The World AeroPress Championships: Thanapat Aumbumrung
The next World AeroPress Championship competitor to answer our questions is Thanapat Aumbumrung, Thailand's AeroPress champion. Thanaput works for Kaizen Coffee BKK as well as running his own project called Coffee UP (a combination of consultancy, education, and barista training); he brings 5 years of speciality coffee industry knowledge to the AeroPress championships You can follow his journey on Instagram: @thanapataum
Why did you choose to enter the AeroPress Championship?
I first had an idea to enter this competition as my own experiment. I have been working with this recipe for a while. It was inspired by the environment around me when I first moved abroad and being unemployed. Then I left it hanging until I got back to Thailand and re-discovered this recipe and developed it with the coffee I was given for the competition. I felt like the recipe had potential and I wanted to test it out in the Championship.
What’s your favourite way to make coffee (other than AeroPress of course!)?
V60. It was the first method of filter coffee brewing that I used. So, I feel like it is the most simple way to brew, and I am used to it. I know all the factors that could effect the brew which is the basics to all filtered coffee.
What led you to using the AeroPress?
I have been using the AeroPress since I started making coffee, but I never felt like I understood it completely. Until I moved abroad, AeroPress was the only coffee-making tool that was in my share-house kitchen. So, I started to test it out and work with it and then I tried out many recipes until I found the right one.
Which grinder will you use for the competition and why?
The grinder I am planning to use in the competition is the Comandante. Because it's stable and easy to control the grind size. And it's result can compare to any of the commercial grinders.
How did you get in to the coffee industry?
When I first started working in a café, my thought was just how I needed to get a job that wasn’t too stressful and working there seemed chill. But, when I really started to study it, I realised coffee was definitely something else. It's like competing with myself, study more, practise more, and make better coffee everyday (and it became so stressful somehow).
What are you most excited about in coffee?
Coffee is sensitive to all factors. It fluctuates with the smallest changes and that's the beauty of it. It is challenging for me to understand all the factors that can effect it.