Brewing with Orea v3 using Aeropress filter

I recently bought a secondhand Orea v3, and I’ve been brewing coffee with it using negotiated v60 filters.

Recently, when I looked at my Aeropress, I got curious about whether I can use Aeropress filter with Orea v3 or not.

Long story short, I tried it, and I quite like the resulting brew. Three caveats though.

First, It’s pretty hard to get a perfect seal between the filter and the brewer. Coffee bed height of 12g of coffee is already higher than the filter. Therefore, you might find some coffee grounds escape through the folds. The seal gets better after you add water though, because the weight of the water helps pushes the filter to the sides. I personally find the amount of silt in the cup to be minimal. If you let it sit for at least 1 minute, most of the coffee will taste clean.

Second, expect longer brew time (but it’s not that bad). I used grind size setting number 7 on 1zpresso K-Plus. My ratio was 12:200. One minute bloom using ~36g hot water. Pour the rest of the hot water until 200g in one go, then swirl the brewer 2-3 times. I finished my brew in roughly 5 minutes 45 seconds total.

Third, cleaning up is a little messier. Mostly because some of the coffee sits outside the filter.

All in all, I think Aeropress filter can be a great alternative filter for Orea v3. Much more economical too. I don’t know about anywhere else, but one Kalita 185 wave paper filter here is 5-6 times more expensive that an Aeropress filter. Same with v60 filter, one Cafec Abaca 4 cups size is 2-3 more expensive than an Aeropress filter.

Here are some photos:

Experimenting with the Aeropress filter gave me an idea for an accessory:

It’s a ring with slanted walls (same angle as the Orea wall), made of high-quallity, heat-resistant material, to help held the Aeropress filter to the Orea walls and prevent coffee grounds to escape through the folds during brewing.

Side view. Green line is the Aeropress filter. Red line is the imagined accessory.

I’d probably try to 3D print this, but I’m not sure if there are 3D printing materials that are food safe and heat resistant.

Still, I think this is an interesting idea 😀