Off-Topic Making Coffee at Home – for Dummies – Aeropress/Other Options

[Negin]

Back in my college and grad school days, I used to make coffee and drink it like it was going out of style. Recently, I’ve been enjoying it once more. I don’t want to keep buying coffee drinks.

I’d like to make coffee that actually tastes good, and is hopefully not overly complicated, or too much of a production.

This week, I just started making cold brew, without any equipment other than a coffee grinder. It’s delicious and I love it. I could do this forever. The only problem is: the cost. Cold brew needs a lot of beans to get a relatively small amount. So sadly, cold brew may be more of a treat than a regular, daily thing.

We live outside the country and will be traveling to the U.S. soon, and I’d like to order or buy whatever I need, since options are limited here. I’d appreciate any thoughts or tips.

Right now, I’m considering an Aeropress, but I’m open to options.

I was considering the French Press, but read that it’s a pain to clean.

Other options, the Moka Pot or the Pourover.

I’ve been doing a bit of research, but due to time limitations (we are leaving in a few days), I feel overwhelmed.

[Terry]

For what it’s worth:

I’ve never noticed a difference between different types of coffee makers. I’ve only noticed a difference between different types of coffees.

For my personal taste, any major brand drip coffee maker, such as Mr. Coffee, has been good but a few store brands didn’t get the water hot enough. For k-cup coffee, I prefer the cheapest possible ($20 Walmart) because I can pour in the exact volume of water I want per k-cup. The expensive ones I’ve see all have controlled ounce settings. At my work, the lowest setting is 6 ounces, and with the brand of coffee they have, that makes my cuppa too weak.

My experience probably isn’t the best because I put artificial creamer and sweetener (Splenda) in my coffee. I am not a fan of black coffee.

If you do use artificial creamer (bad for us), there are several brand labels here that are all made by the same manufacturer: New York Sugar Company (or something similar; I might have not gotten the name exactly right.) These are everywhere, so look on the back of the label to know. Some years ago, those all started tasting bad to me when they changed the formula to remove trans fats. I now buy Coffee Mate, and only Coffee Mate. If I am on the road, I only get an expensive Star Bucks Latte with steamed milk. I don’t like Half & Half, but steamed milk is good.

Back in the old days, my parents used a percholating coffee pot on top of the stove. It was nice to hear the bubbling “perc” sound and smell the coffee on a Saturday morning right before cartoon or coloring book time.

[donnamp]

Hi Negin,

I am a big coffee hound!

I agree with Terry in that the quality of the beans is probably the most important. But, as for making coffee...

I mainly use a pour over method - I'm the only person in my house who drinks coffee regularly, so a coffee maker isn't the best as it make more quantity than i can consume and coffee that sits on a burner/warmer gets stale and bitter pretty fast.

My pour over set up is basic - I like this one - but I just have the top part, that I put a paper filter in and pour over directly into my mug:

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/sto...ffee-pour-over

My second method is a French Press - which I enjoy - it makes a richer and "thicker" cup of coffee than a method that uses a filter and there is some thought that the oils in the coffee can raise your LDL

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/frenc...b00fd8d8436fb8

I have found this to be true - there was a phase I went through where i drank only French Press coffee for months, had a blood test, and my LDL which was perfectly fine the year before was elevated.

So...I do limit my French Press...

I didn't find it terribly hard to clean, you just have to scoop out the grounds. If you have a garden, I believe you can use the grounds in your soil. I'm not a gardener, though so...

There is definitely more effort in cleaning up a French Press than a pour over method.

I do have an AeroPress and I don't love it. Maybe I never got the hang of using it properly but I find it hard to get the coffee the right temperature with this method and it doesn't make a large mug.... I still pull it out and use it from time to time hoping that I'll get it right.

The Moka Pot I think makes an Espresso style - so a small quantity of strong coffee - if that is what you like it is a good method. I like to make lattes or cafe au lait and this would be good for that. I do have a small Moke Pot but i don't use it very often. I actually find it harder to clean than the French Press and it is more cumbersome to use.

We also have a Keurig - which i don't like to use - the coffee is just about always disappointing to me. My DH will drink coffee on occasion and he is not as picky as I am about it - so he mainly uses it. Plus, there is the whole waste thing w/ the K-cups, although you can get a "pod" that you can self fill with your own coffee.

I also have a Nespresso - it was a gift - and I like to make coffee drinks with it - but I don't use it that often due to the expense of the pods, etc. But it is nice for a treat.

I guess bottom line - I vote for Pour Over or French Press!

Where are you visiting in the U.S.?

Donna

[bee]

I use this for cold brew:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and it doesn't seem that expensive. I can get three jars from one pound and a jar lasts over a week. Maybe my coffee is weaker than yours?

[summer breeze]

Not really helpful for what you're looking for but I use the old school percolator on the stove. Best coffee for my tastes, always hot. I don't like a lot of bells and whistles and anything that's complicated to clean.

[Izzy]

I agree, stove top percolator is the best; especially if you have one of those old Corning Wear glass ones.

I use French Press and I don’t find the clean up difficult. My second choice is pour over. But I like my coffee super hot and once water hits air it cools off so pour over is not hot enough for me.

[Vantreesta]

We have a drip style coffeemaker with a timer so I can get it ready the night before and set the timer so it's ready for my hubby when he leaves for work. I like it fine but my dad uses the same brand of coffee we do but has a plug in percolator type and personally I like it quite a bit better. I used to be a barista but am in no way a coffee snob or anything. I add milk and creamer to my coffee. I can't stand it black. I keep trying to find a way to give up the unhealthy creamer but I have not had any luck so far. But I am down to 1 Tbsp per cup so I guess that's smthg!

[Mickey12]

My favorite is an electric percolator. It’s nothing fancy but it makes the best tasting coffee. It’s easy to clean. Keurig type machines just make brown water IMO. I detest the coffee from them; no richness or depth of flavor.

[Vantreesta]

Originally Posted by Mickey12

My favorite is an electric percolator. It’s nothing fancy but it makes the best tasting coffee. It’s easy to clean. Keurig type machines just make brown water IMO. I detest the coffee from them; no richness or depth of flavor.

Yes, electric, that was the word I couldn't come up with!

[Negin]

Thank you all so much. You've been so helpful. I have read, and I remember from back when I was a coffee snob, that the quality of the beans, and having them freshly ground coffee is primary. I’m just looking for a method that’s not overly complicated. I would prefer something similar to cold brew, since that’s my favorite (for now). I’m the only coffee drinker in the house. If only the cold brew method didn’t use so much coffee. It’s unbelievable to me how much it uses.

Originally Posted by bee

I use this for cold brew:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and it doesn't seem that expensive. I can get three jars from one pound and a jar lasts over a week. Maybe my coffee is weaker than yours?

This looks really good.
The recipe that I currently have is 1 cup of whole beans, ground, of course to 4 cups of water. That sounds like a lot to me, unless if I'm missing something and happen to drink a lot.
Does that one have a standard recipe? How many cups of beans to cups of water?