Good Coffee & Good Inexpensive Machines?

[PipeIT]

Well, how do I start...

Since I’ve been here, I’ve certainly seen quite a lot of coffee drinkers, which has certainly piqued my interest.

@onestrangeone is definitely the one that roused this interest, every time he’s smoking a stogie, it’s accompanied by what sounds like an amazing coffee.

I know 10 people will have ten different ideas, we all get that. The biggest problem, how huge this market is, blenders and machines, the choices seem endless.

I am by no means a coffee expert or connoisseur, but I do have some pretty decent taste buds, and I certainly don’t want to drink crappy coffee.

Coffee is certainly going to be a personal thing, no matter how great a prestigious company/blend is, I get that, but are there some names in the coffee world that are considered the best, I should try?

Also, at a certain price point, a more expensive machine isn’t necessary to experience that blend at it’s optimal?

I really don’t want to spend a fortune on a machine, and they can certainly be costly.

So what’s the least amount someone does need to spend, in order to be in the ‘Premium Connoisseur Bracket’ to obtain that quality taste(s) in a machine? Hopefully, given how vast/huge the choices are, there might be a consensus agreement to help me decide.

For now, as far as blends go, I thought I’d get a bag of Dark Matter Santaclaus. From a little reading Dark Matter sounds like an interesting company.

Please share, if anyone has experience with Dark Matter?

Santanaclaus (December 2023 Limited Blend)

Shop Santanclaus, the December limited Monthly coffee blend. Notes: fudge, cinnamon sticks, pistachio.

www.darkmattercoffee.com

THANKS!

P.S. Let me try and clear the air here a little. We all get how no matter how prestigious a business is, even if considered the best at what they do, it still gets down to Personal Tastes. I get it, so these types of conversations aren’t going to help me make decisions.

I’m only trying to explore, who might be considered some of the top blenders in the world, if there is such a thing, and who makes the best Drip Machines for the money, hopefully without having to spend a fortune, and that at a certain price point, anything more is just bells and whistles, so you really only need to spend so much on Drip Machines.

 

[didimauw]

Let me ask first, have you never drank coffee before?

Or are you looking for an upgrade on your current coffee?

 

[growfood]

Machine? Get yourself a french press my friend.

 

[Kobold]

In my experience every time I try a fancy expensive must try coffee it tastes dusty and sour. A bunch of shops opened in Baltimore a few years ago and they were hyped to be amazing. Gave them a shot multiple times but always came back to my stuff at home. Maybe my taste buds are fried but I like Illy and truckstop coffee.

 

[PipeIT]

Let me ask first, have you never drank coffee before?

Or are you looking for an upgrade on your current coffee?

Yes, I have drank a lot of coffee in my life, but I’ve never really been into it.

Now, I’d like to start exploring some of the finest out there.

The only problem is, I’m hoping when it comes to a machine I’m not going to need to spend a lot, to achieve this.

@growfood I already have a French Press, but the Mrs. seems to like to go the route of a Drip Machine. So I’m looking at buying her a new Drip Blender.

 

[woodsroad]

I use an old Melitta ceramic funnel and digital electric water boiler set to 203. Coffee is ground in a Baratza Encore grinder. Mug, spoon and Melitta are preheated with hot tap water. Water is poured slowly while stirring.

Coffee right now is Indian Monsoon from Fresh Roasted Coffee in Sunbury, PA. They have 20% off right now.

You’ll have to find the granulation setting that works best for you.

This is a simple set up, highly repeatable, inexpensive and easy to operate, even when half asleep.

I can provide links, if desired.

 

[lraisch]

Buy whole beans, get a good grinder (I like the Baratza Encore) and some Melitta or Filtropa cones and filters.

 

[PipeIT]

@woodsroad & @lraisch like Chemex style?

Coffee Brewing Methods: The Best Ways To Brew Coffee At Home

From pour over to cold brew, there’s a coffee brewing method for everyone's unique tastes and preferences. But, with so many ways to brew coffee at home, it can be hard to know which method is right for you. In this post, we'll review the coffee brewing methods that we believe produce the best...

luckygoatcoffee.com

Chemex is not something I considered before.

Equipment

Lucky Goat Coffee Company is a coffee roaster, wholesaler, distributor, online retailer, and café serving high-quality beverages.

luckygoatcoffee.com

As I mentioned I do already own a French Press, trying Chemex certainly looks inexpensive, the glass pots and filters. I will certainly look into trying this.

BUT, for now, I need to figure out a good quality Drip Machine for the Mrs., hopefully there’s a consensus on good ones.

Thanks

 

[TakeThisCobAndStuffIt]

You are getting great advice here. We use the pour over for most of our coffee. When we want a treat we use the Bialetti Moka Pot which is about $40 at Target. They come in different sizes to suit how much you want to make and they generally las for a generation or three. Note that they require the grind to be Espresso Ground.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

For years, the Technivorm was recommended by many people that were immersed in the coffee world because of its 200 degree brew temperature—it stood alone for a long time. I’m sure there are other companies making machines that will brew at this temperature now.

For espresso, an Andreja is very expensive, but it will give you the fifteen bar pressure for proper espresso.

I love the metal, double walled Bodum French presses.

A good burr grinder will probably make a bigger difference in the quality of your coffee than mid-level coffee makers because of the uniformity of the grind, which will give you better extraction.

 

[fireground_piper]

I wouldn’t focus on any brand. Instead, sample single origin beans to figure out what genera country origin your tastes prefer.

It doesn’t matter who roasts your Ethiopian, if you don’t like the characteristics of Ethiopian origin bean it’s going to suck from every single roaster.

 

[PipeIT]

For years, the Technivorm was recommended by many people that were immersed in the coffee world because of its 200 degree brew temperature—it stood alone for a long time. I’m sure there are other companies making machines that will brew at this temperature now.

For espresso, an Andreja is very expensive, but it will give you the fifteen bar pressure for proper espresso.

I love the metal, double walled Bodum French presses.

A good burr grinder will probably make a bigger difference in the quality of your coffee than mid-level coffee makers because of the uniformity of the grind, which will give you better extraction.

I was thinking about the Baratza Encore, but it’s not for espresso, is my understanding and I’d need the ESP, if I want espresso grinds, but I’m also not always drinking espresso. hmm

 

[didimauw]

For years, the Technivorm was recommended by many people that were immersed in the coffee world because of its 200 degree brew temperature—it stood alone for a long time. I’m sure there are other companies making machines that will brew at this temperature now.

For espresso, an Andreja is very expensive, but it will give you the fifteen bar pressure for proper espresso.

I love the metal, double walled Bodum French presses.

A good burr grinder will probably make a bigger difference in the quality of your coffee than mid-level coffee makers because of the uniformity of the grind, which will give you better extraction.

I cracked 2 plastic french presses, Just by hot water alone, before buying my metal one. . Don't know why I didn't think of metal before...

 

[PipeIT]

I cracked 2 plastic french presses, Just by hot water alone, before buying my metal one. . Don't know why I didn't think of metal before...

Mine is glass/metal...

 

[didimauw]

Mine is glass/metal...

How long has it been going for?

 

[fireground_piper]

I have the baratza encore. Iv used it every single day for the past 3 years, multiple times per day. Highly recommended, great grinder.

 

[woodsroad]

I should add: The Encore doesn’t have a timer. They sav d that for his much pricer brother.

Measuring the amount of coffee used is important. It allows you to tweak the drip rate, stregnth, etc.
You can get anal and weigh it, or you can add a cheap timer like this and forget about it. I check the weights from my Encore and they varied in the low single digits.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I was thinking about the Baratza Encore, but it’s not for espresso, is my understanding and I’d need the ESP, if I want espresso grinds, but I’m also not always drinking espresso. hmm

Years ago, a standard grinder for espresso was the Mini Mazzer; I opted for the Rocky Rancilio because it did an acceptable espresso grind, but also handled all other grinds you might need. It’s still going strong and was worth every penny to me. I have not shopped for coffee gear in years; I’m certain you could get a good burr grinder for less.

