Aeropress VS Pour Over: Ultimate Comparison
Aeropress VS Pour Over, no matter which you choose, you are bound to make great-tasting coffee. Both of these brew methods are extremely common in cafes and among home brewers.
This is mainly due to its low barrier of entry and it is especially rewarding once you have mastered the brewing techniques.
But if you truly want to compare them in depth, you are in the right place.
Having experience using both Aeropress and Pour Over brewing methods, I’ve summed up my thoughts on the differences between Aeropress and Pour Over in this blog post.
By the end of this post, you will have enough information to choose the right brewer for yourself.
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 VS Pour Over (Ultimate Comparison)
Aeropress Coffee: Overview
The Aeropress is a manual coffee brewing gear that was invented by Alan Adler. Frustrated by the terrible coffee quality served at local diners at his time, Alan sought to create a piece of brewing equipment that would make great coffee consistently.
In 2005, he successfully debuted the very first version of Aeropress and the rest is history. It is so popular that there is a tournament dedicated to it which is the World Aeropress Championship!
Considering that Aeropress is an extremely versatile piece of equipment in terms of portability and brewing recipes, the barrier of entry is reasonably low.
The Aeropress brewing method starts off with steeping the coffee grounds in the Aeropress brew chamber. After that, a plunger is used to create an airtight environment using air pressure to force the water through the bed of coffee grounds.
Pour Over Coffee: Overview
As the name implies, the pour over coffee method involves pouring water over a bed of coffee with a gooseneck kettle.
The gooseneck kettle is an important factor here as it allows you, the brewer to have better control of the water flow and impact onto the bed of coffee grounds
Going back to the pour over coffee brewing method. Some of the coffee brewing equipment that falls under the pour over coffee category are:
- Chemex
- Hario V60
- Kalita
- Clever Dripper
Pour Over coffee is also widely known as filter coffee as you are basically brewing coffee with a coffee filter.
On top of that, the whole brewing process is eye-pleasing and looks sophisticated, almost like a science experiment.
Aeropress VS Pour Over: A Comparison
As I’ve said, both Aeropress and Pour Over are great brew methods. But, there are 9 factors that set them apart.
Without further ado, let us deep dive into the differences between the Aeropress and Pour Over brewing styles.
1. Brew Style
Despite both being coffee makers, the brewing styles of the Aeropress and Pour Over greatly differ.
In a nutshell, the Aeropress brewing technique is known as the Immersion Method while Pour Over brewing styles are categorized as the Percolation Method.
Immersion Brewing
As the name suggests, the Immersion Brewing method involves submerging the coffee grounds in water over a period of time. A great example of this is the French Press, where coarse coffee grounds are steeped in hot water and separated from the liquid with a filter plunger.
However, the Immersion method is not very popular among coffee aficionados. The reason is, this method is inefficient in extracting coffee flavors
And this is a problem that Aeropress manages to overcome. With the plunger, it is able to increase the extraction pressure and it makes a whole lot of difference in terms of flavor and taste.
The presence of the force of pressure improves the extraction of flavors from the coffee grounds and hence resulting in a more tasty coffee.
Brewing Equipment That Uses The Immersion Concept: Aeropress, French Press
Percolation Brewing
The Percolation Brewing method implies a brewing action of liquid moving slowly through a medium. In this context of pour over, the liquid is hot water while the medium is the bed of coffee grounds.
So the brewer has to constantly add water to extract the coffee compounds from the coffee grounds during the brewing process.
Brewing Equipment That Uses The Immersion Concept: V60, Chemex, Clever Dripper, Kalita
Let us look at the steps to brew using an Aeropress and Pour Over.
Step-By-Step: How To Brew With An Aeropress
Step 1: Measure up 13 grams of whole bean coffee of your choice.
Step 2: Grind your coffee beans with a hand grinder or electrical grinder with a setting between medium and fine.
Step 3: Place a filter into the filter cap, lock it onto your Aeropress chamber and set it on a cup or server.
