The 4:6 method for coffee-brewing (2017) [video]
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I know more than 20 different ways of making coffee.
Here is the best coffee brewing method I've come up with.
First, I get some CLEAN water, and I boil it in an unfinished metal or ceramic-finished metal pot. I use a regular pot so that I can see inside. I also like to let a little bit of the water evaporate...
While it's getting ready, I get the best and freshest coffee grounds I can muster, it's better if I can grind them on the spot, but that's not always available.
I put the coffee grounds, as much as I think is necessary, into a glass or ceramic bowl, and pour the boiling water over them. I optionally cover and/or stir and let steep.
After about 5-15 minutes, I pour the coffee into another glass or ceramic bowl, letting the grounds stay at the bottom of the first bowl.
The coffee is now ready for drinking. To keep it warm, I cover it and leave it in the oven for insulation, or use an electric plate. It usually doesn't last long. It's good cold too.
The second best method I know is cold-brewing in a similar fashion, takes a number of hours I haven't tracked yet.
If anyone is interested in learning why this method is better than all the others, please reply with the method you think is better and I will explain why you're wrong. :^)
Edit: The method in the video is quite good, and my only complaint is that it uses disposable filters, which leads to unnecessary materials harvesting, human labor, biome squeeze, diesel use, waste output, and other artifacts of production.
It also makes it easy to brew coffee with cinnamon, hot spice, or whatever else you like with your coffee. Blends it all together nicely.
Cleaning is not quite as easy as it is with an Aeropress or other paper filter device, but it’s close.
For example: https://www.amazon.com/French-Coffee-Press-Espresso-Stainles...
My wife and I walked into a random coffee shop in Salem, MA and ordered coffee. A Swiss teenager prepared it while reading a paperback (used to live in Zurich so I recognized the accent when he was conversing with his mother). It took forever and he didn't bring it over until it was ready to be pressed.
Never had a better cup in my life, I forget what beans and roast, have no idea what the place was called, etc (I was a tourist on my honeymoon from Canada and I didn't have a roaming plan so I had turned off my phone, forgot to bring a notepad, and I have a terrible me memory for nouns).
My wife thought it was "just ok". :)
Sounds like you wife is a German :)
Your method sounds to me like it'd have some grounds and fines floating around in it, which is okay but I'm not a huge fan personally, and it'll also be multiple things to wash (though, they sound like easy washes). I also don't have nice coverable drinking bowls, or even very nice cookware for boiling water up in.
My method's pretty easy twice a day, but it's not perfect either: I couldn't make this somewhere else, but... I do live here. :) That said, it did take a while for me to find a good grind size with my machine, and to find scales and cups that fit under my espresso machine's group head and had the right range etc required, and I've got to wash my little espresso cup I pour into, and I had to buy my own non-pressurized portafilter basket, so it took some real time to come together right.
I'll have to try your way out!
I received it as a christmas present and must have lowered the cost in my memory: it's a breville café roma, which isn't listed on their site in the US these days, but is still in Canada? Which is where we ordered it!
At the time I think it was actually ~$200 CAD, but it appears to be about $200 USD now when I view US Amazon. Sorry for the misinformation :)
What I wanted to say is a year or so ago I started doing a pre infusion. Run the pump for about 5 seconds until the first drip comes out. Then turn it off and let it sit until the heating indicator turns off again. Now pull your full shot. I get a much better result doing this.
Do you have a grinder that works well with it? I have just been buying Illy espresso as I find it gets the best result compared to any grinder I willing to buy (I love the cans, too). I'd like to get back into roasting and grinding but just haven't found the right grinder in my admittedly cheap price range.
I've never got the preinfusion step to work the way I want. I tried it a bunch after buying the non-pressurized basket, and found I'd get pours coming out way too fast (like <5s) no matter how hard I tamped, even at >18g in the basket, doing almost exactly what you mentioned! I think they worked okay in the pressurized one though.
I've since settled on ~16.5-17.5g at ~12.5 on the grinder (from 1-50), and tamped briefly about as hard as I can comfortably press. Comes out good enough every time that I stopped timing anything and just pull to the 34g weight (+5-6g of drip after) these days.
I'm inspired to go grab a coffee. :)
No inverted method but just doing as it said on the box, except I let it steep for a minute or so before plunging. Freshly ground beans, just using (Dutch) tap water from an all metal kettle.
