10 Best Coffees for AeroPress [2022 Review]

The power of the AeroPress shouldn’t be wasted on stale, low-quality coffee. Whatever your budget, it’s time that you found coffee beans that can take advantage of everything this machine is capable of. 

Whether you like unique single-origin coffees, delicious blends, strong coffees, or decaf, this list will get you started on some of the best coffees for AeroPress. They range from sweet and fruity to earthy to just plain complex, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to find the adventurous or familiarly comforting cup of coffee you are looking for.

Quick Take: Best Coffees for AeroPress

Picking Coffee Beans for AeroPress

Don’t get your coffee at the grocery store

The AeroPress can produce absolutely amazing coffee — but only if you give it quality coffee beans to work with. One of the biggest mistakes aspiring home baristas make is starting with stale coffee beans.

Grocery stores are a convenient place to purchase your coffee, but their beans are rarely fresh. Most grocers don’t order their beans fresh, and even the ones that do tend to keep beans in the warehouse or on the shelf for far too long.

Instead, you should be ordering your coffee beans from a local roaster or online from a reputable source. If you want to keep the convenience of grocery store coffee, there are plenty of suppliers on Amazon that ship their beans fresh. Just try to stick to those with lots of good reviews or go with a recommendation from a website that you trust. 

Whole bean vs pre-ground

Pre-ground coffee is convenient, but it doesn’t stay fresh nearly as long as whole beans. Once you open coffee grounds and expose them to air, they quickly go stale. The maximum freshness only lasts hours, and you should certainly use them within a few days.

Whole beans, on the other hand, can maintain their freshness for a couple of weeks instead of a couple of hours. And they don’t go fully stale for months if stored properly.

You have more control over coffee grind size when you grind your own coffee beans which brings me to the next topic.

What’s the best coffee grind for AeroPress?

You can use anywhere from a drip grind (also known as a medium grind) or an espresso grind (also known as a fine grind) for basic AeroPress usage. Most recipes will ask for something in that range but some — like AeroPress cold brew — can even use coarse or extra coarse grounds. 

If you want to unlock the full versatility of your AeroPress, you’re going to need a grinder that is up to the task. The more settings you have between a fine and medium grind the better, and you should probably have a few coarser settings, too. I would never buy an AeroPress grinder that has less than 15–20 grind size settings, and I prefer having at least 40–60.

You can take a look at some of my favorite AeroPress coffee grinders if you want excellent options for beginner, novice, and advanced AeroPress users.

Choosing a roast level for AeroPress

You can use any coffee roast type with your AeroPress. I recommend starting with lighter roasts if you want to really taste the unique flavors of single-origin and third-wave coffees. Lighter roasts are also usually sweeter, more acidic, and lighter in body than darker roasts.

With darker roasts, you’ll get more of the flavor from the roast rather than the beans. This results in bolder flavors that can be smoky, roasty, and often more bitter than lighter roasts. Dark roasts also tend to have fuller bodies, more like what you might expect from a French press.

You could also go with a medium roast if you want a more balanced option between those extremes. Medium roasts tend to maintain many of the unique flavors from the beans’ origins, but their flavors are richer and stronger than the typical light roast.

Best AeroPress Coffees

Best coffee for AeroPress: Volcanica Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee

You’re going to see a lot of single-origin coffees on this list. The AeroPress is uniquely amazing for brewing single-origin coffees because it produces a clean brew that highlights the unique flavors of each bean origin. You can still make blends, but I highly recommend you take advantage of the AeroPress’s power with at least a few single-origin varieties.

You’ll also see a lot of Volcanica Coffee in my recommendations. They are one of the world’s best coffee roasters, with a huge variety of single-origin coffees from around the world. I particularly appreciate the care they take in sourcing only the best beans and delivering them at the peak of freshness.

But enough generalities, let’s talk specifically about these beans.

Volcanica’s Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is easily one of the best coffees you’ll ever try, especially in this price range. These beans are sourced from wild-grown indigenous coffee trees in the world’s oldest coffee-growing nation.

They are organically grown and Fair Trade certified, making them great for ethically-minded coffee lovers.

The medium-roast of these beans is a perfect choice to cultivate the strawberry, dark chocolate, and pineapple guava notes. It gives you a sweet flavor with bright acidity and a medium body.

It’s not the most adventurous choice for starting your AeroPress journey, but it offers a perfect example of how the AeroPress can highlight the nuanced characteristics of freshly roasted, single-origin coffee beans.

Best premium coffee for AeroPress: Volcanica Kona peaberry coffee

That last choice was a safe first step, but every AeroPress user should eventually try out their machine with a true premium coffee bean. Your best bets for that are either Jamaican Blue Mountain or Kona Coffee.

You could look through my entire list of amazing Kona coffees, but I want to suggest one particular option this time: Volcanica’s Kona peaberry coffee.

