30 seconds is indeed the _original_ Aeropress recommended brew time. [1] You're supposed to mix the grounds and start plunging nearly immediately, finishing in about 30 seconds. So, indeed, much of the water passes through even before 30 seconds.

That was way too short. It looks like they've finally updated the instructions somewhat, now recommending 60 seconds before starting to plunge. [2]

It works because they also recommend a very fine grind, but that's still pretty short. It looks like Counter Culture recommends using regular pour-over grind and the inverted method and 2-3 minutes, [3] which happens to also be what I do. Though I'm not really particular, so long as it's somewhere between about 1.5 and 3.5 minutes. (Breakfast is a hectic time while also handling kids...)

1. https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/pages/product-resource/aer...

2. https://aeropress.com/pages/how-to-use

3. https://counterculturecoffee.com/blogs/counter-culture-coffe...

The idea is that the more pressure you use, the more unwanted materials like fines and oils will get though the paper. So if you press slowly and stop when you hear a hiss, you should have a better brew.

It does make sense, if imagine pressing through in 5 seconds vs 30 seconds, that the paper filtration would work better in the slower press. But I'm not sure if anyone has scientifically measured this.

Actually wait, it's coffee. Someone has definitely scientifically measured it and probably published a two hour YouTube video with their results.

There are many different ways to use the Aeropress. I'd assume that the recipe the author is following simply asks for a 30 second steep time.

I personally found that the time actually doesn't matter that much, you control extraction by grind size, water temperature and agitation. It might be that if you grind too fine you can still reduce extraction by cutting the time short, but that seems rather inconvenient for this method.

I usually let it steep for 5 minutes, but the exact time doesn't change much. Shorter times aren't that desirable for me anyway as the coffee is still too hot then as I start with boiling water.

Its just how long you are meant to let the coffee brew. Try if you make tea you need to let bag steep for a minute or 2. But actually timing it???? Useful if you are a goldfish may be but otherwise i dont understand who can’t remember to do something in 30 seconds.

Fwiw i oftrn let me aeropress brew for a few minutes. 30 secs is hella short.