Step 4: Then, pour your coffee grounds into the chamber and give it a good tap to even up the bed of coffee grounds.
Step 5: Start the timer and pour about 50 ml of hot water (90oC – 95oC) and allow the coffee grounds to bloom for 20 seconds.
Step 6: Pour the remaining 150 ml of hot water and give it 2 to 3 stirs
Step 7: Immediately fit the plunger into the Aeropress chamber to stop water from draining out of the Aeropress bottom.
Step 8: Allow the coffee grounds to steep for 90 seconds. Swirl the Aeropress for a bit at the end of the 90 seconds mark.
Step 9: Gently press the Aeropress plunger all the way through. Aim to finish the press in 30 seconds.
Author’s Note: Some recipes will call for pre-heating the Aeropress or wetting the filter. As James Hoffman pointed out, all these extra steps do not really affect the overall outcome of your coffee.
Step-By-Step: How To Brew With A Pour Over (V60 Example)
Step 1: Measure up 13 grams of whole bean coffee of your choice.
Step 2: Grind your coffee beans with a hand grinder or electrical grinder with a setting between medium and fine.
Step 3: Place your paper filter over the brewing cone and place the brewer on a cup or server.
Step 4: Wet the paper filter with hot water and discard the water.
Step 5: Pour the coffee grounds into the brewing cone and gently tap the sides to level the bed of coffee grounds.
Step 6: Start the timer and pour about 50 ml of hot water (90oC – 95oC) in a circular motion. Starting from the center and slowly moving outwards.
Step 7: Let the coffee grounds bloom for about 30 seconds.
Step 7: Repeat a similar circular pouring motion with the remaining xx ml of water. Pause each time when the water level has risen too much. This should take approximately xx minutes
2. Brew Time
Different coffee equipment demands different brew techniques and indirectly affects the brew time. Between Aeropress and Pour Over, there is no exception either.
To give you a good idea of the difference in brew time, let us break down and relate the brewing steps of both Aeropress and Pour Over.
For reference, I am using a Kalita brewer to represent Pour Over. However, most brewing time for all Pour Over techniques should last roughly the same time.
| Phase | Aeropress | Pour Over |
|---|---|---|
| Blooming | 30 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Brewing | 1 minute | 2 mins 30 seconds |
| Extraction | 30 seconds | – |
| Total | 2 minutes | 3 minutes |
As you can see, you spend a slightly longer time brewing with the pour over brewing style in comparison to the Aeropress.
And there is a reason for this.
With an Aeropress, the brewing style creates a pressurized environment with the brew chamber and plunger. This increases the extraction strength from the coffee grounds which brings us to our next point. The strength of the coffee.
3. Coffee Strength
In terms of coffee strength, the Aeropress will yield you a stronger coffee in comparison to Pour Overs.
Here’s why.
Let us first look at the Aeropress.
As the Aeropress employs the Immersion method, this means the coffee grounds will steep in the water for a period of time. The longer the steep time, the more flavor compounds will be extracted.
This is where you have to be careful.
Prolonging the steeping time will over-extract your coffee. This means bitter coffee. On the contrary, not letting your coffee grounds be in contact with water enough will cause under-extraction. Don’t be surprised if the flavor profile of your coffee is mainly sour.
Aeropress Coffee Strength: Strong and Bold. Suitable for coffee beans with strong pronounced flavors.
With a Pour Over, a constant stream of water basically runs through the bed of coffee. Depending on how fine the coffee grounds are, the contact time between the water and coffee grounds varies.
The finer the coffee grounds, the more water it will retain. This may cause over-extraction and the coffee will taste bitter.
On the other hand, if the grind size is too coarse will allow water to pass through too easily. This is when you get an under-extracted cup of coffee which will most likely lean towards a sour flavor profile.
Pour Over Coffee Strength: Light and tea-like. Suitable for coffee beans with delicate tasting notes.
Author’s Note: Feel free to adjust the water ratio when brewing the iced version of the Aeropress coffee or Pour Over coffee so that it will not taste too diluted as the ice melts.
