, 8 minutes)
5. Add the rest of the water. I shoot to fill to about 1cm from the edge, or about 250g total in water.
6. Screw filter on
7. Flip into funnel and press