In my family’s house in San Francisco, every day begins with coffee. Each morning, my dad wakes up, goes downstairs to the kitchen and makes my mom a cup of coffee, which he then brings to her in bed. Ask my mom, or anyone on her side of the family, and they will tell you she has been drinking coffee since she was a child. As my grandfather used to say, “We put espresso in her baby bottle!”
In order to create “the elixir of life” — what my mom calls coffee — you have to figure out a setup that works well for your own brewing needs and aspirations. Most people either use a drip coffee machine, a French press or a pour over process.
Drip coffee machines are the most automated option. For instance, take the Mr. Coffee Easy Measure 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker, which the New York Times lists as “The Best Cheap Coffee Maker.” With this machine, as with most, you put in your favorite coffee grounds, add water and the machine does the rest, leaving you with a full, hot carafe.
Most Mr. Coffee machines have a “Brew Now” button and a “Brew Later” button, allowing you to delay when the machine makes the coffee. This can be great for mornings and handy if you have a very full schedule. Here in Eugene, a number of larger stores stock Mr. Coffee machines, including Target, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond and Best Buy. Also, Fred Meyer has a solid Mr. Coffee selection, and is currently having a sale on these machines.
There are of course more hands-on brewing options available too, such as using a French press or a pour over setup. For a French press, you add ground coffee into the glass or plastic carafe, add boiling water, let that sit for a bit (usually four or so minutes) and then press the lid down to the bottom of the carafe. This can be a perfect way to brew a strong batch of coffee for a few people.
Bodum makes a whole smattering of French presses in different sizes and with different materials, many of which can be found at Eugene’s Down to Earth. I use the glass and metal Bodum Chambord 8 cup whenever I am entertaining fellow coffee drinkers. Bodum also makes a plastic model called the Caffettiera, which is a solid budget pick, especially if you are not ready to commit to a more expensive model. The 3 cup / 12 oz Caffettiera is currently on sale for $9 and the 8 cup / 34 oz option for $12, both on the Bodum website.
When I am just making a cup of coffee for myself, I like to make a pourover. This allows for more customization in how strong you want your coffee, depending on the grounds-to-water ratio and how you pour the water. I use a plastic filter cone and paper filters, both of which I bought at Market of Choice for about $10 total. These can be found at a number of local grocery stores, and the Whole Foods on Broadway has an especially comprehensive selection.
If you want to avoid plastic, many companies make ceramic filter cones. World Market makes one for $7, and Stumptown makes a very aesthetically pleasing one for $21. Reusable filters are also widely available. The key is to match the number on the cone with the number on the filter. For instance, if you have a number four filter, it will fit a number four cone. Mismatched cones and filters will work in a pinch, but often lead to a mess of boiling water and/or coffee grounds.
These are just a few of many ways to make coffee, and pretty much everyone has their own bespoke process. San Francisco-based coffee house Ritual has online Brew Guides that are not only helpful, but also just plain nice to look at, as does Blue Bottle. Locally, the aforementioned Down to Earth Home and Garden has a selection of coffee equipment that I find to be locally unmatched. What is most important is that your system works for you. So have fun with it! Try a few different things, ask that coffee-obsessed friend and then sip away.
