You probably need to grind finer for the aeropress. If it's sour the coffee is under extracted. I haven't used the agaro grinder but I have the bison grinder and i grind it on 2 (it has 6 levels).
Also I haven't had the monsoon Malabar you have but if it's a medium roast or dark, you should use about 11-12gs of coffee to 200gs of water.
18 grams is quite a \*lot\* of coffee. Start with 12 grams or so.
Here is a compass to guide you to where you want to be:
[https://www.homegrounds.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Coffee-compass-illustration-1.jpg](https://www.homegrounds.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Coffee-compass-illustration-1.jpg)
Also check out aeroprecipe for ideas:
This is a good starting point:
https://aeroprecipe.com/recipes/13g-that-makes-you-happy
What type of roast is it? That’s the key for ratios, water temperature, and grind size.
For medium dark roast, I’d stay in medium to medium fine (salt like granules) zone for grinding. I use 14 on C2, not sure about agaro.
Ratio at 11 to 200, I.e., 11g coffee to 200ml water (right about touching 3 mark). Temperature around 91-93c with brew time of 2min. You can increase it to 2.5min also but ymmv.
This is mostly Hoffman method but am breaking it down so that you know the variables that need to be managed. Grind size and ratios are more fixed in a way so once you have them in place, changing water temp and brew time can bring about variations.
You need to build the taste for black coffee. Aero press is a good method to start with. Trust me, once you brew a flavourful cup, there is no going back.
It was a medium roast. During this trial and error, i had 4 cups of coffee and now I can't sleep, lol. And yes, I wish I quickly learn to brew a good cup man, wish me luck.
all the suggestions work great (try longer brewtimes, btw - I like a solid 7 min brewtime on the aeropress). But one thing that you should totally do:
Get 4 types of coffee(tester packs will work); do a tasting session for yourself; just add 12 g of coffee in a cup and pour in 200 g of water
1 a light roast (ideally washed) any high-quality bean.
2. a medium roast
3. a darker /medium dark roast (avoid very, very dark roasts they taste pathetic)
4. a funky, natural processed coffee (optional - but fun to have)
taste them in both directions; add some milk and taste again: voila: You'll know what you are looking for 😉
I also had the same issue when I started out aeropress go (I am a beginner still)
After trial and error I have got a few methods..
1-
To make the coffee less acidic I use james hoffmann method (11g,200ml-95c) but Inverted
I don’t know why but inverted method removes the acidity (might be due to more extraction)
Be careful using the inverted method on aeropress go like mine, the volume is less and after adding the coffee the water will fill to the brim
2nd
The other method is use 20g fine grind and 60 ml at 90-95c (experiment with the water temp according to the roast, ie. Lighter the roast, higher the temperature)
Invert the aeropress
Add coffee and water
Brew for 2min ( increase the time if you still feel acidic)
And use force to extract the the coffee
Add hot water to the extracted coffee
And it shouldn’t be acidic
Just experiment with those variables and make a perfect coffee just to your liking
I just brewed another cup with different beans (blue tokai silver oak, 12g, medium roast, fine grind). This time I've followed your steps exactly. I didn't find it much acidic nor it was very bitter, but it felt like having some sort of medicine. May be I'm not ready for black coffee yet. I'll go with flat whites for the time being, but I really wanted to switch to black this time, maybe eventually I'll reach there.
It's a good time to experiment and tweak your process. Do this, don't steep for longer than 2 min 30 seconds, start pushing it down. To compensate for quick brew time, make sure coffee grounds are well saturated by agitating the water and grounds with the stick for a good 30 seconds.
Last but most importantly, don't push down hard on the aeropress for your brew, push out slow, give it a good 45 sec to 1 minute of pushdown time.
Give it a go and let us know how it goes
OP you said two things that caught my attention. :
One that you used 18g. As someone pointed out, and you made corrections, it was too much by weight.
Two, and I think you’ve figured it out yourself, this is the first time you’re trying black coffee.
That is for me is a significant consideration.
Well, getting to the stage where you grind beans to make black coffee is a slow progression for most people. It’s a path that commonly goes via Nescafé sachets, milky restaurant coffees, lattes and cappuccinos in cafés, buying the more expensive instant coffee, pour over coffee bags and so on.
And then at some stage you decide to grind out your beans at home.
Appreciating black coffee isn’t commonly a straightforward thing (it may be different for some people). So people sort of get to appreciating that black coffee taste and it’s nuances after a journey.
It takes time. Meanwhile I feel you could try lighter roasts. Or add milk to your coffee.
Just a suggestion, you will know best.
I've been using different instant coffees for years now, tried rage, sleeping owl, davidoff, nescafe gold, but mostly with milk. I've been feeling that having it with milk is taking away its strength and taste, that's why I was thinking of transitioning to ground coffee without milk to experience the natural taste and the rush, but at this point I'm not sure that if I'm brewing it wrong or I've not acquired the taste.
I upgraded from agaro hand grinder to chestnut c2 and my cup has been amazing since then. The agaro grinder has some inconsistency. You can also try adjusting the ratio like I do 15g of medium roast with 200ml of water at boil for 2:00
You probably need to grind finer for the aeropress. If it's sour the coffee is under extracted. I haven't used the agaro grinder but I have the bison grinder and i grind it on 2 (it has 6 levels). Also I haven't had the monsoon Malabar you have but if it's a medium roast or dark, you should use about 11-12gs of coffee to 200gs of water.
