CorvusDoug wrote:Here's a great article with 66 different aeropress recipes from different roasters, cafes, and competitors from all over:
https://handground.com/grind/66-recipes ... ?locale=en

This is great. Thank you. I watched probably more than a dozen videos on Brew Methods and took notes and tried them all when I was starting out. Now I'm basically using NBA's method above. That's a great compilation. Thanks again.

Wanted to provide another update.

In the midst of trying to accommodate for my extremely hard water out of concern for scaling in my espresso machine, I learned that my water is extremely hard and has very high alkalinity. I tested it and now dilute my water appropriately. And just like that my coffee improved instantly. I think this was a really big part of the problem.

The test kit was only about $5 on Amazon IIRC. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their brew to see how their water stacks up. Could probably go a long way to improve many people's coffee.

Wanted to provide another update. Brewing that perfect cup has thus far eluded me. I'm really happy with my espresso and want to bring my brewed coffee up to par.

I bought a v60. Really happy with the results but still thought I could do better. It's been fun though. I now hear Frank Ocean whenever I make a pourover.

I stopped using my tap water and now "make" my own using Matt Perger's recipe. Got closer.

I have a trip approaching that will prevent me from using my kettle with PID. So I've been practicing with using water just off boil which is what I'll have. I had been using water in the 89-91C range, going back and forth, and mainly using fairly fine grinds (3-4 on the Bunnzilla).

I downloaded the Aeropress Timer App for iPhone. I thought it was silly because I can just read the recipe on my phone or from what I've written down, but again, with my trip coming up, won't have the scale with built in timer, so I went ahead and got it. It's actually a GREAT app. Really happy with it. And that brought me to one of the recipes, "The Charlene." It's one of the former World Aeropress Championship winners. It's listed here, if you scroll down.

Basically, I've come to learn that I don't like a lot of the third wave coffees. They are too bright and clear and tea-like for me. So of course the brewing methods I've been reading about and trying emphasize those. This is my observation on the matter. I might be wrong though. Regardless I read the recipe which calls for a "coarse" grind, cranked my grinder to 7, and used water just off the boil. And the cup was fantastic. Previously I had been using a pretty fine grind, water at 89-91C, and brewing longer. I was partial to the Heart Roasters recipe which has a steep time of 1:45 with a stir at 50 s and another right before the press. I also used Tim Wendelboe's recipe a fair bit too. I've tried to switch over to standard recipes away from inverted. Charlene's recipe uses a bloom which I had also abandoned and is quick, 60 seconds total.

So not sure what to make of it but I've had two cups now that were great with this completely different recipe. I figured that since I wanted body in my coffee the finer grind and longer brew time was ideal but it didn't turn out that way for me. Maybe someone who knows more than me can comment on my taste for coffee better based on these brew parameters.