Best Coffee Equipment According to r/Coffee

"These errors happen and I've found an immersion brewer (switch in my case) is most helpful to salvage the beans. Drop temp 5c more than usual, add water first, gently add grounds, and cut time immersion time in half."

"My initial suspicion is that your Switch is a huge heat sink. The glass sucks away a lot of heat initially, then it also cools down more quickly than your cupping bowl."

"The Switch completely killed my desire to get into trying out different brewers. It’s outrageously reliable and makes a fantastic brew. I am using the Tetsu God/Devil method and it works for literally all coffees at almost whatever ratio you like. I didn’t like the ratio he used too much but with a standard 15g / 250ml it’s superb. 2 x 30 second 92-96° pours at 3 x coffee weight At 1 min 15 close Switch, pour remaining water for specific ratio but at 70°, open switch at 1.45. Delicious coffee every single time."

"Ceramic Origami dripper with a base would be perfect. Would run you about $50, maybe a little less"

"I sincerely think this is a misunderstanding/mistranslation/overreaction. JIS standards have lead-free glazes for all food contact surfaces, so there is no issue. They have stated out of an abundance of transparency that the logo might contain trace amounts, but it’s over-glazed and in a non-contact area anyway. Literally zero risk here. But hey. Send me your origami drippers, I’ll use them without the slightest hesitation. Except that I won’t, because it’s a pain in the ass design, what with no handles and a separate base, with no particular brewing benefit. Pretty thing, though. If you like flats, a Kalita 185 in glass, ceramic, or stainless is a better choice anyway. If you like conicals, glass is the best V60. And if you’re somehow drawn to crossing filters, waves do just fine in a v60. There’s also the notNeutral Gino if you want to get freaky and upgrade your thermal performance along the way. Brewista has a range of options too. There is no reason for this to be a thing. The origami is fine if you like to use it, there are many options if you’ve grown tired of it."

"Origami air and the wooden base for it. Didn't need another dripper, bought it anyway. Now it's the only dripper I use."

"a $200 kettle with a ~$100 grinder seems like a bit of a misstep to me. the Stagg is a great kettle, but you can get like, 90% of the same results with the most basic temperature controlled gooseneck on amazon. I'd go for a ~$50-75 kettle and $200-250 grinder instead. 1zpresso ZP6 or K-Ultra seems to be the chief recommendation around here, I have a ZP6 and it's excellent, haven't used a K-Ultra so can't speak to it personally"

"I actually tried this, but the problem with it is the ring burr, there is no way that I know to remove the ring burr from the aluminum housing that holds it, and that part is where the magnetic interface is. I believe it is pressed in so very difficult to remove it, so I ended up selling the K-ultra. However, I have a 3D printer, so I designed and printed my own catch cup and adapter piece that threads into where the original ZP6 catch cup threaded in, and made them attach with magnets. I also upped the capacity as I regularly do 30g+ brews See pics below for more info"

"Tariffs = Trumpflation. God I’m glad I got my K-Ultra before all of this bullshit."

"I'll be the flair 58 ass hole and say that I have trouble justifying pretty much any machine short of a decent because I'd lose features that I have now. Would it be nice to have a steam wand? I dunno, my nano foamer pro does really well. My coffee tastes great. I might gain a small amount of convenience, but at what cost? And a flair 58 costs what now, like 650 bucks?"

"You should be real certain that you want to use a flair 58.  It's not for everybody.  You really have to love that type of workflow The pricing is almost set as if they were coord  There's a lot of good machines $500 and down. The next year is $1,000, then $1,500, then 2,000, $2,500, etc. And then the offerings between those  brackets are kind of slim especially on the low end.  My suggestion is don't get the flare 58 unless you're absolutely in love with it.  And if you don't get it, pocket the budget, make do with what you have, tuck some money away every month with the goal of getting a really nice machine that you want.  Don't settle just to get something"

"If you aren't doing milk drinks (or not many), you'd probably love a lever machine like the Flair 58, or a Cafelat Robot. You can brew a nice shot with complete control and all you need is your kettle and a scale. Even if you do want some milk drinks there are some great auto-frothing pitchers out there."

"Plastic V60, Kingrinder K6, Cosori Gooseneck Kettle w/ Preset Temperature Control, cheap food scale. Should put you around $250 max with at least $50 to spend on beans."

