Your first AeroPress (the right way up)
Steep 15 g of coffee in 225 g of water for about a minute and a half, then press.
⏱️ 5 minEasy
Starting recipe
15 g coffee + 225 g water at 90 °C (194 °F), steep until 1:15, press by about 1:45 (inside 1:30–3:00).
Grind: Medium-fine, between table salt and sand
You need
- 15 g fresh coffee, ground medium-fine (between table salt and sand)
- An AeroPress with a paper filter
- A kettle
- A kitchen scale and a timer
- A sturdy mug that the AeroPress sits on safely
- A stirrer or spoon
Step by step
Heat water and grind
Boil water and let it rest about a minute, which lands near 90 °C. Grind 15 g of coffee medium-fine.
Rinse the filter
Put a paper filter in the cap, rinse it with hot water and twist the cap onto the chamber. Stand the chamber on your mug.
Add coffee and water
Pour in the grounds, set the mug on the scale, tare and start the timer. Pour 225 g of water within about 10 seconds, wetting all the coffee.
Stir and seal
Stir gently for about 5 seconds. Then put the plunger in the top, just a centimeter or so. The seal creates a vacuum that slows the dripping a lot.
Steep
Wait until the timer shows about 1:15.
60 sPress
Hold the mug steady with one hand and press the plunger down slowly and steadily with the other, taking about 20–30 seconds. Stop when you hear the hiss.
Press with gentle, even force. If you have to lean hard, the grind is too fine.
30 sTaste and adjust
Lift the AeroPress off. Taste: it should be smooth and sweet. You can add hot water if you like a longer cup. Sour? Grind finer or steep longer. Bitter? Grind coarser.
Pop and rinse
Over the bin, twist off the cap and push the plunger through to pop out the puck. Rinse the seal and you're done.
Common mistakes
- Pressing so hard you tip the mug or crack the filter.
- Using a narrow mug or glass that the AeroPress can wobble off.
- Grinding as fine as espresso: pressing becomes a workout and the coffee turns bitter.
- Forgetting to rinse the paper filter.
- Leaving the plunger stored pushed into the chamber, which squashes the seal over time.
Tastes off? Fix it
| If it… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Sour or thin | Grind a little finer, or steep 30 seconds longer before pressing. |
| Bitter or dry | Grind a little coarser, or press sooner. |
| Weak | Use more coffee for the same water, for example 16–17 g instead of 15 g. |
| Too strong | Use a little less coffee for the same water, or simply top up the mug with hot water. |
| Hard to press | Grind coarser. Pressing harder just squeezes out bitterness. |
| Lots of coffee drips through before pressing | Put the plunger in right after stirring to create the vacuum, or try the inverted method. |
Words you'll hear
- Chamber
- The main tube where the coffee and water steep. It has numbered marks on the side.
- Plunger
- The part with the rubber seal that you push down to press the coffee through the filter.
- Filter cap
- The perforated cap that holds the paper filter and screws or twists onto the bottom of the chamber.
- Steep
- Letting the coffee sit in the water so it can extract flavor.
- Inverted
- Brewing with the AeroPress upside down, plunger at the bottom, so nothing drips out early. You flip it over to press.
- Hiss
- The sound when air starts pushing through the coffee at the end of the press. A good moment to stop.
- Ratio
- Water weight divided by coffee weight. 1:15 means 15 g of coffee to 225 g of water.
- Extraction
- How much flavor the water pulls from the grounds. Under-extracted tastes sour and thin; over-extracted tastes bitter and dry.