Why Your Aeropress Coffee Is Bitter? Find Out How to Easily Fix It

Ιs your AeroPress coffee bitter? 

I fairly recently bought an Aeropress, but it started brewing bitter coffee and I did research on the topic to find out the causes. Stick around, I’m going to share what I found out and share a bunch of tips and tricks on how to brew delicious coffee with an AeroPress. 

Let’s jump straight into it. 

Why is your Aeropress coffee bitter? 

The most common reason that your AeroPress is bitter is the ratio of coffee to water. The original AeroPress recipe recommends sticking to 1:16 for brewing rich coffee. Other common reasons that give an unpleasant taste to your coffee are water temperature and grind size. 

Reasons why your Aeropress coffee tastes bitter

Let’s chat about the main reasons that give your AeroPress coffee this unpleasant taste. 

Coffee to water ratio

Unlike the standard coffee to water ratio which is 1:15, the ratio when brewing with an AeroPress is 1:16 which practically means that you need to use more water compared to other brewing methods. If you use more coffee than what’s recommended (for example 1:14), the chances are that your coffee is going to taste bitter. 

Aeropress malfunctioning 

One of the most issues many Aeropress users face is they struggle to press the plunger down to brew coffee, making the process a real hassle which often leads to bitter coffee. To avoid such an issue, make sure you stick to the recommended coffee to water ratio and grind size.

Brewing time 

Similar to other brewing gadgets or machines, there’s a recommended time for brewing with an Aeropress. For example, the ideal time for brewing with a French press is 3-4 minutes; if you brew longer than this, the odds are that your coffee is going to taste bitter. 

What’s the ideal brewing time for an Aeropress? 

2-3 minutes is the right time, if you go over this the coffee starts to get burnt and this spoils your coffee’s taste. 

To get a better understanding of the ideal time, let’s take a look at different gadgets’ right brewing time: 

• Moka pot: 3-4 minutes 
• Espresso machine: 20-35 seconds
• French press: 3-4 minutes
• Aeropress: 2-3 minutes

Let’s face it, making coffee is more of a science than an art, meaning that it’s vital to stick to each brewing tool’s best practices to make delicious coffee every single time. 

Water temperature

The right temperature for an AeroPress is 165°F-175°F (73.8°C-79.4°C) and as already mentioned it’s key to stick to the best practices.

If you use colder water than what’s recommended this is going to lead to underextraction which in practice means weak coffee without much taste. On the other hand, if you use hotter water this is going to cause over extraction, meaning that your coffee is going to have an unpleasant bitter taste. 

Grind size

The ideal grind size for an AeroPress is medium-fine, if you grind your coffee beans thinner than that, it’s going to lead to over extraction which (as we already mentioned) makes your coffee bitter. Regardless of the ideal grind size, it’s wise to grind your coffee beans yourself for enhanced coffee taste. 

Stale coffee beans

Once you open your coffee pack and the beans/grinds oxydate they start getting stale, and in a couple of week’s time they’re completely stale. The coffee they produce is going to have an unpleasant taste. It’s a good idea to use fresh coffee beans and throw away the old coffee you’ve been keeping in your cupboard for months.

What should AeroPress coffee taste like?

The taste of your AeroPress coffee should be robust and rich and at the same time smooth and full-bodied. If your coffee made with an Aeropress doesn’t taste like that it means that you don’t follow the best practices or there’s an issue with your gadget. If you do follow the best practices and you can tell that there’s something wrong with your gadget, I suggest you speak with aeropress customer support to help you fix it.

Is AeroPress coffee less bitter?

The short answer is: it depends

In my experience, the gadget or machine you’re going to use for brewing doesn’t make much of a difference. It mostly comes down to whether you follow the best practices of each gadget. By following this simple rule you’re going to brew perfect coffee almost every single time. 

Let’s wrap it up 

That’s a wrap, I hope you learned a thing or 2 about Aeropress and how to avoid brewing bitter coffee. Stay tuned, I’m planning to write more articles about making coffee with an Aeropress or other gadgets. 

FAQ

Let’s go over a couple of common questions on the topic to help get the big picture. 

Why is my AeroPress coffee not good?

It’s probably because you use hotter or colder water than what’s recommended which can easily spoil the taste of your coffee. Another factor is that you don’t use the recommended coffee to water ratio which should be 1:16 in order to brew perfect coffee. Lastly, one more reason that makes your AeroPress coffee not good is using stale coffee beans. 

Does AeroPress taste better than French press?

They are similar in taste as the coffee you make with both of them is rich and robust, but personally prefer coffee made with an Aeropress which has less coffee oils and lipids (fine coffee grinds are used instead of coarse), meaning that it contains less cafestol.