The downside for me is that it requires hardware I don't have already and is difficult to travel with. Metal pots and glass/ceramic bowls are available in most kitchens.
It seems crazy that the best coffee maker in the world is only available in plastic.
As you said, boiling water in plastic just doesn't work for me.
On a more snobby note, the thing that surprised me was how easy it is to roast coffee using a popcorn maker. I got the coffee sampler and popcorn maker and it was off the charts good. Absolutely fresh coffee, with the added advantage of sometimes just eating a few coffee beans after roasting :)
I don't like the Aeropress because it's plastic, requires cleaning of separate parts, and requires purchasing a new product, which as much negative karmic weight.
I don't like the Aeropress because it's plastic, requires cleaning of separate parts, and requires purchasing a new product, which as much negative karmic weight.
I just eyeball it honestly. You'll know when you poured the water too hot from the bitter taste :)
So that's where I'm at now, buying big packs of paper filters for my Aeropress and V60. I'm not sure how to move past it. I guess I just tell myself it's infinitely better than Keurig for less waste and massively better flavor.
Anecdotally I had some cholesterol issues and found that going to paper of metal made a difference, surprisingly. Probably not significant but seemed to help in my case (I was drinking a lot of coffee then). Now I can't stand the oily texture of a French press.
Do you have any sources on paper vs metal? It seems highly unlikely to me, that paper filters could be more environmentally friendly.
I have to give it a minute when I visit the folks though.
Wondering if there’s a low-bullshit reusable coffee filter medium to remove some of the oils.
What I want to get sorted most right now is water. I use tap water, but I need to filter it because it’s really, really calcareous. Most filters are made of plastic, or at least plastic cartridges with the filter medium. I was thinking about using glass or metal instead and somehow machine a container for the filter medium and buy that stuff in bulk. I really don‘t want to buy bottled water to make coffee.
Any thoughts?
Do you know what kind of cloth is commonly used? I imagine it's something like linen, cotton, or hemp?
If you're concerned about waste, a filter is far preferable to bottles of water or consumer-grade water pitchers, even if there's plastic involved.
Not all filters can remove all the impurities added by today's water channels and sources...
Bottled water which is single-source, in bottles which leach less, AND has a short travel distance is rare...
In most areas, well water and other natural bodies is best tested regularly by a lab which will tell you the results...
I've heard of a few other methods of water purification, such as multi-step macro-process, but I've yet to try them myself.
What can be done to enjoy coffee, without so much oil?
I'd be interested to know if reducing that oil actually helps with heartburn though because I'm surprised there'd be enough there to cause problems. Or at least to cause noticably more problems than the caffeine and acidity of the coffee.
It's still acidic, but for instance Aeropress says coffee brewed with an Aeropress and paper filter has about 20% the acidity of a regular drip brew (and about 10% of a french press). (As far as I know this is largely down to paper filters and lower brewing temperature, both of which you can emulate other ways.)
Obviously only a personal anecdote, and for most people it'll never make a difference, but as your stomach becomes irritated it doesn't take much to make it worse. On a bad week, just drinking some black tea (ph~5) rather than green (ph~8) or putting a bit of black pepper on something can be enough to have me in pain for hours. Think like, normally it might not hurt to poke your arm, but if you've got a big bruise it doesn't take much to make it hurt.
On a good week, drip coffee through a metal filter is largely fine. On a bad week, it's painful but coffee from the aeropress still sits mostly okay.
You might want to try cold brew as well.
In order to make it still tasty, I would prioritize getting whole beans and smashing them up yourself not long before brewing.
I would do this while avoiding plastic contact, e.g. a metal-bowl coffee grinder or one of those hand grinders (which I have not tried but assume work pretty well.)
I've had cowboy coffee like you described, boiling-brewing-pouring, it was tasty. I'm a bit lazier than you are, I think.
Edit: thanks for sharing, btw. I love being able to hear from someone so knowledgeable.
1) Many parts which must be cleaned.
2) Often the parts are plastic, which is unacceptable combined with hot water (or any, really.)
3) The glass is very fragile, potentially leading to breaking and even injury. Usually top-heavy designs, too.
My FP doesn't have any plastic components in the filter area, only in the top.
Yes, I have broken some FPs, one by juggling it out of a high cabinet and one by scrubbing it too aggressively while soapy. Like someone said, there are steel presses available as well.
