Was making coffee and considering throwing out my K-cup coffee maker because I almost exclusively use a French press now, and got curious what other people did
Hooboy, am I glad you asked!
TL;DR: I work from home, so I can brew individual cups rather than filling a big thermos. I use pourover methods like a V60 and a Koar (I have the acrylic one) or the humble Melitta filter holder. Each one is good in its own way. They require some other gear, so if you want something real easy to use, go for the Clever dripper or especially the Aeropress. Sorry if you weren't looking for recommendations.
Here's my process: I buy my coffee green, either from local farmers or from dealers who do coffee hunting around farms in central Brazil, in Minas, north of São Paulo and sometimes Espírito Santo or the north of Paraná. Green beans are much, much cheaper than roasted. I usually get like 5-10kg (11-22lb) at a time because green beans keep for a very long time.
Once every two weeks or so I roast a batch, which I usually will do in one of these ways:
-
The hot air gun + bowl method, in which I put the green beans inside a stainless steel colander placed inside a steel pot, and then I'll just blast them with hot air while whisking them around for usually 10-11 minutes depending on what degree of roast tickles my fancy at any given time.
-
The cast iron skillet method, in which I put the beans inside a heavy ass cast iron skillet with high walls and then I'll stir them with a whisk until, once again, I reach the level I'm looking for. This method is not as messy but seems to make much more smoke.
-
The Hive roaster which I don't use as often because I think it's better suited for pros who want a sample roaster. I'm not a pro, I roast for myself, so I don't really need to do much testing - I love (almost) all the coffee I roast.
-
An electric popcorn popper. This one I haven't used in a very long time because the batches are very small. It's very easy, though, and more hands-free than the other options.
Regardless of which method I decide to use, after roasting I immediately dump the roasted beans into a cooling box that I made from plywood, and which is connected to my vacuum cleaner. It sucks room-temp air through the beans and helps them cool down ASAP, which is what you want.
Now, my methods for preparing my coffee all involve freshly ground beans. I bought a Bravo IT, AKA a Bravito, a very very fancy bougie grinder that a local coffee pro makes, it's on par with a Comandante C40 or a Kinu, but I got it on prerelease before it had become famous (locally, at least) and paid less than half the current price. I will protect it with my life. My secondary one is a Timemore Slim, which doesn't seem to be available anymore.
On a regular day, as I said before, I'll use a V60, a Koar or a Melitta pourover, but I always use regular ass Melitta filters folding them as necessary in order to fit all these filter holders, and that's because I don't want to spend a lot of money on filters. I've used cloth filters in the past, too, and they're great if you know how to take care of them.
I always make my pourover coffee with a gooseneck kettle. I just have a cheap one, the Hario was way too expensive. I don't know all the fine details about how exactly it is better than a regular kettle, but I know for sure that it's a hell of a lot easier to control and handle. Which is great when it's early in the morning and you haven't had your first coffee yet.
I'll also sometimes brew with my 3-cup Moka pot, a Clever dripper (although I haven't used mine in a while) and there's an Aeropress that I leave at my mom's place for whenever I go visit. I'm not a fan of French press, but I do enjoy using the press itself as a container for cold brew, which actually sounds lovely right now and I should get a batch ready for tomorrow.
I also have a Flair NEO, which is a lever espresso machine for dummies. There is no way I could afford a really good, proper espresso machine, so the NEO really fits the bill for someone like me, a very enthusiastic amateur who doesn't work with coffee and doesn't really have a ton of money to spend on this. Mind you, all of this stuff I'm talking about has been acquired over the past five or so years.
I think that's it. The specific method depends, once again, on what I feel like doing at any given moment. I'm satisfied with where I am right now and I don't want to spend more money on this hobby anymore, because the next steps would be very very expensive: courses, a proper roaster for larger batches, a large volume grinder to sell pre-ground beans, and so on. The sky is the limit.
If you or anyone has any questions to ask, I'd be happy to be the resident coffee nerd!
-
sorry to break it to you buddy, but you made a bad purchase
the $4k Supreme stovetop coffeemaker is a bit more expensive, but it makes vastly superior coffee, because it has "Supreme" written on it
Show
As the Clever Dripper is something between a French Press and a pour over, I'm an anarco-hoxhaist I guess
Every week I roast my own green coffee beans on the stove so I get freshly roasted stuff literally every single day.