Peaberry coffee beans are a mutation that occurs in about 5–10% of coffee plants, resulting in beans that are denser than regular coffee beans. More importantly for us, though, peaberries produce sweeter, more flavorful, lighter coffee than regular beans. 

There’s some disagreement in the coffee community about whether peaberries are inherently better or whether roasters just take extra care with their prep. Either way, they are a great intro to the world of premium coffee beans.

If you are going to spend the extra money on Kona coffee, you should get the beans that best accentuate the unique flavors of Kona — and that is where peaberries really shine.

Volcanica’s Kona peaberry coffee is State-of-Hawaii certified. That’s crucial with Kona as there are a lot of fake Kona coffees or low-concentration blends on the market.

As with all of their coffees, the Kona peaberry is responsibly sourced and freshly roasted just prior to shipping. 

These beans produce coffee that is highly aromatic with a rich nuttiness, medium body, and low acidity. It’s everything great about Kona coffee and peaberry coffee all in one delicious package.

Best budget coffee for AeroPress: Lavazza Super Crema coffee beans

Most of us aren’t going to go out and buy Kona coffee for daily consumption. Fortunately, there are great budget coffee options that still take full advantage of the AeroPress. 

Lavazza is one of the most popular Italian coffee brands, an honor they have certainly earned. Since Italy can’t grow its own coffee beans, they source their beans from around the world and focus on blends than single-origin roasts. 

Super Crema, as you might be able to tell by the name, is a blend designed for use in an espresso machine. And yes, I’m aware that the AeroPress is not an espresso machine. But the AeroPress is a versatile machine, and you’re going to want to try AeroPress espresso.

You can use Super Crema for other AeroPress recipes, too. Espresso beans are just regular coffee beans that favor darker roasts and flavors, more Robusta beans instead of Arabica, and a richer crema (the layer of foam on top of some coffee drinks). Those differences won’t stop you from using espresso and coffee beans interchangeably.

There are a few reasons that I recommend Super Crema for your first foray into espresso beans for the AeroPress.

First, it’s a medium-light roast, whereas most espresso beans are made with a darker roast. Second, the price point is very low for the quality.

Third, the flavor profile is very approachable, with a mild creaminess and notes of brown sugar and hazelnut. Finally, this blend is made with 60% Arabica beans, so there is less bitterness than you’ll find in more Robusta-heavy blends like Lavazza Gran Espresso.

Best dark roast coffee for AeroPress: Volcanica Guatemala Antigua coffee

And… we’re back to Volcanica’s single-origin coffees. This time, we’re stopping off in Guatemala, a country that has made an impressive impact on the high-quality organic coffee market in recent years. 

Volcanica has multiple Guatemalan coffees to choose from, but I’m going to recommend starting with their Antiguan coffee.

Why Antigua? Well, I went with the popular choice on this one.

Of all the Guatemalan coffees, Antiguan coffee is by far the fan-favorite. And that’s no surprise given that the region’s rich volcanic soils produce absolutely amazing coffee that is sweet, chocolatey, and has an apple acidity. 

Volcanica’s Antiguan coffee beans are sourced from a single high-altitude estate, bringing a level of quality that is impressive even for this region. The coffee they produce is full-bodied and smooth, and it has smoky and spicy overtones with a sweet finish. 

Best high-caffeine coffee for AeroPress: Death Wish whole bean coffee

So far, I’ve focused on the flavor, body, and aroma of the coffee. But we all know there is another characteristic that we look for in our morning brew: caffeine content.

If you like your coffee strong and flavorful, Death Wish should be your go-to brew. It has four times as much caffeine as the typical cup of coffee — a whopping 485 milligrams!

The extra caffeine in Death Wish comes from their selection of caffeine-heavy Robusta and Arabica beans. All these beans are organic and Fair Trade certified, and they small-batch roast them for maximum freshness, consistency, and quality.

One of the best things about Death Wish, as compared to other high-caffeine coffees, is that they achieve this caffeine intensity without making their coffee overly bitter. Instead, the flavor is bold, with notes of chocolate and cherry. 

Oh, I should mention that, despite their advertising, Death Wish is not actually the world’s strongest coffee. There are coffees that are over twice as strong as Death Wish, and you can find them in my list of the most highly caffeinated coffees.

Best decaf coffee for AeroPress: Fresh Roasted Coffee swiss water decaf Mexican coffee

I don’t like to leave decaf drinkers out when I’m making these lists. There’s nothing wrong with preferring your coffee without the buzz. 

The problem with most decaf coffees is that they use cheap decaffeination processes that remove more than just the caffeine. That’s why most decaf coffees are bland, bitter, and disgusting.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Just look for the words “Swiss Water” on your decaf. The Swiss Water method is a way of removing caffeine without impacting the flavor of the coffee. This process doesn’t use any harsh chemicals, and it removes 99.9% of caffeine, far more than most decaffeination processes.