1) Agree, personally I am too lazy to clean it every time, just rinse it in water
2) Agree, though, everything in contact when brewing is metal or glass
3) Had my current french press for 6 years without issue.
Nonetheless, guess the difference boils down to personal practicality.
After cracking my umpteenth glass cafetiere (what you call a french press in the US), I bought a metal one - that was around 10 years ago, and it's still going strong!
It's easy to clean too, but then every one I've had has been.
My no-effort method is to get a technivorm (not cheap, but not super expensive) and run that first thing in the morning with fresh grinds -> Super fast for 3+ people and good quality coffee. If I have the time - I'll do a pour over.
It cleans up quick, pop out the compressed spent coffee grind puck into the trash and rinse under water then you are done!
The same dark roast [edit, added same] from V60 is much easier on my stomach. I wonder what might be the cause.
Metal filter / no filter coffee usually is the most irritating, so I’m trying to aviod that.
The funny thing is I've never really considered it before, since the whole process of starting up a stove and cleaning up carefully seemed like such a hassle, but I got a stainless steel model (Bialetti Venus) which is both induction-capable and soap-friendly. :)
But I suppose a disposable filter is slightly more.
I stopped making cold brew however because it's too easy to drink and my family would like it very much if my heart did not explode.
Is it time? Temperature? Amount (Probably amount)? Am I stupid?
They don't mean anything - they're used to show the idea of pouring water 5 times.
Use B grams of beans.
Use W = 3 * B * 5 grams of water
Basic method:
1. Pour 5 times (p0 .. p4) each using 3 * B grams of water.
2. Wait 45 seconds before you pour again.
3. Allow the dripper to keep dripping for 3.5 minutes.
Adjust sweet/acidic taste balance:
p0 - δ grams, p1 + δ grams - sweeter.
p0 + δ grams, p1 - δ grams - more acidic.
Adjust strength by dividing the final 9 * B grams of water differently:
stronger - pour less water more times.
weaker - pour more water less times.
Thanx!
I think the grey levels are just there to distinguish between different pours. So you take the amount of water you want to use and divide it into chunks which you pour separately (with a 45 second delay between), and depending on how large you make each chunk you get different results. I.e., first chunk large = sweeter; fewer chunks in the last 60% = less strong.
That being said, for almost a year now if not more, I've switched to making coffee the following way: Take a pot fill it with water, add coffee, boil until the foam disappears, wait a few minutes for the coffee to rest. Pour into a cup, if desired add milk and/or sugar, enjoy!
What I like about it, is that due to the size of my pot I can just leave the coffee on the stove and get ready and by the time I'm done, the coffee will also be done.
What's important to remember is that everyone lives their life through their eyes, ears and perspective. Or in the other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
You may hate the coffee that I love. And that's okay ^^
The coffee needs to be good quality for the grounds to sink down, Lavazza always works for me.
This coffee is like the French press, or a white Americano, just unfiltered. I call it Gypsycano.
Get beans green from SweetMarias.com or the like. Not expensive ($6-9/pound).
Get a cheap hot air popcorn popper. Mine was $3 used from Goodwill.
Pour in 1 cup of beans, turn on. After about 8 minutes you’ll hear beans start to crack - that’s a light roast. Cracking ends for a while - there’s medium. A second round of cracking happens around 9-10 minutes - dark. Past that you get oils extracting and near burned - French roast.
Easy, cheap, fresh.
I hear that one hack is to grind your freshly-roasted beans and leave them for a bit to degas. The far greater surface area means that they'll degas much faster than as a whole bean.
I've tried it all, and the only thing that I'm happy with is the Aeropress. If that isn't the perfect cup of coffee, I don't know what is.
You probably want to pre-boil the water so that the coffee doesn't sit on the heat for too long, but you should also only turn the stove up to medium so that it extracts more slowly. Pull the pot off the heat as soon as it starts making the loud rushing noise — I even rinse the base with cold water so that it stops boiling right away.
The burn comes from sitting in the pot after brewing. If you grab it & transfer it as it boils over, then you won't get any burned taste.
Once coffee sits in it for 20 minutes, even with the stovetop off, it starts to go acrid & smoky.
Aeropress doesn't have that problem at all, of brewed coffee coming in contact with hot metal.
I like the Mokka pot for my first coffee, because it is relatively simple to operate before I've had my coffee.
