Ahh, makes sense. I just never brew like that.

My go-to recipe is 17g coffee with 250 mL water. It comes close, but generally fits no problem. That being said, I think 270 would be tough.

I like using 18g/270ml with a non-inverted method. Grind medium-fine which is a bit coarser than table salt for me. I use between 1 and 1.25 turns on my LIDO or 1.3mm on the Rosco Mini. It'd be right in the 14-15 grind setting on my Baratza. Take all that for what it is lol.

1. Fill aeropress to heat it up and wet the paper/metal filter. Let it sit for a bit while you grind.

2. Press water through and toss 18g of ground coffee into the aeropress that is seated on your mug.

3. Start the timer, with the water right around 202-204*F, and pour slowly wetting all the grinds up to 270ml. If the coffee is fresh, give it a stir halfway through the pour to deflate the bloom. Otherwise, stir after the pour and insert the plunger.

4. When the timer reaches 1:20, remove the plunger, stir for 5 seconds in a back and forth manner, and begin plunge at 1:30. Time the plunge to end at 2:00.

This method has yielded great cups for me. This is a base method, so I make changes based on the coffee at hand. Sometimes that means a grind change or a few degrees lower or higher with the water. I never used to like the non-inverted methods, but this one has worked great for me and produces a nice 8oz cup. I look forward to trying it out with the S-filter - I've had great results with the Disk/Disk Fine/Paper.

I should mess with non-inverted methods more. I have been doing all inverted for a while now.

And I think you'll be pleased with the S-filter. I've been using the prototype exclusively for a while and it's pretty awesome.

rlevine wrote:I should mess with non-inverted methods more. I have been doing all inverted for a while now.

And I think you'll be pleased with the S-filter. I've been using the prototype exclusively for a while and it's pretty awesome.

I was the same as you with inverted methods. I read Heart Roasters original method which was 17g/275ml and non-inverted and stuck with it. They originally used a fine grind, 1min total, and a single stir at the end. They've now gravitated towards the 18g/275ml and a slightly longer time. In trying both methods, you get a touch more sweetness in the cups from the longer brew time and a touch less acidity. I have to say that the paper filters produce a pretty tasty cup as well - I'm really looking forward to the S-filter. I like the Disk filter, but find the Disk Fine to be unreliable for travel (too flimsy for me). The Disk Fine is great at work though! The S-filter may be that great compromise in the middle.

Randy, I highly recommend trying the Heart aeropress method and sending them an email with questions. They are really helpful!

I'm a big fan of United States AeroPress Championship - Brandon Weaver - NorthWest Region Champ's inverted Aeropress method with a Able fine DISK. His inverted method uses hot, 204 degree water and his measurements are intuitive as they basically fill up the inverted AP with water.

I like to pour some water into the inverted AP first, then dump the grinds and add more water so that the grounds get better wetting. This seems to avoid any dry clumps stuck to the plunger that need to be stirred into the slurry, they're all wet from the get-go and I stir it up and go from there.

I need to come back to this, I've been brewing using a newer toy, the Kalita Wave, while at work.

I also want to try Prima Coffee's DIY Aeropress Cold Brew with a cut open water bottle used for a dripper. Not sure why I want to try this so bad as I'm really a fan of hot brew iced coffee, but I've got all the materials already so I might as well give it a go.

Still feeling my way with Aeropress... surprised to see most posts here recommending hot >204F water. I've been using water in the 195-200 range, but I'm going to try the hotter idea.

Unlike espresso where I can see if I need to adjust my grind, aeropress needs a more intuitive approach. FYI I'm dosing around 20g, 200g water, letting it sit for 1:00 to 1:20 and finishing the press (including the air at the end) by around 1:30.

I like the convenience and clean cup with the AeroPress and to avoid spillage and fuss, I keep it upright, using the plunger to seal the top so it doesn't pour through until it's steeped some. It's a better insulator than the Clever Dripper (CCD) and more compact/less fragile for travel. The CCD is more convenient to use and clean. I stay with Alan Adler's recommendation of paper filters for health purposes and have even adapted that for espresso shots at home. Alan says he doesn't suggest long dwell time, so he stirs and soon presses straight through. When brewing at my home he measured water into the plunger and heated that in a microwave. He was then able to get his exact water temperature testing as it cooled with a food thermometer. But I agree with others the AeroPress is very versatile, so depending on the coffee and available grinder I'll vary technique. It was a great travel companion when I used it and a Pharos (before LIDO came out) to savor Counter Culture's Idido natural SO on a yoga retreat. For that I was using hot water and inversion and the one spill converted me to vertical use.

I'm certainly not one of the heavy hitters around here, but FWIW, I too recommend the Aeropress. I use it when traveling, I use it all summer (straight into an ice-filled pint glass for a vibrant iced coffee), I use it for any coffee that's not suitable for espresso, or for all coffee if/when my espresso equipment is down. I recently acquired an Espro Press to see if I might spread the love around to other methods of brewing, but at the end of the day I found that the Espro, while a fine cup of coffee and an attractive piece of equipment, results in more fines and way more of a pain to clean with no commensurate superiority of brew.

I have the metal Coava disk (now known as Able), and its holes allow a bit too much pass-through for the standard upright mode, so I consistently go with the inverted. I did once scald the hell out of myself when an inverted process went awry, but I didn't let that deter me. I'm loyal enough to the A-press that I'm actually still using the original model, with a bluish hue to its lower quality plastic. I've thought about repurchasing for the darker, more attractive plastic, but until there's some other improvement to the design (insulation, glass, larger capacity) I'm not sure it's worth it. I'm fine with my old school AP. I may invest in that new superfine metal mesh filter, though.

I tend to modify my method on the fly, but in general I go with a very unscientific 2 scoops ground a bit finer than pourover; water (anywhere from 30 sec to 2 min off boiling) added to halfway, stir, add water to top, steep ~30 sec, press, then add a splash of water to the cup just to make for a longer, more joe-like experience. For the first couple years, though, I went with a finer grind, pressed immediately after stirring and drank the concentrate straight. For me, the aeropress is a sort of quick-n-easy, no-sweat method for a sturdy cup without the fuss. I'll geek out over my espresso, but the beauty of the aeropress is that it's far less dogmatic. If the coffee's good, the cup will be good; it seems harder to screw it up than not to.

I went with cooler temps of 180-190F and a finer drip grind, 17-18g beans to 210g water, 1 minute steep, no stiring, inverted - read it on some website somewhere. Then I discovered the "regular" way was more condusive to my inherent laziness, and tried slightly hotter water at 195-200. Rest is the same. I like the paper filters.