4. Brew Volume
Aeropress Brew Capacity
The brewing capacity is where the Aeropress’s limitations are.
With the Aeropress Original, the brew chamber can hold a maximum volume of 10 oz (296 ml). And with the compact version, Aeropress Go, the brew chamber can hold only up to 8 oz of liquid (237 ml).
This means the amount of coffee you get from brewing with an Aeropress is enough for a maximum of 2 people. Not really a coffee gear of choice when it comes to sharing.
Pro Tip: There’s a simple hack around the Aeropress’s limited brew capacity. Simply brew a more concentrated coffee with the Aeropress and dilute it with water later. You can do this by reducing the water-to-coffee ground ratio.
Pour Over Brew Capacity
With Pour Over, it is much easier to scale up the capacity.
For example, the Hario V60 comes in different sizes and can cater to up to 4 cups of coffee. The Chemex has a version that boasts a brewing capacity of up to 10 cups.
So if you are planning to brew and share your coffee with friends, the V60 and Chemex brewing gears are great choices.
5. Price
Comparison of Aeropress VS Pour Over is not complete without talking about the cost factor. Price is a real concern especially if you are new to coffee brewing.
I am sure you want to pick the best one to start off with especially if you are tight on budget.
To help you make a choice, I have put together a table to compare the prices between Aeropress and other common pour over brewing gears.
| Brewing Gear | Average Price |
|---|---|
| Aeropress | $39.95 |
| Hario V60 | $25.00 |
| Chemex | $40.00 – $150.00 |
| Kalita | $25.00 – $50.00 |
| Clever Dripper | $35.00 |
Note: Price range reflects the brewer size.
Well as you can see, the prices of all these coffee brewing equipment do not differ that much. This is great as the price will not be a driving factor when choosing the coffee brewing equipment
Author’s Note: Speaking from experience, if you are exploring coffee brewing, eventually you will get a piece of each in your home coffee bar.
6. Type Of Filter
Aeropress filters are flat and circular in shape while Pour Over filters mostly come in cone-like shapes or baskets (Kalita).
This might not be obvious but the type of filter does make a huge difference in the coffee flavor.
The difference is mainly due to the thickness of the coffee filter. Besides creating a physical barrier between the coffee grounds and the brewed liquid, the coffee filters also absorb coffee oils.
The thicker the filter the more oils are being retained by the filters.
With an Aeropress, the coffee is not heavily affected by the coffee filter and the strength of the coffee is more pronounced due to the steeping process.
Pour Overs on the other hand is a different story. A simple comparison will be between the V60 and Chemex brewers.
V60 filters are thinner compared to Chemex brewing filters. Brewing with a V60 will give you a slightly more intense cup of coffee since there are some coffee oils left in the final cup.
On the contrary, brewing with a Chemex will result in a crisp and much cleaner cup.
So depending on your preference, one of these brewing gear will fit your criterion best.
7. Cleaning
Cleaning up after a brewing session can be a dreaded chore.
Would you want to spend 30 minutes cleaning your coffee gears just to make a cup of coffee?
I’d think not.
When comparing the ease of cleaning between the Aeropress and Pour Overs, the Aeropress is easier comparatively easier to clean.
First of all, the Aeropress is made of plastic and hence you can go a little rough when cleaning your Aeropress. Some Pour Over equipment might be made of glass and hence extra care during washing is always better.
Next, the Aeropress plunger helps scrape the inner surface of the brew chamber which makes cleaning the inner surface much easier. Comparatively, the inner surface of Pour Over coffee gears like the Chemex can be harder to clean as it is hard to reach.
So, Aeropress is the clear winner in the cleaning category.
8. Portability
If you love making coffee outdoors, this is the section you would love.
In terms of portability, the Aeropress has the upper hand. Aerobie has recently released the Aeropress Go which is an Aeropress but with all the components engineered to fit into a small cup.
No doubt that the Aeropress is perfect for hiking trips and leisure travels.
Personally, the Aeropress has been my favorite traveling companion for the past 7 years.
