Since its official launch on the 2005 Seattle CoffeeFest, the AeroPress has gained a cult following. Favoured for its simplicity, which permits customers to experiment with totally different variables, it has earned its spot as one of many business’s most beloved brewing strategies.

Recipe improvement is expansive and fast, fueled by the World AeroPress Championship (WAC), the keenness of the specialty espresso neighborhood, and the ever-growing vary of AeroPress brewers out there in the marketplace, together with the Clear, XL, and, most just lately, the Premium.

The business’s want to innovate and experiment with extraction, coupled with new brewers, means it’s time to revisit the AeroPress brew information.

I spoke to the World AeroPress Championship’s inventive director Grant Gamble and director Tim Williams, the 2022 World AeroPress Champion Jibbi Little, and the 2023 World AeroPress Champion Ekameth “Tay” Wipvasutti for his or her perception.

You may additionally like our article on how brewing with the AeroPress has developed.

The AeroPress: A historical past

When Alan Adler’s unique AeroPress (which was clear-coloured with a blue-ish hue) first launched, it rapidly caught the eye of third wave espresso. Its reputation continued because the specialty espresso market emerged, gaining a loyal following – with US information outlet CNN just lately describing the brewer as a “life-style”.

Its tried-and-tested, iconic design was – and nonetheless is – an enormous a part of its enchantment. The cylindrical chamber and plunger with an hermetic silicone seal make it versatile, intuitive, transportable, and strong.

Between 2009 and 2018, the AeroPress has undergone small, refined adjustments, comparable to:

• Switching its supplies from polycarbonate to BPA-free copolyester – primarily in response to rising well being considerations about BPA (or bisphenol A), a chemical used to make sure plastics and resins. It later used polypropylene
• Launching its first-ever smoky grey-coloured brewer in 2010
• Altering the color of the lettering and numbers from blue to gold to beige to gold foil. The model identify “AeroPress” was additionally printed on the facet of the brewer
• Altering the color of the brewer from darkish to mild gray

In mid-2019, the brewer underwent its largest design change to date: The launch of the AeroPress Go, a compact model of the unique mannequin. Developed particularly for journey, the smaller-sized brewer comes with its personal carry case, which additionally doubles as a reusable mug. It consists of purple lettering, too – which AeroPress additionally modified on the unique mannequin.

Two years later, Tiny Capital, a Canadian holding firm, acquired the corporate, spurring additional innovation with the launch of recent merchandise just like the AeroPress Clear, XL, Clear Colors, Go Plus and, most just lately, the Premium.

How the World AeroPress Championship revolutionised brewing

Three years after the launch of the AeroPress, the inaugural World AeroPress Championship came about in Oslo, Norway. Business veteran Tim Wendelboe judged three opponents to see who might put together the best-tasting espresso with the brewer.

Right this moment, the WAC spans over 60 international locations, with over 6,000 folks participating in additional than 175 regional and nationwide occasions. The community-driven competitors has had a monumental impression on AeroPress recipe improvement – significantly the inverted brewing methodology.

Inverted & bypass brewing

Though some speculate that the inverted method originated from a 2007 discussion board publish, others imagine it was first utilized in one of many earlier editions of the WAC. 

To brew with the inverted methodology, you place the plunger on the counter with the rubber seal dealing with upward. Subsequent, place the chamber upside-down on the plunger and push it down in order that the rubber seal enters by at the very least 20mm. 

You then maintain the chamber securely with one hand and add floor espresso and sizzling water as desired. As soon as whole extraction time is reached, you screw the filter cap (with a filter in place) onto the chamber, securely grip the chamber and plunger with each fingers and “invert” the AeroPress, putting it immediately onto a mug or vessel, and press down.

Switching from the standard to the inverted methodology successfully prolongs the extraction time and permits customers to have extra management over your entire brewing course of. Because of this, it rapidly grew to become fashionable on the WAC and past – though it’s not formally endorsed by AeroPress, which states turning or “inverting” the brewer poses well being and security dangers.

“All through the championship, we’ve additionally seen the popularisation of ‘bypass brewing’, now thought of customary observe amongst brewers,” says Grant Gamble, the inventive director of the World AeroPress Championship. 

That is when brewers add water to the espresso after extraction. The explanations are twofold: first, the AeroPress’ chamber restricts the quantity of espresso you’ll be able to brew, so bypassing means you’ll be able to put together bigger volumes of espresso, and second, you’ll be able to keep away from contact with floor espresso, which minimises the danger of overextraction.

New brewers have modified the person expertise

The discharge of various AeroPress fashions during the last 5 years has opened up new prospects for brewing and recipe improvement.

The Clear’s clear materials, for instance, means customers can simply observe how floor espresso interacts with the brewing water. In flip, they’ll rapidly determine uneven extraction and make any vital changes to exert extra management over brewing variables.

In the meantime, the XL – which is twice the dimensions of the unique AeroPress – successfully eliminates the necessity for bypass brewing, permitting customers to arrange bigger volumes of espresso at one time.

The just lately launched Premium, with a double-walled glass brew chamber and aluminium plunger, builds on these new person experiences.

