Aeropress Iced Coffee: Ultimate Brewing Guide
Aeropress Iced Coffee is a coffee beverage that is often confused with Cold Brew. Though they look physically similar, their flavor profiles are worlds apart.
That said, both are excellent summer drinks, more so if you own an Aeropress.
While the concept of Aeropress Iced Coffee seems simple, getting the perfect flavor and taste is pretty hard. Some common problems brewers encounter when trying to make this coffee drink are watery-tasting coffee and bitter coffee.
In this blog post, I will share a few tips and tricks to get the perfect Aeropress Iced Coffee that you will only ever need.
Disclosure
Some of the links here are affiliate links, and I may earn if you click on them, AT NO EXTRA cost to you. I hope you find the information here useful! Thanks!
At a glance: Aeropress Iced Coffee: Ultimate Brewing Guide
What Is An Aeropress Coffee?
Aeropress coffee is the coffee you get from brewing with an Aeropress which consists of a cylindrical chamber, a plunger, and a removable filter cap. With Aeropress, you will be able to consistently make great-tasting coffee quickly and easily with minimal effort.
Before we press on, here’s a little history about the Aeropress.
For those who are curious about this awesome coffee maker, the Aeropress first made its mark on Earth in the year 2005. The inventor, Alan Adler, is frustrated with the local diners serving bad coffee every time.
And so, as an inventor himself, he sought to find a way to brew great-tasting coffee with minimal time and effort.
The touch of genius in the Aeropress is from the pressure it creates during the brewing process. This allows the effective extraction of flavors from the coffee grounds without compromising the quality of the brew. In fact, it is an excellent cup of coffee.
Today, the design of the Aeropress is pretty much the same and is well-loved by the coffee community. From regular black coffee to intense espresso shot-like coffee to Aeropress Iced Coffee, the Aeropress can do it all!
What About Iced Aeropress Coffee?
Traditionally, the Aeropress is meant to brew a hot cup of coffee. However, ever since the revelation of the Aeropress to the world in the year 2005, Aeropress brewing methods have taken their own form and are constantly evolving.
For one, there is a World Aeropress Championship where baristas and home brewers alike gather and brew their best coffees. On top of that, great Aeropress recipes developed over the years, and almost everyone who owns an Aeropress has their own recipe.
So, Aeropress Iced Coffee is no exception either.
Aeropress Iced Coffee is a fairly popular drink to make with Aeropress since it does not require any fancy expensive equipment. With just an Aeropress, you can craft great-tasting iced coffee, saving you a trip to Starbucks.
And the best part is that the concept is fairly simple, just brew a concentrated Aeropress coffee over a cup of ice. This way, you can ensure your drink tastes consistently strong without getting diluted too much as time goes.
Aeropress Iced Coffee Brewing Guide
Brewing Aeropress Iced Coffee is definitely not hard at all. The tricky part here is to brew a cup of coffee that does not feel too diluted once some of the ice has melted.
And the simple solution here is just simply brewing a slightly more concentrated coffee to balance up the melting ice. A typical Aeropress brew ratio is 1:15 where you use 15 grams of water for every 1 gram of coffee grounds.
For this recipe, we will use a brew ratio of 1:8 to achieve that balance in flavor with the increased intensity of the Aeropress coffee.
If you are ready, here is a foolproof guide to brewing Aeropress Iced Coffee.
Caffeine Dojo’s Aeropress Iced Coffee Recipe
Step-By-Step Guide To Making Aeropress Iced Coffee
Step 1: Equipment & Ingredients Preparation
Have a cup of ice ready in a cup and boil a kettle of water. Position the Aeropress in an Inverted position with the plunger at the level marked 3.
Author’s Note: You can use the standard Aeropress position too. I prefer the Inverted Method so the brewed liquid will not drip into the ice early on. This is because the early brewed liquid has not extracted any of the coffee flavors yet.
Step 2: Coffee Preparation
Weigh out 15 grams of fresh whole coffee beans. With a hand-grinder or electric grinder, grind your coffee beans to medium-fine grind size. Then, pour the coffee grounds into the Aeropress brewing chamber.
Author’s Note: I’d highly recommend using Medium Roast coffee beans for the best results. Even better if you can get your hands on some single-origin Arabica coffee beans. This results in subtle fruity-tasting notes balanced with the nuttiness of the medium roast profile.
Step 3: Filter Paper Preparation
Place the filter paper in the filter cap and wet the surface area with water. This will rinse off any papery taste from the paper filter.
Step 4: Brewing Coffee
With a gooseneck kettle, pour 50 ml of hot water to saturate all the coffee grounds with water and allow the coffee grounds to bloom for 30 seconds.
After 30 seconds, pour the remaining 70 ml of hot water and give the slurry 3 stirs, and allow it to steep for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Step 5: Coffee Extraction
Fit the filter cap onto the Aeropress brew chamber. Then flip the Aeropress over and place it on top of the cup with ice. Next, proceed to plunge for over 20 seconds to complete the coffee extraction process.
Step 6: Serve!
Your Aeropress Iced Coffee is now ready to be served! Feel free to sweeten it with sugar syrup or flavored syrups but I’d highly recommend having it as it is.
And of course to make your very own Aeropress Iced Coffee, you will definitely two of the most important coffee tools. First, an Aeropress kit and also a server.
As you can see, I’ve personally used those to make my own Iced Aeropress Coffee at home and I can definitely vouch for their quality!
Aeropress Coffee Maker
You definitely cannot make an Aeropress Iced Coffee without the Aeropress. With decades of history behind it, you will not go wrong by getting the Aeropress from the founding company itself!
