Brewing Whole Bean Brainchild with the Aeropress
I’m Crystal from the Marketing team here at Wunderground. This is an exciting role for me, not just because I love ecommerce and marketing, but because I’m a huge coffee geek. My husband and I have more coffee gadgets than I care to admit.
I have been so eager to share Whole Bean Brainchild Coffee with the world! Ground Coffee and Instant Coffee certainly have their place - they’re convenient and you can take them on the go. But if you’re like me, I need to have flexibility in how I prepare my regular daily cup of coffee. That requires different grinds for different brewing methods. I also want all those fantastic health benefits you get from drinking mushroom coffee. And above all else, it has GOT to taste good. So, mushroom coffee was off the table for us as our regular go-to brew because I was never able to find one that hit all three priorities for me: whole bean, infused with mushrooms, TASTES GOOD.
Enter: Whole Bean Brainchild Coffee. Though we just released it earlier this month, I’ve been sipping on this stuff for months now, providing feedback to our team, and experimenting with it. It checks all the boxes:
- Whole Bean - we spent 6+ months in the lab figuring out how to infuse all that shroomy goodness into a coffee bean.
- Health Benefits - Each cup uses a concentrated extract from 4g of fruiting body Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps mushrooms to support cognition, focus and stamina.
- TASTE - It’s the real deal, folks. It’s medium-dark, which means you can lighten up your ratios if you want something less bold, but you can also use it for espresso! We have been using it for months at Wunderground Cafe and our customers adore it. Tasting notes include semi-sweet chocolate, hazelnut and candied orange. YUM.
Whether you’re new to whole bean or a seasoned pro, I hope you’ll find some inspo from our series of posts on all the fantastic ways you can use this versatile coffee.
First up is Aeropress. I love my Aeropress so much that I’ve actually traveled with it for years so that when I’m on the road I can brew a consistent cup of delicious coffee. (I also never travel without Wunderground Instant Coffee - in case I want a cup on the plane or in the airport or really anywhere the mood strikes me!)
I love a dark espresso-style coffee in the afternoon, and this is my go-to method to create it at home. Note that an Aeropress isn’t *really* able to create a true espresso (it will lack the crema and some of the intensity because your arm can’t create enough pressure!) but that’s perfectly fine for me. This drink is delicious as-is or with a splash of milk.
Espresso-Style Brainchild
What you’ll need:
- 18g Brainchild Whole Bean Coffee
- Kitchen Scale
- Coffee Grinder
- Water Kettle
- 75g of filtered water
- Aeropress + Filter
- Timer
- Mug
How to do it:
- Start your water boiling to 205 degrees
- Measure out 15g of Brainchild Whole Bean Coffee with your scale
- Grind the coffee to a medium-fine setting - think finer than sand. On my grinder, this is on the coarser side of the espresso grind.
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Set up your Aeropress
- Give your filter cap a rinse and insert your filter (I use paper)
- Set the chamber with the filter on top of your mug.
- Use the funnel to pour the grounds on top of the filter.
- Put the whole contraption on your scale and zero it. - Then, get your timer zeroed
- Once your water has reached 205 degrees, slowly pour 75g over your coffee grounds (between the 1 and 2 mark).
- Give the water and coffee a quick stir with the paddle - a few seconds should do it.
- Insert the plunger but don’t plunge yet
- Wait 30 seconds
- Press down slowly (it will be harder than normal Aeropress) until you hear a hiss. It should take 20-30 seconds. Don’t rush!
Enjoy as-brewed or with some milk.
There’s a lot you can play with and adjust in this recipe:
- Coffee can be anywhere from 15-20g
- Water can be from 55-90g
- Grind can be coarser or finer
- Timing can be 0-60 seconds
- I’ve even heard some people say it tastes better if you swirl it around vs stirring!
Grab your gear and set up an afternoon tasting to find what works best for you!
