Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Coffee dose
The mass of coffee used in the recipe.
Dose changes concentration, bed depth, ratio, and the whole extraction geometry.
AeroPress Wheel Domain
Recipe & Mass Balance
Domain 04 · 10 controls · 7 states, metrics & outcomes
Recipe & Mass Balance covers the quantitative extraction recipe before post-brew dilution: coffee mass, brew water mass, stage water masses, ratio, and target concentrate output.
Domain 04
10 controls · 7 states, metrics & outcomes
Recipe & Mass Balance is one of the ten primary AeroPress Wheel domains and gives brewers a structured way to control mass decisions.
Why It Matters
This domain defines the numerical architecture of the extraction itself and separates pre-dilution concentrate design from finish-and-service dilution choices.
Use It To
Use this domain to make recipe language measurable. Distinguish bean dose, dose into brewer, brew water, target output mass, and final beverage mass instead of collapsing everything into “yield.”
How To Read This Domain
Start with the controls in this domain, then read the states, metrics, and outcomes they tend to influence. In practice that keeps brew notes honest: it separates the levers a brewer chose from the signals the brewer observed afterward.
That distinction matters during dial-in because recipe language often collapses cause and effect into one sentence. This domain page is designed to keep them apart so a later cup change can be traced back to a clearer brewing decision instead of a vague impression.
Read the page from top to bottom when you want the broad logic, then use the related variables and linked domains when you need to branch into a narrower troubleshooting path.
Controls
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Dose into grinder
The mass of whole-bean coffee placed into the grinder.
It can differ from the actual extraction dose and is useful when dose precision is part of the experiment.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Dose into brewer
The actual ground coffee mass placed in the AeroPress.
This is the dose the extraction actually sees, so it belongs in serious mass-balance tracking.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Brew water mass
The total water mass that contacts the coffee during extraction.
It defines the extraction environment and the in-brewer ratio.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Stage water masses
How brew water is split across recipe phases.
Water staging changes saturation, concentration gradients, and thermal behavior.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Bloom water
The initial water used for wetting and gas release.
Bloom size can change wetting completeness, heat retention, and early extraction progression.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Main pour water
The primary water addition after initial wetting.
It controls the main extraction concentration and total brewing mass.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
In-brewer ratio
Coffee dose relative to brew water inside the brewer.
AeroPress recipes often brew as concentrates, so this must stay distinct from the final beverage ratio.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Target output mass
The pre-dilution liquid mass you want to collect before stopping the press.
It is one of the clearest ways to define an AeroPress separation endpoint repeatably.
Input lever
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Target concentrate mass
The intended mass of the undiluted concentrate before bypass.
It keeps concentrate design separate from dilution design and helps interpret TDS correctly.
States, metrics & outcomes
Measured metric
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Actual pre-dilution yield
The liquid mass collected before post-brew dilution.
It sets concentrate strength and determines how much bypass is still needed.
Measured metric
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Concentrate TDS
The TDS of the undiluted brew.
It must not be confused with final beverage TDS or water TDS.
Calculated metric
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Extraction Yield
The percentage of coffee mass extracted into the beverage.
It helps separate extraction from strength and is central to technical recipe analysis.
Direct observation
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Concentrate strength
How intense the undiluted brew is before bypass.
It determines whether the finish-and-service phase is building from a light or dense concentrate.
Process state
Recipe & Mass Balance
Wheel face
Retained liquid
Water trapped in the bed or left in the brewer.
It changes beverage yield, extraction math, and how comparable two recipes really are.
Calculated metric
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Brew loss
The difference between brew water in and beverage out before dilution.
It is useful when recipes look similar on paper but deliver different beverage masses.
Measured metric
Recipe & Mass Balance
Detail panel
Mass consistency
How repeatably the same masses are achieved across brews.
Without mass consistency, recipe comparisons become noisy even when the instructions look precise.
Common Mistakes
- Using “yield” generically without saying whether you mean beverage yield, extraction yield, or target output mass.
- Mixing bypass water into the extraction recipe instead of finish and service.
- Ignoring retained liquid when comparing recipes.
Competition Notes
- Target output mass is often more repeatable than endpoint language like “stop before the hiss.”
- Concentrate architecture matters because many AeroPress competition brews are intentionally diluted after pressing.
Recipe Language
Dose: 18 g. Stop at 66 g output. Dilute to 152 g final beverage mass.
Pour 65 ml first, then to 208 ml.
Domain Context
Recipe & Mass Balance is one of the ten primary AeroPress Wheel domains and gives brewers a structured way to control mass decisions.
What To Measure
- Record coffee dose, brew water, stage water, and target output separately.
- If precision matters, track dose into grinder and dose into brewer as separate numbers.
- Keep concentrate values separate from final beverage values after dilution.
Related Domains