Hario V60 Glass Coffee Server
The Hario V60 Glass Coffee Server fits the Aeropress perfectly and serves its purpose well as a vessel for the Aeropress Iced Coffee.
Plus with the thick and durable borosilicate glass, rest be assured it will not break any time soon!
Aeropress Iced Coffee Recipe Explained
For this recipe, the water ratio to coffee grounds ratio is lowered to brew a more concentrated Aeropress coffee (From a regular 1:15 coffee to water ratio to 1:8).
On top of that, the brewing time is extended by 30 seconds in comparison to regular Aeropress. This allows more contact time for the water to extract more coffee flavor compounds which result in a slightly richer and full-bodied coffee.
Both of these steps account for the ice which is going to melt and dilute the drink as time goes by.
Without doing so, the resulting coffee will rapidly taste watery instead.
Barista Tip: Be careful not to over steep the coffee grounds as this will cause over extraction which results in bitter-tasting coffee. Understeeping on the other hand will yield you sour-tasting coffee due to under extraction.
Is It Better Than Cold Brew?
People often confuse Cold Brews with Iced Coffee as they are bold cold black coffees. That said, which of these is better?
Aeropress Iced Coffee and Cold Brew Coffee both have their huge fan bases and there are definitely no right or wrong answers here. After all, coffee preference ultimately comes down to personal preference.
Personally, Aeropress Iced Coffee is my favorite as I find the rich and bold flavors shine through the ice.
Anyway, to help you understand better, there are 3 core differences between Aeropress Iced Coffee and Cold Brew.
Brewing Technique
The preparation of Aeropress Iced Coffee is done by brewing a slightly more concentrated brew over ice. In this context, the overall brewing technique is similar to a regular Aeropress coffee brewing process.
This process uses pressure to force water through a bed of coffee grounds to extract the flavorful acids.
On the other hand, Cold Brews involve a steeping process where you submerge coffee grounds in water over a long period of time. Think French Press but replace the hot water with room temperature water or cold water.
Brewing Time
As you may already know by now, you can get your Aeropress coffee ready to drink in under 3 minutes. This is precisely the reason that makes Aeropress so popular.
Cold Brews on the contrary demands more time. In fact, a decent cold brew usually takes up to 18 hours for optimal extraction of flavors.
That said, you can brew Cold Brew in large volumes in a single batch and it has a decent shelf-life in the refrigerator. This makes it pretty convenient for you to have coffee any time you want to.
Flavor
As the brewing techniques of both Aeropress Iced Coffee and Cold Brew are completely different, you can expect the flavor profile to differ as well.
From Aeropress Iced Coffee, you can expect the flavors to be rich, and full-bodied with a pleasant intensity. This is very different in comparison to a Cold Brew which has subtle natural flavors of the coffee bean and gives a smoother mouth-feel.
How To Make Your Aeropress Iced Coffee Taste Better?
While the basic Aeropress Iced Coffee is already great on its own, there are in fact a few ways to level up your Aeropress Iced Coffee experience. Here, I am going to share 3 of the best ways you can try to enjoy your Aeropress Iced Coffee in different ways.
Single Origin Coffee Beans
Aeropress is a robust coffee brewing equipment that can make great coffee as long as the coffee beans’ quality is decent. Therefore, I’d recommend using single origin Medium Roast coffee beans from regions such as Ethiopia and Kenya which are well known for their fruity tasting coffees.
With the Aeropress, you can highlight these delicate flavors and they will be much more pronounced if made as an Aeropress Iced Coffee.
Add Creaminess To The Drink
The perfect pairing to all black coffee is milk. This is mainly because milk can subdue the bitterness from black coffees which makes it easier to drink. On top of that, the addition of milk adds creaminess to the Aeropress Iced Coffee especially if you use regular full cream milk.
Here’s a sweet little tip. You can try substituting milk with evaporated milk which further increases the creaminess of the drink.
Make It A Sweet Treat
Coffee on its own is usually bitter or acidic with unique flavor undertones which is an acquired taste which fortunately is appreciated by most people. However, turning coffee into a sweet treat is definitely a crowd pleaser.
Therefore, you can always add simple sugar syrup to your Aeropress Iced Coffee for the added sweetness to your drink. On top of that, it can serve as a base to craft some unique coffee mocktails.
Feel free to go wild with your Aeropress Iced Coffee.
FAQ On Aeropress Iced Coffee
Why Is Aeropress Better Than Drip?
Aeropress is better than drip coffee as the Aeropress coffee brewing method extracts more of the coffee’s oils and flavors. This results in a rich and full-bodied coffee with the natural flavors from the coffee beans. On the other hand, drip coffee’s flavor profile is generally more subtle and light which might not be for everyone.
Is A Aeropress Good For Iced Coffee?
The Aeropress is excellent for Iced Coffee. This is because, with Aeropress, you can brew bold and concentrated coffee without much hassle. The flavors and intensity pair perfectly well with ice and in fact, the flavor does not change as the ice melts. On top of that, you can brew a single cup of iced coffee in less than three minutes.
Is Aeropress As Strong As Espresso?
Unfortunately, Aeropress is not as strong as espresso as it’s not as concentrated as true espresso, nor is it as intense or crema-topped. However, you can brew a concentrated coffee with Aeropress using finely ground coffee. This is not real espresso but it has fairly close intensity levels to an espresso.
Closing Notes
And folks, that concludes my take on Aeropress Iced Coffee. Do try it out for yourself next time!
Feel free to alter the recipe to suit your taste. After all, everyone’s taste buds differ and we all have our own preferences. In fact, if you have your recipe for the Aeropress Iced Coffee that you love, do share them in the comments below.
If you find this piece of article informational, please do share it with your fellow friends. baristas and home brewers!
Happy brewing!
