The AeroPress Recipe Guide: Four Recipes and How to Make Them Your Own

The AeroPress is the most forgiving brewer we sell. It's also the most flexible. Change the grind, the water temperature, or the steep time and you get a noticeably different cup. That's great once you know what you like, and a little overwhelming when you're starting out. These four recipes are good starting points. Pick the one that sounds closest to how you drink coffee, make it a few times, then adjust.

Before you start

• Weigh your coffee and water. A scale makes every recipe repeatable. Any 0.1g scale works; the OXO 6 lb Precision Scale has a timer built in.
• Grind fresh. Pre-ground coffee works, but freshly ground is noticeably better. A burr grinder like the Baratza Encore covers every AeroPress grind size.
• Rinse the paper filter. A quick splash of hot water rinses out any papery taste and helps the filter seal against the cap.

Recipe 1: the everyday cup

This is the one to learn first. Clean, balanced, and done in about two minutes.

• 15g coffee, medium-fine (a little finer than drip)
• 220g water, just off the boil (about 200°F)
• Standard orientation, paper filter

1. Set the AeroPress on your mug with a rinsed filter in the cap. Add the coffee.
2. Start a timer and pour all 220g of water.
3. Stir three or four times, then insert the plunger about a centimeter to slow the drip.
4. At 1:30, remove the plunger, stir once more, reinsert, and press slowly. Aim for about 30 seconds of pressing.
5. Stop when you hear a hiss. Pressing the last bit of air through adds bitterness.

Recipe 2: the inverted brew (fuller body)

Flipping the AeroPress upside down lets the coffee steep without dripping through early, so you get a longer, fuller immersion.

• 17g coffee, medium
• 230g water at about 195°F
• Inverted orientation, paper or metal filter

1. Insert the plunger into the chamber about a centimeter and stand it upside down on the plunger.
2. Add coffee, start a timer, and pour all the water. Stir gently.
3. Screw on the cap with a rinsed filter at about 1:45.
4. At 2:00, carefully flip it onto your mug and press over about 30 seconds.

Prefer not to flip? The Flow Control Filter Cap ($24.95) has a valve that holds the water in until you press, so you get an inverted-style steep while brewing upright.

Recipe 3: iced coffee concentrate

A strong, short brew poured over ice. Good on its own or with milk.

• 18g coffee, fine (close to table salt)
• 100g water at about 200°F
• A glass with about 120g of ice

1. Brew in standard orientation directly over the ice.
2. Pour the water, stir for 10 seconds, and let it steep until 1:00.
3. Press over 20 to 30 seconds. Stir the glass and top with cold water or milk to taste.

For bigger batches, the AeroPress Clear XL holds roughly twice the water and handles two servings at once.

Recipe 4: the travel cup

Simple enough to make in a hotel room with water from the lobby coffee machine.

• 2 level AeroPress scoops of coffee (about 15g), medium-fine
• Water to the 3 mark on the chamber
• Steep 1 minute, stir, press

No scale, no thermometer. It won't be your best cup ever, but it'll beat anything in the room. The AeroPress Go packs the brewer, filters, and scoop into its own 15oz mug.

How to adjust any recipe

Change one thing at a time, and change it a little.

Paper or metal filter?

Paper gives you a clean, bright cup with no sediment. A stainless steel filter ($14.95) lets more of the coffee's oils through, so the cup is fuller and closer to French press, and you never run out of filters. We cover the differences in paper vs. metal filters.

Which AeroPress?

• AeroPress Original ($44.95): the one most people should start with.
• AeroPress Clear ($49.95): same brewer in see-through Tritan, so you can watch the steep. Several colors.
• AeroPress Clear XL ($89.95): for two cups at a time or iced batches.
• AeroPress Go ($49.95): built for travel.

Comparing the AeroPress to other simple brewers? See French press vs. AeroPress vs. Moka pot.