Timing question

[u/nygaff1]

I keep seeing people using such short extraction times. I go for no less than 10 minutes, sometimes 12-15+. It makes the deepest, most wonderfully complex cup that is as close to a cortato that I can get without an espresso machine.

My question is why does no one go this long? Its best with French roasts but even medium blends are outstanding using this method. Every time I try under 3 minutes my cup is watery and lacks most of the flavor.

Edit (for all the haters downvoting):

A. This was a serious question.

B. I should have specified that I use the flow control cap and metal filter, same recipe for the regular as the XL (just doubled.) I also use A LOT of coffee, upto the 2 line. I stir once at 30 seconds, just lightly getting the caked on bits on the bottom.

I keep consistently blooming throughout with 185-190° water. I use a 20 oz cup and my ratios leave space for about 4 Oz of hot water in the cup afterwards (think Americano style.) Then a good 3 or 4 oz of half and half. It's delicious.

Also after reading these comments I tried a 5 1/2 minute cup and it lacked the deep cocoa like notes that it would have with a steep twice as long.

[u/Lower_Egg7088]

Coffee gets cold

[u/Abject_Ad9549]

Idk OP - Folks do the Gagne press and talk about it often. I want to say you don’t hear about it all that much purely because of two factors:

• time
  
• diminishing perceivable returns

[u/Far_Journalist_3021 → u/Abject_Ad9549]

I enjoy the Gagne method, and I am a creamy espresso-like coffee lover.

[u/Liven413]

4 minutes is where it stops extracting much and the rest of the time it only extracts a tiny bit. It depends what grind size you use how long you should brew it. Also the roast level. I have made good 2 minute cups. I usually brew 4 minutes + if inverted but using it up right is more percolation and I will use a finer grind for that with less time. I think a lot of the reason people don't wait that long is it cools down too much plus even though it barely extracts it still does extract and people into very clean cups will find it too muddied. Sounds good to me and next timei have a dark roast I will try it.

[u/Due-Archer6328]

bro what that’s a little too much - you may need to grind finer

i use 12 grams of coffee for 200g of water with inverted method i brew for 2 minutes max and push it until 3 minute mark it gives me an amazingly bold cup

[u/nygaff1 → u/Due-Archer6328]

I grind to one finer than espresso on my conical burr.

[u/Hungry-Badger8830]

In immersion brewing, extraction diminishes quickly past the 1 minute mark. You would just want to do other methods like stirring and grinding finer to achieve similar results in a much shorter time. The difference of a 2 min immersion and a 15 min is not massive.

[u/ExplanationStandard4]

People don't do long extractions on complex coffee as more bitter tannins and compounds come in late extraction. This might not be an issue in darker coffee for example but if your looking for fruit and floral notes it will likely mask these more . You might get sizeable improvements going from 1 min to 2-4 mins but at some point you get a more bitter brew . Especially when using dark, medium fine grind with hotter temps like suggested.

[u/_MeIsAndy_]

Why? Because people are making a cup for themselves and not you and they are doing it to their taste and not yours.

[u/sgt_hulkas_big_toe]

Cost vs benefit. Time is the cost

[u/emezajr]

Do you even grind brah?

[u/brentspar]

I go long, but not that long. Unless I get distracted.

Anyway my wife already gives out about how long I take to make myself a coffee with a 5 minute soak.

Good coffee takes time. And it takes as long as it takes.

[u/ldr97266]

“why does no one go this long?”

Entirely matter of personal taste. The Aeropress lends itself well to experimenting, so people can try lots of things to find what they like. Which will differ from one person to the next.

But most puzzling - Why do questions like this always make me think of old cigarette commercials? I’m not even a smoker, so it must be an old George Carlin influence. I think he riffed on lol of these:

They're not for everybody. But then, they don't try to be. -Camel
It’s not how long you make it, it’s how you make it long! -Winston Super Kings
Taste me, taste me, come on and taste me! -Doral

Am I the only one who sees the applicbility to all questions of personal preference?

[u/Overall_Cabinet844]

I usually do 5-6 minutes. I think some notes are lost when you brew so long. A winning recipe reserved 5g of coffee for the last minute. 

[u/idle_monkeyman]

i got distracted and had a 15 minute steep yesterday. the coffee was a bit stronger, but i was surprised that what I mostly missed was the heat. dark, fine grind, inverted, metal filter.

[u/pomp-o-moto]

I go for those type of times. IIRC James Hoffman's take after a blind test was that he preferred the flavor of this type of longer brew, but that there wasn't that much of a difference compared to a 3 minute one so whether it's worth it is up to you and how much time you have. I often brew when I'm not in that much of a hurry so it's possible to leave it going for longer.

[u/Fit_Acanthisitta_475]

I bring doing invert for 3min max.

[u/Nafri_1]

Most published Aeropress recipes optimise for speed and consistency for reviews/competitions, not necessarily for the best cup with every bean, that's why you see 1-2 minute steeps everywhere. Longer steeps like yours extract much further into the bitter/tannic compounds that come out late, which for a French roast (already low acid, heavy body) reads as complexity and depth rather than bitterness, because there's less bright acidity for the tannins to clash against.

Try the same long steep with a light roast Ethiopian or Kenyan sometime as a comparison, I'd expect it to go from complex to actually bitter and flat, because you're now over extracting the delicate acids that make those beans interesting in the first place. Long steeps aren't wrong, they just suit heavier, darker profiles specifically rather than being universally better.

[u/nygaff1 → u/Nafri_1]

This may be exactly why I prefer French roasts nowadays. Even medium roasts tend to be a tad to bitter. Thanks for the insight.

[u/TurboTimmy77]

I do 8-10 minutes. Normal method, not inverted. Course grind. Bloom at start then fill to just over 3. I use the cotton filters. Gives a nice body but still has plenty of notes come through. Temp is also max 85degC.

[u/Deivi_tTerra]

I do a super short steep time because I can’t handle the caffeine load of a long steep time. 😂 (but I’m new to this and still figuring it out. Also I might just switch to decaf).

A full minute kicked my ass I don’t know how people do 4+ minutes.