To anyone on this thread:
I need to buy a coffee pot or coffee maker that is good for one or 2 cups.
I don’t plan to grind my own coffee, just to get freshly ground bags of coffee.
I quite like the look of this Aeropress Device, but if it’s made of plastic, I’m not too keen on that would prefer glass or metal.
Please let me know if anyone has any feedback on this or ideas of particular devices that are good.
A V60 would be my suggestion. Freshly ground will always be better, but you can make perfectly good coffee with pre-ground.
Use the Coffee Compass I linked above to dial down the ratio between water and coffee. And ideally weigh both instead of eyeballing it, especially while still dialling in to make sure you’re comparing apples with apples.
Letting it bloom (wet the grains and then wait 30-60 seconds before continuing to pour the rest of the water), will also help to elevate your brew.
Probably the biggest difference in coffee taste is grinding your own beans. Pre-ground coffee doesn’t taste fresh and loses flavour within minutes/hours of being ground.
The Aeropress is all plastic and is very variable. Depends on how hard you press it, how long it’s left in the chamber first, grinds size and very often as you press, it slips through. I use it every day, but no idea why.
I used it on an expensive and strong glass thermal mug. After a year or so, the mug shattered due to stress. Another one of your ill thought through gimmicks I think 
I have a 1Zpresso hand-grinder and it is such a beautifully machined thing to look at and hold, I think I’d still keep it if I gave up drinking coffee (wasn’t cheap though).
I then brew using a good old Moka. You don’t get the crema, but the flavour is great. Takes about three minutes to do both and very satisfying.
The two devices between them take up less space than the bag of coffee beans.
They make great hand grinders. Still the best way to grind unless spending £300 plus or so on electric.
@JimDog Another one you could investigate, if you prefer something (slightly) more automated, is the Moccamaster Cup-one.
I haven’t used that one myself though, but I use the KBG Select almost daily. From about 4 cups, ~500ml I would recommend that one, but probably not for 1-2 cups.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
Please keep them coming if anyone else has ideas as well.
The Moccamaster Cup-one looks great but I think the vast majority of the usage of this device will be one (or 2) cups.
This may be a slight quibble, but I think it would be safer to say that increasing dairy consumption above zero, using healthy dairy products, not unhealthy ones, can improve all cause mortality as long as the person doesn’t eat too much dairy.
And even that claim may be qualified by the statement that it depends what people who eat zero dairy eat instead of dairy.
Hope this makes sense, Martin.
James
That’s what the cup-one is for, sorry if that was unclear. The Cup-one is designed for a single cup (perhaps two?). I just don’t have any experience with it myself.
The remark regarding 4 / 500ml was referring to the KBG Select which I do have myself and use almost daily.
Oh thanks for clearing that up.
I’ll have a proper look.
If you don’t want to hand grind, nor want to spend crazy money, I found the Bodum conical burr grinder to be ridiculously good value for money. As a bonus it’s also not as ugly as most “good” grinders, which are a 3+ times its price.
Do let us know what you end up going with!
Will do.
I’m wildly busy at the moment with term beginning next week, etc.
But will certainly update here when I make my mind up.
It looks like there’s some lovely grinders and pots out there!
One other aspect of the problem is that I’m not really au fait with all the coffee terminology.
I know that to taste coffee properly I ought to drink it Black.
But I almost always drink it with milk, and when I’m out, I tend to drink it with frothed up milk as a cappuccino or flat white.
So I’m not even sure whether to drink it like that at home or whether that’s all too much trouble.
But it would be nice to be able to make either a short black espresso, or cappuccino.
Without causing Thread drift, is that simply a matter of getting a coffee maker that has a milk frothing function?
And if so, what’s the best one to get?
I used the Bodum for years and concur.
Excellent design/performance and value.
There are a number of machines out there that are fully automatic or semi automatic.
We use a Sage Barista Express Impress, which makes great coffee, Espresso, Americano, Latte, Cappuccino.
DG…
If you’re willing to splurge just a little more, the Fellow Opus is what i’d recommend. Be careful of grinders that that they’re for espresso, as often the cheaper one’s cannot grind for non-pressurised baskets.
With JimDog, it will be 50 plus posts, 2 months later and come back with “I’ve gone with a teapot”.
I generally like to do The Best research that I can when buying something, before I make my mind up, especially when I know very little about the product category.
