4 ms·

I’ll do you one better: an electric kettle and a French press. Kettle does one thing: boils water. French press has no moving parts and is interchangeable with

I’ll do you one better: an electric kettle and a French press. Kettle does one thing: boils water. French press has no moving parts and is interchangeable with water and coffee from any source. Lasts forever or until you knock it off the counter. Makes good coffee.

wintogreen74 4y ago
How do you prep your coffee? And a french press is a pain to clean.
- llbeansandrice 4y ago
  Immersion brewing (french press) is really forgiving. Just don't grind the coffee too fine and you're pretty much good. I cleaned my french press by knocking out the grounds into the trash, quick rinse with water, then more water with a bit of dish soap and pump the plunger a bunch to froth the soap and clean the screen. Pour out, rinse until soap is gone, air dry. Every couple of weeks I'd do a deep clean by soaking the various parts in Cafiza and hot water. Not that bad imo.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  > And a french press is a pain to clean. What? It’s probably the 2nd easiest to clean right after a chemex.
  - r00fus 4y ago
    Indian filter coffee is even easier - all metal, no glass. But are far simpler than the once-in-a-while cleaning of that complicated coffee machine.
- poulsbohemian 4y ago
  I grind it in a basic cheap grinder. Studies in this stuff have shown that consistency in grind matters more than the amount of money spent on the grinder. I’m not sure what you mean by French presses being a pain to clean - you rinse out the pot, run the filter under hot water and you are good to go. Worried about coffee sludge build up on the filter? I guess you could soak it in some kind of cleaning product. I find the coffee residue comes right off with hot water.
  - OJFord 4y ago
    > Studies in this stuff have shown that consistency in grind matters more than the amount of money spent on the grinder. But what's this super consistent 'basic cheap grinder' you have? The people buying expensive grinders know this too - that's why they're buying them, for their 'conical burrs' or 'ceramic' or some other promise of a great (consistent) grind.
    - poulsbohemian 4y ago
      Studies have shown (I guess I could go google - last time coffee came up on HN there was info shared too) that you can use a very simple heuristic - you give it a little shake. That is to say - expensive grinders have various ways they create a consistent grind size, and they may even have ways to create different grinds (espresso, for Turkish coffee, etc). You can approximate this successfully with a cheap grinder by doing a grind-shake-grind-shake, as the primary problem with these cheap grinders is that they don't rotate the beans through the grinder as smoothly as the expensive guys. I am but a poor man and an amateur coffee drinker, but for my money (and again - according to the sources who blind studied this stuff...) you can get a perfectly good cup of coffee from a $10 no-name grinder. Now, whether the expensive grinder will make you more attractive to your desired mate or make your enemies jealous compared to the cheap grinder - that's a whole other conversation.
      - Kon-Peki 4y ago
        Ikea used to have a cheap (~$20?) hand-crank ceramic burr grinder. It was excellent for the money, but coffee snobs turned up their noses because it wasn't as good as ones costing 5x. There just isn't a market for such things, or at least there isn't if it is only being compared to very expensive stuff. Ikea might still sell it in some markets, but definitely not in the USA.
