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AeroPress Iced Coffee: 3 Cool Methods

The AeroPress is extremely versatile. Here are some excellent ways to use it for ice coffee and cold brew.

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Asser Christensen

Licensed Q Arabica Grader, M.A. Journalism

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The AeroPress is the Swiss army knife of coffee brewing. You can do virtually anything with it, and it’s even affordable. 

It should be no surprise that AeroPress is also very popular for making cold brew and iced coffee. 

This article will reveal three ways to get that iced coffee experience that will transform a scorching hot summer day into a caffeinated oasis just by relying on an AeroPress.

aeropress meme

#1: Japanese-Style AeroPress Iced Coffee

This method is probably the easiest and most convenient way to get proper AeroPress Iced Coffee.

You can get some really delicious brews with this technique. 

Among pour over coffee geeks, Japanese-style ice coffee has been famous for a while. 

The idea is that the best way to get iced coffee is to brew it hot and then cool it down right away. 

Personally, I think this is the correct approach if you have some fruity or floral beans. The heat extracts those compounds a lot better than slow steeping. 

Yes, of course, some people swear that cold brew avoids bitterness and acidity in coffee. However, this theory is something that most serious coffee people scoff at. It might hold true of low-quality commodity coffee from the supermarket, but good beans from a reputable roaster need hot water if you want to get the best flavors out of them. 

Japanese flash-style coffee is simple. You brew a regular coffee but cut the brew short. 

So, under normal circumstances, you would have brewed 400 ml coffee. Then you substitute 40-50% of the water weight with ice cubes. You put the ice in the carafe you’re brewing into, and voila, you have a serving of Flash cooled Japanese Ice coffee. 

Recipe

  • Standard position
  • 240 g hot water
  • 27 g coffee 
  • Medium-fine grind size
  • 160 g ice 

Step by step guide:

  • Add ice to the carafe you’re brewing into
  • Put the AeroPress on top of the carafe, add coffee, and tare scale.
AeroPress Ice Coffee 2
  • Bloom the coffee with 80 g water. Stir a few times with a spoon or swizzle stick to ensure there are no dry pockets. 
AeroPress Ice Coffee 3
  • Wait 30 seconds 
  • Then pour the remaining 160 g of water to reach the total of 240 g.
  • Give it a quick stir again.
AeroPress Ice Coffee 4
  • Insert the plunger and then pull upwards slightly to create a vacuum seal. 
  • Wait until 2.30 minutes, and then plunge directly over the ice. 
AeroPress Ice Coffee 5
  • Swirl the carafe a few times, and wait a minute or so to let more of the ice dilute before serving. 

The resulting cup should be full bodied, nuanced and have plenty of fruitiness. I can’t imagine a better way to be refreshed on a hot summer day than this.


#2: Aeropress Cold Brew

Cold Brew is not as tasty as flash brewed coffee, but it can sometimes be convenient, if you want to prepare some coffee in advance.

If you don’t have a dedicated cold brew maker at home, you have to be creative. This is where the AeroPress comes into the picture.

If you try to strain the mixture of steeped coffee grounds and water through something like a Hario V60, it will almost be guaranteed to clog up and stall in no time. 

The AeroPress, on the other hand, has the built-in advantage that you use air pressure to push the extraction along the way. 

You can even experiment with different filters that might work even better for cold brew. For instance, regular paper will give you a cleaner cup, while a metal filter will be easier to work with (due to having actual holes) and provide a heavier body. 

Recipe

This approach is very forgiving and almost doesn’t require a recipe. 

  • 200 g water 30 g coffee 
  • Mix coffee and water in the fridge overnight in a separate vessel. A cup or mason jar, for example. 
  • Medium grind size
  • Pour the slurry into the AeroPress, and press down. 
  • Now you have a concentrate that can be mixed with ice or water. Aim for a dilution of an additional 250 grams. 
  • (PS: You can make an even bigger batch and plunge it step by step. Just remember to either replace or rinse the paper filter after each cycle.) 
Serve Ice Coffee in a tall glass filled with rocks. Feel free to add a bit of garnish.

Further Reading: Advanced AeroPress Instructions


3# AeroPress Iced Espresso  

The following recipe is another great one that most people don’t know about. 

I figured out this method by accident since I was on holiday and didn’t have access to hot water. That made me consider whether I could use room temperature water if the grind were fine enough. 

The answer to that question was a resounding “yes!” 

The coffee tasted great, almost like a cold-brewed espresso. If you don’t know it, a cold-brewed espresso is where you brew a traditional espresso with ice-cold water. Unfortunately, due to the way most espresso machines work, this is only possible with manual espresso makers like the Cafflano Kompresso or the Robot. 

This recipe is almost at that level, although you don’t get quite the same intensity. It’s milder because an AeroPress uses a much lower pressure. For the same reason, there is no crema. 

That being said, it’s still an excellent cup of Iced AeroPress coffee. And if you’re traveling and don’t have access to hot water, it’s way better than the alternative (not getting any coffee). 

You can drink this shot straight or dilute it with water, ice or milk. The choice is yours! 

Recipe

  • The AeroPress should be placed upside-down. Insert the plunger halfway pressed through. This ensures that water and coffee will stay in contact when you flip the brewer over. 
  • Use 20 grams of coffee.
  • Grind size: Ultra-fine. Somewhere from espresso to Turkish is ideal. 
  • Pour in 80 grams of ice-cold water. 
  • Stir with a passion for 40 seconds. Then let it steep for 1 minute. 
  • Add the filter to the cap, attach it. Flip over brewer and press. 

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Asser Christensen

Hello, and welcome! I'm the editor & founder of this site.
I have been a coffee geek since I started home roasting more than a decade ago. Since then, coffee has taken me on countless adventures: From ancient coffee ceremonies in Ethiopia to the volcanos of Sumatra.
My background is in journalism, and today I'm also a licensed Q Grader under the Coffee Quality Institute.