Cheap coffee drinkers NON-machine thread. Aeropress? V60?
Discussion
When I was looking to buy a cafetiere. Espro were best reviewed for their double plunger. They do a double walled version but it’s expensive for what it is imo.
I wanted a lower fuss method of making a brew at work. I didn’t want much in the way of cleaning and I can’t buy filter papers anywhere in country. I ended up with this:
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Camp-Pour-Over-Set/...
The cup is double walled. They also sell it without the cup and it would sit easily inside the neck of a flask. It comes apart and cleaning takes seconds under the tap.
The only issue with it, like any stainless filter, is that fine grinds get through the mesh. I usually get my beans ground a couple of steps coarser than is considered normal for v60 and that mostly solves it. YMMV.
10g sounds like a very weak brew in a pint of water btw.
I wanted a lower fuss method of making a brew at work. I didn’t want much in the way of cleaning and I can’t buy filter papers anywhere in country. I ended up with this:
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Camp-Pour-Over-Set/...
The cup is double walled. They also sell it without the cup and it would sit easily inside the neck of a flask. It comes apart and cleaning takes seconds under the tap.
The only issue with it, like any stainless filter, is that fine grinds get through the mesh. I usually get my beans ground a couple of steps coarser than is considered normal for v60 and that mostly solves it. YMMV.
10g sounds like a very weak brew in a pint of water btw.
I am not sure the economics of a bean to cup machine are as bad as the OP describes them. Our Melitta machine is currently £250 which is not cheap compared to the OP's expectations.
But, we go through 1kg of beans a month at around £10 a bag (there is always someone discounting them down to that). For that we get 4/5 large strong and fantastic coffees a day with minimum fuss. Probably not far from a pint of coffee, perhaps more.
So the variable cost is very low and no kettle to boil or cafetière to rinse. (the machine requires a quarterly clean/descale but that needs to be balanced with the time saved every time you make a coffee).
Which leaves the initial £250. I can see the machine surviving 10 years so £25/year doesn't seem a lot for the superior coffee and how fuss free it is to produce it.
But, we go through 1kg of beans a month at around £10 a bag (there is always someone discounting them down to that). For that we get 4/5 large strong and fantastic coffees a day with minimum fuss. Probably not far from a pint of coffee, perhaps more.
So the variable cost is very low and no kettle to boil or cafetière to rinse. (the machine requires a quarterly clean/descale but that needs to be balanced with the time saved every time you make a coffee).
Which leaves the initial £250. I can see the machine surviving 10 years so £25/year doesn't seem a lot for the superior coffee and how fuss free it is to produce it.
LooneyTunes said:
Chemex:
About as simple as you can get. Fold and drop in a paper coffee filter, add coffee, pour over water
Yes this is what I was going to say too.About as simple as you can get. Fold and drop in a paper coffee filter, add coffee, pour over water
I have a fancy machine, an aeropress, a french press and a Chemex and alternate depending on mood and enthusiasm for faff but they can all make great, if different, coffee.
OP, the biggest thing you can do is buy fresh beans and grind them yourself, you’ll be amazed at the difference. Grinders don’t take much in the way of looking after.
Vsix and Vtec said:
I have a rather lovely little Bodum French press, which is big enough for a mug of coffee, but I believe they do bigger ones. I would agree that cleaning it out afterwards is a bit of a faff, you end up rinsing it out in a washing up bowl and then have a bowl full of coffee grind. The silt isn't inclined to pour out into a bin or somesuch, so your options are limited. I adore it for the sense of occasion, but I have to confess I find the Aeropress I also have much neater to use. That said, I tend to only drink one cup at a time, so I savour the occasion.
Update.After spending hours reading reviews and still not really having a clue
, I decided to get on FBMP to what was going and I've just picked up an identical Bodum to yours above for a fiver ! 
Mine is silver, though. On the way back I called in at Lidl and have picked up a 227g bag of "Deluxe Guatemalan ground & roast coffee" and the same again but "Colombian Risaralda". No clue if they've any good! Just need to figure out how many teaspoons I need to put in to give me jugful. 
mikef said:
A pint of coffee?? I m guessing OP is not Italian. That would take you about half an hour with an Aeropress (which does make superb espresso coffee)
This is my thought, a pint of coffee!! The OP will be a shaking mess after that lot.I found with the aeropress, they split regularly pissing coffee everywhere so bought an espresso machine. A colleague at work had a mesh coffee filter that sat right in the mug with the ground coffee in, add hot water, brew, bin the grounds, very quick and no mess.
Bit like this.
https://ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/mugmate-coffee...
I have a taken a similar approach to coffee when working from home. I use a grinder (Wilfa Svart) and a Bodum Kenya 1L cafetière, which gives me 3 big cups of coffee to last the first hour or so. The coffee from this is really nice, much better than what I could get from the high street places. 1L of coffee at the start of the day does make me go a little weird for a short time though, but that's all part of the fun 
Inbox said:
I found with the aeropress, they split regularly pissing coffee everywhere so bought an espresso machine.
