How to Use the Glass AeroPress Premium: Step-by-Step to a Clean Light-Roast Cup
How to Use the Glass AeroPress Premium
The AeroPress is one of the most forgiving, repeatable ways to brew a single exceptional cup — which is exactly why we reach for it at the roastery when we want to taste a coffee for what it really is. Learning how to brew coffee with an AeroPress takes minutes, and once you dial it in you'll get clean, sweet, café-quality results every single morning.
Here at the roaster, we love a light roast. So this guide walks through our house method for brewing Rubicon, our Biodynamic light roast, using the AeroPress Premium — the version made 100% from glass. A glass chamber is inert, holds no flavor from brew to brew, and lets you watch the whole extraction happen.
The Quick Scoop
For one strong cup, use 14g of Rubicon ground medium-fine (like table salt) with 200ml of water at 96°C / 205°F, brewed upright with a paper filter. Wet the grounds and stir the way you'd let a pour-over bloom, wait 30–45 seconds, top up, steep about a minute, then press slowly for ~30 seconds. Total brew time is roughly two minutes. Read on for the full method, a scaling calculator, and a live brew timer.
What You'll Need
The beauty of the AeroPress is how little it asks of you. Here's the short kit list for a repeatable light-roast cup:
AeroPress Premium – Glass
The glass chamber is flavor-neutral and easy to clean, so nothing carries over between brews. Use it upright on top of your mug or a small carafe.
Fresh Rubicon & a Burr Grinder
Start with whole-bean Rubicon and grind fresh. A burr grinder like the 1Zpresso Q gives the even, medium-fine grind that light roasts need for a clean extraction.
A Scale, Kettle & Paper Filters
A gram scale makes the 14g dose repeatable, a kettle gets you to 96°C, and a fresh AeroPress paper filter keeps the cup bright and sediment-free.
Complete the Kit
Everything we reach for to brew this cup — all available from the roastery:
1Zpresso Q
A compact hand grinder that delivers the consistent, medium-fine grind light roasts need for a clean, sweet extraction.
Shop the grinder
Timemore Black Mirror Scale
A fast, accurate 0.1g scale so your 14g dose and 200ml pour are the same every single morning.
Shop the scale
AeroPress Microfilters
Genuine paper microfilters that strip out oils and fines for the bright, sediment-free cup this method is built around.
Shop the filtersGrind, Water & Ratio: Dialing In a Light Roast
Three variables do most of the work in an AeroPress: your grind size, your water temperature, and your coffee-to-water ratio. Light roasts like Rubicon are denser and less soluble than darker roasts, so each one leans a little toward the "more extraction" side.
Grind Size for the AeroPress
Grind is your most powerful lever. For a light roast in the upright AeroPress, aim for medium-fine — a touch finer than drip, around the texture of table salt. Here's how grind shifts the cup:
| Grind Size | Feels Like | Result in the AeroPress |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | Coarse sand | Faster flow, lighter body. Can taste thin or sour with a dense light roast. |
| Medium-Fine | Table salt | Our sweet spot for Rubicon — balanced extraction, clarity, and body. |
| Fine | Caster sugar | Slower press, heavier body. Push here if the cup tastes under-extracted, but watch for harshness. |
| Espresso-fine | Powder | Too slow to press and prone to bitterness. Not recommended for this method. |
AeroPress Brew Calculator
Brewing for more than one, or want a milder cup? Set your strength and number of servings and we'll scale the recipe for you. Each serving is based on 200ml of water.
Scale Your Brew
Coffee needed: 14 g
Water needed: 200 ml at 96°C
Bloom pour: 45 g, then wet & stir
Tip: for more than two servings, brew in batches or use a larger vessel under the AeroPress and press in rounds.
Step-by-Step AeroPress Method
Here's our complete upright method for a single strong cup of Rubicon. Weigh everything, keep the water hot, and move steadily — the whole thing takes about two minutes.
Seat a paper filter in the cap and rinse it with hot water — this removes any papery taste and warms the glass chamber. Set the AeroPress upright on top of your mug or carafe.
Grind 14g of Rubicon to a medium-fine consistency (like table salt) and add the grounds to the chamber. Give it a gentle shake to level the bed.
Pour about 45g of 96°C water over the grounds to wet them fully, then stir gently the way you'd let a pour-over bloom. This releases trapped CO₂ so the rest of the brew extracts evenly. Wait 30–45 seconds.
Add the remaining water to reach 200ml total, give one gentle stir to settle the grounds, and let it steep for about a minute.
Insert the plunger and press slowly and steadily for about 30 seconds. Stop when you hear the hiss — going past it can pull bitterness into the cup. Total brew time lands around two minutes.
Sip it black first. Sour or thin? Grind finer or steep a little longer. Harsh or drying? Grind coarser or ease off the press. Rubicon should read clean, sweet, and delicate.
Interactive Brew Timer
Follow along in real time. Hit start and the timer will walk you through the bloom, steep, and press.
- Bloom — wet grounds & stir (0:40)
- Top up to 200ml & steep (1:00)
- Press slowly to the hiss (0:30)
Upright vs. Inverted: Which Should You Use?
