If you make really great coffee at home, what do you use?

[YouHaveNoAuthorityHereJackie]

I’ve always just stuck to instant coffee at home but noticed more and more how much I like coffee when I go out, presumably it’s being made properly with better beans. I like black coffees and the odd cappuccino. What would I need to replicate this at home? We had a hand me down nespresso machine for a while which I did like, but gave away due to the pod waste.

I use an aeropress and ground coffee (although I sometimes go through phases of grinding beans), This makes a double espresso with minimal fuss - just add hot milk for a cortado or extra boiling water for an americano. If you're wedded to froth for cappucino you can buy a milk frother but that's more washing up

Aeropress are around £20-25 and last forever

The seal on my Aeropress has blown after about 6 years use so I replaced with metal cafetiere.

A bean to cup machine. It cost a lot of money but I purchased it from Amazon and paid instalments. It was a treat after a difficult time. Before I bought this I’d tried everything to make the perfect of coffee but nothing beats this.

A clever coffee dripper. It's a cone with a valve so you can let the coffee steep for a minute.

We have numerous coffee machines.

I like a simple stove top maker, strong black coffee and I microwave the milk if I want any.

DH likes the espresso machine, using the steam wand for frothy milk. I find the aeropress too fiddly for everyday use, never bother with the cafetière any more.

my moka pot - Goes on the stove and over the years it makes better coffee . But I live in Italy so the coffee is generally good and I get good ground Coffee as well !

Aeropress and V60 with beans from a local independent. We have a Wilfa grinder at home so grind them fresh.

We use a cafetiere (plunger) however we grind the beans ourselves in a Sage grinder www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/coffee-grinders/bcg820.html.

The difference grinding the beans has been amazing.

Love my mokka pot. Far prefer the taste to cafetiere or filter coffee.

We have a Sage Oracle Touch which is ridiculously expensive but we have worked out has paid for itself after 18 months, as we don’t buy much coffee out any more.

We’ve got a sage bean to cup monstrosity but the thing that makes a massive difference is good beans. Supermarket beans just aren’t as fresh. We’ve got a fab independent roastery in our town but there’s actually quite a few

Definitely and aeropress or V60, and if you have the time why not try and roast your own coffee beans - seriously it's so much nicer than shop bought coffee beans. There are lots of guides on how to do it on YouTube.

Unfortunately, covid has stolen my taste buds and several months on, I still cannot taste or smell coffee, so I have detoxed myself off of it.
(Sad times...I can't even smell my favourite perfume...)

Nespresso machine. Used every day for 7 years. We love it

Another with a stovetop Moka. We use lavazza red coffee and it is fine. Occasionally we seek out a posher brand but lavazza does for daily use.

DH has a standard machine from amazon and gets ground coffee from a small company in the Lake District - Carvetti. He says it's the best coffee he can make at home.

Proper coffee machine with milk frother & separate coffee grinder . Think they cost about £200 and £100 but absolutely worth it. Bean to cup machines are more expensive. However for something less fancy you could just do a pour over.

@Chishnfips you can buy and fit a new seal - I have had two in 12 years

I've tried everything over the years. Chronically ill so needed something quick and very low input, but found Nespresso just dreadful. Have just bought a Cuisinart Grind and brew plus which was £125. It is excellent. Grinds beans fresh for each cup (inbuilt burr grinder) and coffee at medium strength is strong enough to add milk etc. Very pleased with it. Only have to empty and rinse out reusable filter to use again so low maintenance.
amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00155PUQ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]]

Delonghi espresso machine, cost about £100 a few years ago. I use Lavazza coffee. If you drink anything other than espresso, don't forget, you put your hot water (or hot milk) in the cup first, THEN add the espresso shot on TOP and mix in. Don't pour an espresso and add water/milk to it. And don't just make a gigantic espresso by keeping the machine running until your cup fills up.

I've tried everything and IMO, the best coffee comes from a cafetiere. I brew it strong so it almost has a viscosity to it.

Aeropress and ground coffee on subscription.
I drink it black so no worries on frothing milk etc.
Since we bought the Aeropress the pod machine gathered dust and then was given away.
It's as much about the coffee as the hardware.
I cannot overstate how much that £25 improved our lives.

Feldgrind to grind the beans, manual grinder.

To make the coffee we have an Aeropress, V60 dripper, Bialetti moka pot and a Flair manual espresso machine. The flair obv makes the best coffee, but it's a bit of a faff to use. I like Aeropress and V60 equally after that... the aeropress is more flavoursome, but the V60 makes a beautifully smooth cup of coffee.

To make frothy milk, we have a Bodum milk frother (the kind that looks like a French press), but I'm going to put a nano-foamer on my birthday wish list.

With the aeropress, you can buy a new seal for it for about a fiver, either on the manufacturer's website or Amazon. But as long as you rinse it immediately and don't store it with the inner tube inside the outer tube, it should last for years.

We've had pretty much everything over the years. I think nespresso, aeropress and stove pots are all fine if you drink lots of espresso. I personally prefer Americano which makes a 'longer' but less strong coffee. What has hands-down got the most use is a filter coffee machine, which cost under £25. We use it all the time. You can vary the strength by adjusting how much coffee you use, you can make a whole pot to serve a few people at a time, a hotplate to keep it warm, and a timer so it's ready when you get up. We buy filter papers in bulk and throw the whole thing in the food waste bin. I would replace it with the same thing without hesitating. Dh does still sometimes use his aeropress when he can be bothered (not often!)

Double walled stainless steel cafetiere.

Aeropress - handy when travelling, but a bit of a faff and you can end up going down the path of weighing your coffee, your water etc in the quest for the ultimate cup of coffee.

Moka pot - cheap, I can always make a fairly nice cup with very little effort, although rarely a GREAT cup

De longhi bean to cup machine - expensive, but a reliable good cup with very minimal effort. Could probably mess with the settings more and get a great cup if you're into that, but I'm happy with just pressing a button and it always turning out nice.

Big thing that factors into all of them tho - the coffee. Supermarket coffee is a real mixed bag, it's worth looking into independent roasters. Stale cheap beans will taste rubbish in the most expensive machine, but good beans from Rave, Monmouth, etc, you will taste the difference.