I've probably made 1000+ cups of coffee with my aeropress, and the number of spillages (e.g. paper filter misaligned) is probably single digits.To the OP - you can make a double/triple espresso in an aeropress then dilute to half a pint if you want. Plus it's only a few parts and it can all be packed into a small cupboard easily.
Bloody useless things though for making coffee en mass, e.g. for guests, so I still have a rarely used pod machine in the cupboard.
OK chaps, first attempt for coffee noob here. I put 4 heaped teaspoons of this https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/analysis-and-features/... into my Bodum, boiled the kettle, let it stand for a minute or so to cool slightly then gently poured in the water to about a quarter way, paused to stir, then filled the rest up to the metal handle bar thing, sat the top and then gave it about 3 mins before gently plunging to the bottom and pouring. And you know what? It's actually a pretty decent cuppa imo ! 
Feels a tad watery on the palate, but strangely has quite a strong 'bite' to it - a little 'smoky' in flavour and a tiny hint of acidity which could do with eliminating, but I've noticed it wanes as the coffee cools.
Any tips to refine the flavour?
But tbh I'm really impressed with it for only £5 !
Feels a tad watery on the palate, but strangely has quite a strong 'bite' to it - a little 'smoky' in flavour and a tiny hint of acidity which could do with eliminating, but I've noticed it wanes as the coffee cools.Any tips to refine the flavour?
But tbh I'm really impressed with it for only £5 !Tisy said:
- 4 heaped teaspoons of this
- Feels a tad watery on the palate
Glad to hear you've taken the plunge (sorry!). - Feels a tad watery on the palate
The answer to your "watery" point above lies in your "4 teaspoons" of coffee. I have no knowledge or experience of the particular coffee you're using, although the reviews seem good, but for a cafetière the size of the one you have I'd be closer to 3 or 4 dessert spoons for a full brew. But you just need to experiment to suit your own taste. I use two generously-heaped scoops of the type below, and fill it to maybe 3/4 full to get two decent-sized mugs from it. Appreciate there's nothing to gauge size from in that picture (and it's downstairs and I'm upstairs
) but it's probably about 40mm across?If you wanted to get really scientific with it, the note on the arm of that scoop says 7g per cup. I believe the size you have there is referred to as an 8 cup? So you could always try weighing it?
OK! I will try increasing the spoonage and see. Not sure I want it any stronger otherwise I'll be bouncing off the ceiling 
.
I have made a noob mistake in not purchasing a rubber spatula and strainer when I bought the coffee. I have just discovered how much of a pain in the arse they are to clean and no way Iml pouring them down the sink as the drain system here is already fragile.
.I have made a noob mistake in not purchasing a rubber spatula and strainer when I bought the coffee. I have just discovered how much of a pain in the arse they are to clean and no way Iml pouring them down the sink as the drain system here is already fragile.
for years my parents had one of these electric percolator , the one thing you could rely when you visited my parents was the smell of fresh baked bread and a pot of coffee
made pretty decent Americano style coffee , always preferred the taste of percolated coffee than filtered
especially if you had a strong coffee bean .
the beauty it would brew several cups keep them warm and the consistency was pretty good.
https://www.seriouseats.com/best-coffee-percolator...
a funny anecdote when i was in Iraq i took an electric percolator , fresh coffee beans and a grinder , set up in a makeshift 40' container. We had a lot of Italians one "Fabio" had a stove style percolator , and on nightshifts he would make small batches of coffee ristretto style incredibly strong ,but in really small glasses ( you had to remember not to drink the grounds at the bottom )
enjoyed his coffee but preferred a mug of Americano , so i ground up some beans used fresh water and made a fresh pot of coffee .. I offered him a mug ,, he dubiously picked it up ... examined it ..........sniffed it ... took a small taste................and put it down ... "my friend you invite me for coffee ? .. This is not coffee ,,,,,,,,,,This is dirty water ...
I spat out my coffee laughing ...........
made pretty decent Americano style coffee , always preferred the taste of percolated coffee than filtered
especially if you had a strong coffee bean .
the beauty it would brew several cups keep them warm and the consistency was pretty good.
https://www.seriouseats.com/best-coffee-percolator...
a funny anecdote when i was in Iraq i took an electric percolator , fresh coffee beans and a grinder , set up in a makeshift 40' container. We had a lot of Italians one "Fabio" had a stove style percolator , and on nightshifts he would make small batches of coffee ristretto style incredibly strong ,but in really small glasses ( you had to remember not to drink the grounds at the bottom )
enjoyed his coffee but preferred a mug of Americano , so i ground up some beans used fresh water and made a fresh pot of coffee .. I offered him a mug ,, he dubiously picked it up ... examined it ..........sniffed it ... took a small taste................and put it down ... "my friend you invite me for coffee ? .. This is not coffee ,,,,,,,,,,This is dirty water ...
I spat out my coffee laughing ...........
I love my coffee and drink way too much daily including taking a 1/2 litre to work every morning. I've tried all methods cheap and expensive and (much like OP don't want the faff and time involved in getting the 'perfect' cup. So after much thought and research I've ended up spending 2.5k on a bean to cup 
Ir's a Jura Z10 super automatic and it's superb straight out of the box but also allows me to make adjustments to refine any recipe to suit my tastes.