For a nice coffee bean company, you might consider trying Gimme! Coffee out of Ithaca, New York. They have the roast dates on their bags. I used to get freshly roasted bags weekly from one of their NYC locations after teaching every Saturday. It’s a bit pricey per bag. I eventually stopped buying it because my home roasts (usually City Plus) got close enough in quality for a fraction of the cost using green beans from Sweet Maria’s.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I’ve been using a Chemex almost daily for many, many years. Based on the OP I'd just invest in a good drip machine - Seattle Coffee Gear has reviews and vids you can watch. A good pour over isn't all that much of a no brainer - lots of variables, plus technique, so you have to accept inconsistency to a point. I like buying different coffees from different roasters so that adds an element of surprise, so to speak. I also have a Kalita I use for single serve. The wife likes her mochas, so I have a Breville Bambino Plus and the espresso is plenty good for that purpose.

Coffee can be a huge rabbit hole and the OP sounds like the rabbit already is almost in beyond the ears, so I'm advising caution. Not much in it to get a decent drip maker and see if you like what comes out. I had a Virtuoso grinder forever and just changed to a Virtuoso +. I wouldn't worry about whether it grinds fine enough for espresso based on what you are looking for, the the Baratzas are plenty good for drip/pour over and handle the grinding for the espresso as I need it just fine. Some good drip makers come with grinders that will be good enough built in and with a drip maker you don't have to buy a kettle.

Coffee? Lots of online sources and there is a place not far away I can get good coffee as well. Olympia, Verve, Intelligentsia, many others, just a matter of experimenting. If the beans aren't dark, slick and greasy like many types you find at the grocery, you may be on the right track.

All I got. You can spend hours online even if you think you know what you want, lol. Plenty of ideas here, too.

 

[sardonicus87]

I love good coffee. However, my other hobbies are expensive and I am lazy, so I am not going out of my way to fresh grind beans and all that other mess, nor am I going to drop $2,000 on a machine.

But, just getting whole beans and fresh grinding them will give you a coffee upgrade. The longer a container is open, the worse the coffee gets, even when properly stored in a dark, dry place (put it in your pantry, not the refrigerator). Whole beans will keep better for longer, but it means having to grind them. The other advantage to whole beans is if you want to go overboard and only make top tier brews, you can experiment with different grind sizes for different coffees to find what is best.

For me though, as long as the coffee is decent, that's good enough. I only drink black coffee. At Wal-Mart, they sell this 14-cup machine by Mr. Coffee, but you can get it elsewhere, I think it's available on Amazon. But this is the machine I have (though in a different color), and it's a great bang for your buck as far as "budget" drip coffee makers is concerned. I've had it at least half a year and it's been very consistent and can make a decent cup. I use it even just making one cup at a time: https://www.mrcoffee.com/coffee-mak...up-programmable-coffee-maker/SAP_2143561.html

Forget about Keurig and similar single-cup pod machines, it's way too much hassle to get those pos to make a decent cup. Other people might find they make decent coffee, but once you have good coffee, you're realize just how bad they are at making coffee.

A key thing is to make sure you get the ratio of water and coffee right. You can make any coffee taste better by nailing that ratio. That's probably the biggest issue with coffee being bad, the wrong ratio and you get an over extracted coffee (tastes weak and bitter) or under extracted (tastes weak and sour). Grind size plays a part in extraction, just as does water temp and speed, but if you're not grinding yourself, most of the machines that don't cost a house payment don't let you futz with brew temp or steep time, so your only flexibility is in the ratio. I don't mess with weight measurements, I go by oz of water vs table spoons of coffee—specifically, I look with any given coffee, how many level (not heaping) 14.8 CC scoops of coffee is needed per every 6 oz of water for that coffee to taste good. Just use the same scoop the same way every time for consistency as you try to find the right ratio for a given coffee.

Also, using a disposable paper filter rather than a reusable filter helps, but you can still make decent coffee with a reusable filter.