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Since this is HN I'll venture to ask a slightly off topic question: Has anyone here build their own coffee maker and would like to share the story? I own a mid

by kriro 11y ago

Since this is HN I'll venture to ask a slightly off topic question: Has anyone here build their own coffee maker and would like to share the story? I own a mid range (800 Euro) machine but am growing a bit tired of having only one bean slot. The price jump up to multi slot seems a bit excessive and it would be an interesting project to DIY. I'd also love the option to access and reprogram the machine in fun ways. It's one of the few use cases for IoT that could interest me...link the maker with an alarm clock (or maybe a sensor in the shower) and have a freshly brewed cup ready just in time in the morning. It seems like a fairly complex project to my not very electronics oriented brain. The chances of me ever building one are slim but I'd really enjoy reading about a project or two (I found a couple but they weren't tinkery enough for my liking).

jacobolus 11y ago
By “coffee maker” do you mean coffee roaster? Espresso machine? Little cheapo drip coffeepot?... What does “one bean slot” mean? What type of coffee do you like? In general, if you’re making coffee for 1–3 people, I’d recommend a french press, a pour-over dripper, or an Aeropress. All three are simple objects without motors or electronics. Next step is to get a nice burr grinder. Hand-crank ones can be kind of annoying to use, an electric one will put you back about $200. An espresso machine with reasonable quality is going to cost a lot more than any of those. I don’t think there’s too much value in adding DIY electronics to a device which brews coffee; you could build something gimmicky, but you probably won’t end up with a better cup of coffee. A coffee roaster on the other hand could be pretty interesting to customize.
- kriro 11y ago
  I think it translates to fully automated coffee machine. Grinder+brewing department+UI. Something like a Bosch VeroSelection. They usually have some settings for the grinder and you can select different kinds/sizes of coffee. And that's the problem. There's one container for the beans but you can theoretically select coffee or espresso. What I was talking about was the need for one container for regular coffee beans and one for espresso beans (or just different roast would be nice as well). I agree that everything else would mostly be gimmicky (even though regulating pressure, water temperature etc. in a more open format would be great) but it would be gimmicks I enjoy like remotely starting it from an app if I enter certain GPS coordinates around a certain time (off from work) or when the shower stops in the morning. I'd probably also get a kick out of statistics and graphs of coffee consumption. p.s.: I do own an Aeropress (+hand-crank burr grinder) and use it but the machine is quicker in the morning where I'm notoriously late no matter when I get up. It's mostly a matter of convenience as the quality is better when I use the Aeropress (but the machine is good enough given great beans of course). I love the control you have with an Aeropress+grinder and that's a good reason to build a DIY machine as the typical ones you get don't allow you to control nearly enough stuff. I also enjoy the process of making the coffee but sometimes I want that tiny extra bit of convenience (even willing to trade it for slightly less good coffee)

by kriro 11y ago

jacobolus 11y ago

By “coffee maker” do you mean coffee roaster? Espresso machine? Little cheapo drip coffeepot?... What does “one bean slot” mean? What type of coffee do you like? In general, if you’re making coffee for 1–3 people, I’d recommend a french press, a pour-over dripper, or an Aeropress. All three are simple objects without motors or electronics. Next step is to get a nice burr grinder. Hand-crank ones can be kind of annoying to use, an electric one will put you back about $200. An espresso machine with reasonable quality is going to cost a lot more than any of those. I don’t think there’s too much value in adding DIY electronics to a device which brews coffee; you could build something gimmicky, but you probably won’t end up with a better cup of coffee. A coffee roaster on the other hand could be pretty interesting to customize.

kriro 11y ago
I think it translates to fully automated coffee machine. Grinder+brewing department+UI. Something like a Bosch VeroSelection. They usually have some settings for the grinder and you can select different kinds/sizes of coffee. And that's the problem. There's one container for the beans but you can theoretically select coffee or espresso. What I was talking about was the need for one container for regular coffee beans and one for espresso beans (or just different roast would be nice as well). I agree that everything else would mostly be gimmicky (even though regulating pressure, water temperature etc. in a more open format would be great) but it would be gimmicks I enjoy like remotely starting it from an app if I enter certain GPS coordinates around a certain time (off from work) or when the shower stops in the morning. I'd probably also get a kick out of statistics and graphs of coffee consumption. p.s.: I do own an Aeropress (+hand-crank burr grinder) and use it but the machine is quicker in the morning where I'm notoriously late no matter when I get up. It's mostly a matter of convenience as the quality is better when I use the Aeropress (but the machine is good enough given great beans of course). I love the control you have with an Aeropress+grinder and that's a good reason to build a DIY machine as the typical ones you get don't allow you to control nearly enough stuff. I also enjoy the process of making the coffee but sometimes I want that tiny extra bit of convenience (even willing to trade it for slightly less good coffee)