In a few weeks, the UAE AeroPress Championships kicks off at Almas Tower in Dubai on November 12, 13 and 14. No other coffee competition here pulls in a crowd like it. First time baristas, home brewers, café owners and past champions all line up to brew with one of the most versatile brewer out there.
The 2022 edition had just over 430 competitors, the most this competition ever had. Last year, 250 baristas competed over three days and Neil Golez took the title.
The format is beautifully simple. Up to four people brew side by side, the judges taste blind, and on the count of three they point at the cup they like best. No scoresheets, no speeches, only the best cup on the table.
This guide comes in two parts. First, how to brew an AeroPress. Then, what I learned watching champions and first timers brew through eight throwdowns across the Emirates last season, plus the recipes and rules you need to know if you're competing this year.
How to brew with the AeroPress
Think of brewing like a sound mixing desk. Every slider changes the cup, and the trick is moving one slider at a time.
What you need: an AeroPress (Original or Clear), paper filters, freshly roasted coffee, a grinder, a scale, a kettle and a timer.
Level one: your first AeroPress
Heat your water to around 90°C. Lighter roasts like it a little hotter, darker roasts a little cooler.
Put a paper filter in the cap, rinse it with hot water and screw it onto the chamber.
Grind 15g of coffee slightly finer than you would for a V60. I’d go with medium fine.
Place the AeroPress on your cup or decanter. Add the coffee, start your timer and pour 200 ml of water. Stir gently three to five times. You will notice some coffee drip in your coffee during this stage.
Insert the plunger about a centimeter in and pull it back slightly. This creates a seal so the coffee steeps instead of dripping through.
At 1:30, press slowly and steadily for about 30 seconds. Stop when you hear the hiss.
Taste the brew. Sour or thin? Grind finer or steep longer. Bitter or harsh? Grind coarser or drop the temperature.
Upright or inverted?
Upright is the way it comes out of the box. Inverted means flipping the brewer onto its plunger so nothing drips while it steeps, then flipping it back to press. Most experienced brewers including national and world champions brew using the inverted method.
But the 2025 World Champion brewed upright, using the Flow Control Filter Cap, which holds the coffee in until you press. If you're new, start upright. Inverted means flipping a hot brewer full of water, and spills can happen.
The sliders to experiment with
Dose and ratio. How much coffee to how much water. Competition recipes almost all use 18g.
Grind. Finer grind size can extract more and faster. Coarser gives clarity but can taste thin.
Water temperature. Hotter pulls out more. Champions brew anywhere from 80°C to 96°C.
The water itself. The minerals inside the water can change the way coffee can taste, affecting sweetness, acidity and body. More on this below.
Time and stirring. Longer steeps and more agitation mean more extraction.
The press. Slow and gentle keeps it clean. Pressing hard through the hiss can add bitterness.
Bypass. Brew a strong concentrate with less water, then top it up with water afterwards. Nearly every recent champion does this.
Level two: dial it in
Once your recipe tastes good, stop changing everything at once. Keep the recipe fixed and move one of the above slider at a time.
Weigh everything. Track your coffee and water every time. Eyeballing makes it impossible to repeat a good cup.
Sort your grind first. Brew the same recipe at three settings, a couple of clicks apart, and taste them side by side.
Experiment with temperature. Try 85°C, 90°C and 95°C with the grind you picked.
Water plays a big role. Brew with two or three different bottled waters and compare. Check the TDS on the label. You'll be surprised how different the same coffee tastes.
Write it down. Dose, grind, temperature, water, time and how it tasted. Your notes become your recipe.
Level three: brew like a champion
Look at the winning recipes further down and most follow the same shape. Use it as a template, then make it yours.
18g of coffee, medium coarse grind. Blow off the chaff. If you have a sifter, sift out the fines for a cleaner cup.
Mineralized water at a known ppm. The 2025 world podium used water between 60 and 125 ppm. Rinse your paper filter, or use two stacked.
Bloom. Pour 30 ml to 50 ml of water, stir gently, wait about 30 seconds.
Brew a concentrate. Top up to around 100 ml of water at 84°C to 96°C. Stir a few times.
Cap, remove the air, steep. Most champions press somewhere between 1:20 and 1:40.
Press slowly, to a weight. Flip if you're inverted, give it one gentle swirl, then press over 20 to 40 seconds. Stop at a target weight, usually 60 ml to 80 ml, instead of pushing through the hiss.
Bypass to around 150 ml. Add hot water, room temperature water, or a mix of both, until the strength tastes right.
Cool it down. Swirl it or pour it between two jugs until it's around 55°C to 60°C. That's the right temperature to taste and usually where sweetness shines.
Taste and adjust the bypass. Too strong, add a little water. Too thin, use less next time.
The best practice is the competition itself. Grab a friend, brew side by side for five minutes, then have someone taste both blind and point. That's exactly how it works on the day.
