Coffee

Nothing too fancy. Kettle and a french press.

This thread is demonstrating one of my favorite things about the coffee community: There is a fundamental semi-seriousness, acknowledgement of diminishing returns, and awareness of varying tastes in (almost) all quarters. A lot of gear-heavy hobbies take themselves way too seriously, but the coffee folk with an $8000 La Marzocco espresso setup, with a $7 plastic cone and a kettle, and waiting in front of the microwave with a bottle of instant and a spoon are all just trying to have a pleasing coffee experience.

My fancy, ritualistic coffee is a shot of espresso in the morning, usually prepared like a Brauner with a dash of milk inversely proportionate to how well I did at making the espresso that day.

A few weeks ago I upgraded from my old (ca. 2010) Lello Arite 1375 Chinese thermoblock pressurized basket "espresso" machine and Capresso Infinity grinder combo ($140+90+accessories) that were kind of mediocre to start with and literally falling apart by the end, to a Brevelle Bambino and Turin SK40 ($350+200+accessories) and have been delighted by the additional ability to play with parameters (and occasionally revolted by the results while I was getting my bearings). The old set up produced a long-tuned pleasing thing that may or may not technically count as espresso, but in retrospect may have been a relative of the extraction optimum from that "Systematically Improving Espresso" paper from a few years ago. The new one is full grind-controls-infusion espresso experience. The bambino is "nice for the price" and has a delightfully fast heat up and surprisingly good steam wand for when I'm feeling foamy, but slightly annoying manual shot controls. The SK40 is just great so far, my only tiny complaint is that every now and then I have to give it a little rock to get the last of a dose of beans out of the feed cone.

I also really enjoy how this setup is sitting in superposition of ($600 is an absurdly expensive way to make coffee | $600 is absurdly cheap to make real espresso).

Home espresso is never really practical, but I find the ritual of preparation deeply pleasing (weights and ratios and times and gadgets! Instant feedback! Total focus!), and enjoy the experience of varying parameters.

I also drink a fair amount of Instant when I'm out during the day, I've been recommending Mount Hagen to everyone who will listen lately because it's like $10 a jar and so much better than any of the other instants I've tried.

...and I have a coworker with an office aeropress that I sometimes play with, and I want but have no real reason to have one for home. The super clean immersion brew is a really interesting way to experience a coffee, and of course one never has enough coffee paraphernalia.

Bialetti Moka pot. I switched from espresso to the moka pot over a year ago and it is my favorite brew now.

I like to think I know a little about coffee, but this thread shows that I don't really know anything. My brew method? I have a shitty little $50 espresso maker I got as a birthday gift a while ago, and use that to make the best damn lattes I've ever had.

My go to is my trusty v60. I used to scale and weigh everything before grinding. Now I just eyeball everything.

Right now it's aeropress and it will remain aeropress until I make a shit cup or have a bad morning, then it'll switch to v60 and repeat the same process until I switch to chemex. Then, eventually we will come full circle back to aeropress and start everything all over again. The circle of life. The ouroboros of my morning coffee, if you will.

My second cup of the day is and will always be an espresso.

I’ve got a stupidly expensive espresso machine and several stupidly expansive grinders. I used my machine every day for about 5 years. But lately I’ve been pouring water from my kettle into a plastic cone like my dad did in the 80s. Haha. Full circle. I’ve upped my bean quality though.

Cold brew in a Toddy. Store in fridge. Add milk/ice/hot water to taste.

I'm no coffee snob. Gas station dark roast, little cream no sugar. Under a dollar in a hurry.

I love my Flair Pro. I like being able to dial in my pressure profile (basically extraction flow) by hand depending on the beans or just my mood. Other wise I’m a stainless moka pot guy.

Cold or hot, V60 is my jam.

Manual brew? V60 and flat bottom if at home (use them alternately), Aeropress if on the road.

My Cafelat Robot is my daily driver and on the weekends I add in a couple of brews from my Chemex. At this point in my 20-year coffee journey those are all I need.

French press. Pre-heat with boiling water before adding freshly ground coffee. Slowly pour water at 95 degrees over the coffee. Stir with wooden spoon, insert lid and let stand 5-10 minutes. Slowly press plunger to bottom. Serve and enjoy.

Aeropress daily. Using James Hoffman's method, more or less. Occasionally I need to get the French press out.

I've been toying with the idea of getting an espresso machine. However, everyone I know who has one has gone back - sooner or later - to their previous method of brewing. And the espresso machine ends up being for special occasions. I'm not sure it's worth it at that point.

I might get a prismo for the aeropress to see if that will satisfy my "What's next?" craving...

AeroPress enjoyer

I replaced my Flair Pro with a Rancilio Silvia (which I have since modded because I can never be content in my coffee process). And for non-espresso drinks, a Hario V60

I would have to pick Aeropress.

I know pour over is seemingly the norm at the moment but I'm still chugging along with my 10 years old Bodum stainless steel french press. Tastes fine to me and keeps the coffee hot decently long. Though I've been pondering to do the additional step of pouring it through a Hario filter and see if it refines the taste any further.

Majority pourover (Mugen most often, V60 sometimes, and I just got an Orea that I've used a couple of times so far), espresso if I'm feeling up to it (Uniterra Nomad), usually as a small milk drink or sometimes an aerocano, occasionally straight espresso. If I want a milk drink and don't feel like actually dealing with espresso workflow, aramse sofi south indian filter.

Been going with a Clever stripper + paper filter for 7 years. Very consistent, no fuss.

EDIT: *dripper. Hahaha! I don't think you can get consistent and no fuss with a stripper.

Great idea! I use a La Pavoni Europiccola (lever espresso machine) when I have time, Bialetti Moka pot or pour over when I don't.

At home, it’s a cheap pour over setup. In the summer I’ll sometimes do a Japanese iced coffee pour over if it’s hot. (Just adjust the ratio and start with ice in the pot.)

At work it’s a flair 58.

Camping it’s a moka pot.

DeLonghi Magnifica. 60,000 shots spread over 2 machines (according to the counter) in the last decade.

I use a supposedly nice drip basket bonavita machine. It works well, and it's still super easy to use.

full automatic Seico Espresso machine for coffee/late with a seperate milk frother. (it's digusting if it's in the machine itself)

And a Dripr cold brew with a dripfilter and water reservoir for cold brews

Still have to experience more ways to brew, French press I remember from being little but haven't done it since.

For hot coffee a chemex for sure, but for iced my aeropress is king

(until I can get my hands on a good espresso machine)

I'm just a basic man with a coffee press. On the weekends though I like to fire up my little DeLonghi and enjoy some lattes.

Majority of the time the Aeropress gets used, but I have a French Press I will break out a couple time a month.

I love my bialetti brikka

Current go to is a Hoffman pour over cause I don't really have to think about it anymore.

Favorite method would have be the siphon pot. Once you get the timing and grind dialed in for the bean it's consistently the best tasting brew method at my disposal. Not to mention it is fun to watch while it draws down.

Honestly I'm pretty happen with the inverted aeropress method. Wait a couple of mins once the kettles boiled so it's ~80°C, brew for a couple and press.

Makes a decent brew.

Although gotta say, my wife got me some fancy coffee bags ( ground coffee in a paper mesh bag), legit had me thinking about switching.