Daily I throw it in a grinder, put it in a french press and go wild.
That's cool so they come like fermented already? Is that cheaper or are you going after flavor here?
That's cool so they come like fermented already? Is that cheaper or are you going after flavor here?
They come ready to roast if that's what you mean. It's cheaper than most specialty coffee but the real upside is having the taste of "The first cup from the bag" every single morning. Unless you drink a lot of coffee, even your bag of roasted whole beans loses flavor after a month. You roast it every weekend however and you get that fresh flavor.
The greens can technically go stale too but it's in the realm of years until you see a noticeable difference.
Some coffee is processed with fermentation, but that's usually just to make removing the cherry easier. That process is called washed process coffee (and honey process is similar but with less water). The coffee bean is the seed inside the cherry. The bean itself doesn't ferment, although it can be affected by the process.
If you get an air popper, it's the perfect thing to roast cup-sized coffee batches! The more cooked beans get pushed away from the heating element so its literally perfect.
I tried that but I get good results just stirring in a non-stick pan.
Step out of the way you stinky proles, the true coffee bourgeoisie has arrived.
I have a La Marzocco GB5 commercial espresso machine in my "office" that I'll use If I don't want to make a whole pot on the Ratio or am too lazy to use one of literally any brew methods you could think of I have on hand. On the weekends, I'll go into the cafe and have the baristas make me an espresso. At home I have a vintage 70's Conti lever espresso machine, and a kalita wave, Chemex, and aeropress that I cycle through depending on how I'm feeling and the coffee. The instant that I just had made actually slaps so I'll make that if I'm on the road.
La Marzocco GB5 commercial espresso machine
my dream is to have my own La Marzocco machine some day, but I don't think I'll ever be able to justify spending so much money on a machine + a grinder + everything else.
Honestly, I'd never buy a 1 group La Marzocco, I.e., home machine. You can get much better value and reliability from one of the many e61machines. The difference between a $600 espresso machine and a $3k espresso machine is huge but the difference between a $3k and a $10k one is negligible.
What price range do you mean? Like around $3k?
Edit: if your budget is 3k I'd spend like 1k of that on the grinder.
Mr. Coffee, filter, a couple scoops of pre ground from Aldi. A bit of creamer.
Are there better ways? Yeah. Do I want to do them on weekdays before I’ve had coffee? No
I'm gonna out myself as a bougie
here - I have one of these:Show
I always buy the darkest beans I can get my hands on. First coffee of the day is an americano (I run the double shot option four times). Second of the day I make myself a lattee, usually plain but sometimes with salted caramel syrup.
I fuckin love my espresso machine. Easily the best coffee-related investment I have ever made.
Cold brew. Just need some largish jars depending on how much you want to make. Grind the beans (on the coarse side), put in the jar(s) for ~18+ hrs with 4:1 ratio of water to grounds. Filter and enjoy. Very low effort, tastes great (low acid) and good caffeine density. I'll make hot coffee rarely.
I do french press. Easy to maintain and is pretty portable for travel purposes. Makes a good cup of coffee.
whole beans → grinder → French press
---
I really like piñon coffee which is made from pine nuts. Amazon has this brand - New Mexico Piñon Coffee
There's no wrong way to make coffee.
Except for percolators. If your coffee is contacting boiling water, you're doing it wrong.
french press french press the press is best. i'm not very picky tbh i just like a system i fully understand and can clean every lil bit of. also limited amount of plastic
a lil fucking clock on a mr coffee is too much complication imo
Instant Coffee, not too fussed about the brand but Mount Hagen is my special treat brand.
No, but I still do all sorts of terrible things to coffee, like do a 50-50 blend with caffinated soda if I need extra energy, or with a tea like yerba mate. I like iced coffee and coffee slushes in summer. Heavy cream is way out of my budget, so I substiute cool whip or the coconut version depending what's on sale to make an affordable cream coffee, then I sometimes add tea to that to make a sort of fancy milk tea-coffee just missing boba pearls.
I'm a big rooibos enjoyer. My favorite place to get tea from closed down a while ago though, sadly.
