I’m the type of person that needs change and ever so often I’m looking for new ways to experience things with food and drink. Sometimes I think that my taste buds are so used to good coffee that I wonder what I’m tasting and if all coffee doesn’t taste the same. Well! that misconception is usually short lived until I go to a “typical” coffee shop or spot and they offer me coffee and I think “how can they get this so wrong”. I’m still intrigued by the on-going debate about how world class restaurants serve you fantastic food but when you ask for that espresso at the end of a great meal, you think “why did you get this wrong?”.
Ok, I digress. I was looking through the flipboard (apple app for news update), which naturally I subscribe to coffee news and came upon this recipe on thecoffeecompass by Michael Butterworth, who is a coffee educator, who cofounded the Coffee Compass and is a two-time USBC Competitor, licensed Q Grader, and was once the 4th best Aeropresser in America (source: the coffee compass). Since finding the recipe I’ve tried it thrice – once verbatim, second, when I didn’t break the crust but took it out to give a cleaner cup and today with a slight adjustment on temperature and steep time.
In summary, it is;
15g freshly ground coffee
225ml of 95C hot water
Using two filter papers
Pour almost boiling water into the aeropress and place plunger on – this will create a vacuum
Steep for one minute
Take plunger off and break crust but giving it a quick stir
cover again and steep/leave for about 4 minutes, then plunge.
For my slight variation today; I used 15g of coffee but about 240ml of 91C hot water. Followed the same plunge and break the crust, but for the final steep, I left for about 2 minutes.
What did I notice taste wise using Kenya AA Plus Gicherori, SL28-SL34 Ruiru 11 ? For Michael’s version, definitely more fruity. I was excited by this new recipe and fruitiness and medium acidity tickling my tongue.
For my second variation (removal of crust for a cleaner cup) – medium acidity with a light citrus taste. For my third variation (lower temperature and reduced brew time) – whilst not as fruity as version one, but more balanced.
What did I learn also ? Using 95C hot water and pouring in straight away creates a vacuum – I actually thought that coffee would start dripping straight away but it didn’t. I was also fascinated by the breaking of the crust concept. I tried this coffee on the Hario V60, but it wasn’t as fruity as on the aeropress.
I’m quite excited by this new version and I’ll probably use it until I am intrigued by another simple to use recipe. Please share any aeropress recipes with me and perhaps I’ll feature them too.
Enjoy!
From Coffee With Love 