What I saw at the throwdowns
Last season I was part of the team that setup eight warm up throwdowns across the country for Polpanorte, Brazil's number one selling açaí brand, that came on board as a gold sponsor of the UAE AeroPress Championship. Every emirate, Al Ain included, packed into three weeks, and each throwdown champion walked away with a custom made AeroPress designed by Tim Messenger.
At the throwdowns, everyone brewed with one water provided at the event, and no minerals were allowed. These were meant to be fun, a warm up before the real thing. With the biggest variable off the table, it all came down to grind, temperature and technique.
Some of the winners kept their recipes basic. That matches what Neil Golez, 2025 UAE Aeropress Champion, said in an interview with Qahwa World after winning the national title. He kept his recipe simple and focused on balancing minerals in his water.
But there was one technique that stood out:
Two temperatures, one brew. Some competitors split their pours by temperature. A hotter bloom to get extraction going, then a much cooler second pour to keep the cup gentle and sweet. It's not a hack. At the 2023 World Final, Leon Zhang took third with his recipe: 93°C first pour and a 75°C second pour.
Champion recipes
Here's how the best in the world and the best in the UAE actually brewed. Full step by step methods are on the World AeroPress Championship recipe page.
World champions
Némo Pop, Australia
2025 World AeroPress Champion
Dose: 18g
Grind: Comandante Trailmaster X25, 31 clicks, fines sifted out at 200 microns
Water: 125 ppm, mineralized with Apax Lab
Temperature: 84°C, bypass at 50°C
Method: Upright, Flow Control Cap, 2 papers, 70 ml bypass water in the carafe first
George Stanica, Romania
2024 World AeroPress Champion
Dose: 18g
Grind: Comandante C40 Red Clix, 58 clicks (870 microns)
Water: Aquacode diluted to 85 to 90 ppm
Temperature: 96°C, room temperature bypass
Method: Inverted, bloom, about 77 ml concentrate, then diluted
UAE Champions
Neil Golez
2025 UAE AeroPress Champion
Dose: 15g
Grind: 25 clicks
Water: 40 ppm, potassium minerals to soften acidity
Temperature: 94°C
Method: 180 ml yield plus 35ml bypass on top, press at 1:25, done by 1:40
Words of Wisdom from Neil:
"The recipes I used for Regionals and Nationals were different. Focus more on understanding the coffee rather than sticking to one recipe. Have a default recipe, then adjust it based on the coffee they give you. Good luck!"
Sonam Sherpa
2024 UAE AeroPress Champion
Dose: 18g
Grind: Comandante C40, 16 clicks (or 1Zpresso J Ultra at 5.2), medium fine
Water: Remineralised with Apax Lab
Temperature: 70°C
Method: Inverted, 2 papers, 40 ml bloom with 8 stirs for 40 seconds, top up to 200 ml, 10 stirs, remove the crust, flip at 2:00, press from 2:30
Waqar Al Hammadi
2022 UAE AeroPress Champion
Dose: 18g
Grind: Comandante, 27 clicks
Water: Not stated
Temperature: 82°C
Method: Inverted, double rinsed paper, 30 ml bloom with 10 stirs, 170 ml more, press 1:20 to 1:50
What the winning recipes have in common
Line those recipes up and a few patterns jump out.
18g is the standard. Every world champion from 2021 to 2025 used 18g. The big 30g recipes from 2019 and earlier are now illegal, because the 2026 rules cap the dose at 20g.
Brew strong, then dilute. Almost every winner since 2022 makes a concentrate and adds bypass water at the end. It gives you a second dial for strength after the brew is done.
The water is engineered. Every world champion since 2021 brewed with mineralised or carefully chosen water, from 30 ppm in 2019 to 125 ppm in 2025. Neil went lower ppm to tame a vibrant competition coffee.
There's no magic grind setting. Among the 2024 and 2025 podium, Comandante settings ran from 24 to 58 clicks. The grind follows the coffee and the recipe, so copying someone's click number won't copy their cup. Several champions also sift out fines.
Cooler than you'd think. Brew temperatures ran from 80°C to 96°C, with most between 84°C and 90°C. Closer to home, Sonam Sherpa won the 2024 UAE title brewing at just 70°C.
Serve it at tasting temperature. Judges spoon, slurp and spit, like a cupping. Jan cooled his cup to about 54°C. Wendelien took hers to about 60°C. A cup that's still scalding hides its sweetness.
Inverted dominated, until it didn't. Most winners brewed inverted, but the 2025 World Champion went upright with the Flow Control Cap.
The 2026 rules in plain English
These are the 2026 rules from the UAE AeroPress Championship. They follow the World AeroPress Championship rulebook word for word, so if you've read one, you've read both.
Time
You get five minutes to preheat, grind, brew and pour into the judging cup. Anything not served in five minutes isn't judged.
Before your round you can heat water, sort beans, weigh your dose, assemble the brewer and put the filter in the cap.
During on stage setup you can't rinse the filter, preheat the brewer or grind. Those happen inside your five minutes.
The brewer
One AeroPress only, and it must be a genuine Original or Clear. The Go, XL and Premium aren't allowed.