“New refinements to supplies elevate the brewing expertise whereas sustaining the signature simplicity of the AeroPress design,” says Rawirat Techasitthanet, higher often called Jibbi Little. She is the 2022 World AeroPress Champion, a seasoned espresso competitor, and the founding father of Jibbi Espresso Roasters.

Just like the Clear, monitoring extraction is extra easy with the Premium. For example, customers can see and check how totally different charges of agitation impression extraction by adjusting the peak and velocity when pouring water into the brew chamber.

Furthermore, the Premium’s double-walled chamber retains brew temperature for longer intervals of time, which helps to extract extra unstable flavour and aroma compounds.

The WAC continues to affect brewing

Competitions have lengthy been platforms for innovation in specialty espresso, and the WAC is likely one of the main examples. 

“Its format encourages contributors to experiment and innovate, inspiring them to develop the very best recipes fitted to every espresso,” Jibbi says. “It fosters creativity and highlights the flexibility of the AeroPress.”

The seemingly infinite variety of mixtures of various doses, yields, grind sizes, and temperatures continues to lead to a variety of recipes showcased on the WAC yearly.

“I developed my successful 2022 recipe by way of numerous trials, specializing in flavour stability and readability to spotlight the very best elements of the espresso,” Jibbi says. “My recipe was designed to swimsuit the espresso I used within the competitors, however I all the time tweak variables to get the very best outcomes.”

Like many opponents, Jibbi used the inverted and bypass brewing strategies in her routine to realize the specified flavour profile. The latter grew to become significantly fashionable after opponents began to make use of increased doses of their recipes, however latest rule updates have launched new limitations.

“Up till 2020, there had been a gradual improve in doses from one scoop (about 12g of espresso) to upwards of 30 to 40g, making a extra concentrated cup adopted by dilution to achieve the specified power,” Grant explains. “Profitable recipes have been changing into extra homogenous, so we launched a rule to cap the dose at 18g and reinvigorate the creativity that the competitors is thought for.”

“Within the 2025 season, we’re additionally introducing a rule which allows using the AeroPress Circulation Management Filter Cap,” says Tim Williams, the director of the WAC. “It will permit opponents to create recipes which mimic the famed inverted recipes with out having to bodily invert their brewers and danger the dreaded fumble.”

Champions provide their brewing suggestions

As new brewers and WAC routines affect how we use the AeroPress, we’re set to see additional recipe improvement that would require taking totally different approaches to get the very best outcomes.

“Every AeroPress mannequin has slight variations in design and capability. For instance, the Premium may deal with warmth higher, so changes to brew temperature or time could also be vital,” Jibbi explains. ”All the time check and refine your recipe primarily based on the precise brewer.”

No matter which mannequin you utilize, Jibbi says grind measurement, water temperature, and whole brew time are the three key parameters to pay shut consideration to. Based mostly on these components, she provides that it’s essential to seek out the optimum grind measurement for a selected espresso and to regulate one variable at a time when experimenting with totally different recipes.

“Each parameter adjustments cup high quality,” says the 2023 World AeroPress Champion Ekameth “Tay” Wipvasutti, who can be the co-founder of Courageous Roasters. “So, it’s important to understand how refined adjustments will impression cup high quality.”

Tay additionally used the inverted methodology and bypass brewing in his successful routine, utilizing room temperature water and brewing water set at 89°C (192°F).

“Relatively than utilizing a regular recipe, which is so as to add all the bottom espresso to the AeroPress, then pour sizzling water, stir, wait, and press, I added espresso in numerous quantities for my successful routine: 16g first, then 2g to make 18g in whole,” he provides. “Completely different timings and small changes could make a greater cup.”

Tay explains that he focuses on three components when brewing espresso with totally different AeroPress fashions to finetune his recipes:

• Utilizing totally different grinders 
• Brewing with a number of forms of filter papers, together with AeroPress’ unique and Aesir, which might then be paired with totally different grinders
• Switching between conventional and inverted strategies

Easy is usually finest

With the WAC’s affect, AeroPress recipes have change into more and more intricate. Many opponents typically use a couple of grinder to realize quite a lot of grind sizes or brew with particular water formulation and paper filters.

Though this stage of precision and management may also help brewers obtain the precise outcomes they’re on the lookout for, it may be intimidating for much less skilled baristas and occasional fanatics.

“We ceaselessly inform opponents that the successful recipes are sometimes the only,” Grant says. “It may be tempting to create a 20-step recipe utilizing a number of grinders and an abundance of brewing instruments, however it’s vital to craft a recipe that’s as simply repeatable as it’s scrumptious.”

A string of recent AeroPress merchandise in recent times has modified how we use the brewer, revamping recipes and creating new ones. Competitions just like the WAC proceed to affect developments within the wider business, pushing baristas to change into extra inventive and creative.

Recipe improvement has change into more and more refined and complex, unlocking nuances in espresso flavour. However on the identical time, easy and easy strategies are nonetheless favoured.

Loved this? Then learn our article on what’s subsequent for the World AeroPress Championship.

Photograph credit: Jibbi Espresso Roasters, Shane Gallagher, World AeroPress Championship

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