The coffee maker that ate my kitchen

This article is super strange. It just seems wrong on so many levels. First off, I’m a coffee nerd who owns a coffee company and I don’t have an espresso machine in my house. I use a chemex and am perfectly happy with it. I don’t even want an espresso machine. Second, I haven’t seen this mad Covid push to home espresso they speak about. I haven’t seen it in the market at all (and we sell exclusively to homes). Third, it seems unlikely that large espresso machines are forcing us to redesign kitchens and finally why go on about your big expensive setup only to put some medium roasted cheap ass beans in it. Spend your money on better coffee it’s the easiest and cheapest way to make your coffee better.<p>I hate these annoying articles about coffee which imply you need to be a rich snob to enjoy it.

&gt; Why do we design the most important room in the house around the gear that simply provides our morning cuppa? Because there’s nothing simple about coffee anymore.<p>Who is we? And on top of this being an absurd rich-journalist problem, you really don&#x27;t need an espresso machine at all. A pour-over coffee filter and a bag of pre-ground beans is like $10 total and makes totally decent coffee. Espresso should be a treat for occasions like sitting in a cafe, and an espresso machine is like a pasta roller or ice-cream machine. Totally fine for hobbyists, but most people should just leave it to the pros.

This whole thing looks to be a piece of sponsored content for small tabletop expresso machines (linked at the bottom of the article).

I lived in NYC for a long time, where space is at a premium. The idea of giving up significant chunks of my available counter space to a coffee machine was a non-starter for me. My solution was a hand grinder, a french press, and a pot of water.<p>I&#x27;m in the burbs now, with much more space, but I&#x27;ve kept the setup because the other nice benefit is the simplicity of it -- though I am considering buying a coffee machine to keep in storage and bring out for when I have guests and need to make larger amounts of coffee regularly.<p>I&#x27;ve gone through a few grinders over the years, but currently I am using a grinder from [1]handground, which I&#x27;ve been happy with. Gone through a few french presses as sometimes they break, but they&#x27;re also easy to buy at home stores or coffee shops -- I currently have one by bodum that&#x27;s been working well for a few years.<p>The actual coffee depends on how much I want to splurge. I&#x27;m not a huge coffee snob so I can get away with the medium-priced beans, eg Wholefoods store brand rather than, say, Intelligentsia or La Colombe (though I will sometimes splurge on those). I find _freshness_ matters a lot more than brand.<p>Not a big espresso drinker, but one of my sisters uses those little stovetop espresso makers and has been happy with it.<p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;handground.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;handground.com&#x2F;</a>

The author seems to think their problem is everyone&#x27;s problem. How many people have a 30 pound professional coffee machine and giant grinder setup worth $1000+ taking up half their kitchen? The vast majority of people are making do with a brew pot or Keurig&#x2F;Nespresso.

Archived: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;sYPBc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;sYPBc</a>

I&#x27;ve always wanted a vintage commercial espresso machine as they&#x27;re the closest I&#x27;d likely get to owning a steam engine, but that&#x27;s not a great justification in a home appliance. Instead we have a much more reasonable Breville Barista Express which is a machine right at the sweet spot of quality for the price, just before diminishing returns kick in.

Owning a coffee machine to make espresso (and potentially other drinks) is frugal.<p>My Setup:<p><pre><code> Breville Dual Boiler $1000 Baratza Sette Grinder $500 Various accessories $100 20 bags of beans per year (drinking a coffee a day) $300 = $1900 first year = $2200 cumulative second year = $2500 cumulative third year </code></pre> Vs paying $3 for an espresso at a coffee shop:<p><pre><code> 365*3 = 1460 every year + the time to get to the shop = $2920 by second year (i.e. $720 more expensive) = $4380 by third year (i.e. $1880 more expensive) </code></pre> I for one am fine waking up, drinking great espresso before putting my pants on, all the while saving a bunch of money (after the initial investment).<p>And yeah, I&#x27;ve tried other variations like aeropress, pour over, french press, etc. A proper espresso made well beats them all

I worked with a guy who had a fancy big one on his desk, In an open plan office. He requested that facilities provide a dedicated 15 amp circuit to his desk just for it. He ended up always having a desk on a wall bit away from the crowd because of it, smart move imo.