        KptMarchewa 4y ago
        >It was excellent for the money, but coffee snobs turned up their noses because it wasn't as good as ones costing 5x. Problem with very cheap burr grinders is that burrs aren't very well supported and can move during grinding. This causes inconsistency in grinding.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  I’ll let you in on a secret: I use my French press pretty much daily and throw it in a dishwasher every long weekend. I suspect regular hits of mildly acidic boiling water keeps the microbes at bay better than most other sanitation methods.
- fleekonpoint 4y ago
  Not OP but I have a electric burr grinder. You can also ask coffee shops to grind the beans for you (mention that it is for a French press so they get the grind right). It takes me about a minute 90 seconds to clean mine, I turn it upside down to get most of the grinds in the trash and then I rinse out the rest and dry. I clean it with soap maybe once a week.
  - poulsbohemian 4y ago
    I know this is sacrilegious, but we drink so much coffee around here that I’ve kinda come to the conclusion that buying pre-ground isn’t the end of the world. I’ve always been a buy beans and grind fresh guy (and we typically buy beans from the local roaster). That said - if you buy a bag of ground and use it within a few days / one week, I’m not sure the quality is degraded to the point that it’s noticeable in terms of everyday brew - again, especially if you are going through multiple pots per day.
timeon 4y ago
Also Moka pot or Aeropress. Not sure what is low-tech alternative for espresso.
- NoboruWataya 4y ago
  > Not sure what is low-tech alternative for espresso. There are manual espresso machines like the Flair or the Cafelat Robot. But for many people, the moka pot is a no-fuss, close-enough alternative.
Semaphor 4y ago
> Lasts forever or until you knock it off the counter. Mine is stainless steel. I think it might have glass inside the walls, but that would only affect the insulation properties and the noise ;)
- poulsbohemian 4y ago
  This is true - I own three or four and at least one is stainless steel as well. The Bodum is the best all-around of mine, but the $9 ikea has been pretty good for many years up until the plastic push knob started to break. The stainless steel is a Starbucks, which in some ways I don’t like because I can’t see the color of the coffee as it is brewing and the knob is wooden - pretty, but not wise for a product that gets wet.
  - Semaphor 4y ago
    My SS one is from Bodum and sadly not sold anymore, IMO it’s by far the best looking SS one: [0]. I’ve had it for over 10 years by now, and it’s seeing use every day as it’s also my only one ;) [0]: https://i.imgur.com/rlZwdww.png https://i.imgur.com/rlZwdww.png
  - mantas 4y ago
    > $9 ikea has been pretty good for many years up until the plastic push knob started to break I had this happen to me... Sugru ball works great as a replacement knob.
ramesh31 4y ago
After running the gamut of bullshit fancy coffee makers, this is where I've landed as well. Dead simple, easy to clean, and fast.
zem 4y ago
i do a kettle and pourover myself, but it's fundamentally a fallacy to say it's a replacement for a coffee maker, because you have to actively wait for stages to complete and manually move things to the next stage, rather than load everything, press start, and then forget about it until you have coffee ready.

