What’s on your coffee bench?

[Llewellyn]

I have a couple of stove top pots that I use for brewing and they have served me well for years. I'd love one of the machines to go on the bench but I'm the only one who drinks coffee and I only drink long blacks so it would be overkill for my needs.

And I'm a bit gutted because we were given a brand new Bialetti by some friends who left the country, but we have an induction cooktop so it's worse than useless for brewing on that. I've asked around to see if anyone else can make use of it but everyone seems to use the pods.

[livingminimal]

Originally Posted by Llewellyn

I have a couple of stove top pots that I use for brewing and they have served me well for years. I'd love one of the machines to go on the bench but I'm the only one who drinks coffee and I only drink long blacks so it would be overkill for my needs.:

Id say 75% of the drinks I make are Long Blacks. I still really appreciate having a good machine to pull a proper shot. The next best alternative to that would be an aeropress, for me anyway.

[froze]

I'm a cheap arse even though I love dark rich strong coffee, but I make it cheaply! I also like to change things up a bit so I have several different makers. The makers I have is a Moka Pot, AeroPress, French Press, Takata Cold Brew maker, Hario Pour Over, and a Cezve Turkish coffee pot (some call this an Ibrik). If you know anything about these makers none cost over $30. I also have a Hario Skerton coffee grinder which can do all the grinds I want for all my various makers as well as the Turkish grind, and this was only $40.

So I can change up my coffee anytime I want by just switching to a different maker and using the correct grind for the maker.

When I go bike camping I only take one coffee maker due to space limitations of course, so I take the smallest and lightest maker I could find, it's a GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip which packs down super small and weighs almost nothing, plus it was cheap to buy at just $10.

If you were to ask which one is my favorite...I don't really have one because the all have a unique flavor from each, but I am kind of digging the Turkish coffee, but it's a bit time consuming so I save that for the weekend when I'm not in a hurry to get to work.

[Smitty2k1]

I'm a simple man, Encore grinder, cheap french press, fresh beans from Happy Mug.

I need to figure out a Coffee Outside setup though.

[livingminimal]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

I can make a pretty spectacular cup with my Aeropress. Decent beans ground at the time of use.

Honestly, Aeropresses are amazing. Back this fully.

Originally Posted by ptourkin

My espresso rigs are a hacked Silvia with a pid and a Rocky.

I need to swing by and see this silvia. That's awesome.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

I can make a pretty spectacular cup with my Aeropress. Decent beans ground at the time of use.

My espresso rigs are a hacked Silvia with a pid and a Rocky. I'm waiting for livingminimal to get sick of coffee and hook me up with a Rocket.

We can Hang. An aeropress and a Porlex are always in my luggage;-)

I too had a PID'd Silvia+Rocky that lived in my office. The PID made all the difference. Pulled great shots with that setup.

[adub]

$20 Moka pot and pre-ground Lavazza Crema E Gusto.

I've messed around with the fancy machines, burr grinders, beans. This is dead simple easy, cheap and tastes just as good.

[redir]

Originally Posted by adub

$20 Moka pot and pre-ground Lavazza Crema E Gusto.

I've messed around with the fancy machines, burr grinders, beans. This is dead simple easy, cheap and tastes just as good.

I love a moka pot too. And I really do like Lavazza. Every once in a while it's seriously discounted at my local Kroger grocery so a buy it, have not been dissapointed yet.

[notsew]

Originally Posted by adub

$20 Moka pot and pre-ground Lavazza Crema E Gusto.

I've messed around with the fancy machines, burr grinders, beans. This is dead simple easy, cheap and tastes just as good.

If I could drift this a little bit... I was gifted a moka pot and I've never been able to get a good pour out of it. Any tips?

[Mzilliox]

Lots of home baristas! I am looking at maybe grabbing a new single group machine.
[IMG]Home espresso by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr[/IMG]

i also roast my own at home

[VoyTirando]

We use a chemex and chemex filters exclusively (tried others, found that they really do make a difference), and do pourover. We have a Bodum burr grinder with a hopper for a few days' worth of beans, and have it pre-set to just push a button for pot's worth at a time. The fresh-ground beans has been a game changer. We use a Hario pour over kettle, but admit to often pre-heating the water much more quickly in a cheapo electric kettle and then transferring to the one with the long, skinny spout. We should just get a Hario electric pourover kettle, but more crap etc etc....

For beans, we're kind of stuck on Grumpy espresso beans, Heartbreaker blend, which are a bit brighter, medium roast, Ethiopean/Columbian mix. Pretty much everyone we've made coffee for goes, "holy sh*t this is amazing."

Making pourover is a pain, for sure: watching, pouring, waiting, etc. But I've essentially stopped buying pre-made coffee in shops. The stuff we make at home is too good.

For camping, we have a Bialetti Moka, and just pre-grind a bunch of the same beans really fine. Tasty....

edit: our friends in Portland have this https://ratiocoffee.com/ and holy hell does it rock. the price tag is insane, but the coffee is just as good as our pourover, without the hassle. As an object, it's too space consuming for an NYC apartment, but if you have a big kitchen, it's a beautiful object. On the same trip, after visiting these dear friends, we hoofed it up to Seattle to visit family, and my brother and his wife make French press every day, which they're very proud of. We found it nearly undrinkable. Totally acidic. Yuck.

[livingminimal]

Originally Posted by Mzilliox

Lots of home baristas! I am looking at maybe grabbing a new single group machine.
[IMG]Home espresso by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr[/IMG]

i also roast my own at home

Dual grinder set up.

Real recognize real.

[Mzilliox]

Originally Posted by livingminimal

Dual grinder set up.

Real recognize real.

Yeah, one for espresso only, one for the other stuff. Id never dream of moving my espresso setting to pour over then try and dial it back. I already rip through espresso fast enough as it is without having to fiddle with grind all the time. PS, theres a 3rd grinder not in the picture, and a 4th hario hand grinder for camping.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by crankles

We can Hang. An aeropress and a Porlex are always in my luggage;-)

I too had a PID'd Silvia+Rocky that lived in my office. The PID made all the difference. Pulled great shots with that setup.

another one with PID Silvia

btw, I think i asked this before, any of you Silvia owner been able to do decent latte arts?

[sfscott]

Do your wives give lessons?

Mine prefers regular American coffee (even loves flavored Dunkin’s dreck.).

Oh, also doesn’t understand why anyone would need more than one bike. And don’t get her started on how dumb an idea a Ferrari is.