Best Aeropress parameters to emphasize fruitiness of naturals?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
Tzatziki
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#1: Post by Tzatziki »

Question to all the tinkerers out there, especially ones with refractometers ;) :


For a long time I used a Hario Mini Mill, but I was recently gifted a Baratza Preciso. Since the HMMS is not particularly good at producing a coarse grind, I'd always used a slightly-coarser-than-espresso grind and a 1:30 contact time. It seems there are hundreds of different AP brew methods out there, and I was wondering if anyone who has tried a lot of them with different coffees could give some insight in to which of the methods would be best for naturals.

My favorite taste in coffee is the fruitiness in naturals (blueberry bombs, etc.), especially when there's a very fruity finish. I rarely ever brew washed coffee - occasionally Geishas, but I feel those are often closer in flavor profile to naturals anyways. Do certain combinations of grind size/contact time/temperature/dose emphasize these flavors more than others?

Broader question, since I'm also not really tied to the AP - do any other brew methods emphasize these flavors better than an AP?

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Eastsideloco
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#2: Post by Eastsideloco »

I'm curious to hear what people say. There's got to be someone here who can tell you what preparation method is best for emphasizing fruitiness.

I use the AP as a travel brewer and my default travel grinder is a Hario Mini mill. At home my go-to brew method is the Hario V60. I go through a bag of natural Ethiopian at least once every 6 to 8 week-and often bring a "blueberry bomb" along on business trip to share with my colleagues.

As much as I like the AP for travel, I've never managed to produce a cup using the AP that I preferred over pourover. To me, coffee prepared with the AP seems to have less flavor separation.

The recipe I've been using is similar to yours in terms of grinds size and contact time:

Rich, full, sweet coffee using Aeropress?

Since I only use the AP for a week at a time every couple of months, the sheer number of recipes out there is pretty overwhelming. I don't feel like trying a different "experiment" every time I travel.

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yakster
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#3: Post by yakster »

I would lean towards a siphon for emphasizing fruitiness and venture to say that other immersion brew methods may also do the same such as the Bunn Trifecta, press pot, clever, or Aeropress but I venture into speculation there.
-Chris

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happycat
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#4: Post by happycat »

I am no expert. I only just started with Aeropress in contemplation of picnics and travel.

As for other brew methods, I enjoyed the blueberry chocolate of a Yirg in my siphon. Quite memorable even now. Today I enjoyed a chocolate raisin espresso.

I'm still searching for good AP recipes myself. Have you tried adjusting brew temps? I was playing today with 17g doses non inverted around 145 total brew time and it seems a lower temp (mid 80s) was nuttier and a higher temp (closer to 90) was getting more fruit in a Guatemala but I wasn't being scientific about the whole process.
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samuellaw178
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#5: Post by samuellaw178 »

Using stock Aeropress suggested parameters, people tend to get very good smooth cup of coffee, which can be good for most normal coffee drinkers but a utter waste for specialty coffee. Also the material of Aeropress does not lend itself to maintaining high intra-brew temperature, which may be one of the major reason for the 'smooth' cups.

French Press is one of my favorite brew methods due to the full immersion extraction, but the grittiness may not be everyone's cup. Combining the filtration capability of Aeropress and full immersion of French Press seems to be the best solution for me.

What I do - just do the steeping process in an external vessel (either ceramic cups, glass, stainless steel mug that keeps heat, you don't need a French Press vessel) with normal French Press procedure (preheat cup & 4 minute steep). Then you do the final filtration by pouring into Aeropress. Does the trick for me, a very clean and rich cup.

And of course you could venture into pour over coffee by purchasing new equipment. Those tend to produce brighter cups that is in your favorite criteria.

Sam21
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#6: Post by Sam21 »

Use a paper filter, a slightly higher ratio, and a raise your water temp.