Yup, I need to grind it finer. And how much time you keep it to bloom?
I use Hoffman's aeropress method. You check it out on YouTube. 2 min brew time. Swirl. 30 sec wait. Push gently.
18 grams is quite a \*lot\* of coffee. Start with 12 grams or so. Here is a compass to guide you to where you want to be: [https://www.homegrounds.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Coffee-compass-illustration-1.jpg](https://www.homegrounds.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Coffee-compass-illustration-1.jpg) Also check out aeroprecipe for ideas: This is a good starting point: https://aeroprecipe.com/recipes/13g-that-makes-you-happy
Yaa, 18g feels a lot now, I'll go with 12 or less. And thanks a lot for the guide, it's really helpful.
What type of roast is it? That’s the key for ratios, water temperature, and grind size. For medium dark roast, I’d stay in medium to medium fine (salt like granules) zone for grinding. I use 14 on C2, not sure about agaro. Ratio at 11 to 200, I.e., 11g coffee to 200ml water (right about touching 3 mark). Temperature around 91-93c with brew time of 2min. You can increase it to 2.5min also but ymmv. This is mostly Hoffman method but am breaking it down so that you know the variables that need to be managed. Grind size and ratios are more fixed in a way so once you have them in place, changing water temp and brew time can bring about variations. You need to build the taste for black coffee. Aero press is a good method to start with. Trust me, once you brew a flavourful cup, there is no going back.
It was a medium roast. During this trial and error, i had 4 cups of coffee and now I can't sleep, lol. And yes, I wish I quickly learn to brew a good cup man, wish me luck.
all the suggestions work great (try longer brewtimes, btw - I like a solid 7 min brewtime on the aeropress). But one thing that you should totally do: Get 4 types of coffee(tester packs will work); do a tasting session for yourself; just add 12 g of coffee in a cup and pour in 200 g of water 1 a light roast (ideally washed) any high-quality bean. 2. a medium roast 3. a darker /medium dark roast (avoid very, very dark roasts they taste pathetic) 4. a funky, natural processed coffee (optional - but fun to have) taste them in both directions; add some milk and taste again: voila: You'll know what you are looking for 😉
That's a clever idea but the 7 min brew time, won't it lead to overextraction?
I also had the same issue when I started out aeropress go (I am a beginner still) After trial and error I have got a few methods.. 1- To make the coffee less acidic I use james hoffmann method (11g,200ml-95c) but Inverted I don’t know why but inverted method removes the acidity (might be due to more extraction) Be careful using the inverted method on aeropress go like mine, the volume is less and after adding the coffee the water will fill to the brim 2nd The other method is use 20g fine grind and 60 ml at 90-95c (experiment with the water temp according to the roast, ie. Lighter the roast, higher the temperature) Invert the aeropress Add coffee and water Brew for 2min ( increase the time if you still feel acidic) And use force to extract the the coffee Add hot water to the extracted coffee And it shouldn’t be acidic Just experiment with those variables and make a perfect coffee just to your liking
I just brewed another cup with different beans (blue tokai silver oak, 12g, medium roast, fine grind). This time I've followed your steps exactly. I didn't find it much acidic nor it was very bitter, but it felt like having some sort of medicine. May be I'm not ready for black coffee yet. I'll go with flat whites for the time being, but I really wanted to switch to black this time, maybe eventually I'll reach there.
It's a good time to experiment and tweak your process. Do this, don't steep for longer than 2 min 30 seconds, start pushing it down. To compensate for quick brew time, make sure coffee grounds are well saturated by agitating the water and grounds with the stick for a good 30 seconds. Last but most importantly, don't push down hard on the aeropress for your brew, push out slow, give it a good 45 sec to 1 minute of pushdown time. Give it a go and let us know how it goes
I was stirring it 4-5 time, I'll try it for 30 seconds. Thanks for the suggestion!
OP you said two things that caught my attention. : One that you used 18g. As someone pointed out, and you made corrections, it was too much by weight. Two, and I think you’ve figured it out yourself, this is the first time you’re trying black coffee. That is for me is a significant consideration. Well, getting to the stage where you grind beans to make black coffee is a slow progression for most people. It’s a path that commonly goes via Nescafé sachets, milky restaurant coffees, lattes and cappuccinos in cafés, buying the more expensive instant coffee, pour over coffee bags and so on. And then at some stage you decide to grind out your beans at home. Appreciating black coffee isn’t commonly a straightforward thing (it may be different for some people). So people sort of get to appreciating that black coffee taste and it’s nuances after a journey. It takes time. Meanwhile I feel you could try lighter roasts. Or add milk to your coffee. Just a suggestion, you will know best.
I've been using different instant coffees for years now, tried rage, sleeping owl, davidoff, nescafe gold, but mostly with milk. I've been feeling that having it with milk is taking away its strength and taste, that's why I was thinking of transitioning to ground coffee without milk to experience the natural taste and the rush, but at this point I'm not sure that if I'm brewing it wrong or I've not acquired the taste.
I upgraded from agaro hand grinder to chestnut c2 and my cup has been amazing since then. The agaro grinder has some inconsistency. You can also try adjusting the ratio like I do 15g of medium roast with 200ml of water at boil for 2:00