Aeropress: "stop before the pffffsssssttttt"?

[EmptyB]

Thanks to Jasonian's advice to "throw the instructions away", I've started using the Aeropress at home again, using the inverted method. I found a bunch of recipes online, and some of them say to stop plunging down before you hear the "pffssssst" at the end.

Does anyone know the theory/philosophy behind this approach? What are the benefits, and how does this affect the taste of the coffee?

Perhaps I'll do a side-by-side taste test with "pfffsssstttt" versus "no pfffsssettttt" lol.

 

[JPDyson]

Try it. I think the theory is to prevent over-extraction and excessive fines. I tend to stop right when i hear the beginning of the pffsst.

 

[ouch]

I try for extra pfffsssstttt.

 

[StillShaving]

I try for extra pfffsssstttt.

I hear this comes naturally to those who love tacos.

Thanks to Jasonian's advice to "throw the instructions away", I've started using the Aeropress at home again, using the inverted method. I found a bunch of recipes online, and some of them say to stop plunging down before you hear the "pffssssst" at the end.

Does anyone know the theory/philosophy behind this approach? What are the benefits, and how does this affect the taste of the coffee?

Perhaps I'll do a side-by-side taste test with "pfffsssstttt" versus "no pfffsssettttt" lol.

Supposedly this squeezes out the more over extracted coffee. I have read comments where folks have said if you don't believe it, try tasting the part that comes out before the "pfffsssstttt" to the part that comes afterward. I drink mine both with and without this magical ingredient, depending on my mood....er how much attention I am paying to the coffee making process.

 

[gearchow]

when I was using my AP, I pushed down as hard as I could. The puck was almost dry when I popped it out.
-jim

 

[Jim]

The pffffsssssttttt is all I drink, the rest I throw away.

 

[gearchow]

it's the essence.

-jim

 

[ouch]

I hear this comes naturally to those who love tacos.

It's more like a "brapp".

 

[Jim]

It's more like a "brapp".

Depends on the Taco.

 

[EmptyB]

pffffsssssstttt all of you. I'm going back to my cone dripper.

 

[Everett529]

I stop before the "Pssssffft" I can do without the extra bitterness it gives me. I always thought that was squeezing overextracted coffee/fines/and some oils as well, but I could be wrong about the oils, as the paper filter may do a good job of stopping that.

 

[gearchow]

It's my thinking that the paper filter does do that mostly. I'm frequently incorrect though.

-jim

 

[Prince]

I'm frequently incorrect though.

-jim

According to my wife, so am I.

 

[DanInFla]

Thanks to Jasonian's advice to "throw the instructions away", I've started using the Aeropress at home again, using the inverted method. I found a bunch of recipes online, and some of them say to stop plunging down before you hear the "pffssssst" at the end.

Does anyone know the theory/philosophy behind this approach? What are the benefits, and how does this affect the taste of the coffee?

Perhaps I'll do a side-by-side taste test with "pfffsssstttt" versus "no pfffsssettttt" lol.

yep, that extra little bit at the end is very bitter in my opinion. not including it in my cup was my eureka moment. try this, push down until before the pffssst...then get another clean up and push all the way down. taste that and i think you will see why to avoid it.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I try for extra pfffsssstttt.

In a just world, you would get a new custom title for that

 

[StillShaving]

when I was using my AP, I pushed down as hard as I could. The puck was almost dry when I popped it out.
-jim

Don't you worry about some of the pffffsssssttttt escaping around the edges and not making it into the cup? When I press down too fast I get some leakage, especially when using my ill fitting homemade cloth filters.

 

[gearchow]

Don't you worry about some of the pffffsssssttttt escaping around the edges and not making it into the cup? When I press down too fast I get some leakage, especially when using my ill fitting homemade cloth filters.

slow and steady gets all of the pffffsssssttttt into the cup. What I did worry about is getting slightly off of a 90 degree angle and having a heck of a mess to clean up.

-jim

 

[_JP_]

That fart is what gives the coffee a foamy head.

 

[oc_in_fw]

That fart is what gives the coffee a foamy head.

I wish I were a mod

 

[EmptyB]

So I just made my second morning cup with the AP. My first cup avoided the pssfffffttt, and my second cup was made with a full plunge and maximum ppffffssssst-age.

I stop before the "Pssssffft" I can do without the extra bitterness it gives me. I always thought that was squeezing overextracted coffee/fines/and some oils as well, but I could be wrong about the oils, as the paper filter may do a good job of stopping that.

Not sure about the extra bitterness, but I could see more oil on the surface of the coffee in the second cup.

yep, that extra little bit at the end is very bitter in my opinion. not including it in my cup was my eureka moment. try this, push down until before the pffssst...then get another clean up and push all the way down. taste that and i think you will see why to avoid it.

I did this for the first cup. I agree that the psfffffssssst juice IS a little sharp and bitter relative to the rest of the cup. That said, the amount of the pfffsssssstttthh juice seems insignificant compared to the volume in the cup. Since I'm not a professional coffee taster, I could not easily detect a difference in flavor . . . and I didn't have both samples for a side-by-side comparison.

Fully plunging is a little more convenient in the cleanup department, too. It reduces coffee dripping on the counter and makes it a little easier to eject the puck of ground coffee into the trash (rather than a sloppy non-compacted slurry of coffee mud). LOL, I don't think I've used the word "slurry" in any form of everyday conversation/writing before now.