How to Make AeroPress Coffee: An Easy Brewing Guide for Better Coffee at Home

Quick Summary: How Do You Make Coffee With an AeroPress?

The AeroPress is not the most typical coffee maker, but it's one of the easiest and most accommodating options for making a good cup at home.

The basic recipe at Paradox Coffee Roasters is 15 to 17 g of freshly ground coffee, 220 g of water (90 to 96°C), and a medium-fine grind. Brew for approximately 2 minutes, then press gently and evenly.

To make a good AeroPress brew:

• Coffee: 15 to 17g
• Water: Approximately 220g
• Water temperature: 90 to 96°C
• Grind: Medium-fine
• Brew time: Around 2 minutes before pressing
• Press: Slow and controlled, around 30 seconds
• Filter: Rinsed AeroPress paper filter

If your coffee is bitter, grind it slightly coarser or decrease the extraction. If it's sour or thin, use a finer grind, hotter water or a longer brew time.

When you have a recipe that you like, stick to it! Once you've done that, you can begin to play around with various Paradox coffees, ratios and brew methods to discover just how versatile the AeroPress can be.

Why Is the AeroPress So Good for Making Coffee at Home?

While there are many ways to make specialty coffee at home, few provide the simplicity, speed and flexibility of an AeroPress.

It is a combination of immersion brewing with pressure and paper filtration. In practical terms, that means the coffee grounds spend time immersed in hot water before you manually press the brew through a filter.

The result is typically a smooth, clean cup with very little sediment.

Better still, you don't need a complicated setup or ten minutes of careful pouring to get there.

Once you've got the technique down, an AeroPress can become part of your morning routine without feeling like a science experiment.

It's also compact and portable, making it a great brewing companion for the office, holidays, camping or anywhere else you want good coffee without taking an espresso machine with you.

What Do You Need to Make AeroPress Coffee?

You don't need a bench full of expensive equipment.

Start with:

• AeroPress
• AeroPress paper filter
• Burr coffee grinder
• Digital scale
• Kettle
• Fresh coffee beans
• Mug or carafe
• Timer, if your scale doesn't have one

The grinder and scales are good additions to have for making it easier to repeat a recipe.

If you know exactly how much coffee and water you're using, you can change one ingredient at a time rather than guessing why yesterday's coffee tasted better than today's.

And, as always, start with fresh coffee.

What Grind Size Should You Use for AeroPress?

For this recipe, we recommend starting with a medium-fine grind.

Think somewhere between fine sand and table salt.

There isn't a universal grinder setting we can give you because grinders calibrate their settings differently. A number on one grinder may produce a completely different particle size on another.

Instead, use medium-fine as your starting point and let the taste tell you where to go next.

If the coffee is bitter, dry or difficult to press, try going slightly coarser.

If it tastes sour, sharp or underdeveloped, try going slightly finer.

Small changes are usually all you need.

Need help getting more consistency from your grinder? Read our guide to coffee grinder maintenance and dialling in.

What Is the Best Water Temperature for AeroPress Coffee?

We recommend starting between 90 and 96°C.

The ideal temperature will depend on the coffee and roast profile you're brewing, so think of that range as a starting point rather than an absolute rule.

Don't have a temperature-controlled kettle?

No problem.

Bring your water to the boil and allow it to cool briefly before brewing.

And remember, the quality of the water itself matters too. Its mineral composition can influence extraction, sweetness, acidity and clarity.

Learn more about why water matters when making coffee in our complete brewing water guide.

How to Make AeroPress Coffee Step by Step

Ready to brew?

Start with:

15 to 17g coffee
220g water
90 to 96°C water
Medium-fine grind

Step 1: Prepare Your AeroPress

Place a paper filter inside the filter cap and rinse it with hot water.

Rinsing helps remove any potential paper taste while warming the filter cap and your brewing setup.

Secure the cap to the chamber and place the AeroPress securely over a sturdy mug or carafe.

Step 2: Grind Your Coffee

Measure 15 to 17g of fresh coffee beans and grind them medium-fine immediately before brewing.

Add the ground coffee to the AeroPress chamber and give it a gentle shake to level the coffee bed.

Step 3: Add Your First Pour

Start your timer and pour approximately 50g of hot water over the ground coffee, making sure all the grounds are evenly saturated.

Give the coffee a gentle stir for around 10 seconds.

This initial wetting helps ensure the coffee and water are evenly combined before the rest of the brew.

Step 4: Add the Remaining Water

Continue pouring until you've added approximately 220 g of water in total.

Insert the plunger slightly into the chamber. This can help reduce dripping while the coffee brews.

Allow the coffee to steep.

Step 5: Stir

At around 1 minute 30 seconds, remove the plunger carefully and give the coffee another gentle stir for around 5 to 10 seconds.

Reinsert the plunger.

Step 6: Press

At approximately 2 minutes, begin pressing down slowly and evenly.

Aim for a controlled press lasting around 30 seconds rather than forcing the plunger down quickly.

Once you've finished pressing, remove the AeroPress from your mug.

Your coffee is ready.

Drink it as brewed, dilute it with a little hot water, or add milk depending on how you like your coffee.

Why Does My AeroPress Coffee Taste Bitter?