You can use the genuine Flow Control Filter Cap instead of the standard cap.
Any filter material works (paper, metal, cloth) as long as it fits in the cap and doesn't add flavor.
Grinders, scales, kettles, sifters, air blowers, WDT and RDT tools and chilling rocks are all allowed.
Hosts can make you use their kettle, scale or grinder. If they do, they must give you at least three hours to practise on it.
The recipe
Only coffee and water. No other ingredients.
If the host provides the coffee or the water, that's the only coffee or water you can use.
Maximum 20g of coffee. Minimum 150 ml of brewed coffee.
Bypass water and ice of any temperature are fine.
Minerals are only allowed if they're already dissolved in your water. Adding minerals straight into the brew or the cup isn't allowed. The same goes for ice and bypass water.
Your water must taste neutral. The head judge can taste it and reject it if it's sweetened.
Judging
Judges taste blind with a spoon, cupping style. Names are hidden under the cups.
There's no scoresheet. Each judge picks a favorite on their own, then everyone points on the count of three.
If every judge picks a different cup, the head judge decides.
On stage
You can taste your own coffee at any point.
New this season: anything that interferes with the person next to you is banned. That includes blowing chaff into their space or knocking the shared table.
Who can compete
Any age, no passport or citizenship needed. You just need to have lived in the UAE for the three months before the competition.
Managers, owners and anyone running the event for the host can't compete.
Once you win a national title, you can't enter another regional or national event that season.
Registering in the UAE
Registration opens on October 19, 9am to 5pm. Dubai, Ajman and Fujairah are listed so far.
You can register in any emirate you like, but only once. Multiple registrations mean automatic disqualification.
Each emirate is capped at 36 competitors, first come, first served.
You'll need to upload a valid passport or Emirates ID.
Confirmations go out by 9pm on October 28.
Confirmed competitors pay a nonrefundable AED 150 fee and collect practice coffee from November 6 to 8 at Mokha 1450, Palm Jumeirah (registration).
Competition do's and don'ts
Do
Register the minute it opens. 36 spots per emirate go fast, and you only get one registration.
Dial in on the competition coffee. Your home recipe was built for a different coffee. Start fresh the day you collect your practice coffee.
Rehearse the full five minutes. Timer on, preheating and grinding included. It goes much faster under lights with a crowd watching.
Write your recipe on a card. Timings, weights, temperatures. Nerves wipe memory.
Bring your own water, already mixed. Label it and taste it before you leave home.
Practise on the host's equipment. If the grinder or kettle is compulsory, use every minute of the practice time you're given.
Taste before you serve. It's allowed, so use it, and taste it at the temperature the judges will.
Hit at least 150 ml in the judging cup. Weigh it.
Pack spares. Extra filters, a towel, a spoon, a backup timer.
Don't
Go over 20g of coffee. That's the cap now.
Add anything except coffee and water. Minerals only count if they're already dissolved in your water.
Show up with an AeroPress Go, XL or Premium. Original or Clear only.
Rinse your filter or grind during setup. Both belong inside your five minutes.
Blow chaff onto your neighbour or bang the shared bench. It's a rule now, not just manners.
Copy a champion's click number. Copy their thinking instead.
Chase complexity for its own sake. A simple recipe done perfectly beats a clever one done nervously.
Take a first round exit personally. It's one panel, one coffee, one day. Come back next year.
Learn before you compete
If you want some hands on help before the championship, two workshops are happening in the UAE this month.
AeroPress Championship Workshop with Sonam Sherpa
The 2024 UAE AeroPress Champion takes you through the rules, the competitor mindset, choosing your grind, designing your own water recipe and building a championship recipe. He'll also do a live demo of his own competition recipe process. Hosted by The Chronicle.
When: 19 October 2026, 10am to 3pm
Where: Victoria Arduino and Nuova Simonelli Experience Lab, Dubai
Fee: AED 100. Limited seats.
Book: +971 54 547 0636 or hello@thechronicle.coffee
AeroPress: Skill Check by ROR Coffee
Perfect if you're new to the AeroPress. Learn from championship winners, pick up tips for a winning brew, then join a fun, friendly competition. The winner takes home the new AeroPress Steel.
When: 31 October, 1pm to 3pm
Where: ROR Coffee Solutions, Dubai
Entry: Free
AeroPress Competition at Brew & Chew Cafe
A warm up round before the championship, and a chance for competitors to test their recipes and shake off the nerves before it counts. Supported by Polpanorte and AIYA Europe / Matcha Makers Guild.
Registration is closed, but you can still drop by, watch the competitors brew and soak up the energy.
When: Saturday, 24 October
Where: Brew & Chew Cafe, Dubai
Entry: Free to watch
The best thing I took from those eight throwdowns wasn't a recipe. It was watching a barista who'd never competed stand next to a past champion, brew with full focus, and the unexpected happens, they win.
That's what makes this competition special. Anyone can enter. Anyone can win.
Looking forward to see you compete, or join me in cheering for those who are stepping on the stage. See you on November 12, 13 and 14 at the competition.
