Alan Adler, the Aeropress inventor, likes to home roast his coffee just into second crack. For that level of roast 175F is quite good. I have a dark roast from Red Bird that is slightly into 2C and it's good at 178F and bitter above that. I brew some Nordic roasts at 209F. Lower than that, they're sour. So what I'm saying is don't go by a strict formula but tune your parameters by taste. First of course you'll need a better grinder. If your grinder still puts out too many fines you could use a sieve to get the dust out.

Zoran wrote:So far, the "best" result I've had has been from following recipe, taken from the 1st place winner of the 2014 Aeropress championships... I used a thermometer to verify the temp of of the water is around 200F

Zoran wrote:The "original" recipe that came with the Aeropress said to use a brew temp of 175F but that sounded way too low with me, especially given the fact that every other recipe out there used normal brew temps.

That 2014 1st place recipe used 172°F water.

drgary wrote:Alan Adler, the Aeropress inventor, likes to home roast his coffee just into second crack. For that level of roast 175F is quite good. I have a dark roast from Red Bird that is slightly into 2C and it's good at 178F and bitter above that. I brew some Nordic roasts at 209F. Lower than that, they're sour. So what I'm saying is don't go by a strict formula but tune your parameters by taste. First of course you'll need a better grinder. If your grinder still puts out too many fines you could use a sieve to get the dust out.

hehe, I have really been wondering what you meant in the other thread comparing pharos and bunnzilla. You said 209 in that thread and really confused me for a minute! I wasn't the intended recipient of this information, but I will certainly consider it as I brew.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I brought my temperature down on my last cup and it definitely helped so I'm going to keep experimenting with it. Also, I should have pointed out that these are not fresh beans, so that's probably a factor as well. Also, I did end up snagging a refurbished Virtuoso so when that comes later this week I should be able to control that part of the equation more.