AWC 2011 Method Put to the Test

Ok, so I posted late last night about the results of the 2011 World Aeropress Championships and commented on Jeff Verellen’s method. But last night it was way too late to have a cup of coffee (I was up too late anyway, caffeine would not have helped the situation). So this morning after dragging myself out of bed I opened the method on the iPhone and went through it step-by-step.

After searching a bit for my paper filters I began pre-heating the Aeropress and ground out 17g of Deep Cello’s Black Tie (reviewed here). There was a slight hiccup with adding the water to the coffee without stirring, most of the coffee wanted to hang out on top of the water instead of in the water where it needed to be. I ended up adding just a bit more water to submerge it. Then I waited for a minute while the water slowly (very slowly) trickled into the pot before grabbing the plunger and (again slowly) plunging half of the water down into the mug and then the rest down the sink (which felt very wrong somehow). Then, I added a bit more water and a little sugar.

The result: Wow. I’d almost be tempted to say that it’s under-extracted, except there’s a bunch of flavors...just not any bitter ones. As in zero bitterness. I’m noticing more nuances in this cup than I did at the peak brewing time. I’m generally not a fan of the paper filters, but it’s nice not having any sediment in the cup (so I could enjoy every bit of it). I don’t know that this will replace my usual method because it does take a bit more time (and prep work), but I’ll definitely have to use it during the peak brewing times. Overall, I’d heartily recommend at least trying it. Jeff Verellen won for a good reason.