[benb]

I agree with the comments about just doing pour over for something simple at home... It has pretty much become my favorite, although I have never tried an aeropress, nor has anyone ever served me a cup of coffee from an aeropress.

I have a Hario V60 & I got a Chemex 6-cup for Xmas.. I use the Hario day to day for myself and the Chemex comes out if we have guests.

It's taken a while for me to get it figured out exactly how I like it but that control is there. For me what really works is a medium grind, as opposed to some of the recipes that are a bit finer. I do 15:1 with a medium grind and pour the water in about 4 pours, with time between for most of the water to drip out. This seems to reduce some of the acidity and really bring out the flavors.

Can't beat the price on this stuff either. Espresso stuff is just so expensive.. way easier for me to go to a cafe when I want that. I could make coffee for 20 years with the Hario for the price of a nice espresso machine I suspect.

I do think you need to get a good grinder & a scale to really get the best out of pour overs but that is not expensive either.. I have a $20 scale and a $99 grinder.. I've had about 4 grinders.. not sure where the price/performance scale starts to flatten out but the $100-200 range is a lot nicer than the $50 range. There is some hype about some of the cheap grinders but I've found they aren't that great and they are a lot of work. I had a Hario Skerton Pro and it is very overrated IMO. Not very consistent and a LOT of work. No way I would ever be making coffee for 3-4 people with the Chemex with a hand grinder.