Good Coffee & Good Inexpensive Machines?

[WhiteCrown]

Look up at my last reply...

P.S. I have a French Press...

Try your French press without the press, cowboy style! Lol I've never understood why people squirm about a little bit of grounds in their coffee, but then buy the whole beans covered in chocolate and pop them like Skittles.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Look up at my last reply...

P.S. I have a French Press...

Then you have all you need.

 

[jpmcwjr]

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

You may need a new drip coffee maker, but it's not going to do much for improving taste, unless your current machine is lousy. Or maybe just in need of a deep cleaning.

French Press and pour over seem to be about equal, but I've been espresso only for about ten years.

Also use a Baratza I've had that long.

 

[bangzoom]

In my former (work) life, I drank quantity in lieu of quality. I've reversed that during retirement. Use my Bunn for fast, hot water source...fresh whole beans in a solid 2 burr grinder...brewed via Aeropress (single or 2 servings)...I guess I love the "ritual" of coffee brewing...similar to pipe smoking or a safety razor wet shave.

 

[PipeIT]

Then you have all you need.

Actually thanks to @WhiteCrown I also just ordered a Bialetti Moka Express.

Bialetti Moka Express I ordered...

Amazon.com

Hey, I have two Radice, I need this LOL!

Ok I am Officially done for now.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[proteus]

For espresso a large stovetop Bialetti with Lavazza whole bean ground extra fine with a burr mill.

Sunday coffee is an old fashioned perco.

 

[woodsroad]

You may need a new drip coffee maker, but it's not going to do much for improving taste, unless your current machine is lousy. Or maybe just in need of a deep cleaning.

French Press and pour over seem to be about equal, but I've been espresso only for about ten years.

Also use a Baratza I've had that long.

Which is something we've skipped over:
One of the most important parts of a good cuppa is clean equipment. Just keep it clean, and descale your drip machine. The other thing is the contact time of water to ground coffee. The shorter the duration, the better the coffee. Long contact times (and high temps) leach tannins and other bittering agents from the ground coffee. Oh, and the other (third, or C) thing is that coffee flavor shifts within about 15 minutes of making it. I'm not passing judgement on it, and many people swear by old coffee that's been microwaved, but I make a cup and consume it withing 10 minutes. If I want more, I make another cup. YMMV and probably does!

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

To make coffee and tea I trap a coffee filter with the lid of my rice cooker.
This is a variation of the "coffee ball" where you seal a coffee filter on itself with a rubber band and brew the coffee in an open pot, but rubber bands never last long enough in that application, and it flavors the coffee with rubber.

Bought half a dozen cheap coffee makers over the years, they all die unceremoniously within a year (one time I almost repaired the darn one way valve), but all you really need to make coffee is source of hot water.

 

[woodsroad]

To make coffee and tea I trap a coffee filter with the lid of my rice cooker.

I’m not picturing that.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Which is something we've skipped over:
One of the most important parts of a good cuppa is clean equipment. Just keep it clean, and descale your drip machine. The other thing is the contact time of water to ground coffee. The shorter the duration, the better the coffee. Long contact times (and high temps) leach tannins and other bittering agents from the ground coffee. << Snipped bits out >>

Must be why I like my espresso machine so much! About 25 seconds to bliss!

But the p.s.i. it runs at is very pedestrian, so I am ramping up to get about 2,000 psi, in oder to complete a pull in under one second. Zounds! And double zounds!!

One problem I foresee is the stream will come out so hard that it'll bounce out of the cup and stain the ceiling. Oh, well, first world problems.

 

[PipeIT]

Well, I have the arsenal out of the way for now...

What about famous coffee brands, that Coffee Geeks must try, if there’s such a brand(s)?

I have seen before in the coffee world, you have the big commercial blenders, and the micro companies. Which maybe makes this hard for finding many of the so called top blenders. But I assume, in coffee circle/communities out there, you eventually learn who is who, big or small.

At @AppalachianPipe92 weren’t you in the recent past drinking Black & White?

Black & White Coffee Roasters | NC Coffee Roaster

At Black & White Coffee we believe coffee should be simple. We are roasting exciting new single origin coffees and beautiful complex blends. We ship worldwide and are excited to partner with you!

www.blackwhiteroasters.com

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

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.

I have to agree,those Rancilio Grinders are definitely well made and sturdy , yes,I admit they require little bit more experience and experimenting to get out proper grind size for home espresso machines. especially for those which are not equipped with pressurized portafilters.

