Support NeoGAF

[goomba]

never heard of "American coffee" is that just drip / filter style ? yuck its barely a step up from instant.

 

[Dennis]

Philosophy majors.

 

[StrangeTaco]

any French press

anything else then you may as well be drinking dirty dish water

Yep came here to recommend this. Simple, sturdy, easy to clean, and cheap on top of it. On top of all that you can make loose leaf tea with it if you want.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

The Wirecutter / The Sweethome have been around for a while now. I'm always surprised that these types of threads still exist. They have a team of experts and do dozens if not hundreds of hours of research. Just get one of the models they recommend at your price point and move on.

 

[RDreamer]

I like the taste from a French press, but they're a pain in the ass. You've gotta boil water and wait around. Can't get distracted by anything or its ruined. That's not as bad, but in the morning I make 10 cups of coffee and a French press can't do anywhere near that. On top of that, the coffee gets cold as fuck within about 5 minutes. I like my coffee HOT, and French presses just don't do it.

 

[moniker]

My family swears by the Moccamasters. They're pricy and look industrial, but my own machine which I inherited from my brother still works perfectly despite being 5+ years old and having some cracks in the housing. We don't have hard water, but I've also never put any cleaning solution through it.

I'm not much of a coffee snob, but I find coffee from other machines to usually be less flavorful and more "burnt" tasting.

Yup, my Moccamaster is the best coffe maker I've ever had.

 

[Apenheul]

you are a lost cause. If you can't enjoy good beans without a huge investment, I'm sorry but no.

A good coffee kit can be cheap.
Americano is still good coffee. It's a style or recipe, not a law.

You're oversimplifying things.There are many variables involved with brewing a good cup of coffee, the quality of the beans is one but why spend extra money on quality beans if you have limited control over the extraction?

 

[Dachande]

This thread has been terrible with a few exceptions. Sounds like you are looking for a drip coffee maker op. Drip is a great way of making coffee along with other methods people posted.

I would recommend the Bonavita BV1800SS. Can usually be found for less than the current amazon price of $130.

Take a look at the SCAA certified brewers program for a bunch if other great machines. http://www.scaa.org/?page=cert2

Also....
http://m.thesweethome.com/reviews/best-coffee-maker/

THANK YOU. Exactly what I was planning to post. Don't just get whatever cheapest coffee brewer you find on Amazon - the ones recommended by the SCAA are durable, consistent and make coffee to some pretty exacting and demanding standards.

The Tevhnivorm Moccamaster is generally considered to be the best brewer you can buy, but if it's on that list in the first link, it's gonna be good.

Obviously there's a lot to be said for other home brewing methods (pour-over, espresso, Aeropress, French press and everything else between) and there's nothing wrong with any of them - nor is there anything inherently better about them than any of the SCAA-recommended brewers (which a number of people in this thread seem to have forgotten) - but a brewer is what you want, those are the best and they will last you years.

 

[Greddleok]

French press I use at work. It's so simple and makes good coffee. At home I have a mokapot. Doesn't generate many cups, but I think it tastes better than a french press, and it's only for me.

 

[biggersmaller]

Spoiler

when backpacking

 

[TyrantII]

Big fan of stainless steel percolating. Gives you strong coffee, and never burns it even if you left it sit. Also, No funny tang or taint from plastics or gross moldy buildup in plastic parts.

 

[AlphaDump]

Cheap coffee makers are easy to find. Just make sure the one you get is easy to clean.

you shouldnt spend more than 40-50 dollars on what you need.

 

[johancruijff]

You think the run of the mill Spanish, or Italian cafes have thousands of dollars worth of equipment? Most just have basic shit. It's all about about care, not the equipment.

yes they do?

every respectable cafe has a coffee machine of at least two or three groups

MRSP goes from 1 to 10 thousands € for the biggest brands

 

[Hoo-doo]

You do know they make Moka pots in all sizes, right? They go up to 18 cups in capacity, I believe. That's a shitload of coffee and making it could not be easier.

Fill it with water and coffee and you put it on the stove. That's it. Before you know it it's done.

 

[SandTorso]

I'd recommend an Aeropress. It's easy to use, costs like $25, and makes the best single cup of coffee I've had. If you're making 2 or 3 cups at a time get a french press. Both require a kettle, but the actual thing itself is pretty cheap.

 

[Veritigo_X]

I've got one of these OXO Coffee Makers and have been really happy with it. It's great for guests since it can brew 12 cups plus it has the separate kettle if anyone wants tea or something.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YEYKGMK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[lilltias]

My Moccamaster is over 10 years old, been used with hard as fuck water for most of that time, and its still going strong, still making amazingly good coffe really fast at the right water temp.

It cost me around 180$. Probably the best investment I have ever made, no lie.

 

[Union Carbine]

Any of these will be a solid machine for you:

At this time, current SCAA Certified Home Brewers are:

• Technivorm Moccamaster
• Brazen Plus Customizable Temperature Control Brew System
• KitchenAid Coffee Maker KCM0802
• KitchenAid Pour Over Coffee Brewer (model KCM0801OB)
• Bonavita Coffee Maker (model BV1900TS)
• Bonavita BV1900TD 8-Cup Digital Coffee Brewer
• OXO On 9-Cup Coffee Maker
• OXO On 12-Cup Coffee Maker
• Wilfa Precision Coffee Maker

All these brewers meet the Specialty Coffee Association of America guidelines for coffee makers-- mostly this means that they'll do things like reach and hold the proper heat levels and other technical stuff.

If you don't mind manually brewing your coffee, you can make amazing coffee with just a pour-over filter, a manual conical-burr grinder, and a kettle.

 

[Macam]

This thread is a hot mess. None of the manual brewing processes -- a Chemex, Bialetti, Hario V60, Aeropress, Beehive, etc -- cost more than $40. Unless you're buying a siphon or a high end burr grinder, none of the coffee equipment is expensive, so the OP or whomever keeps acting like it costs a small fortune is delusional.

If you want a machine, rummage through whatever list the SCAA certified machines another poster provided, and find one that fits your cost requirements. If they don't fit your price, then get whatever you want, because at that point you're basically looking to dump good coffee into a low quality machine that can churn out whatever volumes of coffee you like.

 

[MechDX]

Love how the OP says no French press and everyone ignores it and post pics of French press.

OP I have a Cuisinart grind n brew. Has a hopper on top and grinds the beans fresh every time I make a pot. Buy your beans and Costco or Sam's and save quite a bit.

Drinking a cup of coffee from my pot with beans from Costco. Tastes good man!

 

[Macam]

Love how the OP says no French press and everyone ignores it and post pics of French press.

To be fair, I don't know what kind of replies one would expect when asking people that give a crap about coffee for advice on cheap, automated machines. Might be better off just skimming Amazon reviews or retail shelves.

 

[SRG01]

The Bonavitas and Technivorms are pretty good in terms of automated drip coffee.

If you don't mind manually pouring the water, you can purchase some pourover equipment too. I'm a big fan of Chemexes and the Grosche Austin/Seattle.