Now all that aside (and maybe OP has already tried this) this instant coffee is as good and at times better than many of the other methods described above.......
It's old school powdered instant that's really good at 2 heaped spoons/cup.
Ir's a Jura Z10 super automatic and it's superb straight out of the box but also allows me to make adjustments to refine any recipe to suit my tastes.
Now all that aside (and maybe OP has already tried this) this instant coffee is as good and at times better than many of the other methods described above.......
It's old school powdered instant that's really good at 2 heaped spoons/cup.
-Cappo- said:
Glad to hear you've taken the plunge (sorry!).
The answer to your "watery" point above lies in your "4 teaspoons" of coffee. I have no knowledge or experience of the particular coffee you're using, although the reviews seem good, but for a cafetière the size of the one you have I'd be closer to 3 or 4 dessert spoons for a full brew. But you just need to experiment to suit your own taste. I use two generously-heaped scoops of the type below, and fill it to maybe 3/4 full to get two decent-sized mugs from it. Appreciate there's nothing to gauge size from in that picture (and it's downstairs and I'm upstairs ) but it's probably about 40mm across?
If you wanted to get really scientific with it, the note on the arm of that scoop says 7g per cup. I believe the size you have there is referred to as an 8 cup? So you could always try weighing it?
Just to follow up on this: I can confirm that the Bodum scoop is indeed 40mm across, and one FLAT scoop is equal to one heaped dessert spoon. So I wasn’t far out with my educated guesswork last night. The answer to your "watery" point above lies in your "4 teaspoons" of coffee. I have no knowledge or experience of the particular coffee you're using, although the reviews seem good, but for a cafetière the size of the one you have I'd be closer to 3 or 4 dessert spoons for a full brew. But you just need to experiment to suit your own taste. I use two generously-heaped scoops of the type below, and fill it to maybe 3/4 full to get two decent-sized mugs from it. Appreciate there's nothing to gauge size from in that picture (and it's downstairs and I'm upstairs
) but it's probably about 40mm across?If you wanted to get really scientific with it, the note on the arm of that scoop says 7g per cup. I believe the size you have there is referred to as an 8 cup? So you could always try weighing it?
I picked up a rubber spoon for the waste grounds and a metal mesh strainer and thought I was sorted. However it turns out that 95% of the grounds just go straight through the stainer and down the drain 
. How do you french press folks deal with the grounds? Obviously I can scoop out and bin the bulk of them from the container with the rubber spoon, but I still need to swill out the rest and also wash the filter.
Reading elsewhere it's been suggested to use a pour-over coffee filter as this will stop all the grounds, but obviously these are designed to retain the water in them for a certain amount of time, to extract the flavour from the beans. I don't want that as I want to water to instantly come out the bottom, but keep all the fines in the basket. I have tried a couple of sheets of kitchen roll in the strainer, but it quickly breaks up with the volume of water needed to swill out the container and filter.
. How do you french press folks deal with the grounds? Obviously I can scoop out and bin the bulk of them from the container with the rubber spoon, but I still need to swill out the rest and also wash the filter.Reading elsewhere it's been suggested to use a pour-over coffee filter as this will stop all the grounds, but obviously these are designed to retain the water in them for a certain amount of time, to extract the flavour from the beans. I don't want that as I want to water to instantly come out the bottom, but keep all the fines in the basket. I have tried a couple of sheets of kitchen roll in the strainer, but it quickly breaks up with the volume of water needed to swill out the container and filter.
This afternoon coffee care routine for my Bodum is exactly why i only use it on weekends for my "slow morning" reward for making it through the week. The only quick mess free way ive found is to fill it with water, and pour the water through another paper filter (the cone type) into a jug and then bin the filter.
The rest of the week I use my Aeropress. Yes the coffee isn't as nice, but being able to eject the puck straight into the bin with barely any extra mess is very attractive. Ultimately, I'll be transitioning to a bean-to-cup machine like Meile or Jura, but I can't really justify the cost right now.
The rest of the week I use my Aeropress. Yes the coffee isn't as nice, but being able to eject the puck straight into the bin with barely any extra mess is very attractive. Ultimately, I'll be transitioning to a bean-to-cup machine like Meile or Jura, but I can't really justify the cost right now.
-Cappo- said:
Tisy said:
- 4 heaped teaspoons of this
- Feels a tad watery on the palate
Glad to hear you've taken the plunge (sorry!). - Feels a tad watery on the palate
The answer to your "watery" point above lies in your "4 teaspoons" of coffee. I have no knowledge or experience of the particular coffee you're using, although the reviews seem good, but for a cafetière the size of the one you have I'd be closer to 3 or 4 dessert spoons for a full brew. But you just need to experiment to suit your own taste. I use two generously-heaped scoops of the type below, and fill it to maybe 3/4 full to get two decent-sized mugs from it. Appreciate there's nothing to gauge size from in that picture (and it's downstairs and I'm upstairs
) but it's probably about 40mm across?If you wanted to get really scientific with it, the note on the arm of that scoop says 7g per cup. I believe the size you have there is referred to as an 8 cup? So you could always try weighing it?
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff