James Hoffmann Aeropress Extravaganza

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
Rickpatbrown
Posts: 460
Joined: 5 years ago

#1: Post by Rickpatbrown »

Woah! The Hoff rips apart conventional Aeropress wisdom!
1) bloom
2) inverted
3) rinsing paper

I found the water temperature discussion very interesting too ... there is a valley of gross coffee between 80°C and 100°C. Although, I think water composition plays a big roll here.

I'm gonna put away the v60 and pull out the press again.

I do wish he talked a little bit about the papers more (besides rinsing). Double papers is something I have done to mak deed brew cleaner. I assume there might be some 3rd party papers, also. Is a metal filter something that any self respecting coffee snob would use?

Overall, this was a very satisfying video.

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Spitz.me
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#2: Post by Spitz.me »

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. He did a great job there. I think that simply just because he said that one brew was "heavenly", that I'm going to pull out my Aeropress. :D

I bought it in like 2008 and have used it like 2 times.
LMWDP #670

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DamianWarS
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Joined: 4 years ago

#3: Post by DamianWarS »

Rickpatbrown wrote:video

Woah! The Hoff rips apart conventional Aeropress wisdom!
1) bloom
2) inverted
3) rinsing paper

I found the water temperature discussion very interesting too ... there is a valley of gross coffee between 80°C and 100°C. Although, I think water composition plays a big roll here.

I'm gonna put away the v60 and pull out the press again.

I do wish he talked a little bit about the papers more (besides rinsing). Double papers is something I have done to mak deed brew cleaner. I assume there might be some 3rd party papers, also. Is a metal filter something that any self respecting coffee snob would use?

Overall, this was a very satisfying video.
I suspect in episode 3 he will talk about all the "mods" like the prismo, puckpuck, etc. I just read about one called the 2POUR which is a double spout for the areopress (and is ridiculous)

This would also be a good time to discuss filter mods like metal filters, double papers and so on.

maybe in episode 4 he'll talk about all the grinders that fit in the plunger (but I doubt it), I think ep 4 will be the final episode with his version of how he does an areopress.

I'm also pleased he debunked all the craziness like blooming and inverted. I've always preheated and wet the paper but I think I'll stop doing that now, it makes the whole thing easier to use. The espresso world has been using dry filters top and bottom and say it doesn't negatively impact the shot so for the aeropress it should be even less of a impact.

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baldheadracing
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#4: Post by baldheadracing »

Am I the only one who was distracted by all the E-61's in background? (and the Eureka off to the side)
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

jpender
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#5: Post by jpender »

Curious preheating had almost no effect. I tested this years ago and there was a pronounced effect. My Aeropress back then was copolyester whereas the new ones are polypropylene, but I don't believe the thermal properties are all that different.

PIXIllate
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#6: Post by PIXIllate »

Simply put, this is just over the top exhaustive.
There's a LOT of information in that video.
Hat's off to James for being methodical and logical.

Definitely an example of the internet on a good day.

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lancealot
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#7: Post by lancealot »

Fantastic timing James! Two weeks ago, in anticipation of summer travel, I bought an Aeropress and a hand grinder. I wonder how he knew?
I haven't watched this yet, but I really like his french press technique so I am optimistic that this will be good too!

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Rickpatbrown (original poster)
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#8: Post by Rickpatbrown (original poster) »

DamianWarS wrote:I suspect in episode 3 he will talk about all the "mods" like the prismo, puckpuck, etc....

maybe in episode 4 he'll talk about all the grinders that fit in the plunger (but I doubt it), I think ep 4 will be the final episode with his version of how he does an areopress.
Are you serious???!!! Two MORE episodes? What a freak!
God I love the modern coffee community. Especially James. He has really been putting out amazing content for the past year or two. The industry was ripe for this. He is basically grabbing all the low hanging fruit and packaging it in a way that would be hard to out do.

DamianWarS
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#9: Post by DamianWarS »

Rickpatbrown wrote:Are you serious???!!! Two MORE episodes? What a freak!
God I love the modern coffee community. Especially James. He has really been putting out amazing content for the past year or two. The industry was ripe for this. He is basically grabbing all the low hanging fruit and packaging it in a way that would be hard to oput do.
Of course I don't know what he's going to do but it would seem remiss to not talk about all the add ons.

MikeTheBlueCow
Posts: 269
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#10: Post by MikeTheBlueCow »

My only concern is that the community will use this as "the definitive proof" for why not to do many of these things in an AeroPress recipe, when I feel it should rather spur experimentation and conversation.

I was on the "don't bloom" train and then during side-by-side testing the bloom made the coffee much sweeter. I think this really just depends on the other factors of the recipe though.

As for preheating, of course that's going to make a difference if you're doing an "aerospresso" that uses a very tight ratio, but wouldn't be beneficial if you're doing a 1:16 ratio using boiling water.

I think one thing he didn't test was affecting how much immersion vs percolation there was in the brew, since it is a hybrid brewer after all. In my testing, I have always preferred a slow press for nearly the whole brew time vs a longer steep with short press.

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