I put mine (stainless steel) on my induction stove for 2, maybe 3 minutes maximum, and I've never encountered burnt coffee.
After cleaning up, I made a new gasket from an old bike innertube, and it worked just fine.
If you can resist after reading this HN thread, you'll be able to overcome any future temptation.
Good luck.
If it's because of caffeine jitters, try popping some L-theanine: https://examine.com/supplements/theanine/
The comments are hilarious to me though, like everyone is speaking a different language.
Side Note: If you dislike the texture of French Press, puncture the bloom after 4 minutes of brew time then wait 2-3 minutes before plunging.
Basically it's a thing that forms when fresh coffee grounds get moist, since that accelerates the release of trapped gasses. The gas leaves the grounds, but gets trapped by the surrounding water and substances extracted from the coffee, forming a foam.
My interpretation is that "puncture the bloom" basically means "stir to break the formation of a foam ball on top of the coffee grounds".
[1] https://foodal.com/drinks-2/coffee/guides-coffee/what-is-blo...
Puncture means to take a knife and cut a few pie slices into the mass of grounds and release the gas beneath. The grounds will sink at that point. I try not to stir aggressively since that is counterproductive to producing a “clear” cup.
Once a few minutes have passed, you can plunge accordingly.
Here’s a thing to try. Pour in the water about half way. Give it a quick stir. Let it sit for 45 seconds and then slowly pour in the rest of the water. Let it sit for 4 minutes. Then puncture the grounds in a couple places. Wait another 2 minutes and then plunge.
Also the water should be 93C.
It's similar. For 30g of grounds, 500g of water. 60g (often closer to 90g if you try to get all the grounds wet) initially before waiting 45 seconds. The another 240g over the next 30 seconds. And then the remaining 300g over another 30 seconds. Simple enough to do every morning.
I'd like to try going with less water in that initial pour, though, to see if I can get a sweeter taste.
Works with max 20g of coffee (at the usual 1:15 ratio) otherwise the brew will take too long.
So what you need is:
1. Good Coffee 2. Good Water 3. Reasonable Grinder 4. A preferred method/ tool (french press, drip, moka pot, aeropress etc) 5. Patience to experiment
I've got a strong preference for coffee brewed using an espresso machine (ie high pressure extraction pushed through a tiny hole), but I'm not really sure what the cause is - is it different levels of extracted compounds? Is there any pour-over methods (ie not pressurised) that are similar?
If you havent tried the classic pour overs with freshly ground specialty coffee, I would really recommend it. I used to be an espresso guy, but now I only drink filters.
What I care about is what the coffee tastes like. How do the different brewing methods differ in taste, and what causes them to differ?
Espresso and slow brew coffee are probably the furthest apart, and many people like one and not the other, it's a personal preference. But even if you like slow brew, there's not a single one that tastes better than all the others. That's a little like asking which wine tastes the best. Some wines taste objectively terrible, but after a certain point it comes down personal taste. Some people like darker vs lighter roasts, high vs mellow acidity, and on and on.
If you just need somewhere to get started, I would start with slow brew because it's much cheaper. A good grinder can be expensive, but there are inexpensive manual grinders that do a decent job. Watch some videos, buy some coffee, and see what you like.
You also have different variables in the taste itself. The sweetness, acidity, bitterness, earthy flavors etc. There is also the feel of the liquid, based on the amount of suspended soluble material and oils.
What causes the differences is primarily that different chemicals are present in the coffee, and more are created in the roasting process. Those chemicals all have slightly different rates in which they will become soluble based on temperature and pressure. A finer grind, higher temperature, or longer brew will all result in extracting more of basically everything, some of which might taste unpleasant to you.
Pour-over and french press are super lame, only good for occasional light drinking sessions.
At the same time, I think I'd take a machine that does espresso over drip
The technique in the video blew my mind. I just tried it, balancing it on the "acidic" side as mine are typically fairly sweet, and it works as advertised.
Thanks 112233 for teaching this old dog how to gain better control over my brew! Now I can impress my coffee-loving guests even further by brewing to their preference.
I still drink coffee outside the house, but this is my goto when I want a good cup.
I think the nature of internet forums (and this particularly applies to audiophile ones) is that they can bring out the most neurotic personally traits - people complaining and making nonsense, unverifiable claims. But there is also the silent majority of people who are thrilled to be able listen to some recording of classical music without having to go to a concert hall (assuming their local orchestra are playing whatever it is).
