James presents us with a simple, and tasty recipe that throws away a lot of AeroPress misconceptions such as rinsing your paper filter and preheating your AeroPress. James also prefers to swirl, not stir.

This recipe is a great starting point for any AeroPress enthusiast - once you get it wired, use it as a base for other recipe experiments.

Quick notes:

→ For medium roast coffee, using 90-95°C water will give you better results.

→ For dark roast coffee, try 85-90°C water for the brew.

For a much more detailed walkthrough of this recipe, watch James’ original video.

James also has an espresso-like recipe for milk coffee, which you can view here.

📌 Grind settings recommended by users:

• 1Zpresso JX Pro with a gray dot: 3.2.0 for light roast

• 1Zpresso Jx: 42-48 clicks (1.5 turns)

• 1Zpresso K-max: 5-5.5

• Aergrind: 1.3-1.9

• Baratza Encore: 12-14

• Breville dose control / smart grinder: 2 Clicks before "percolator"

• Comandante: 11-16

• Hario mini slim: 3 for medium roast

• Porlex Mini: 5-7 clicks depending on the type of roast (eg.dark roast, 7 clicks... sometimes 8)

• Timemore C2: on 11 clicks for light roast

• Timemore C2: 12-14 clicks for medium roast

• Timemore C3 or C3 pro: 11 clicks for medium roast

• Wilfa Aroma grinder: at the end of the AeroPress

Steps:

1. Set brewer in standard position on a server. Don't rinse or preheat the brewer (it doesn't make any difference).

2. Start a timer, add 200mL water, aiming to wet all the coffee during pouring.

3. Then immediately place the plunger on top of the brewer, about 1cm in. This creates a vacuum to stop the coffee from dripping through.

4. Wait 2 minutes.

5. Holding the brewer and the plunger, gently swirl the brewer.

6. Wait 30 seconds.

7. Press gently all the way, it takes about 30 seconds.

8. Drink and enjoy!