Aeropress

How the Aeropress works

The Aeropress combines full immersion with manual pressure through a paper microfilter. It is nearly indestructible, fits in a backpack and forgives mistakes — the extraction window is wide and the filter holds back fines, so even an imperfect brew is drinkable.

It is also the most flexible method in the house: by changing ratio and dilution, the same device delivers anything from an espresso-like concentrate to a light filter-style cup.

Grind, ratio and temperature

A medium-fine grind is the default across every house recipe. Ratio varies widely by style: from a 1:9 concentrate (WAC 2024) to 1:18 filter-style (Hoffmann). So does temperature: the official method uses 80°C, championship recipes sit at 84–85°C, and Hoffmann goes to 95°C. In the Aeropress, low temperature is not a mistake — it is a stylistic choice that favors sweetness and tames bitterness.

Upright or inverted

Upright, coffee starts dripping as soon as water goes in — a faster brew with zero flip risk. Inverted seals the chamber during immersion, giving full control of contact time, at the cost of the flip.

Among the house recipes: Standard (official), Ultimate (Hoffmann) and WAC 2024 (Stanica) brew upright; the Inverted is the only upside-down one. Start with Hoffmann for error tolerance, move to the Inverted for full-immersion sweetness.

Common mistakes

Pressing fast and hard — the press should take 20 to 30 seconds and stop at the hiss of air; pairing a too-coarse grind with a short steep, which brews watery; and, when inverted, screwing the filter cap on loosely and spilling everything at the flip. If the plunge feels too stiff, the problem is a too-fine grind, not a lack of strength.