Buying and storing coffee beans
How to buy whole bean coffee on a budget, read a roast date, work out the cost per cup, and store beans so the last scoop tastes close to the first.
Coffee
Fresh beans, a burr grinder, a scale and decent water get you most of the way. The brewer comes fifth, and it's the one everybody buys first.
Most of my coffee comes out of cheap gear, and most of it's good. A good cup at home comes down to four things you control: beans roasted recently, ground right before you brew, weighed against the water, and brewed with water just off the boil.
Start with the grinder. A burr grinder, even a hand one, does more for the cup than any brewer upgrade. Then pick a brewer for how you actually drink: a pour-over cone if you want to tinker, a French press or AeroPress if you want it easy, a moka pot if you want it strong enough to stand a spoon in.
The guides below give the actual numbers: ratios, water temperature, grind, and how to fix a cup that tastes sour or bitter.
Guides
Dialing in a pour-over at home
A pour-over recipe with real numbers: 20 g of coffee to 320 g of water, the water temperature, the pour, and how to fix a cup that tastes sour or bitter.
Coffee gear
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Hario V60 dripper
Budget pickA cone dripper for pour-over. The plastic one is cheap, nearly unbreakable and holds heat better than you'd think. It makes a clean, clear cup, and it rewards a steady pour. Use the papers made for it.
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AeroPress
Budget pickForgiving, quick to clean, and it packs into a bag for travel. It brews one strong cup at a time and handles a wide range of grinds and recipes. A good pick if you want one brewer and don't want to learn to pour.
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French press
Budget pickNo paper, so the cup comes out heavier and fuller. Coarse grind, four minutes, press, and pour it all off the grounds right away so it doesn't keep brewing in the pot. Glass ones break. Ask me how I know. Get steel.
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Bialetti Moka Express
Budget pickStovetop coffee, strong and close to espresso without an espresso machine. Cheap, simple, and parts like the gasket are easy to replace. Buy the size you will fill every time, because a moka pot doesn't brew well half full.
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Timemore C3 hand grinder
Budget pickA burr grinder is where better coffee starts, because blade grinders make powder and chunks in the same pass. A hand grinder gets you even burr grinding for much less than an electric one. Expect about a minute of cranking for a cup.
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Baratza Encore electric burr grinder
Step upAn electric burr grinder that a lot of home brewers start with. It covers French press through pour-over well. It isn't built for espresso. Parts are sold separately, so a broken piece is a repair, not a replacement.
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Gooseneck kettle
Step upThe narrow spout lets you pour slow and aim, which pour-over needs. Electric models with a temperature setting take the guessing out of water temperature. A stovetop one works fine with a cheap thermometer. If you only brew French press or moka, skip it.
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