But there are several Swiss Water decaf coffees on the market, so why this one?

Well, there’s a lot to love about Mexican coffee beans, and Fresh Roasted Coffee is one of the few brands that has managed to capture that magic in decaf form. These beans are smooth, mild, and flavorful with notes of walnut and cocoa. It’s medium-roasted with a mild body that really thrives with the clean brew of an AeroPress.

Fresh Roasted Coffee is another brand you really should get to know. They thrive to deliver only the freshest coffee beans, a promise that they deliver on time and again. Moreover, this and many of their other roasts are USDA Organic and sustainably sourced. There’s a lot to love about a company that cares this much about coffee beans.

Peet’s Coffee Major Dickason’s Blend coffee

Most specialty coffee producers highlight their single-origin collections. That’s why I was so surprised when I kept coming across the same recommendation over and over: Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend.

Peet’s Coffee has single-origin selections, and they are great. But — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — the first coffee you should try from this brand is a blend. In fact, it’s a dark-roast blend! 

The basic characteristics of Major Dickason’s Blend are exactly what you’d expect from a dark roast. It’s rich and full-bodied. But once you get past that, you realize that this coffee has a surprisingly complex flavor. 

Peet’s coffee claims that this complexity stems from its signature blend of several coffee origins. They don’t reveal the specific details, so I’m inclined to just believe them. However they’ve done it, they’ve created a masterpiece. 

Even if you’ve tried Major Dickason before from a French press or drip coffee maker, you need to taste what an AeroPress can do with these beans. It’s just so… well, I think I’ll let you finish that sentence. 

Koffee Kult Sumatra Mandheling Whole Bean Coffee

Sumatran coffee is an incredibly unique experience — sort of. Most of us haven’t had pure Sumatran coffee, but you’ve probably had it in a blend. How do I know? Well, Sumatran coffee beans are the not-so-secret secret ingredient in Starbucks coffee.

Most coffees that I recommend for the Aeropress tend to be at least somewhat fruity or floral. Sumatran coffee, on the other hand, is all about earthy notes.

Koffee Kult’s Sumatra Mandheling isn’t quite as extreme as some Sumatran beans, largely because it’s medium-roasted instead of the typical dark roast of the region.

This decreased roasting time results in a coffee that has balanced acidity, a medium body, and notes of baker’s chocolate and syrup. Courtesy of Koffee Kult’s devotion to shipping beans within 24 hours of their small-batch roasting process, you’ll be able to enjoy the maximum potential of these deliciously unique coffee beans.

Café Britt Costa Rican Tres Rios Valdivia coffee

I’m going to round out this list with some coffee from one of my favorite coffee-origin countries: Costa Rica.

Costa Rican coffee beans are always 100% Arabica. By law, they have to be. That’s right — the Costa Rican government has outlawed growing non-Arabica beans. It’s part of the country’s push to ensure that every bag of coffee they ship is of the highest quality.

Tres Rios has long been known as the Bordeaux of Costa Rica because of their supreme coffee quality. Sadly, urban expansion is likely to completely overrun this region in the near future. That’s why I highly recommend that you try this delicious coffee while it’s still available.

Cafe Britt is one of my favorite Costa Rican coffee brands. Their headquarters and roasting facilities are all located in the country, and many of their coffees — including this one — belong to the coveted category of high-mountain grown beans.

These beans are medium-roasted and have a plum flavor that is particularly vibrant and wholly unique to Tres Rios. You’ll also find a mild acidity alongside notes of citrus, sweet honey, and nuts. 

Café Britt Costa Rican Origins coffee bundle

Last, but definitely not least, we have a coffee bundle collection from Costa Rica.

I wanted to include this one as proof that the AeroPress really can bring out even the most subtle differences between coffee origins. Costa Rica is a small country, and they are very picky about what beans can be produced there.

Even so, AeroPress brews of these three Costa Rican coffees will taste quite different. They are all high-mountain grown, but the differences in soils and climates between the regions will be readily apparent in this variety pack.

There are over 70 coffee-producing countries in the world, most with multiple coffee-growing regions. Just keep that in mind as you realize just how well the AeroPress is pulling apart the nuances of these beans that are grown just a couple of dozen miles away from each other.

Exciting, right?

Final Verdict

Few coffee makers could ever hope to match the AeroPress for clean, delicious coffee. Once you have this powerful machine by your side, you simply have to try out some amazing single-origin coffees and some of the world’s best blends, and I’ve tried to give you a few good starting points.

Once you have your beans, don’t forget to check out some of the best AeroPress accessories that can enhance your brew, open up new recipes, or just declutter your workspace. And if you haven’t yet purchased your machine, be sure to check out my comparison of the AeroPress vs AeroPress Go to pick the right model for you.