"Yup that's what they do sometimes. Spike the price up so that they can put it on "sale" and you end up only saving a buck or 2. I've been watching the K6 grinders and they went up 30 bucks day before they went on sale. And with 20% off new price you only save $5. Total scam, but I guess something is better than nothing."

"No. It’s one of the worst grinders from a reputable company on the market. Go for the Kingrinder K6."

"It seems like slow feeding results in more consistent grain size in the final coffee. The difference is especially noticeable with hand grinders like the Kingrinder K4, where you can really feel the resistance and vibration inside the grinder as you use it. I notice when it's tilted horizontally and beans are fed slower that the action of the grinder feels significantly smoother, like I'm shaving the beans down rather than pulverizing them. When held vertically, the beans seem to require significantly more force to grind, and it feels more like the beans are breaking and being crushed rather than being shaved down if that makes sense. I think the idea is that beans tend to bunch up on the burrs and get stuck more with the normal fees rate, causing the final grains to vary more in size. Fwiw, I have gone from a choked 50 second shot at a grind level to under 20s using the same beans on the same day using the same grinder with the same pressure profile. It really does seem to make a massive difference."

"I just ended up here too and can’t seem to find the K4 on Amazon. All I see are 6, 2, and 0"

"I had a similar issue with an older k4 grinder I keep at work. I disassembled it cleaned it and it was much better suddenly. It wasn't perfect, but I simply set it to a finer setting and went on with life, enjoying great coffee at work ever since"

"Get the k-max. The top adjustment knob is great pro-argument and they are great grinders all around."

"If you find that one grind size on your grinder is too coarse, and the next finer step is too fine, then you are running into the large step size of the K-Max. You can work around that by varying the dose. You can go to the step that is too fine and reduce the dose, or go to the step that is too coarse and (if there is room in the basket) increase the dose. When changing the dose in this way, proportionally change the yield to keep the ratio constant. Or else get a grinder with finer grained adjustments like a J-Max. If something else is going on, we need more details on your dial in process and exactly what is failing to give you better advice."

"The K max is a good grinder. If people aren’t getting the tasting notes they expect, I always ask them about their water first? It is an easy and potentially cheap solution."

"Yes. You screwed up. Tell him to cancel and get a clever dripper as that is the most forgiving / least complex of the pour overs. The ceado hoop is even simpler but suspect the drawdown times will make your friend kick it out of his apartment window."

"i had a clever, didn’t like it and ended up selling it. just go with the switch. it’ll give you what you want and if you ever want to tinker with a straight up v60- it’ll do that too. clever is not quite the same"

"Clever Dripper is probably your best. Steep and release. Falls somewhere between a French Press and a V60 on the end result."

"Hand grinders are the play, if you don’t mind the extra work. 1Zpresso J-Ultra rocks so hard for $199. Honestly, they produce results that compete with $400 electric grinders."

"If you want more body and less clarity, go for an espresso grinder like the 1zpresso J-ultra"

"If you’re willing to consider a hand grinder, the 1ZPresso J-Ultra is around $180 and does a better job than most grinders in the $1000+ range."

"Aeropress lid and chopstick. genius hack from reddit from years ago https://preview.redd.it/bb4nzf2mvn6e1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b17046324aa79b68429365db163b9f5e43d99522"

"Since they sold Aeropress to private equity it entishittified like everything pe touches."

"i think it’s way easier to dial in on an aero press and get a good cup straight off the bat so i would go with that"

"1Zpresso Q Air, no brainer. Excellent for Aeropress and fits inside the plunger (at least in mine). Not as good as K-Ultra (or K-Max like mine) but proper good."

"yeah i’m having trouble believing it too given they’re both high quality 1zpresso grinders. i have not had a cold. i brewed [these](https://i.imgur.com/pqfzeCt.jpeg) beans yesterday with the k-ultra and today with the q2 and it’s significantly better."

"It is if you’re taking the step from a Hario or Porlex but at that price I would be tempted by one of the 1zpresso entry level options like the Q2."

"DF83V sneaks in just under $1000. It’s easily the best grinder on the market for that price."

"No. I bought it for work but may just use an old beat up DF83v that I stripped one of the screws so I can not upgrade the burr set."

