Aeropress brewing is fun, unique and sometimes dangerous.
It is unique because it is a hybrid of sorts.
It’s half pour over and half immersion.
There are countless Aeropress recipes out there
One of my favorites lately is Ben Jones, US barista champion 2016, you can check out what he had to say about the experience he had with the competition here at the perfect Daily Grind.
Inverted or standard?
If you’ve never brewed with an Aeropress and don’t know the difference it’s easier for me to just show you in a picture.
It’s kind of a hard device to explain in words.
If you want a good laugh, listen to Brian Beyke try to explain how it looks on the I Brew My Own Coffee podcast.
“It’s kind of like a frisbee but it makes coffee.” -Brian Beyke.
Don’t let this misguided explanation fool you. Beyke knows a thing or two about Aeropress brewing. He took third place in the Eastern Aeropress championship.
Standard Aeropress Brewing
The way that is explained in the directions.
You start by screwing the base cap on with a filter and placing this part on top of your mug.
This way makes it super easy to pre wet your filter and pre heat your mug at the same time.
Tip: Be sure to discard the water that’s in your mug before brewing. Silly mistake that I’ve ruined a cup with before!
Pre Wetting the filter takes away all of the paper taste the paper holds, so this is an important step.
Priming your mug is something that many people do but there are mixed opinions about if it actually does anything.
After adding your grounds it’s time to begin the anxiety producing pour.
Regardless of if I bloom my coffee or not, I always begin to feel the pressure at this point.
Every second that passes as your pour or stirring more water filters through the grounds.
This way always makes me feel rushed.
As you pour water there is nothing to stop the water from flowing through.
How this affects the flavor is definitely negotiable but this is a variable that will be hard to consistently control.
Now, there is a quick tip that can eventually stop your water flow.
You can put the plunger on top and pull back just slightly after pouring and stirring.
This will create a vacuum so that no more water will drip through.
But you obviously can’t do this while pouring.
Inverted Aeropress Brewing
Flip it!
I don’t like following rules anyway!
This is a more adventures brewing method.
The plunger is the base.
Attach the top of the Aeropress, make sure the plunger is in a little way but still allows enough room for your water.
Making sure the plunger is secure helps avoid spills when you got to flip this thing over.
You don’t want to be that guy that spills his coffee everywhere as he tries to flip his super hip coffee brewer full of hot water over.
Don’t worry if you are though, everybody has been that guy at least once probably.
It’s a risk you have to be willing to take to enjoy this daring brew method.
Now add your coffee and water.
A benefit that this method has over the standard method is an extra level of control.
There is no water escaping during blooming or pouring.
You can stir anxiety free, no need to frantically rush to pull the plunger back to avoid water escaping.
The hard part!
The Flip.
Attach the cap with the pre wet filter.
Put your coffee mug on top and firmly hold both mug and device.
Flip and Plunge!
Which way is better?
This is coffee.
It’s going to be different for everybody. Try both and see what you like.
I know, that’s not a real answer but it is honestly the truth.
A truth that you will find a lot in coffee.
I find that the inverted method for brewing easy because I feel less rushed during the brewing process.
Which is a completely mental game.
But I have really, really been trying to push the anxiety aside and brew with the standard method more recently.
Which I’ve been having really fantastic results with.
Not only have Barista Championships been won using the standard brewing method, the famous Tim Wendelboe also uses the standard brewing method in all of his Cafes.
He says they brew this way to avoid making a mess, you know like being that guy we mentioned early.
Try both ways and let us know which one you like best on Instagram, Facebook or in the comments below.
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If you want to learn some more brewing methods head over to our brew methods page.
