I have some spare Christmas cash/gift cards, and I'm thinking that a good New Year's Resolution is to eliminate my energy drink habit (which, uh, could use eliminating).
I don't have a coffee setup so far, and I'm the only one who drinks coffee. Further, I'll be mostly preparing coffee in my office, which is a standalone structure with no hot water but what I bring.
So: I know the following. I need a way to make hot water, a way to grind coffee, and a way to turn ground coffee beans into coffee with hot water.
I'm tending towards the Aeropress, because I know people who really like it, and I don't need a drip coffee maker.
As far as heating water goes, I'd like to stay under 1500W, because my power system won't handle much beyond that (and I can't go with a 240V kettle as I have no 240V power out there).
Suggestions? I need pretty much everything. I don't mind spending a bit of money, but I don't want to spend money I don't need to spend.
Thanks!
I use and love the Aeropress, and would recommend it to anyone. I have one at home and an old one at work for when the work espresso machine goes out. :) Super easy to use, easy to clean, and produces good coffee, consistently. If you have good beans, of course, and do use a timer to get the timing in the right range.
For hot water: I just heat water in my mug in a microwave. About 90 seconds is all it takes to boil the very small amount needed for an aeropress. We have some basic blah blah hot water kettle at home. (Ok, specifically, we have a Hamilton Beach hot water kettle, and I'd advise staying as far away from it as possible. It's a horrible design with the way it vents steam). But our old hot water kettle was great. Works well with aeropress. At work, I just use the h/w tap on an existing coffee machine.
But if you also drink tea or other hot beverages and your office doesn't have a kettle of some sort, I'd absolutely go that route. Hot water is very nice to have around, and the kettles are cheap and last a long time. Since my current one stinks, I'll leave it to someone else to recommend.
For grinding - I've been using a Cozyna manual grinder for the last year and a half (affiliate link, sorry, easiest to grab:
http://amzn.to/2hYaTms ). It's worked pretty well, but I finally broke the rivet in the handle after very sustained use. I'm still using it without the little twisty plastic bit, but need to find the right sized bolt for it soon. It takes about 90 seconds to grind one "dose", which matches up pretty well with the microwave time. But I do own and prefer a nice electric grinder that's not at all mustachian, once I'm back in my real house. Grinder was a Baratza Preciso, but the lower-end Baratzas are great. Also very overkill, but they'll last a long time. (This was a "neat, I made a big chunk of unexpected cash" pat-on-the-back gift to myself.)
A note with the aeropress: It comes with little circular coffee filters that custom-fit the end of the press. I reuse mine ~5+ times and haven't noticed any bad taste effects from doing so. The ones it comes with should last you approximately forever that way.