I currently have two coffee makers that I use. A Cuisinart Grind and Brew where you put whole beans in a hopper and water in a reservoir, push a button and in about five minutes you have a pot of coffee. Easy but only OK quality. The second is a Keurig machine when only making coffee for one, also just OK. I generally use Kirkland/Starbucks French Roast Beans (or Peets Major Dickason’s). The K-cups are Kirkland Pacific Bold. I use sugar and half and half. Without a lot more effort or expense how can I improve my coffee? I have a burr grinder but that’s too much hassle for me to transfer the ground coffee to a drip maker of something like a French press plus the mess/cleanup it creates. I should mention my standard for a good cup of coffee is what I get at a Starbuck’s location, the dark roast. How about Nespresso? or another type pod machine? Do I need to buy a second generation (Vertuo)machine for a good Americano style coffee? Those pads are not yet available generically so they are expensive. Thanks for your input!
I have this one and I love it !
The Moka Pot makes the best at home brewed coffee.
When travelling I pack this one:
I also have a Moka pot that makes great coffee. I find it works best when the heat is low, so the water has more time to seep through the grounds. But I have to make sure I’m in the room when it’s done, because the coffee can boil easily and then tastes burned. I use Costco’s “Rainforest” blend, from Central America most of the time, and their Guatemalan when it’s in season.
I was using a Moka for the first 12 months of the Pandemic but I switched to making pour-overs daily because there’s less fussy cleaning involved.
I try a lot of different beans, mostly local or smaller batch lately, medium roast. I vary my coffee a lot to keep it interesting and try new things. I think I would get tired of Kirkland beans all the time.
I’m not organized enough, and don’t have the space to have a good coffee grinder available to grind beans as I need them. I get my coffee ground when I buy it, then keep it in an airtight coffee can for the week it takes me to use it. I do own a small coffee grinder that I use occasionally, mostly to grind spices, and very very occasionally coffee. I honestly can’t tell the difference between coffee that’s been made for beans ground that day and coffee made from beans ground a few days ago.
I stopped using the Keurig and put it into storage. I make coffee one cup at a time, only pull out the coffee maker when I have company, don’t use my espresso machine much.
My question would be: what do you mean by “improving” your coffee? Are you looking for a different brewing method? Another source of dark roast beans, since that’s your preferred taste profile?
I’m personally not a pods fan because I think they’re wasteful, but I can see what the Specialty Coffee Association is recommending in terms of automatic drip brewers.
Are you willing to put pre-ground coffee into a gizmo? Or is that still too much mess, it has to be whole bean that goes into the gizmo?
The Starbucks brand K-cups taste pretty much exactly like what you get at a Starbucks store if that’s what you’re after.
When our drip maker–Zorushi (sp?) died I bought a Behmor & it made/makes very good to excellent coffee-- all dependent on the whole beans or ground coffee. However my wife insisted on her pour-overs…and while the Behmor was reasonably fast at 7 min or so, a pour-over is about 3 min to boil on the induction & 30 sec to pour. So that’s all we do now. I like Costa Rica & Kenya in whole bean.
Also, how much coffee do you drink and over how long a time period during the day?
My daily brew is made in a humble Hamilton Beach pour over that has a thermal carafe (coffee stays hot til afternoon or the pot is empty, whichever comes first). I set it at night and the auto brew starts just before I wake up.
It has a cone type basket…I now wont use anything but, and will turn up my nose at a flat bottom Mr. Coffee type basket every single time.
It makes great coffee…and with two of us in the house, we each get two generous cups each morning. The standard bean is Gevalia House Blend, ground. We go through it fast enough that stale isnt much of an issue, especially when I keep it in an airtight canister.
I also have a Nespresso, a Turkish coffee pot, a moka, a French press, a portable cone filter pour over (I travel with it) and a Keurig that sits and gathers dust in a cupboard because I frigging hate Keurig coffee.
Never seen that model before. Is this the one?
It is! And it works like a champ.
Peets Major Dickason was a house favorite until recently - I felt like the quality was slipping so I decided to branch out and discovered Kicking Horse Coffee’s Kick Ass blend. It is a bit more expensive than Peets, but worth every penny IMO. Also, a vertical burr grinder makes an ENORMOUS difference in the quality of brewed coffee - I was happy with my blade grinder until I got a burr grinder and now I will never go back.
Which vertical burr grinder do you have? The ones I’ve seen are way more expensive than conical burr grinders.
Nespresso is great. Easy and good taste, though expensive (if you buy actual nespresso pods).
Sorry, I mistyped - I have this OXO conical burr grinder. https://www.oxo.com/conical-burr-coffee-grinder.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw9e6SBhB2EiwA5myr9q6hmzWhzn5pRSVLx9L2Yz4YBum8iXTm2naHrblQMTOwBP4_Rk6z8hoCbm8QAvD_BwE
It’s a very entry level model but IMO does a great job for the price. Huge improvement over my old blade grinder for sure.
I have the Capresso Infinity and have been very happy with it.
When I don’t feel like grinding my own then illy it is.
Most Brûlerie’s have a grinder onsight or will offer to do it for you (if you don’t want the added expense).
I’m a big fan of my Baratza Encore, their entry-level burr grinder. It has 40 different settings and should run you about $150. Baratza’s philosophy is “repair, not replace”, and to that end they have easy-to-follow videos and manuals for changing out parts.
I love my delonghi superautomatic. Put the beans in, fill the reservoir and dial in the strength you want. Hit the button. Used to have a Nespresso but after spending hundreds of dollars a month on pods, realized a more expensive machine that I could just pour whole beans into was cheaper in the long run.
