Moving on from instant coffee?
Millions are on the same page as you.
Choosing the right coffee maker for your home, though, is a matter of a little research and the understanding of a few basic features.
Given the endless choices, how do you sift through the maze to choose the best coffee machine for your home?
In this article, we’ve included an easy reference guide infographic in which we introduce to you the various apparatus and appliances available for you to choose from, with the brewing method as the focal point.
This will give you a broad idea of your choices and the budgets involved, making it the first step towards your research, helping you to make the correct choice.
All the appliances and apparatuses mentioned in this infographic use coffee from freshly roasted and ground coffee beans.
‘Estate to Cup’ is the new norm on the burgeoning coffee scene.
There’s probably a roastery in your neighbourhood, sourcing the beans from an estate in the south and offering you to take home a perfectly balanced blend to fill your home with a heady aroma as you brew the coffee every time.
Thanks to the possibilities online shopping gives, it is now easier than
ever to get your hands on some of the best coffee varieties the master roasters have to offer, as well as get the perfect brewing apparatus of your choice.
All it takes is a few clicks.
This is the first step, which is to determine which style of coffee you prefer.
There are machines and apparatuses available for every brewing method.
Let’s explore our choices for each brewing method:
Pour Over
If you like rituals, this is your cup of … coffee. The pour over method is the same as filter coffee or drip coffee, which is pouring hot water through ground coffee grounds placed in a mesh or filter paper. The hot water soaks in the coffee goodness as it flows through and the brew collects in a container below.
In this method, you get to control the water temperature by either going in for a digital temperature controlled water kettle or using a hand held thermometer to manage the temperature.
You also get to control the speed at which you pour the water onto the grounds, the brew time and the brew strength, all manually by controlling the water temperature, speed and quantity of water to make the brew strong or mild.
There are several choices from simple conical metal mesh filters that you place over a mug or more stylish glass carafe versions that use a paper filter cone. Pour over aficionados also use a special goose neck kettle for pouring water onto the grounds as it gives them greater control.
Stove-Top Espresso
Also called a Moka pot espresso, this method of brewing uses a cool retro-look two chamber brewing pot.
A filter basket with a cappillary tube is placed in lower chamber where the water rises thrugh the capillary as it is heated, infuses through the coffee grounds and collects in the upper chamber as a strong brew of coffee.
A fairly popular and easy method of brewing coffee. Straightforward, with no adjustable parameters other than the grind size of the coffee grounds. Coarser grounds make milder coffee and vice versa.
French Press
A fairly simple method of preparing a strong cup of coffee.
Simply add hot water to freshly ground coffee and allow the coffee to infuse.
A few minutes later, press down the piston with the filter disc to seperate out the coffee grounds from the water and have them settle to the bottom of the jar.
It’s a simple coffee infusing apparatus.
Drip/Filter Coffee
As the name suggests, coffee is brewed by hot water passing through a filter containing coffee grounds in an upper chamber and drips down as a brew onto a lower chamber or carafe.
Drip coffee machines are the most popular and inexpensive brewing machines that work on electric power.
This method usually results in a mild brew for most arabica roasts. By adding Robusta to your blend, the brew can be made stronger.
Pump Espresso
There are two main categories of electric espresso machines.
Steam Espresso and Pump Espresso.
Steam espresso machines are devoid of a pump and use a weak 3 bar pressure to force hot water through coffee grounds.
Pump espresso machines force hot water through coffee grounds at a pressure of 15 bars.
Pump espresso machines, essentially, are miniature versions of the kind of machines used in coffee shops.
All of the above methods of brewing give you a coffee experience several notches above instant coffee.
With a coffee roaster probably in your neighbourhood or even having the convenience of ordering fresh batches of coffee online, you are spoilt for choice.
As long as you follow the ‘3F’ rule for brewing coffee, you will never be dissapointed with your choice of coffee brewing apparatus or machine.