On Friday, September 7th, a group of Rosso team members traveled out to Hamilton, Ontario to compete in the National AeroPress Championship. We're so proud of both Ian and Paul who represented Rosso with pride and passion.
For those who aren't aware of how the AeroPress Championship works, it's fairly simple and tons of fun. It's set up as a tournament bracket in heats of three. The premise is the following: each heat is eight minutes long, with three people brewing simultaneously. These three people MUST use the AeroPress and the provided sponsor coffee. Other than that, they can use their own water, their own grinder, their own recipe, their own anything, as long as it's just water and coffee! The three brews go to a table, are tasted and three judges will simultaneously count down from three and point to their favourite brew, eliminating two competitors and sending one further into the tournament.
So Paul and Ian practiced multiple different brew styles to find the absolute best balance and intensity of flavour out of the Colombian coffee that was provided. Thanks to Seth Taylor Coffee by Design for providing La Primavera, Colombia—a nice and tasty coffee with crisp acidity and some pleasant sweetness.
Paul and Ian both pushed their way through their first heat, climbing the ladder toward the Finals. We're thrilled to report that Paul made it the whole distance and had an opportunity to show his recipe in the Finals and with that, he had a remarkable finish as 2nd ( silver 🥈 ) out of 32 competitors! We thought you might appreciate his recipe, so you can have a play with it on your AeroPress!
Paul's Silver Medal Recipe in 10 Steps
- You'll need 350 mL of water at 89° Celsius.
- While your kettle is heating, grind 32g of coffee at a medium-coarse grind setting. Remove the fines* by shaking your grinds into a paper cup.
- Carefully pour 30g into an inverted AeroPress, making sure not to include the fines.
- Zero AeroPress on a scale, add 160ml of water, start timer and stir rapidly 30 times.
- Rinse the paper filter and place on top of the AeroPress with cap.
- Remove AeroPress from the scale. Zero a sturdy jug on the scale and remove.
- When timer reaches 2 mins, flip and press slowly into the jug.
- Place jug back on scale, you should have 115-120ml of concentrate.
- Dilute with hot water until final brew is approx. 260-270ml, depending on taste.
- Kick back, relax and enjoy!
*Fines are small particles of coffee that are a byproduct of coffee grinding. They are microscopic, near dust size, and cause a brew to over-extract, tasting dry or bitter.
If you have any questions or comments based on the recipe above, please feel free to respond and ask! We're always happy to help with coffee tips, and, of course, we want to ensure you're getting the best out of your brews!
Curious how the AeroPress became such a popular brew method? Find in-depth info on its rise to fame here.