"To get a great espresso you need fresh beans, a good consistent grinder, and an espresso machine that gives the right pressure. It's possible to make a great espresso on a budget espresso machine, it's hard when using a bad grinder, and it's nearly impossible with stale beans. Since you are in Europe I really recommend you get this while there is stock: https://homebarista.be/shop/products/g-iota-pro-83-v3-wit-refurbished The DF83 v3 is a beast, competing with really high end grinders, usually it's +600€ but here it's refurbished with warranty for 302€ which is probably the best value grinder you'll find at the moment. It's not a flawless product, but with your budget you won't find a flawless product. It would leave you with 300-500€ for an espresso machine which will give you a pretty decent starter machine/setup. You'll likely keep that grinder even if you opt to upgrade the espresso machine later on."

"Machines that would match your criteria: * $450 - Gaggia Classic Pro * $550 - Lelit Anna Moving up a bit... * $735 - Bezerra New Hobby * $850 - Rancilio Silvia * $1,000 - Profitec Go * $1,000 - Lelit Victoria All of these machines are similarly constructed with a stainless steel chassis, robust build quality, and parts that should be relatively easy to replace.  Tubed connections are made with easily sourced tubes, not hard plastic connections. At bare minimum, a professional espresso machine technician should be able to fix most issues, should anything go wrong. The Gaggia and Rancilio machines have been around the longest, and there's plenty of 20 year+ examples still working.  The other machines listed may not have the longevity, but are built similarly. If you're looking for absolute durability, avoid Breville machines.  While some people do have machines that last them for more than 10 years, those are the exceptions. Breville uses a fair bit of plastic and proprietary bits, and they're not great at keeping spare parts on hand for older machines."

"Absolutely.the profitec go has all metal pipes inside plus insulation for the brass boiler where's the lelit Victoria has plastic tubes inside and no insulation around the boiler"

"i bought a used victoria. it was about 5 years old when i got it, worked perfectly other than needing a replacement switch, and i had to replace the opv. the opv was my fault for using r/o water. Otherwise, it's been perfect for 2 years since."

"https://preview.redd.it/1ogegkvtunag1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a514c9c9531412b0a2c4c29cda86d77ece1b583b You know you want a Synchronika"

"That’s a Synchronika I, not a II. The new version heats up much faster, has pre-infusion controls, improved pid interface. Wait and get the new one."

"Ill take it off your hands for you. (Tbh they are very serviceable). However my synchonika is great!"

"I love my Profitec Pro 600. I purchased training with it from Clive Coffee. I felt that the training eased my feeling of outbuying my skill and it was worth every penny."

"Profitec Pro 600 is a much better built machine outside of having dual boilers. it's quite rare I ever have a customer unhappy with any profitec in comparison to a rocket or Bezzerra. If you don't want to wait for steaming you can justify it. In the end it's up to you on how it feels looks and performs."

"I was in a similar situation, but found the Profitec Pro 600 with quick steam valves for sale for $2100 (in Sweden), but I actually wanted a Drive or Linea Micra. In the end, I could not justify the price difference and went for the PP600 (over $1000). It is up to you to justify the price difference. If you think the RIDE looks nice, then get that and use the $800 on other gear that you will eventually want. For me, I decided that I would never plumb the machine and that helped me make the choice to save some money. I do love how the PP600 looks, but day dream of seeing a yellow micra in its place, but outside of styling changes, I really have no reason to ever upgrade from the PP600 unless it explodes. Good luck with your decision."

"Aeropress go, I grind my beans in a small container that lasts up to three days. I don't weigh at work I just use the skoop. Nothing mindblowing but always decent. And easily better than the alternative."

"Aeropress Go and a Q2 grinder. However, Im finding myself falling out of love with the aeropress and carrying an origami air S with a small milk pitcher that I can control to some degree not to cause much agitation. (The aeropress cap with a paper filter works as a makeshift melodrip for the last couple of pours of my recipe)"

"I would probably just go with an aeropress go. Bonus points if you pre-dose the coffee into little bags and bring along a hand grinder, but you can also skip that in favour of a good bag of pre-ground coffee."

"Love my ECM Classika PID with the flow control unit. It would be right in your price range, I believe. You can set separate brew and steam temps, pulls back-to-back-to-back shots pretty well and using the flow control like a long pre-infusion really can help get nice pours. Steaming power is a huge improvement over the GCP (my previous machine). And has the renowned ECM/Profitec build quality and looks absolutely amazing."

"Kingrinder K2 can't be beat for value. But if you spend a bit more, you can upscale to a Kingrinder K6 which puts you in the same quality of grind as the big boys, like 1zpresso K-series."

"I use a 1zpresso X ultra everyday and love the cups it makes, fits within the budget too."