You'll see AeroPress fans debate the "inverted" method endlessly. Here's where we land — and why the upright method is our pick for the glass Premium.
Upright — Recommended
The chamber sits on your mug the standard way up. It's simpler, safer with a glass chamber, and cleans up in seconds.
Best for: Everyday brewing, beginners, and anyone using the glass Premium.
Why we use it: With a proper bloom and a short steep, upright gives Rubicon all the clarity and sweetness it needs — no flip required.
Inverted — Advanced
The AeroPress is assembled upside-down so no water drips through before you're ready, then flipped onto the mug to press. It can lengthen contact time for a heavier cup.
The trade-off: Flipping a full, hot glass chamber is genuinely risky, and the extra body isn't necessary for this recipe.
Our take: Skip it with the glass Premium. If you love the inverted style, save it for a plastic AeroPress.
Why Rubicon Light Roast Shines in the AeroPress
The AeroPress's clean, paper-filtered cup is a natural showcase for a light roast. Its quick brew time and crisp paper filtration keep Rubicon's delicate sweetness and aromatics bright and distinct, highlighting everything a Biodynamic coffee can be.
"A light roast in the AeroPress is where Rubicon gets to speak for itself. The paper filter strips out the heavy oils, so the delicate, subtle character of the bean comes through with a clean, tea-like clarity. Get your water hot and your grind right, and it's one of the most honest cups you can make at home." — Matisse Gill, Head Roaster at Holistic Roasters
Rubicon is Demeter Certified Biodynamic — grown with no synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides anywhere on the farm — and every harvest is third-party lab tested. That clean foundation is exactly what you want in a method as revealing as the AeroPress: there's nowhere for off-flavors to hide, so the quality of the bean is what ends up in your cup.
Rubicon in the AeroPress
- Character: Delicate and subtle, showcasing the natural aromas of the bean
- Cup: Fresh and clean, light-bodied with a tea-like clarity
- Body: Light and smooth, with a crisp finish
- The healthy bonus: Rubicon holds the highest level of chlorogenic acid of our four roasts — the naturally occurring polyphenol behind most of coffee's antioxidant capacity, best preserved by lighter roasting
- Best served: Black, so nothing gets in the way of its natural character
The Light-Roast Health Edge
Roasting degrades it, so lighter roasts hold on to more chlorogenic acid — the naturally occurring polyphenol behind most of coffee's antioxidant capacity. Rubicon carries the highest level of any of our four roasts, which is part of what makes a clean light-roast cup such a great way to start a focused day. Dig into the science in our guide to chlorogenic acid & coffee, and see exactly what's in every harvest on our lab results page.
Troubleshooting FAQ: Dialing In Your AeroPress
Use a medium-fine grind, a little finer than you'd use for drip and roughly the texture of table salt. Light roasts are dense and harder to extract, so the slightly finer grind gives the water more surface area and helps you reach full sweetness in the short AeroPress brew time.
If the cup tastes thin or sour, go finer. If it tastes harsh or dry, go coarser. Grind is the first thing to adjust.
Light roasts are denser and less soluble than darker roasts, so they need more energy to extract fully. Water at 96°C (205°F), just off the boil, pulls out the sweetness and clarity that make a coffee like Rubicon shine. Cooler water tends to leave light roasts tasting sour and underdeveloped.
We recommend the upright method with the AeroPress Premium glass. It's simpler, safer with a glass chamber, and with a proper bloom and short steep it gives a clean, sweet cup without the flip.
The inverted method can increase contact time, but it adds a risky flip with a full glass chamber and isn't necessary for this recipe.
Sourness usually means under-extraction. Try these, one at a time:
- Grind a little finer
- Make sure your water is at 96°C
- Extend the steep by 15–30 seconds
- Confirm your dose at 14g
With a light roast like Rubicon a touch of brightness is desirable, but sharp, puckering sourness means the brew needs more extraction.
Yes, and Rubicon is fantastic iced. Keep the 14g dose but brew "over ice": pour about 130ml of hot water over the grounds and press onto roughly 70g of ice in the mug, so the melting ice brings you to full volume.
Brewing hot and flash-chilling this way locks in the coffee's delicate aromatics for a clean, refreshing iced cup.
Ready to Brew Your Best Cup?
Delicate, clean, and made to help you focus — Rubicon is our lightest roast, with the highest chlorogenic acid of the four (the polyphenol behind most of coffee's antioxidant capacity). Grab a bag and the AeroPress Premium glass, and put this guide to work tomorrow morning.
Use code AEROLIGHT for 10% off your first bag of Rubicon light roast.
Keep Reading
More brewing guides and coffee science from the roastery:
Mastering Pour-Over Coffee
Rubicon is made for pour-over too — here's our step-by-step method for a bright, clean cup.
How to Use a French Press
Prefer a fuller-bodied brew? Our sediment-free french press guide has you covered.
Organic Cold Brew Mastery
Ratios, grind size, and flavor tweaks for the smoothest, silkiest cold brew.
Chlorogenic Acid & Coffee
The health benefits of coffee's key antioxidant — and why light roasts hold onto more of it.
Related reading: The AeroPress is one of 86 drinks in our complete illustrated guide to every type of coffee drink.
