4 ms·

It's not the hardware that make it expensive, its the beans. Really good coffee is expensive. There are gems at cheaper price points, but its hard to find, and

by swalsh 5y ago

It's not the hardware that make it expensive, its the beans. Really good coffee is expensive. There are gems at cheaper price points, but its hard to find, and they're usually temporary.

zhdc1 5y ago
It's the hardware. You can pick up 1kg single source raw beans for anywhere between $8-$20 USD depending on your interests. Roasted, these will taste better than anything you'll buy in a store and will almost as good -> better than mail order specialty roasts. However, a good roaster costs $400-$1K+, a good grinder costs $200+, and a good (used) espresso maker costs another $200-$400. All of these amounts can escalate very quickly.
- Hasnep 5y ago
  Are consumers roasting their own coffee? Also, a good handgrinder is less than £50 and a V60 with filter papers will only be £10. Pourover coffee can be just as good as espresso, it's just different.
  - mns 5y ago
    A decent one maybe, a good one, just like the original comment mentioned starts at around 200$/Eu. Would recommend in the cheap category a Polrex, I stared with one of those and use now for travelling, it's quite a solid grider for the prices and it has decent results.
- SECProto 5y ago
  An acceptable roaster costs $20 (air popper), acceptable grinder $30 (hario or equiv), and a good espresso maker costs $30 (aeropress). And a good set of headphones costs $50 (ATH m20x) I spend far more on beans annually than I have on hardware in the past 5 years. I have zero interest in chasing more expensive hardware for a fix. But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke.
  - mft_ 5y ago
    A minor nitpick: the Aeropress makes great coffee (I have one in the cupboard myself) but it definitely doesn't make espresso.
    - SECProto 5y ago
      Definitely fair. Wrote that comment before my morning coffee :)
  - Zenst 5y ago
    > But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke. Having had a few pairs go like that and the hatred I have for the tinny weeny sub-hair micron strands of wire they have and fixing them. I always go for headphones with a socket connection or if hard-wired, have a second output jack that you can use to share with a friend who can plug in - as the way those are wired, you can just plug a male to male cable in and use that as the headphone input. As for Bluetooth headphones, I go for ones which can also accept a hard-wired connection, so at least it prolongs their life if replacing the battery proves an effort beyond the scope of my elephant-hands.
    - SECProto 5y ago
      Thinking of adding an aux jack to my old sennheiser 201s, as they work fine otherwise. the reason I got the hd599 is because they had a removable cable, haha
  - michaelmrose 5y ago
    I bought headphones two steps up ATH m40x and although the sound was good it was the most uncomfortable pair of headphones I have ever worn couldn't wear them for 10 seconds and owned them for 5 minutes.
    - SECProto 5y ago
      I'll be honest, the ATH m40x was just a google result for best headphones under $50. Comfort is very important (and completely orthogal to price) I used sennheiser HD201s ($15 canadian on sale) for years until the cable broke, then upgraded to sennheiser HD599 ($149 canadian, on sale) because it has replaceable cable. Might add an aux jack to the old ones, sometime...
- kseistrup 5y ago
  A hot-air popcorn machine is suitable for small batch roasting if you can do it outdoor (there's too much chaff and smoke if you do it indoor). My popcorn machine doesn't get hot enough when the outdoor temperature is under 15°C, so roasting beans is a summer thing that I look forward to.
  - medstrom 5y ago
    I cook fish which is much worse for my co-tenants than coffee smoke. Kitchens make all sorts of smells, but it's fine as it's temporary. The chaff is quickly wiped away if the counter is reasonably clear. If the counter is a cluttered mess, you can always roast on the dinner table instead (hopefully you guys keep that one clear).
    - kseistrup 5y ago
      Hah, I can imagine the smell of fish. The coffee fumes are mostly annoying because the set off all my smoke alarms in no time -- even if the fumes are as good as invisible to my eyes.
- jrockway 5y ago
  A $200 coffee grinder is just a throughput optimization. If you take away the $170 motor and use your hand instead, you can get a great grind. It's a pain in the ass to hand-grind coffee every morning, and I wouldn't have the ability to do it before coffee, but... if you don't have hundreds of dollars, don't let that stop you from having a great cup of coffee.
  - zhdc1 5y ago
    I happily used a blade grinder for years before I upgraded. As others mentioned, you can get into this hobby without spending a lot of money (my current grinder is a commercial unit I bought used for way less than $170). However, as long as you have an oven (and don't live in the immediate vicinity of a local roaster), you'll find that the DIY roasting route gives you 90-110% of the benefit that you get from buying online boutique roasts for store bought prices. And let's be honest, this is one of those hobbies (like drones, 3d printers, or photography) where you'll eventually find yourself wanting more than a french press and hand grinder.
- klyrs 5y ago
  The best espresso I've ever had came out of a $30 single-shot moka-like device on a wood stove.
zaat 5y ago
Recently bought this piece of hardware, you can but a lot of good coffee instead, but it is an amazing machine that produce really great coffee: https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/product/linea-mini/#machine https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/product/linea-mini/#machine

by swalsh 5y ago

It's not the hardware that make it expensive, its the beans. Really good coffee is expensive. There are gems at cheaper price points, but its hard to find, and they're usually temporary.

zhdc1 5y ago

It's the hardware. You can pick up 1kg single source raw beans for anywhere between $8-$20 USD depending on your interests. Roasted, these will taste better than anything you'll buy in a store and will almost as good -> better than mail order specialty roasts. However, a good roaster costs $400-$1K+, a good grinder costs $200+, and a good (used) espresso maker costs another $200-$400. All of these amounts can escalate very quickly.