If you find your AeroPress coffee is too bitter, dry or harsh, you might be over-extracting the coffee.

Try changing one variable at a time:

• Grind slightly coarser
• Reduce your brewing time
• Use slightly cooler water
• Check that you're not pressing excessively hard or extending the brew unnecessarily

Make one adjustment, brew again and taste.

If you change three variables at once, it will be harder to see which one really helped the cup.

Why Does My AeroPress Coffee Taste Sour?

Sharp, sour or underdeveloped flavours can be a sign that you haven't extracted enough from the coffee.

Try:

• Grinding slightly finer
• Increasing your water temperature
• Extending the brew time slightly
• Checking that all the coffee grounds are being evenly saturated

Again, make small changes.

Dialling in is about finding the right combination that works for the specific coffee you're brewing.

Why Is My AeroPress Coffee Too Weak?

If your coffee tastes watery or lacks body, first check your coffee-to-water ratio.

You can experiment by:

• Increasing the coffee dose
• Reducing the amount of water
• Grinding slightly finer
• Increasing the brew time

For example, if you increase the amount of coffee from 15g to 17g, but use the same amount of water, your coffee will be stronger.

Just remember that strength and extraction aren't the same thing.

A coffee can be strong and poorly extracted, or lighter in strength and beautifully balanced.

Taste should always be the final judge.

Why Is My AeroPress Hard to Press?

If you're having to put a serious amount of force behind the plunger, stop and look at your grind.

The coffee may be too fine, creating excessive resistance.

Try grinding slightly coarser on your next brew.

Your press should feel controlled rather than like a morning workout.

Be sure to use a firm surface and a sturdy mug or carafe before applying pressure.

Can You Make Iced Coffee With an AeroPress?

Absolutely.

One of the easiest ways to make an iced AeroPress is to brew a more concentrated coffee directly over ice.

Because the ice will dilute the coffee as it melts, reduce the brewing water rather than making your normal recipe and simply adding a heap of ice afterwards.

This can create a bright, clean and refreshing brew, and AeroPress is a great brewer on an Australian summer day!

Try out different proportions of coffee to water to ice to get the strength you like.

What Is the Inverted AeroPress Method?

Once you're comfortable with the standard AeroPress method, you'll probably come across the inverted method.

Instead of placing the AeroPress directly onto your mug, the brewer is assembled upside down with the plunger inserted first. Coffee and water are then added to the chamber and allowed to steep before the brewer is carefully flipped onto the cup for pressing.

The advantage is greater control over immersion because coffee can't drip through the filter before you're ready to press.

It can produce excellent results, but we recommend getting comfortable with the standard method first.

The standard method is simpler, involves less handling of a brewer full of hot water, and is more than capable of producing an excellent cup.

Can an AeroPress Make Espresso?

Not true espresso.

Espresso requires considerably more pressure than an AeroPress can produce.

What you can make is a small, concentrated coffee that works beautifully on its own or as the base for a milk drink.

Try starting with:

• 15g coffee
• 90g water
• Medium-fine to fine grind

The result will be more concentrated than the standard recipe.

Add textured milk and you've got an easy espresso-style drink without needing an espresso machine.

Which Coffee Beans Are Best for AeroPress?

This is where the fun begins.

The AeroPress is incredibly versatile, so there isn't one type of coffee you have to use.

A vibrant single origin can produce a clean, expressive cup that showcases fruit, florals and acidity.

A balanced blend can give you more body, sweetness and familiar chocolate or caramel characteristics.

The best coffee ultimately comes down to what you enjoy drinking.

At Paradox Coffee Roasters, we recommend starting with a coffee whose flavour profile already appeals to you, then using a consistent AeroPress recipe to understand how it behaves.

Once you've locked in your technique, switch coffees.

That's when AeroPress brewing gets really interesting.

How to Get Better at Brewing AeroPress Coffee

Your first AeroPress probably won't be your best.

That's completely normal.

This is one of the reasons why we love this brewing method, it is easy to experiment.

You control:

• Coffee dose
• Water volume
• Grind size
• Water temperature
• Brew time
• Agitation
• Pressing speed

The trick is not changing everything at once.

Find a starting recipe you enjoy and repeat it.

If you want more extraction, make one controlled adjustment. If the cup feels too heavy, bitter or dry, adjust in the other direction.

Take note of what you changed and, most importantly, taste the coffee.

After a handful of brews, the process starts becoming instinctive.

A Simple AeroPress Recipe Worth Remembering

If you only remember one thing from this guide, make it this:

15 to 17g fresh coffee
220g water
90 to 96°C
Medium-fine grind
Around 2 minutes brewing
Slow, controlled press

Treat that as your baseline.

Then try various coffees and grind sizes, temperatures and ratios until you get the cup you like best.

This is one of the joys of making specialty coffee at home.

Better Coffee Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

The AeroPress is the proof that making better coffee at home doesn't need to involve expensive machinery or an elaborate morning ritual.

Start with fresh coffee. Grind it well. Use good water. Measure your recipe. Keep your equipment clean.

Then brew, taste and adjust.

At Paradox Coffee Roasters, we're here to make specialty coffee easier to understand and even better to drink, whether you're pulling espresso behind a café bar or pressing an AeroPress on the kitchen bench.