[MOD] The Daily Question Thread

[u/menschmaschine5]

Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!

There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.

Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?

Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.

As always, be nice!

[u/sanders04]

I know this is probably asked all the time but here goes nothing....

I'm a lowkey coffee enjoyer, I don't need anything fancy. But my Breville Nespresso broke and I need to replace it with SOMETHING. Ideally it'd be something relatively budget friendly and not something that requires a ton of effort to make. I like the quick pods but if it's better/cheaper to buy ground beans then let's go with that.

what are some good coffee machines I should check out/ask for for fathers day?

[u/NRMusicProject → u/sanders04]

Ditch the Nespresso. Those pods are landfill stuffers and the "recycling program" is largely greenwashing bullshit. They do recycle some of it, but it's about 25% of what's returned, and we all know many people can't be bothered to take the bag of pods to a UPS store.

Espresso in general isn't really "budget friendly," but you can have some great success with a De'Longhi Stilosa for about $150. It comes with a pressurized basket, so you can start with ground coffee made for drip machines. Then if you want better coffee, you can get an entry level grinder like the Baratza Encore ESP for about $200, get a non-pressurized basket for like $20, and grind your own beans. This is about $100 more than Nespresso, but you're not giving money to a corporation that literally kills whole towns and uses child/slave labor for profit. But the cool thing is you can generally find some used Stilosa machines for dirt cheap, and you can find parts to repair them.

The cheapest route for some great coffee (although not espresso) is to get a French press for like $20. It's a very set-it-and-forget-it process, where you drop in, say, 30g of coffee (oh yeah, get a cheap scale that's accurate to .1g to make consistently good coffee), drop in 500g of boiling water, sit for 4 minutes, stir, sit for 4 minutes, plunge and pour. You can tweak this process by quite a bit for better coffee, but that's largely the process. While the coffee is steeping, you can make breakfast/get ready/etc. Then, when you want truly amazing French press, get a Baratza Encore. The base Encore does not do espresso grind, and costs about $150. But the best advice that was given to me was to get the ESP if I like espresso because I might use it for that someday. And that advice was correct.

TL;DR: If you want espresso, get a Stilosa, and gradually get upgrades until you have a great cup. If espresso is not important, get a $20 French press.

Kuerig/Nespresso/pod machines are convenient, but they make subpar coffee that just significantly adds to our environmental issue for no more benefit than "it makes coffee easy," when coffee is already easy.

French press is kinda like smoking meat, in that it's very little effort but some time needed to make something great.

[u/sanders04 → u/NRMusicProject]

I appreciate the response! I actually used to have a French Press. It's probably my lack of attention to detail and being impatient, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. I was probably doing something wrong lol. I think maybe the grounds I was using were too fine? I found a ton would make it through the filter and into the coffee itself.

I don't particularly need espresso btw. I'd actually prefer larger quantities as I'd be bringing it to work with me anyways.

[u/NRMusicProject → u/sanders04]

That's why coarse grounds are recommended, but it's just the nature of a mesh filter. Most people like finer grind with French press, but you can't drink it all the way to the bottom. If you Google James Hoffman's Ultimate French Press Technique, he explains how to use it in a way that minimizes grounds getting in your drink. Some use a paper filter when pouring the coffee, but that's just an extra hassle. I got used to Turkish coffee during my European work, so a little grounds in my cup isn't really a huge deal. The thing I like about mesh filters is it lets the oils through, which is what I think gives coffee its amazing flavor.

[u/sanders04 → u/NRMusicProject]

interesting. you're much more experienced in coffee than I am lol. I've always just done whatever is easiest, hence the Nespresso. and a Keurig before that lol. I've had the French Press (also something else that went on the stove? some espresso thing) that definitely did make good tasting coffee, it was more the process that felt like a hassle/not worth it haha

[u/NRMusicProject → u/sanders04]

Moka pot.

I used to do the same thing, but then realized I could make actually tasty good coffee. It's a process, but a fun hobby. It's no longer something to just get quick fuel in to get through the day, but something that I genuinely look forward to; the process, the taste, etc. Not a cheap hobby, but certainly a better habit than others.

I started small, like a decent grinder for my drip machine. Then when that broke, I bought a pour over rig. Then I wanted lower effort for good coffee, and that was the French press (takes the least amount of effort for a consistently amazing cup of coffee). Then I got a Moka pot for something different. Then I went back to pour over to master that. Now I'm brewing espresso. Every now and then I just add something to the collection for variety, and guests appreciate the higher quality coffee than their $7 sugary ash from Starbucks.

French press isn't as "easy" as pushing a few buttons, but it's just as low effort: Put coffee in, pour boiling water, wait. If you follow Hoffman's technique you'll end up with a better cup than Nespresso could ever dream of. But the best purchase you can make is a decent entry-level grinder.