Learning the AeroPress: From First Attempts to a Vientiane Podium

Our Zero to Hero story began with a learner who had never used an AeroPress. Before reaching second place in the regional Vientiane AeroPress 2025 competition in Laos, there was a much simpler task: getting to know the brewer. Our September 2025 recap looks back at that first stage of practice at Espresso Academic Thailand.

The early cups were sometimes bitter, sometimes weak, and sometimes too acidic. Practice focused on small changes in grind size, water temperature and pressing pressure, then tasting what happened. A single grinder click or a temperature adjustment of one or two degrees became something to investigate in the cup.

More than 100 presses went into learning how the equipment responded. The aim was to understand the effect of each adjustment well enough to make the next decision. That patient work formed the beginning of the journey from a first attempt to the competition stage. Browse the original practice photographs below.