Much like changing a flat tire by yourself, something about brewing a nice cup of coffee at home is just as fulfilling. If you are a coffee aficionado, instant coffee does not top the list of your favorites. You also probably have a preferred cafe that brews the perfect cup of coffee. Everything about that dose of caffeine, from the aroma to the taste, charges you up for the day.
Of the many things that COVID-19 took away from us, lockdown and shut cafes hit our sensitive spot the most. If you are a serious coffee lover, faint thoughts of buying a coffee machine probably breeze through your mind from time to time. Additionally, studies say that buying a coffee machine is cost-effective when compared to buying coffee.
Investing in a coffee machine places your cup of joe in a spectrum of different styles. Coffee machines let you experiment with coffee, opening your taste buds to a wide range of flavors and potential favorites. Confused about where to start? Don’t bean! We are here to assist you in picking out the right machine for you!
Types of Coffee Makers
Bean-to-cup Machines
Do you wonder why your favorite coffee is anything but instant coffee? That’s because instant coffee is a blend of Arabica and Robusta. With a greater percentage of Robusta beans, instant coffee lacks the aroma, body, and entire experience of quality barista’s coffee. Bean-to-cup coffee machines are the fix for your quality coffee cravings.
Bean-to-cup coffee machines are equipped with an inbuilt bean grinder. This provides you with the freshest cup of coffee by grinding the beans right before you brew the coffee. These machines are widely popular and offer a range of variants for different prices. Bulky, bean-to-cup machines might intimidate you with their size but they are very easy to use.
Advantages:
Easy to use and clean.
Widely popular.
Grinder allows you to brew fresh coffee.
Its various modes can help you adjust the flavor profile of your coffee.
Running late? Bean-to-cup machines are quick and hassle-free with separate compartments.
Disadvantages:
Expensive. Most bean-to-cup machines used in cafes are generally pricey.
Requires extensive maintenance and fairly regular use.
Considerably large. While smaller variants do exist, they are still comparatively large and take up a lot of space.
Espresso Machines
Would you not love to get the authentic coffee experience at home without having to shell out a lot of money? Espresso machines were made just for that. Reasonable when compared to bean-in-cup machines, these are the machines widely used in coffee houses. Although they are cheaper, their access becomes unhandy when you’re on a go.
Espresso machines come with an abundance of accessories like the frothing jug, interchangeable filters, and so on. These also greatly help in brewing various types of coffee. Why stay limited to Americano when you can espresso your love for caffeine through macchiatos, cappuccinos, and lattes?
Advantages:
Provides aficionados with a latte of alternatives.
They are cheaper than bean-to-cup machines.
Manual, automatic, semi-automatic, there is no scarcity of options.
Disadvantages:
It consumes more energy.
It is not easy to use. You will definitely need to go keep the instruction manual on your coffee table.
With various styles come various adjustments in the measurements and tampings.
Drip Coffee Makers
Owning an espresso machine or a bean-to-cup machine might be commitment-heavy. Are you taking baby steps away from instant coffee or coffee on the go? Drip Coffee Makers are traditional and old school. These can make up to 15 cups of coffee in one go, making it fit for an office.
Water is stored in a reservoir which passes through beans when it’s heated. This creates the perfect concoction which is then collected in a glass jug placed on a hot plate. This hot plate keeps the coffee warm. Simple and sweet.
Advantages:
The simplest of all. Just ensure that the reservoir has water and the coffee maker has beans!
Easy to clean. Talk about charging up for the day and out of the kitchen.
Available in various styles (manual or electrical) and popular.
Disadvantages:
Leaving your coffee sitting atop the hot plate might burn it. You might want to invest in a higher model which has an insulated coffee holder.
Variety is vanity here! Bid adieu to a nice frothy cup of coffee.
Pour Over/Chemex
Traditional? No. We’re making coffee caveman style! Coffee made through the pour-over process looks like a DIY hack when compared to anything else on our list. Grab your filter paper and hot water. Shape the filter paper in a conical manner and fill it with coarse coffee beans. Pour boiling water and patiently wait for it to pour over into the tumbler.
Click here to buy Pour-Over Or Click here to buy Chemex
Advantages:
You only need to invest in proper filter paper and a pour-over apart from your coffee beans of course!
Brews a full-bodied cup of coffee.
It is reasonably priced and easy to handle.
Disadvantages:
It generally takes 7- 8 minutes to prepare a cup of coffee. Slower than usual, right?
It brews just a couple of cups.
French Press Coffee Maker
The French Press Coffee Maker is as common, if not more, in the East as it is in the West. Steep beans of coffee in hot water and brew yourself a full-bodied cup of coffee with the French Press Coffee Maker. Gentle like pour-over, French Press also needs time.
Click here to buy Classic French Press.
Advantages:
Easy to clean and use.
Popular and easy to find.
Cost-effective.
Does not require boiling water to brew coffee.
Brews a full-bodied cup of coffee.
Disadvantages:
Lack of insulation and boiling water to brew the coffee cools it down easily.
Cold Brew Coffee Maker
Typically, cold coffee is made by brewing a hot cup of coffee, cooling it down, and serving it with cubes of ice. An overnight process, it steeps coffee in a container. Just like French Press, it brews full-bodied coffee which can be stored and consumed for a week.
Click here to buy Cold Brew
Advantages:
The ideal iced coffee.
The coffee is full-bodied.
The quality of coffee remains unparalleled.
Disadvantages:
It requires more coffee.
Slower than usual.
Stovetop Coffee Maker / Moka Pot Coffee Maker
Perfect for Robusta beans, this sturdy coffee maker is perfect for brewing darker coffee styles. The coffee maker is divided into three parts and is generally brewed on top of a stove. The lowest compartment stores water and boils until the steam rises and brews the beans in the second compartment. Finally, the steam passes through the beans and under pressured conditions settles in the final compartment which collects the drink.
Advantages:
Cost-effective.
Brews coffee faster than other methods and machines.
Disadvantages:
To some, it might be the perfect shot of espresso, while to others stovetop coffee might be too dark and bitter.
AeroPress
Love the French Press style but also want the flavors of cold brew rise? AeroPress is the link between the two styles. Add one adjusted tablespoon of finely ground espresso to the base for each coffee measured shot you would prefer to make. Warm water to 76ºC and fill the base to the cup’s marking. Mix coffee beans for ten seconds and afterward use a plunger to push water down, through the grounds, into the cup.
Click here to buy Aeropress coffee maker
Advantages:
Easy to use.
Handy and portable.
Brews espresso and Americano coffee styles.
Disadvantages:
The various compartments make it difficult to clean.
South Indian Filter Coffee Maker
The South Indian Filter Coffee is usually made using a drip-brew process. It comes with 2 cylindrical cups, one with a pierced bottom to drop the filtered coffee down that sits atop the tumbler cup with a lid. A disc with a stem is also placed over the coffee powder in the upper cup before the warm water is poured in. Most of the South Indian makers are available in stainless steel, but there are many which use a large brass filter that actually enhances the taste of the coffee.
Advantages:
Can be used to make two cups of Indian Filter Coffee.
Easy and convenient to use.
Disadvantages:
May not extract the full flavors of coffee
Can’t be used to brew fancy coffee.
The journey from a seed to a cup is made brew-tiful with whatever machine or maker that you decide to go ahead with. While some like to absorb every process involved in the coffee steeping, others would rather invest their time enjoying and critiquing the flavor profile of the drink. Selecting the right companion to guide you to the perfect cup of brown is an investment.