Also - I don't use a v60 coffee maker so perhaps I don't know but I was under the impression that it's actually a very approachable way to make coffee at home and not that expensive an accessory. (I am on Team Moka Pot, and those really are cheap and easy to operate :))
It's the coffee that's expensive. That soon leads into getting a good grinder so you don't end up with expensive stale grinds (whole beans stay fresh longer).
There's also the Clever Dripper (CA$ 25) that can use Melitta-style filters instead of 'proprietary' ones. James Hoffman on procedure/technique:
Most people aren't aware that they can practice cooking many times in a row and get noticeably better in a day. You can't make 25 roast dinners in a row, but you can make 25 omelettes, or 25 cups of coffee, and dramatically increase your proficiency. If you only practiced once a day, you would actually not get much better, and it would still take you 25 times as long.
Obligatory warning to HN readers to tread lightly if you are feeling mechanical keyboard curious.
Same with coffee makers. I would consider myself a coffee snob but I've ditched all the fancy gear and use a $12 pour over device from OXO. That and a basic water kettle will get you world-class coffee for less than the cost of a basic Mr. Coffee unit.
However, a good roaster costs $400-$1K+, a good grinder costs $200+, and a good (used) espresso maker costs another $200-$400. All of these amounts can escalate very quickly.
I spend far more on beans annually than I have on hardware in the past 5 years. I have zero interest in chasing more expensive hardware for a fix. But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke.
Having had a few pairs go like that and the hatred I have for the tinny weeny sub-hair micron strands of wire they have and fixing them. I always go for headphones with a socket connection or if hard-wired, have a second output jack that you can use to share with a friend who can plug in - as the way those are wired, you can just plug a male to male cable in and use that as the headphone input.
As for Bluetooth headphones, I go for ones which can also accept a hard-wired connection, so at least it prolongs their life if replacing the battery proves an effort beyond the scope of my elephant-hands.
I used sennheiser HD201s ($15 canadian on sale) for years until the cable broke, then upgraded to sennheiser HD599 ($149 canadian, on sale) because it has replaceable cable. Might add an aux jack to the old ones, sometime...
I ended up with bose QC25 which can be found used for $50-90 because it sounds good, is comfortable to wear, has a replaceable cable, replacable ear cups, and although it uses a battery for noise cancelation its a plane jane nimh rechargable aaa battery sold all over creation. Also the battery running down just means noise cancellation stops working not sound.
I find it amusing that the headphones people are upgrading to in the same product line are exclusively bluetooth meaning more hassle connecting, lower quality sound depending on phone and codec supported, aren't able to produce sound at all if the battery runs down and to add insult to injury the battery is built in and hard to replace. It's one more thing you need to constantly remember to keep charged up so it doesn't die when you need it with a hard to replace part that is going to go bad far sooner than the device gives out. Ifixit rates it hard and says it takes at least 45 minutes and a $30 part even if you have all the tools.
The coffee fumes are mostly annoying because the set off all my smoke alarms in no time -- even if the fumes are as good as invisible to my eyes.
It's a pain in the ass to hand-grind coffee every morning, and I wouldn't have the ability to do it before coffee, but... if you don't have hundreds of dollars, don't let that stop you from having a great cup of coffee.
However, as long as you have an oven (and don't live in the immediate vicinity of a local roaster), you'll find that the DIY roasting route gives you 90-110% of the benefit that you get from buying online boutique roasts for store bought prices.
And let's be honest, this is one of those hobbies (like drones, 3d printers, or photography) where you'll eventually find yourself wanting more than a french press and hand grinder.
Mine was 800€. To pay this, you need to be a coffee nerd, but I think it is absolutely the most important thing to get consistency and satisfaction. I use an inherited antique ceramique (no plastique) pour over filter and do not feel it has any drawbacks.
I will try Tetsu's technique.
I use a Rancilio MD 80 that I picked up for 80CHF. The guy I bought it from didn't know what he had. It's as large as my Gaggia, but grind retention be damned, I'm not giving it up.
This is in practice at most annoying, so you can indeed make good coffee without a zero retention grinder but for a 'coffee snob' the most important thing is consistency in the cup.
