Best Coffee for Aeropress UK: Great Beans for A Quick Brew

So you own an Aeropress. Congratulations, you’re partway to a delicious cup of coffee. Now don’t veer off course by using the wrong coffee beans.

Almost any flavour and style of coffee can taste great brewed in the AeroPress, but make sure you choose high-quality beans. We’ve got six great picks for you, guaranteed to suit any taste.

How to Choose the Best Coffee for Aeropress Brewing

The Aeropress’s strong yet smooth shots of concentrated coffee make it an excellent brewing method for a variety of coffee roasts and flavours (1). Every decision you make to buy good coffee beans should be well-thought out, but the Aeropress is versatile, meaning there is more room for error when choosing:

In fact, you can even make espresso or cold brew with an AeroPress. So choosing the best coffee for your Aeropress largely depends on personal taste. But there are a few general guidelines that can help you make the right selection. Read on for our top tips.

Watch our fun video on making espresso with an Aeropress:

How bold do you want your Aeropress coffee?

The Aeropress coffee maker brews a strong cup of coffee that shares characteristics with both espresso and drip coffee. So it works well with any roast level.

Light roasts are often complex and acidic, with fruity and floral flavours, and the Aeropress is an excellent choice for capturing their subtleties. In contrast, dark roasts have bolder flavours and a heavier body. Importantly, they’re great for a clean brew that results from Aeropress’s paper filter.

According to its inventor, brewing a dark roasted beans with the Aeropress makes an excellent basis for a latte or cappuccino (2).

If you habitually drink drip coffee, consider opting for a lighter roast than usual, as the Aeropress’s strong brew can be overwhelming.

Understand coffee origins and flavour when choosing

One of the best characteristics to seek out in coffee beans for the Aeropress is balance. A balance between bright, fruity flavours, and dark smoky flavours, between acidity and bitter-sweetness, between a heavy body and a clean cup.

Certain growing regions are mainly known for this trait. If you prefer richer flavours of chocolate and nuts, look for beans from South and Central America. If you love brighter fruit flavours, consider Ethiopian beans.

Here's our simple video guide on this popular brewing method:

Avoid pre-ground coffee where possible

Buying whole coffee beans and grinding them yourself is always the best choice for fresh-tasting coffee. But it’s particularly important when using the Aeropress.

If you need to buy pre-ground coffee, be prepared to experiment with hot water infusion time for the perfect extraction. Make sure to pick the right grind size as well.

The Aeropress will work with ALL flavours

Because of Aeropress’s versatility, it works with nearly any flavour profile. You don’t need to adjust your tastes to suit the brewer; you just need to buy quality coffee beans, whether you want a rich chocolatey brew or a bright, fruity cup.

Did you know you can also make a cold brew with it? Watch the video below:

Top 6: Best Coffee for Aeropress

Now that you know what to look for in the best coffee beans for Aeropress, here are six top choices. Whether you love light roasts, dark roasts, or just a great bargain, there’s sure to be one for you.

To get the most out of your AeroPress, you need a coffee that’s going to match the versatility of the coffee maker. Which is why this single origin from Balance Coffee gets the Home Grounds pick for best overall. It’s a great all-rounder that works just as well as long coffee as it does a concentrated espresso-style shot. 

Part of this coffee’s appeal is the balance between earthy, nutty and fruit flavours. In the cup you’ll get notes of dark chocolate and hazelnut, with juicy raspberries and even tropical fruit. Despite being a high-altitude coffee with a lighter roast, these beans are low in acidity for a smooth drinking cup.

These 100% Arabica beans come from the Narino growing region in the west of Colombia. Here you’ll find the community of San Lorenzo, which grows excellent coffee thanks to the high altitudes, rich volcanic soil and many unique microclimates.

Buying coffee from Bird & Wild won’t just get you a great price, it will alos give you some serious feel-good vibes. The London roastery was founded to help protect migrating birds, who often lose their habitats due to farming. All coffee from Bird & Wild is certified Bird Friendly and Shade Grown, meaning it’s grown under a canopy of mixed native trees that not only provide sanctuary for birds, but a home for mammals as well. 

It’s not just the animals that benefit. Fairtrade certification ensures farmers get paid sustainable prices, and organic certification means a better coffee for you.

Of course, in the end it all comes down to the taste, and this coffee doesn’t disappoint. From season to season the beans are carefully selected and blended to maintain a rich and smooth chocolatey taste, with a bright floral aroma that wild draw you in. 

Yes, it’s absolutely possible to get a speciality coffee that won’t keep you up at night, and Decadent Decaf wants to prove it. This company was founded with the idea of raising the bar for decaf everywhere, sourcing high quality beans that are all processed using the Swiss Water decaffeination method. 

The roaster sells just seven different types of coffee to ensure the stocks are always fresh – among them these Ethiopian Sidamo beans. Ethiopia is famously the birthplace of coffee, and Sidamo is one of the country’s prime growing regions – with fertile highlands interspersed with lakes. 

Decadent Decaf’s Ethiopian Sidamo offers a flavour typical of the region. Front and center are bold and bright lemon and citrus notes, offset by a very floral aroma. It’s a medium-bodied coffee, but the aftertaste is delicate and almost tea-like.

Pact Coffee is known for its commitment to ethical sourcing, using a direct trade method and paying farmers well above Fairtrade prices. Not only does this ensure a good livelihood for coffee producers, but it also gives them access to the best coffee beans.

Kenya’s Gatomboya washing station is where hundreds of coffee farmers bring their prized crops for processing. The region's farms are known for their exceptional quality coffee, thanks to the volcanic soils of nearby Mt. Kenya.

This coffee blends SL-28, SL-34, and Ruiru 11, three of the best-known Kenyan specialty coffee varietals. It is wet processed and light roasted to yield a crisp, clean, and surprisingly sweet cup. The dominant flavour is blackberry syrup, which is balanced by a gentle grape acidity.

If you’re a fan of the AeroPress for its ability to produce a quick concentrated “shot”, there’s a chance you might want to take it to the next step and use it as a base for other drinks. In that case, you need a coffee that stands up to the addition of milk in the same way that espresso beans do. 

Honduran coffee is a great choice for this, as it offers a very well-rounded flavour profile with balanced acidity. These beans from Clumsy Goat have a creamy mouthfeel, with flavours of nuts and caramel that make for a delicious AeroPress latte.

Like all Clumsy Goat coffees, this one is Fair Trade certified. The beans come from the San Antonia Limitada region of Honduras as part of the COAGRICSAL collective – an organisation assisting around 700 small-scale farmers.

Did you know the Aeropress is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make cold brew (4)? For this method, you’re going to need beans that will deal well with the long immersion time without developing sour flavours.

Brown Bear’s Real Colombia is a single-origin 100% Arabica coffee from Colombia, a country that needs no introduction in the realm of specialty coffee. It has a balanced profile with a sweetness that will only be enhanced by cold brewing. The base notes are caramel, toffee, marzipan, and toasted nut flavours, while apple adds some juiciness and acidity. 

Brown Bear is a charity-affiliated roaster, so your purchase does more than just satisfy your craving for excellent cold brew. For every bag of coffee sold, 5% of profits are donated to Free The Bears. They have donated over £22,000 since 2020.

The Verdict

The perfect coffee for Aeropress is a well-balanced brew featuring any flavours you love. Thie Home Grounds' top pick for this year is Balance Coffee San Lorenzo Colombia, featuring taste of chocolate, fruit and nuts that will make a great cup of coffee no matter how you use it.