wintogreen74 4y ago

How do you prep your coffee? And a french press is a pain to clean.

llbeansandrice 4y ago
Immersion brewing (french press) is really forgiving. Just don't grind the coffee too fine and you're pretty much good. I cleaned my french press by knocking out the grounds into the trash, quick rinse with water, then more water with a bit of dish soap and pump the plunger a bunch to froth the soap and clean the screen. Pour out, rinse until soap is gone, air dry. Every couple of weeks I'd do a deep clean by soaking the various parts in Cafiza and hot water. Not that bad imo.
Semaphor 4y ago
> And a french press is a pain to clean. What? It’s probably the 2nd easiest to clean right after a chemex.
- r00fus 4y ago
  Indian filter coffee is even easier - all metal, no glass. But are far simpler than the once-in-a-while cleaning of that complicated coffee machine.
poulsbohemian 4y ago
I grind it in a basic cheap grinder. Studies in this stuff have shown that consistency in grind matters more than the amount of money spent on the grinder. I’m not sure what you mean by French presses being a pain to clean - you rinse out the pot, run the filter under hot water and you are good to go. Worried about coffee sludge build up on the filter? I guess you could soak it in some kind of cleaning product. I find the coffee residue comes right off with hot water.
- OJFord 4y ago
  > Studies in this stuff have shown that consistency in grind matters more than the amount of money spent on the grinder. But what's this super consistent 'basic cheap grinder' you have? The people buying expensive grinders know this too - that's why they're buying them, for their 'conical burrs' or 'ceramic' or some other promise of a great (consistent) grind.
  - poulsbohemian 4y ago
    Studies have shown (I guess I could go google - last time coffee came up on HN there was info shared too) that you can use a very simple heuristic - you give it a little shake. That is to say - expensive grinders have various ways they create a consistent grind size, and they may even have ways to create different grinds (espresso, for Turkish coffee, etc). You can approximate this successfully with a cheap grinder by doing a grind-shake-grind-shake, as the primary problem with these cheap grinders is that they don't rotate the beans through the grinder as smoothly as the expensive guys. I am but a poor man and an amateur coffee drinker, but for my money (and again - according to the sources who blind studied this stuff...) you can get a perfectly good cup of coffee from a $10 no-name grinder. Now, whether the expensive grinder will make you more attractive to your desired mate or make your enemies jealous compared to the cheap grinder - that's a whole other conversation.
    - Kon-Peki 4y ago
      Ikea used to have a cheap (~$20?) hand-crank ceramic burr grinder. It was excellent for the money, but coffee snobs turned up their noses because it wasn't as good as ones costing 5x. There just isn't a market for such things, or at least there isn't if it is only being compared to very expensive stuff. Ikea might still sell it in some markets, but definitely not in the USA.
      - KptMarchewa 4y ago
        >It was excellent for the money, but coffee snobs turned up their noses because it wasn't as good as ones costing 5x. Problem with very cheap burr grinders is that burrs aren't very well supported and can move during grinding. This causes inconsistency in grinding.
Scoundreller 4y ago
I’ll let you in on a secret: I use my French press pretty much daily and throw it in a dishwasher every long weekend. I suspect regular hits of mildly acidic boiling water keeps the microbes at bay better than most other sanitation methods.
fleekonpoint 4y ago
Not OP but I have a electric burr grinder. You can also ask coffee shops to grind the beans for you (mention that it is for a French press so they get the grind right). It takes me about a minute 90 seconds to clean mine, I turn it upside down to get most of the grinds in the trash and then I rinse out the rest and dry. I clean it with soap maybe once a week.
- poulsbohemian 4y ago
  I know this is sacrilegious, but we drink so much coffee around here that I’ve kinda come to the conclusion that buying pre-ground isn’t the end of the world. I’ve always been a buy beans and grind fresh guy (and we typically buy beans from the local roaster). That said - if you buy a bag of ground and use it within a few days / one week, I’m not sure the quality is degraded to the point that it’s noticeable in terms of everyday brew - again, especially if you are going through multiple pots per day.

timeon 4y ago

Also Moka pot or Aeropress. Not sure what is low-tech alternative for espresso.

NoboruWataya 4y ago
> Not sure what is low-tech alternative for espresso. There are manual espresso machines like the Flair or the Cafelat Robot. But for many people, the moka pot is a no-fuss, close-enough alternative.

Semaphor 4y ago

> Lasts forever or until you knock it off the counter. Mine is stainless steel. I think it might have glass inside the walls, but that would only affect the insulation properties and the noise ;)

poulsbohemian 4y ago
This is true - I own three or four and at least one is stainless steel as well. The Bodum is the best all-around of mine, but the $9 ikea has been pretty good for many years up until the plastic push knob started to break. The stainless steel is a Starbucks, which in some ways I don’t like because I can’t see the color of the coffee as it is brewing and the knob is wooden - pretty, but not wise for a product that gets wet.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  My SS one is from Bodum and sadly not sold anymore, IMO it’s by far the best looking SS one: [0]. I’ve had it for over 10 years by now, and it’s seeing use every day as it’s also my only one ;) [0]: https://i.imgur.com/rlZwdww.png https://i.imgur.com/rlZwdww.png
- mantas 4y ago
  > $9 ikea has been pretty good for many years up until the plastic push knob started to break I had this happen to me... Sugru ball works great as a replacement knob.

ramesh31 4y ago

After running the gamut of bullshit fancy coffee makers, this is where I've landed as well. Dead simple, easy to clean, and fast.

zem 4y ago

i do a kettle and pourover myself, but it's fundamentally a fallacy to say it's a replacement for a coffee maker, because you have to actively wait for stages to complete and manually move things to the next stage, rather than load everything, press start, and then forget about it until you have coffee ready.