Hasnep 5y ago
Are consumers roasting their own coffee? Also, a good handgrinder is less than £50 and a V60 with filter papers will only be £10. Pourover coffee can be just as good as espresso, it's just different.
- mns 5y ago
  A decent one maybe, a good one, just like the original comment mentioned starts at around 200$/Eu. Would recommend in the cheap category a Polrex, I stared with one of those and use now for travelling, it's quite a solid grider for the prices and it has decent results.
SECProto 5y ago
An acceptable roaster costs $20 (air popper), acceptable grinder $30 (hario or equiv), and a good espresso maker costs $30 (aeropress). And a good set of headphones costs $50 (ATH m20x) I spend far more on beans annually than I have on hardware in the past 5 years. I have zero interest in chasing more expensive hardware for a fix. But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke.
- mft_ 5y ago
  A minor nitpick: the Aeropress makes great coffee (I have one in the cupboard myself) but it definitely doesn't make espresso.
  - SECProto 5y ago
    Definitely fair. Wrote that comment before my morning coffee :)
- Zenst 5y ago
  > But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke. Having had a few pairs go like that and the hatred I have for the tinny weeny sub-hair micron strands of wire they have and fixing them. I always go for headphones with a socket connection or if hard-wired, have a second output jack that you can use to share with a friend who can plug in - as the way those are wired, you can just plug a male to male cable in and use that as the headphone input. As for Bluetooth headphones, I go for ones which can also accept a hard-wired connection, so at least it prolongs their life if replacing the battery proves an effort beyond the scope of my elephant-hands.
  - SECProto 5y ago
    Thinking of adding an aux jack to my old sennheiser 201s, as they work fine otherwise. the reason I got the hd599 is because they had a removable cable, haha
- michaelmrose 5y ago
  I bought headphones two steps up ATH m40x and although the sound was good it was the most uncomfortable pair of headphones I have ever worn couldn't wear them for 10 seconds and owned them for 5 minutes.
  - SECProto 5y ago
    I'll be honest, the ATH m40x was just a google result for best headphones under $50. Comfort is very important (and completely orthogal to price) I used sennheiser HD201s ($15 canadian on sale) for years until the cable broke, then upgraded to sennheiser HD599 ($149 canadian, on sale) because it has replaceable cable. Might add an aux jack to the old ones, sometime...
kseistrup 5y ago
A hot-air popcorn machine is suitable for small batch roasting if you can do it outdoor (there's too much chaff and smoke if you do it indoor). My popcorn machine doesn't get hot enough when the outdoor temperature is under 15°C, so roasting beans is a summer thing that I look forward to.
- medstrom 5y ago
  I cook fish which is much worse for my co-tenants than coffee smoke. Kitchens make all sorts of smells, but it's fine as it's temporary. The chaff is quickly wiped away if the counter is reasonably clear. If the counter is a cluttered mess, you can always roast on the dinner table instead (hopefully you guys keep that one clear).
  - kseistrup 5y ago
    Hah, I can imagine the smell of fish. The coffee fumes are mostly annoying because the set off all my smoke alarms in no time -- even if the fumes are as good as invisible to my eyes.
jrockway 5y ago
A $200 coffee grinder is just a throughput optimization. If you take away the $170 motor and use your hand instead, you can get a great grind. It's a pain in the ass to hand-grind coffee every morning, and I wouldn't have the ability to do it before coffee, but... if you don't have hundreds of dollars, don't let that stop you from having a great cup of coffee.
- zhdc1 5y ago
  I happily used a blade grinder for years before I upgraded. As others mentioned, you can get into this hobby without spending a lot of money (my current grinder is a commercial unit I bought used for way less than $170). However, as long as you have an oven (and don't live in the immediate vicinity of a local roaster), you'll find that the DIY roasting route gives you 90-110% of the benefit that you get from buying online boutique roasts for store bought prices. And let's be honest, this is one of those hobbies (like drones, 3d printers, or photography) where you'll eventually find yourself wanting more than a french press and hand grinder.
klyrs 5y ago
The best espresso I've ever had came out of a $30 single-shot moka-like device on a wood stove.

zaat 5y ago

Recently bought this piece of hardware, you can but a lot of good coffee instead, but it is an amazing machine that produce really great coffee: https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/product/linea-mini/#machine https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/product/linea-mini/#machine