Few coffee makers punch this far above their weight. The AeroPress is small enough to throw in a carry-on, forgiving enough for a sleepy Monday, and capable of pulling a clean, bright cup that gives a pour-over a run for its money. Two minutes from grind to first sip. Caffeine up, friends.

This is the recipe we use at the roastery. It's a standard method designed for a single 9-ounce mug. If you've never used an AeroPress before, the steps look like a lot, but the whole thing takes less time than reading them does.

What you'll need

• An AeroPress (the original, the Go, or the XL; this recipe is for a standard single-cup brew)
• A round AeroPress paper filter
• 18 grams of fresh coffee, ground slightly finer than drip
• 270 grams of filtered water, just off the boil (~200°F)
• The AeroPress paddle (or any long spoon)
• A timer
• A digital scale (highly recommended, the small dose means errors matter)

PERFECT for the AeroPress

Jade Espresso

Chocolate · Caramel · Stone Fruit

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How to make it

Step 1 — Filter

Place a round AeroPress filter inside the dispersion screen.

Step 2 — Preheat and rinse

Tighten the screen and filter onto the bottom of the AeroPress, then rinse with hot water. This warms the AeroPress and washes out any papery taste. Dump the rinse water from your cup before you start brewing.

Step 3 — Grind

Grind 18 grams of coffee slightly finer than you'd use for drip. Think table salt, not sand. If you're using pre-ground, ask for an AeroPress or fine-drip grind.

Step 4 — Dose

Attach the funnel to the top of the AeroPress chamber and dose all 18 grams in. The funnel keeps grounds from spilling onto the rim and ruining your seal.

Step 5 — Pour

Remove the funnel, start your timer, and quickly pour 270 grams of water into the chamber. The slurry should come almost to the top. Don't pour slow; you want the grounds saturated fast.

Step 6 — Stir

Use the paddle to stir for 4 seconds. Just enough to break up any dry pockets and get every ground saturated.

Step 7 — Steep

Place the plunger on top of the chamber to create a seal (don't press down). Let the coffee steep for 1 minute.

Step 8 — Stir again

After 1 minute, remove the plunger and stir for 4 more seconds. This second stir helps you get a more even extraction.

Step 9 — Plunge

Remove the AeroPress from the scale, return the plunger, and press down gently and steadily for about 30 seconds. You'll hear a soft hiss when you reach the bottom. That's your stop sign. Total brew time should land around 2 minutes.

Step 10 — Clean

Unscrew the dispersion screen and push the plunger to eject the spent grounds into the trash. Rinse your AeroPress clean.

The variables that actually matter

After thousands of cups at the roastery, two variables stand out to us as the ones that actually affect the taste of your Aeropress brew:

1. Grind size. Finer than drip, coarser than espresso. This is the biggest lever on flavor and the easiest one to overshoot in either direction.
2. Coffee freshness. The AeroPress is a magnifying glass. Whatever you put in, you taste. Beans roasted recently taste meaningfully better than anything older, which is why we roast-to-order and ship within 48 hours.

What to brew

The AeroPress shines with light and medium roasts. The short brew time and pressure extraction pull out the bright, fruity, complex flavors that lighter coffees are known for. 

Dark roasts work, but you lose some of the AeroPress's strengths and risk a muddy or overly bitter cup. If you're craving something dark, our French press guide might be more your speed. 

Our Jade Espresso is a great place to start, a 94-point medium roast with notes of chocolate, caramel, and stone fruit that plays beautifully with the AeroPress's clean extraction. If you want to go single origin, try our Ethiopia Shantawene Natural, a lighter roast with bright blackberry, honey, and floral notes.

Brew it on a slow morning. Or in a hotel room. Or at a campsite. That's the whole point.