 

[Sigmund]

Westmark Porte-filtre/Filtre à Café, Taille de filtre 6, Pour jusqu'à 6 Tasses de Café, Six, 24462261
https://amzn.eu/d/2GwILmM

Five bucks. Works great if you have good coffee. I like french press but the oils it leaves gives me indigestion. French press coffee also raises bad cholesterol.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

Well, I have the arsenal out of the way for now...

What about famous coffee brands, that Coffee Geeks must try, if there’s such a brand(s)?

I have seen before in the coffee world, you have the big commercial blenders, and the micro companies. Which maybe makes this hard for finding many of the so called top blenders. But I assume, in coffee circle/communities out there, you eventually learn who is who, big or small.

At @AppalachianPipe92 weren’t you in the recent past drinking Black & White?

Black & White Coffee Roasters | NC Coffee Roaster

At Black & White Coffee we believe coffee should be simple. We are roasting exciting new single origin coffees and beautiful complex blends. We ship worldwide and are excited to partner with you!

www.blackwhiteroasters.com

I make a monthly B&W purchases. Love their beans and usually do a bag every week or 2.
Brandywine is another I really enjoy.

 

[Grovius]

My 2 eurocents:
-Grinder: yep, one more vote for the Baratza Encore. You made a good choice.
-Brewer: I am not too much of a fan of bialettis. My favourite non-espresso brewer is the humble aeropress. My morning cup is 13 grams coffee, 180 water and 9 minutes brewing (I follow Jonathan Gagné's method in this)
-Kitchen scales: you will need them

Method (seems overfussing, but it will get you a perfect cup again and again, and this is valid for any brewer): be consistent in the amount of water and coffee grounds, at least to the gram, and in the water temperature, stirring and brew time. Coffee tastes sour? Grind finer. Bitter? Grind coarser.

Have fun and keep us posted!

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

V60 and a kettle with quality beans. Can't beat it

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I’ve always had a good knack for figuring out what I don’t know.

Since making this post it took me a little over 3 hours to make up my mind, and with all the great information, I think I have some good stuff now.

Bought all these...

Dark Matter Santaclause

Santanaclaus (December 2023 Limited Blend)

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

www.darkmattercoffee.com

Baratza Encore

Baratza | Encore™

The Baratza Encore™ is the top barista-recommended grinder to elevate your filter brew journey. From simple "set it and forget it" brews to precision-dialed pour overs, the Encore™ is your first step to a perfect sip.

www.baratza.com

Chemex Pour Over 10 Cup

Amazon.com

Chemex Bonded Filter Circle

Amazon.com

This is for my wife’s birthday 12/31...

THANKS guys, for all the info/input, you’re awesome!

I hope you all have a great Holiday and New Year!

This has gotten all over the place - you bought this stuff and a "Moka" pot? And this is all for your wife to learn? And she isn't much of a coffee drinker?

The 10 cup is overkill, most Chemex recipes you'll want to reference are 8 cup, some 6 cup, and yes, you can do all the math, but you'll just have coffee getting cold in general and getting colder faster in a 10 cup and it will be wasted. The Moka pot also a bit specialized, IMO, for someone as you've described.

As said, the Chemex will take a fair amount of time and experimentation to get consistent results and can't really comment on the Moka pot, but it's a bit afield of where you said you wanted to go.

If she is or really wants to be a coffee nerd I suppose she'll love it, otherwise you should just get her a new car so she can go get herself coffee at a drive through in style.

 

[ssjones]

Which is something we've skipped over:
One of the most important parts of a good cuppa is clean equipment. Just keep it clean, and descale your drip machine. The other thing is the contact time of water to ground coffee. The shorter the duration, the better the coffee. Long contact times (and high temps) leach tannins and other bittering agents from the ground coffee. Oh, and the other (third, or C) thing is that coffee flavor shifts within about 15 minutes of making it. I'm not passing judgement on it, and many people swear by old coffee that's been microwaved, but I make a cup and consume it withing 10 minutes. If I want more, I make another cup. YMMV and probably does!

I drink my coffee black, and save the leftover for microwaving later - but it's only tolerable with some Bailey's!

 

[onestrangeone]

I know a lot of people who swear by Black Rifle Coffee Co. I think it’s owned and run by Vets?

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

A couple of pix:

View attachment 271445

The Melitta Collection

View attachment 271447
An Amazon double wall French Press and two Stella stovetops that I bought new in 1985

View attachment 271449
The Kettle

View attachment 271450
The Baratza Encore with M.H. Rhodes timer​

This is the way.