Page 2 of 3

PostPosted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:49 pm
by zix
Ah, well, the bodum santos does look better than the aeropress. Coffee tastes more in the aeropress though. Now, about that grinder... ;)

PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:01 am
by jon
oops - meant to say a bodum antigua grinder. Don't have a santos at all...easily confused, though :)

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:42 pm
by jon
Right, have got an aeropress now. Have been brewing some coffee with it, and the results are OK, but just OK. The coffee's very smooth, and seems strong enough, but seems to have lost some of the sweetness you can get from a french press and maybe the smell's not so strong.

Ground the coffee to the bodum's finest setting (about right for moka pot), moistened it in aeropress, then added water, stirred well, and squeezed. From adding water, this took about 1.5mins to get the coffee out.
Also, the plunger never touched the water - instead, the air pressure pushed the coffee through.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it's meant to be?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:45 pm
by CakeBoy
Others will know more, but 1.5 mins sounds a little long to me. I think 45 seconds is the target. You may have no sweetness due to over-extraction. Steve will be able help further :D

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:49 pm
by lukas
I never experimented with fine grinds in the aeropress. Usually I do about filter-fine ...

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:14 pm
by jon
thanks - will try to speed the process up. The grind wasn't far off what you'd use for a fine drip down filter (the grinder doesn't go all that fine) but will try with a coarser grind, too.
Anything that can be done about the air pressure - part of the reason it was taking so long is that pushing down the plunger was v hard...

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:18 pm
by CakeBoy
If it resists too much, just let off the pressure slightly for a moment and it will move more easily when you begin to push again.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:39 pm
by Steve
Speed up and closer to filter/ french press than espresso type of grind.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:49 pm
by scook94
Steve wrote:Speed up and closer to filter/ french press than espresso type of grind.

Interesting. Have you played around much with the grind for the Aeropress? I must admit I haven't, but I use the same grind as for espresso and I have enjoyed the results.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:34 pm
by jon
thanks - will give this a try.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:40 pm
by Steve
I've played an awful lot with it. Results are some things are better on a shorter extraction finer grind, some things better on a longer extraction.

For instance Brazil Cachoeira is best on a shorter extraction finer grind as it seems to bring out the sweetness.

Monsoon Malabar need’s a longer extraction to build the body. I’m not sure if this is true for all coffees as I’ve had some freak results but its somewhere t6o start from

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:51 pm
by scook94
Now that is interseting, I've enjoyed the Brazil Cachoeira so much that way that last time I roasted a batch (400g worth) all of it went through my Aeropress in exactly the way you describe. It seemed a waste to make an espresso with it... Maybe my palette isn't so dull as i thought!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:15 am
by CakeBoy
We liked the Cuban Peaberry through the Aerobie, it added lots of body and enhanced the milk chocolate flavour. The Cach was sweeter and a little less dry than in espresso. All very lovely :D

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:56 pm
by jon
Thanks - the coffee's come out sweeter this time. It still seems to be the air pressure that pushes it through, though - the plunger barely touches the coffee. Is this a bad thing?

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:58 pm
by lukas
I guess that's why it's called aeropress :)