Best Coffee for AeroPress—Top 5 Brands That Will Tickle Your Taste Buds

AeroPress coffee is best made with light or medium roast beans. A light roast will give you a cleaner, more acidic flavor, while a medium roast will be smoother and have more body. You can also use a dark roast coffee, but it will give you a much heavier, smoky cup of coffee.

If you do prefer light roasts, we recommend trying quality light roast Colombian or Ethiopian coffee beans.

If you're looking for a coffee that's somewhere between flavorful and forgiving, opt for a medium roast. This will produce a coffee that's less acidic and more balanced. The Starbucks Pike Place we've recommended here is a good example of a delicious medium roast.

A couple of other good medium roasts to try in the AeroPress are Brazilian or Guatemalan coffee beans.

No matter which beans you choose, make sure they're freshly ground—coffee loses its flavor as soon as its ground, so while pre-ground coffee will work, it starts to stale the moment you open the bag.

If you prefer a more complex and nuanced flavor profile, where you can distinguish different flavors and tasting notes, the best coffee beans will be of single origin.

Blends offer a more balanced, well-rounded overall taste, but you'll miss out on the unique flavors that each individual bean offers.

A blend or single origin both taste amazing in an AeroPress, but if you want to experience the bean's unique flavor profile, we suggest trying out a single origin coffee.

The best grind size for AeroPress coffee is medium-fine, typically somewhere between an espresso grind and a grind intended for drip coffee.

You'll want to experiment a bit to dial in the perfect grind size for your tastes, but starting here will give you a good starting point.

While you can use pre-ground coffee in an AeroPress, it's always best to grind to the proper size for your chosen brewing method. Grinding too coarsely with AeroPress will have your coffee tasting weak and sour.

If you are in a pinch and all you have is pre-ground coffee grounds (hey, we've all been there), you can get away with using it. Just be sure to steep the grounds a little longer and/or increase your water temperature to compensate for the reduced extraction you'll get from the larger grind size.

Start by measuring out 18g of your favorite beans using your trusty coffee scale. If you don't have a scale yet, you can use the AeroPress scoop. Just use around 1½ scoops of whole beans before grinding or around 4-6 tablespoons of coffee grounds.

This will give you a cup of coffee that's strong and flavorful. If you prefer a weaker cup, add more water or use less coffee. If you want it stronger, use less water or more coffee.

The best way to find the perfect ratio of coffee to water is to experiment and adjust to taste. Use the above starting point, then adjust accordingly until you find the ratio that suits your tastes.

The optimal water temperature for most coffee brewing methods falls between 195 and 205 °F (between 90 and 95 °C), depending on the roast.

AeroPress calls for a slightly lower temperature than this suggested range; somewhere between 175 and 185 °F (80 and 85 °C).

I've experimented with the suggested AeroPress range and found it less than ideal. The temperature I've found works best is 205 °F (96 °C) with a total steep time of 90 seconds. This includes a 30 second bloom time.

Of course, the best way to achieve your perfect cup of AeroPress coffee is to experiment and adjust until you find the optimal water temperature that works best for you.

The following is a list of 5 best coffees for your AeroPress starting with our favorite.

When I first experienced Starbucks' Pike Place Roast, I knew I had encountered something special. These medium roast coffee beans have a smooth, yet bold, flavor with very subtle notes of chocolate and toasted nut. It's amazing, and honestly, I can't get enough of it.

It's a tasty blend comprising Latin American coffee beans, perfect for an everyday driver. It especially fairs well in the AeroPress.

For me, it's the perfect balance of richness and flavor. I also appreciate that Starbucks' commitment to 100% ethical coffee sourcing in partnership with Conservation International. This means that you can enjoy coffee knowing that they sourced it in a responsible (and sustainable) way.

Pike Place Roast is a great coffee for those who want to enjoy a good cup without having to spend a lot of time (and money) at a café. It's an excellent coffee for AeroPress, and it's not too shabby for brewing coffee for French press, cold brew, or espresso either.

I've always been pleased with Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Before I knew better, I would buy the 5 lb. bag of pre-ground coffee and brew it in the Bunn. Even then, it was delicious coffee.

So, when I found it available in whole bean form, I had to try it. It's absolutely fantastic. To price, it's about on par with the Pike Place, but worth it for a minor change in pace.

I'm really glad I gave Dunkin' a try with the AeroPress. It's rich, yet smooth, with an overall very pleasing taste. I highly recommend it to coffee lovers everywhere.

If you're looking for a coffee that will transform your morning cup of joe into something bold and intense, look no further than Death Wish Coffee.

They proudly boast their beans as the strongest in the world, and also USDA certified organic and fair trade.

A proprietary blend of Arabica and Robusta beans, you'll get that extra caffeine kick from the Robusta beans, which are naturally higher in caffeine than Arabica beans.

With just one sip, you'll be hooked on the smooth, but never bitter, cherry and chocolate flavor profiles.

So join their cult following of satisfied customers who can't get enough of this coffee and try it risk free with their money-back guarantee.

Now here's a deal worth writing about.

Pablo's Pride Gourmet Coffee is a unique blend of rich and lively aromas, velvety body, low acidity and a sweet aftertaste that'll also go easy on the wallet.

They have a quality grader on staff that ensures the quality of every bean they roast. They also only use newly harvested coffee beans and never blend them with inferior beans.

All of their beans are small-batch roasted; a process they've dubbed "half art and half science". This process lends itself to caramelizing the natural sugars found in the coffee bean and ultimately bringing out the optimum flavor.

They roast to order in regional small-batch roasting facilities in the U.S., and their beans are never roasted overseas. Also, they never allow distributors to warehouse their coffee beans. This guarantees the freshest coffee possible.

These might be the best coffee beans for the money. They're 100% Arabica whole coffee beans, Guatemalan and sharing-certified. With a medium-dark roast and full body, it will give your taste buds the wake up call they deserve.

The amazing thing is that it's very affordable as well, so definitely worth a try.

Now, while this is a dark roast, it pairs amazingly with the AeroPress. The flavors meld together to create a complex, full-bodied flavor profile.

The AeroPress really helps to bring out the chocolaty sweetness in the beans and makes for an overall satisfying experience. If you're looking for a dark roast for the AeroPress that is sure to please, then look no further than Peet's Coffee Major Dickason's Blend.

For a little extra cost savings, you can opt for the 2-pack*.

...it's time to go out and try some of these quality coffee beans for yourself.

Pick some up today and let us know how you liked them in the comments below. We're always looking for the best coffees to try in the AeroPress, and we're sure you'll enjoy these as much as we did.

Now go make some amazing coffee!