1. The expensive accessories thing is actually a bit of a myth.
Espresso is expensive: a good home machine will set you back well over 500 $/€ and can go up into the thousands, and an accompanying grinder is about the same price range again. You can pay over 100 just for a tamper.
But, coffee snobs are typically not into espresso. The two biggest areas of "audiophile-esque" dedication are pourover (v60 funnel ~€4.50) and the infamous International Aeropress Championships (retailing ~€35). Filter-grade grinders are also much cheaper than Espresso, going in the ~€200-€500 range for electric, but most dedicated aficionados prefer manual grinders which retail as low as €25 for a decent quality one.
A part of the above differences is that coffee snobs are into the more direct & involved (slow) process of making
The bigger cost to coffee snobs is beans, retailing usually around triple to quadruple the price of major brands. I guess this could be likened to buying vinyl... ? Though the audiophile community still disagree on whether vinyl is worthwhile.
2. It's not all about taste
Major brand coffee is sold at well below reasonable cost of production. Coffee snobs are buying Direct Trade coffee, which is typically much more sustainable and equitable, even when compared to many of the mass-produced "Fairtrade-labelled" brands. While buying expensive beans will hit your pocket much more severely than the equipment costs, it is at least going toward something.
This could I guess be likened to audiophiles supporting artists by buying albums etc. but I'm not sure if that's generally true of audiophiles specifically (e.g. compared to serial concert-goers)
- pourovers take a ton of time and effort, but an Aeropress is really fast. I think I spend maybe about a net time investment of 45 seconds (15 seconds to start the kettle/hit the grind button, 15 seconds to set it up, 15 seconds to make the coffee) between which phases I can do other stuff, like work, or, more likely, hacker news. Of course, this is WAY less time than going to a starbucks.
- even the more expensive beans are still on the order of 5x cheaper than the cheapest starbucks.
[1] https://boingboing.net/2013/07/20/cheap-easy-no-mess-cold-br...
Coffee definitely doesn't have to be a super-expensive hobby.
I’ve been using a muslin/“nut milk” bag for years. I’ll grind a pound of coffee and let it steep for a couple of days in roughly a gallon of water, then pour it into a dispenser that I can leave in the refrigerator.
I’m no coffee snob but to me the flavor keeps extremely well.
The only thing I found is that even the finest mesh bag leaves a considerable amount of grit so I pour that through a paper filter. Hard to beat fantastic coffee at the turn of a spigot.
The first recommendation I give to people that want to get into brewing better tasting coffee is to get a burr grinder, even a handheld one will do just fine. With a burr grinder you just get a more consistent grind which helps reduce the fines thereby reducing the bitterness.
I second this, but do get one with a metal burr like a Timemore, and not the oft-recommended Hario Skerton, which has a ceramic burr.
The manual grinding experience with a metal burr grinder is so much better.
I use my Baratza for my day to day coffee, but that was not a cheap upgrade.
Speciality roasters will print a roast date.
James Hoffman just made a video on exactly this topic: https://youtu.be/O9YnLFrM7Fs
Warning: once you start on his videos you may never return.
... but if you're perfectly happy with dewars white label and bud light, I'd recommend never losing that and finding another perfectly good hobby =).
<takes a sip of store-brand instant coffee>
Yep.
(yes, yes, I know, it's terrible..but it's so cheap, and I am if nothing else a major cheapskate)
If you like it that’s cool.
I found one I like (Mount Hagen), it tastes better to me than most exotic coffees my coworkers rave about, and that's it. Cheap, easy to make, taste like coffee.
"I'm glad I have a 5800X so I don't have to care about well-performing code".
Lots of people drink coffee. Many enjoy the taste of good coffee. Some people enjoy brewing the finest coffee as a hobby, just as someone else likes making wooden furniture, writing elegant algorithms, or painting.
If everybody liked your hobby the same amount as you do, it wouldn't be your hobby.
Perhaps I'm agitated this morning. Ironically perhaps, that I haven't had coffee in several days.
E.g. watches. There's a lot of places on the Internet to discuss watches, and people that think being "into watches" is a thing. But all you're actually doing 95% of the time is buying watches and discussing what watches one buys. People can get very neurotic over this and develop weird tribal sentiments around it. I've seen this derisively (but also appropriately) coined as "bugmen" behavior. Same idea with craft beer. It's just consumerism in disguise.
Notice I don't mention watchmaking/homebrewing; those are legitimate hobbies.