I have a small hand grinder and a cheap and small tabletop espresso machine.<p>Best setup I&#x27;ve ever had. Coffee is at least as good as from the high quality brands I used to use in office when I was working for a big corporate.

Eh, I can kind-of see that. I came into a dual group commercial unit a while back. I do put it in the kitchen. When you add the grinder and knock box, it can be a bit much at over three feet wide... and 150 lbs of boiling water, stainless and copper is not something to &quot;hide&quot; on the counter top. However, with the fact that I save so much money on espresso-based drinks, its a conversation piece (mostly me and it when I make coffee :), and it looks good, I do not see the downside.

my setup is pretty simple: hand grinder, scale, electric kettle, v60 pour over or aeropress. only the kettle really requires countertop space, but of course I leave all of this stuff out on the counter anyway.

It&#x27;s wonderfully ironic that a post about overcomplicating coffee ends up with a bunch of coffee nerds on HN arguing about equipment.

On one hand, sometimes I want to throw 8 scoops of Dunks from the big container we get from Costco into the drip coffee maker. Usually in the morning when everybody is rushing out the door.<p>On the other hand, sometimes in the afternoon I will break out the scale, grinder, kettle, Chemex, locally roasted coffee, and take a few minutes.<p>Neither setup is expensive, just different takes on the same thing.

Damn, just use a moka pot. It can be stored on your least-used stove burner! I personally got tired of the moka pot cleanup and the fact that it uses a <i>lot</i> of coffee beans to make enough coffee for my liking. Now, I make pour over. Not as strong, but the quickest and easiest cleanup of any method I&#x27;ve tried.

A pour-over kit I got for the Christmas before the pandemic was my gateway drug to fussying over coffee ratios and grind size. It&#x27;s great, I&#x27;m thinking of even corrupting some other members of my family by gifting a kit like that too

After 8 years of home espresso machines (a super automatic Saeco, Astra Pro Heat exchanger, Crossland CC1 - the last two with a Baratza Vario) while also doing lots of pour over, chemex, aero press, etc… I obsessed a bit and purchased a Lelit Elizabeth six months ago.<p>I have used it most every day since then, and even made my wife a coffee lover.<p>It was pricy, but I think for the form factor (it is really just marginally bigger than the Crossland), capability, and price - it was everything I could have wanted out of a machine. It takes up some space - maybe 20” with grinder, but because the machine is shallow compared to most, you don’t lose as much space as you think.<p>I think the Breville Dual Boiler is probably closest in spirit, though usually not much cheaper (and a bit bigger)<p>The breville bambino is popular partially because of the size.<p>The future will be smaller machines with smaller boilers and more electronics - I just think that the lelit gets it all right.

I now call the original Kerrig the &quot;Coffee Shrine.&quot; It&#x27;s just so big.<p>I replaced it with a narrow one, and then later had to open it up to change the power cord. There&#x27;s quite a bit of electronics in it.

My setup: AeroPress, hand grinder, scale and electric kettle. Although, I&#x27;ve been thinking of picking up a Chemex for when I need to brew more than a single mug.

Are we still doing aeropress coffee? That might be the most minimalist choice, besides just switching to instant

When I see this kind of thing I am always reminded of the furniture with price tags scene from Fight Club

I was toying with my own espresso set up but I think of it as a large upfront platform commitment with high switching costs and costly subscription fee (beans). On top of that I have little control over the various subscription fees. And if ever I decide that I want to no longer drink coffee (unlikely) I will have this investment to re-consider.

All I need is a jar of instant decaf coffee, and an electric water kettle. I also have a jar of Pero instant imitation coffee (made from roasted barley, chicory, and rye) for some variety.

LOL, now I love my Italian Bialetti even more.