Changing Aeropress Variables

I’m someone who constantly likes to try to find better ways of doing things. When I first got the Aeropress I followed the default directions to the letter. They’re easily found online or at this Roaste blog post. But one of the nice things about brewing with the Aeropress is being able to change a bunch of variables every time you make a cup of coffee.

Every time I get in a new bag of beans, I like to try to zero in on the best way to prepare them. It’s a kind of game. I think that when you use the Aeropress you can easily modify six variables that drastically alter the taste of the brew:

1)    Water temperature

2)    Water amount

3)    Coffee amount

4)    Coffee grind size

5)    Filter type

6)    Brew time

Here’s an example: the default water temperature suggestion for the Aeropress is 175F. I think this is too low, but some people like a lighter cup. Most of the time I’m mixing mine with some amount of milk, so I want a stronger extraction. I don’t want coffee flavored milk, I want coffee with milk. For me this means a different preparation method whenever I’m making coffee as opposed to a mocha. Also, I feel that the default method doesn’t give enough time for an extraction, so I use the inverted method which lets me control the brew time.  Something important to point out is that none of the preparation methods take an exorbitant amount of time, so I don’t feel like I wasting a bunch of time before work.

I hope in future blog posts to give a few of the methods I’ve had success with and which ones don’t work for me. In the meantime, if you have a preferred method or if I missed a variable you think is important I’d love to hear it.