Another Coffee Discussion

Is this thread to show off our battle stations?

Beans I normally buy whole from a couple local roasters and shops. It's fun to experiement with but can be expensive. $16-$20 per bag which lasts us like 10 days or so. We also often buy Whole Foods brands since they are much better value in comparison, but it's tough to beat the artisan stuff.

Baratza Virtuoso+ burr grinder. It's metal, it's heavy, it's durable. Except that it's also Italian so a power surge will knock it out. I keep it on a surge protector after having to warranty it once (very good customer service btw). Had it for 6 years now.

Bunn Speed Brew is the daily driver. It is seriously fast because it keeps an insulated tank of water hot at all times. In fact, it's so fast I have to adjust the grind pretty fine or else it doesn't steep enough and will taste weak. I called Bunn about this issue and they sent a replacement drip nozzle that slows it down, so combined with a finer grind it makes good, normal, daily coffee at the exact speed I need it, which is ASAP.

Chemex is the weekend sports car. I use a medium to coarse grind and a digital scale to get the ratio right. Usually about 1:13 beans:water by mass. I just use a stovetop gooseneck kettle to pour.

I used to daily the french press but mostly it's for camping now. The Aeropress I use almost exclusively for camping or if I want something bitter or stronger. You can get darn near espresso taste from it with the right technique.

Life is too short to drink bad coffee when you can avoid it.

maschinenbau said:

Life is too short to drink bad coffee when you can avoid it.

Fair point. On the other hand, it's also too short to lose half a day and half a paycheck performing a fetishistic ritual of prep and consumption when all you want is a simple cup of coffee. Which, I suppose, is why you have the daily driver in addition to the weekend rig.

Maybe i should bust out the French press again. I only make coffee at home on weekends anyway. Then again, it may be a moot point since we're using store-ground beans like the uncultured savages we are. Doubly moot since a kindergartner makes my coffee and would probably be pretty upset if I took that away from him.

Moka pot.

Less effort than a French press and better coffee.

I don't drink coffee, but I fully endorse this brand and mission, and know some of the owners pretty well. Great people!

https://daredevil.coffee/

DarkMonohue said:

Fair point. On the other hand, it's also too short to lose half a day and half a paycheck performing a fetishistic ritual of prep and consumption when all you want is a simple cup of coffee. Which, I suppose, is why you have the daily driver in addition to the weekend rig.

My daily driver routine is pretty good at this: Moka pot and a conical burr grinder are quick, efficient, and very good.

Moka pot is quicker and easier to clean than a drip machine, even when using paper filters. Automated grinder gets me exactly the right amount of grounds faster than scooping them out of a bag.

Takes a couple minutes for the water to boil on the stove top, but I use that time to get my mug out and pour in the requisite cream. Then I pick up the cat and cuddle him on my shoulder until the pot is done.

And it makes the perfect amount of really good coffee. Only better tasting prep method I've found is an espresso machine, but that is significantly more work. The moka pot is about 2/3 of the difference between drip coffee and espresso.

While I dream of having an espresso machine, I have a basic coffee machine at the moment and I always do a scheduled brew the night before so that I wake up with my coffee all brewed and then do a little ritual to make myself some crème cold foam with a flavor of my choice. Makes me feel kinda fancy. 

I bought a cheap espresso machine a while back and used it daily for a while but decided it was too much effort to go through every morning for a not great brew. 

I keep an eye on Marketplace for nice machines in my price range but haven't found anything I am willing to spend the money on yet. 

I have one of these that does a pretty good job at espresso and a very good cup of coffee. It's more work than I'm willing to put in on a daily basis. It's a Saturday and camping pot primarily. 

If I find enough spare change in the couch, I'd like to get one of these, so I can be pretentious about my brewing method and still have time to take a shower in the morning...

nlevine said:

If I find enough spare change in the couch, I'd like to get one of these, so I can be pretentious about my brewing method and still have time to take a shower in the morning...

Having had coffee from one of those - and actually owning the original electric Chemex, minus the carafe - you'll get better coffee from a Moccamaster. Not any cheaper though. Moccamaster ostensibly sells refurbed machines, but they always seem to be out of stock. My mom has 2 that she's bought second hand, they're a buy-it-for-life product. 

I used to have a combo coffee pot and espresso maker, it was a wedding gift.  Regular coffee weekday mornings and espresso treat on the weekends.  It lasted almost the 14 yrs we were married, crapped out like a month before we separated.

Cue the Twilight Zone theme.