Comparatively, Pour Over coffee equipment is larger and requires additional coffee gears like a gooseneck kettle. Since these items are not designed to be compact and travel-friendly, it is bound to take up some of your travel baggage space.
Judging from the way airport staff handle our luggage bags, your Chemex or glass V60 might not survive the trip.
Author’s Note: There’s actually a simple alternative to the gooseneck kettle. MUNIEQ Tetra Drip and the Melodrip are great to brew Pour Over coffee without a gooseneck kettle.
Recommended Reads: If you are travelling and forgotten to bring along your scale, you might be interested in knowing alternative ways to make pour over coffee without a scale.
9. Difficulty Level
Looking at both Aeropress and Pour Over brewing methods, both require certain skills and techniques in the brewing process.
So between the Aeropress and Pour Over brewing methods, which is easier?
Personally, I would recommend starting off with the Aeropress. This is because the Aeropress is much more forgiving and easier to understand for a beginner. The boldness of the coffee will often mask the mistakes made during an Aeropress brew.
Pour Overs are harder to master as the resulting flavor of the coffee using this method is much more delicate. You could almost taste your mistakes in the coffee!
In all honesty, if you have a passion for great coffee, you will eventually master the brewing techniques.
Nothing good comes easy!
Aeropress VS Pour Over: Final Verdict
Going through the 9 differences between Aeropress and Pour Over, there are clear pros and cons for these coffee makers.
So to help you justify a choice between these brewing gears, here are some reasons that you should consider.
Reasons To Choose Aeropress
- Aeropress is more portable and travel-friendly. Perfect brewing gear to bring anywhere.
- Easy to use and extremely beginner friendly.
- Preference for a stronger and bolder-tasting coffee.
- Makes great-tasting coffee without taking up too much time.
Reasons To Choose Pour Over
- Pour overs are more versatile and give you more control over your brew. If done right, the coffee will highlight the best features of the coffee bean.
- Preference for clean, light, and delicate coffee, especially light roasts.
- Loves experimenting with brewing recipes and ratios with different coffee beans.
- Pour Overs are more aesthetically pleasing to look at and is a great tool to place on your kitchen bar.
Recommended Reads: Aeropress VS Espresso
Author’s Note: Both Aeropress and Pour Over brewing methods are excellent choices to brew great-tasting coffee.
FAQ On Aeropress VS Pour Over
Is Pour Over Better Than Aeropress?
Aeropress is a better brewing gear in terms of consistency and portability. However, pour over emerges as the winner in this battle in terms of flavor of coffee. Pour Over brewing method is able to extract delicate coffee flavors. That said, the Pour Over method is much harder to master than the Aeropress.
Can You Use An Aeropress As A Pour Over?
No, you cannot use an Aeropress as a pour over. This is because the Aeropress filter does not allow the water to drain quickly enough. Water retention among the coffee grounds will cause an over extraction case and the resulting coffee will be unbalanced with a bitter tasting profile.
Can You Pour Boiling Water Into Aeropress?
Yes, you can pour boiling water into Aeropress. However, boiling water is too hot to pour straight into your coffee as it will “burn” the coffee grounds. This will cause the resulting coffee to have bitter tasting notes. It is highly advisable to allow your water to cool for a while before using it for coffee brewing.
Why Does My Aeropress Coffee Come Out Weak?
The main reason why your Aeropress coffee comes out weak is due to coffee under extraction. To fix that, try altering that table salt consistency to something a bit finer. Finer coffee grounds will retain the water longer for more contact time. This improves coffee extraction and will result in stronger coffee.
Closing Notes
There we have it folks, a full in depth comparison for Aeropress VS Pour Over. Both brewing styles result in a cup of black coffee but so different in a multitude of factors.
Personally, Aeropress is my favorite brew method because of its versatility. Plus, it is my very first coffee brewing equipment so it earned itself a special place in my heart.
So, which is your favorite brew method?
If you find this piece of article informational, please do share it with your fellow friends. baristas and home brewers!
Happy brewing!
