Are you the type who travels light? Who thinks a hotel coffee maker is a personal insult? Who has, at some point, packed coffee gear before packing clothes? Then the Aeropress was made for you.
It's small, it's nearly indestructible, and it makes exactly one really good cup, no more, no less. Perfect for the road, the campsite, the office desk drawer, or a kitchen counter that just doesn't have room for another giant appliance.
Gear check
- One super sweet Aeropress brewer
- A scale set to grams
- An Aeropress filter
- Water fresh off the boil
- 16 grams of coffee, ground fine
How it comes together
- Place your mug on the scale and set your Aeropress right on top of it. Presoak the filter, run hot water through it, and dump that water out before you start.
- Add your ground coffee into the Aeropress, then zero out your scale. Quick tip from us: use the little funnel that comes with the Aeropress when you're adding grounds. It keeps things tidy and saves you from cleaning coffee dust off your counter afterward.
- Start your timer and pour water into the Aeropress until you hit 250 grams.
- Once your pour is done, give it one slow stir with the back of a spoon, then just let it sit for a moment and chill out.
- When your timer hits 1 minute 30 seconds, insert the plunger and press down with steady, even pressure. Aim for the plunge itself to take around 30 seconds. Rushing it here is the number one way people end up with a cup that tastes off.
- Give your coffee one more quick stir and enjoy that damn fine beverage.
Why this method earns its fans
The Aeropress is forgiving in a way that a lot of other brew methods aren't. Slightly off on your grind? It'll still turn out drinkable. Brewing in a tent with a headlamp as your only light source? It handles that too. There's a reason this thing shows up in backpacks, RVs, and office break rooms in equal measure.
If you want to experiment, try slowing down that plunge or speeding it up slightly to see how it changes the body of your cup. This is one of the few brewers where a little trial and error at home genuinely pays off fast, since each brew only takes a few minutes start to finish.
