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.
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.
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.
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.