AeroPress Brewing Tips: How Should You Use AeroPress?

The AeroPress is a simple manual coffee brewing device invented in 2005 by Alan Adler, president of the American company Aerobie. Its structure resembles a large syringe: place ground coffee and hot water inside the "syringe," then press down the plunger, and the coffee flows through filter paper into a container. It combines the characteristics of drip and press-style brewers, and by changing the grind size and pressing speed, users can steer the flavor toward their preferences. Thanks to the pressure injection, brewing is also relatively fast. The "AeroPress" trademark is owned by AeroPress, Inc.

Brewers with "press" in the name include the French Press and the AeroPress — the former with a long history, the latter invented in 2005. Anyone who has used a French Press knows that its metal filter screen has relatively coarse holes, so "pressing" is really more like pushing a colander down to separate grounds from liquid. As a result, French Press coffee tends to leave fine sediment in the cup, which continues extracting. The AeroPress, by contrast, uses much finer filter paper as its barrier and requires considerable force to press — much truer to the idea of "pressing."

The AeroPress is an immersion brewer: attach filter paper to the bottom of the "syringe," pull up the plunger, add ground coffee, pour in hot water and stir, then press down the plunger after several tens of seconds.

Quick Knowledge

1. Why does the AeroPress come with a stir stick?

The paddle-shaped handle at the top of the stir stick keeps it from touching the filter paper and avoids scratching the inner wall of the chamber, which would compromise the airtight seal.

2. Why doesn't the AeroPress come with standard brewing instructions?

The AeroPress is, in spirit, like the siphon brewer adopted by Americans. In the US, France, Germany, and other Western countries, the siphon was long just a household item — making coffee with it was simple and convenient. The Japanese, however, elevated the siphon from household appliance to a realm of technique and art, coaxing surprising specialty coffee out of it through every imaginable method. That spirit is what built Hario and pushed Japan's coffee industry toward greater professionalism. Japanese siphon manuals don't tell you how to make coffee — only how the product works. The message is that the siphon can produce a great cup; the method is yours to explore. The AeroPress follows the same philosophy.

3. What's the difference between standard filter paper and metal filters?

With the standard paper filter, AeroPress coffee tastes clean, shows noticeable acidity, and has a lighter mouthfeel.

With a metal filter, the coffee gains a richer body, stronger aroma, and lower perceived acidity. Metal filters vary in mesh count between models, so choose with that in mind.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Parameters

Example: Natural-Processed Ethiopia Sidamo 90+ Guji

Parameters: 15 grams of coffee, grind at a 58% pass-through rate on China's standard #20 sieve, water at 89°C, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio.

Method: Add 15 grams of grounds, pour in 40g of water and stir well (the chamber is narrow, so grounds can cling to the edges — a little extra water ensures everything in the corners saturates). After 30 seconds, top up to 227g and stir again to help the grounds keep degassing. Flip and press at around 1:30; pressing takes about 30 seconds. If the cup tastes too strong, dilute with water.

Flavor: Noticeable sweetness, gentle citrus acidity, almond, nut, and caramel in the aftertaste, high clarity, lingering sweet spice, and a citrus tea-like finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Immersion brewing rewards low-acid, full-bodied coffees, and few suit it better than FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Indonesia Golden Mandheling. Hand-sorted three times and machine-selected once, then roasted medium-dark, it shows rich spice, caramel, cedar, and dark chocolate aromas with a thick body and pleasant oiliness.

For an immersion-style cup, FrontStreet suggests a coarse-sugar grind, a 1:15 ratio, water about 90°C, and around 4 minutes of steeping before you press or plunge — and if you ever want more layers, a finer grind with a shorter steep works too.