Coffee Appreciation

I use French press and pre-ground coffee for this. Disposing of the grounds is a bit messy that’s all.

My fucking washing machine rattled my V60 off the shelf, it fell down and broke 🫤

As I had mostly filter coffee at home for a couple years now I'm kinda open for something new, looking at the Aeropress again (never had one before, only briefly used one at a friends' house and liked it) -
loving the fact that there's clear ones now, but why the fuck are they so expensive?? I mean it's literally a couple pieces of plastic and a bit of rubber for 50 bucks FFS

Because its incredibly versatile and you can use it every single day for a decade (as I have) and it'll still work. Filters are cheap and the plunger needs to be replaced maybe once every few years if you use it every single day. Still a very high value proposition IMO.

Otherwise, just buy a plastic V60.

The clear one is fancy new BPA free plastic which provides a good excuse for them to bump the price.

Original version is a slightly more reasonable £32

https://mont58coffee.com/product/aeropress/?msclkid=a760540f43531b440ae1319a3131c86a

Also TBD if the new plastics are any better than BPA

https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/02/the-problem-with-bpa-free-alternatives-are-just-as-troubling/

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/bpa-free-another-stand-in-chemical-also-disrupts-hormones-in-lab-tests/

Because its incredibly versatile and you can use it every single day for a decade (as I have) and it'll still work. Filters are cheap and the plunger needs to be replaced maybe once every few years if you use it every single day. Still a very high value proposition IMO.

Following that logic a butter knife might just as well cost 50 bucks, as it's incredibly versatile and you can use it every single day for a decade and it'll still work.
The price you pay for the AeroPress in relation to what it costs to produce the thing is kinda off, in my opinion.

Just saw in that Hoffmann video they also are skimping on the filters now, seriously WFT

New owner, pure profiteering. Shame it's a brilliant product.

Okay, agree to disagree. I'm not defending a price increase, but at its cost, I still think its great value for money. Filters are cheap, or just buy a reusable metal one.

To use an aeropress all you need is boiling water and you can still get the best out of it. To get the best out of a v60, really, you need a gooseneck kettle, so for people who don't have that, an aeropress is a nice option. Dunno what its like where you are, but its only increased in price by 10 USD in the last 10 years. Not bad when other products in some categories have doubled in price/been price gouged to the high heavens.

Mc2 update. Espresso underground confirmed price change due to end of line item.

Bought a working grinder off eBay for less than the cost of a replacement motor. I hate when this happens.

Very sad

It’s a shame. Probably signals the end of the road for the MC2 as the reliable budget grinder of choice if it’s uneconomical to repair any more.

I wonder if it’s because hand grinders are so good now and have cannibalized that market segment? My $150 1zpresso JX-Pro is now 3 years old, has been used every single day for filter and espresso for about half that time and the grind consistency is still fantastic, it’s quick to grind and it makes great, great coffee.

Yea I have the K Max and the consistency is insane for the price

Me and my wife have 2 espressos each per day so having an electric feels over the top. I’m tempted to go manual but they’re expensive

Significantly cheaper than an equivalent electric grinder though. 4x espresso's though... at that stage I'd probably want an electric grinder. Hand grinding for espresso gets boring pretty quickly IMO. Only reason I've not gone electric is because I only do one espresso a day max, and one filter, which is very quick to grind for.

Buy a Clever Dripper, your filters will fit, you can thank me later.

https://youtu.be/RpOdennxP24?si=E-TOAhtROTpOnh0g

Or just a plastic V60 for < £10

I've been going through using a Clever Dripper, Aeropress & V60 for the last month or so. Not sure if it's just familiarity or actual quality difference, but I still massively prefer the V60 over the others.

IIRC my Clever Dripper was only A$25, that's less than £15.

And no need for a fancy kettle.

On the other end of the scale, I've been loving the NextLevel Pulsar dripper. It really feels like an endgame brewer personally. I got on so well with the clever dripper but being able to easily brew 500ml+ on this and stop/start the drip has been excellent. Not needing a pouring kettle for diffused pouring is also a great feature when doing V60 style brewing (rather than immersion), I can't go back now

https://pocketsciencecoffee.com/2023/10/01/how-to-brew-on-pulsar-coming-from-v60/

I always end up back on the v60. I like the theory of the clever dripper but I can never get one to make as good tasting coffee as even a rushed v60. Aeropress is too much faff

Do manual lever machines require a different coffee?

I’ve had cafe hermozi light roast decaf for a while now and fancy a change. It’s generally espresso or an Americano for my good lady

Yeah I mean they're all relatively affordable options, think the V60s are £8/9 for the 01/02 sizes, think my Clever Dripper was around £25-30, and the Aeropress I think is currently around £30-35.

I get the Aeropress for travel options (used to have one in the work kitchen too). I've been playing around with the Clever for a month or two now and while I like it, I just can't seem to get anything that matches the V60 so far. Will keep going for a while alternating between the 3 to see if I get anything that clicks for me.

Also if they just broke their existing V60, I imagine they have a kettle that works for them with a V60 ;)

I broke my clever dripper trying to clean it. The red plastic V60 will go with me to my grave.

I don't mind the Aeropress too much, I just hate having to deal with the silt at the bottom, even when using a paper filter.

Currently waiting for a 2-filter coffee to cool down so will see if that makes a noticeable impact. Seems like a sub-par workaround though.

Nope, you might find the dialling in process a bit more tricky when going from very different roasts due to the pressure being applied by you as opposed to a consistent pump. But should be no other issues.

Buy a Clever Dripper

Ah, I always forget about these! Thanks for the recommendation.

I've never seen one in real life, can imagine the coffee is good, but frankly speaking I really dislike this kinda ugly / complicated plastic apparatus 💁