Filter coffee, why did we forsake this?

[WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing]

On holiday and very much preferring the old school drip coffee machine in the villa as opposed to the Nespresso.

Considering a return to it back home and wondering why it went out of fashion!

Well, having just been on the holiday in the US I can confidently say that much of the filter coffee on offer there is shite. We stayed in an Airbnb which had fabulous ground coffee for the filter machine. However, the Lavazza coffee pods we have for the machine at home is much better.

I still have a filter coffee machine. Its quite old but still works fine.

I don't like pods. The coffee is watery and doesn't taste nice. Not to mention the waste from the pods themselves.

For work I've got a bodum single cup press / plunger. I've had that 30 years and still going strong. I put in 2 scoops of coffee so it's a good strength. My work coffee is black and is a mountain grown blend.

At home I've got a De'Longhi Dedica. Amazing little machine that can do ground coffee or pods. I always do ground and a double shot. I use an espresso blend - the work coffee does not team well with milk 😐 Great milk foamer. Still going strong 10 years on.

I used to have a filter machine. The coffee doesn't get hot enough for me. My coffee has to be boiling hot not tepid, which is the default coffee shop temperature 🤢

I agree. So hard to find in coffee shops too. I think Starbucks was one of the last chains to do it. I've gone back to drip filter coffee at home but just use a filter cone and paper over a cup. I read somewhere it's better for cholesterole levels to use a paper filter so that motivates me too.

I never abandoned mine. I don't often drink coffee, but I think it tastes better when the water you use is really boiling hot. I use a coffee cone, coffee filter, and mug.

One of my DDs has a moka pot and I like thst too, and we have a French press that also makes decent coffee.

I hate filter coffee a decent barista made coffee is what I prefer

https://zyliss.co.uk/products/hot-mug-cafetiere-mug?srsltid=AfmBOopvQdbWgsFdCpgaMYnNo1gLOeTVLYRpIKghagmBDLPbV5qX6HLX

I have a couple of these they are brilliant

We were just taking about this in my house. Nespresso pod thing broke a year ago. I bought an Aeropress which I was using daily. Then ran out of filters so got the cafetière out and it’s much better apart from the mess of washing it.
I’m not buying a machine for any coffee again.

Delighted that I am not alone in this! Googling coffee machines now and lusting after this…

ao.com/product/dcf02cruk-smeg-50s-retro-filter-coffee-machine-cream-69082-67.aspx

It is a convenience thing, less mess and washing up etc.

However, the price for pods was getting silly so I went back to a bean to cup machine a couple of years ago. I’m the only one who drinks it in our house (unless my dad is visiting) so a pot lasts all morning on a weekend. In the week we make a smaller pot and I take the rest to work/drink whilst stuck in traffic in my travel mug. I can buy the beans anywhere and change what I have (read buy what’s on offer).

I have a cone which fits over a jug for family or a cup if it’s just me. Illy coffee beans ground straight into the filter, buy the papers in bulk from Melitta. Cheap as chips-almost if Illy is on offer-and no fiddly cleaning. Although I would love a Mokkamaster if there was room.

Is filter coffee different from using a French press?

Oh late DH and I loved a Rombouts! Our nearest town's library had a little coffee bar that sold them, and our weekly treat after shopping was to go there and sit in the comfy chairs in the magazine section, sipping our Rombouts and reading magazines we couldn't afford.

Can I put in a word for a cafetière? We have two insulated ones and again the grounds go on the compost. No chance of it stewing, and no faff recycling pods.

I think so! Always find I cafetière/French press is too “thick” if that makes sense? And too strong, probably the (rubbish) way I make it!

French press all the way.

we bought a drip coffee machine after a trip to Canada, where we fell in love with the idea of diner coffee, and Tim Hortons, and double doubles. Then the jug broke in the dishwasher, I couldn’t find a replacement, and before I knew it, I’d been seduced by a refurbished Sage Impress Express.

lately though, I’ve been using a V60, filter papers and a mug - it reminds me of my mum in the early 80s, making her morning treat to herself. Locally roasted beans, local full cream milk, filter straight into the compost bin. Lovely.

It’s not the method that determines the quality of the coffee - it’s the quality of the beans and grinding them fresh each time.

i have a drip filter machine, a cafetière, an aeropress and an Italian mocha-pot. All make excellent coffee, given the above.

I’d never get a machine that requires pods. Poor value and very environmentally unfriendly. George Clooney has a lot to answer for.

Just goes to show how tastes vary, Tim Hortons is foul, worse than starbucks.

The method does make a huge difference to the flavour though.

When I first got my Aeropress I was blown away by the difference in flavour, using the exact same coffee that I'd been using in my cafetiere or my filter jug.

We travel to the US regularly, where filter still rules, and every time I am reminded how much I like good filter coffee and how much I loathe bad filter coffee!

Often get a pour over/V60 in coffee shops in the UK, but use a bean to cup at home.

Yep. One difference is that French press is immersion brewing vs percolation so the coffee is made by being steeped in the water and strained off than by having water run through a bed of grounds. The other difference is that French press coffee is metal filtered vs paper filters. That means that more fine grounds and oils are left in the cup which gives a more full bodied cup as opposed to a cleaner, lighter cup from paper filters. Personally I prefer paper filtered coffee over metal filtered but that’s just me.

I like a stovetop espresso pot and a cafetière the rest of the time. I have three different sizes of cafetière, two insulated. Quite like filter coffee but can’t be bothered.
But I do like the machines on holiday and the way they permeate the apartment with the smell of coffee on a sunny morning. Now I want to go on holiday immediately.

I thought it was just me who couldn't find a better coffee out and about. You're right, I'm totally spoiled by my mokka pot.

The ritual is such a happy way to start my day. Water, coffee from my treasured 1970s Hornsea jar with the coffee spoon I've used for decades, the whoosh of the gas, then sitting on the bench outside my kitchen door listening to the birdsong whilst my little Bialetti brews. Heaven.

I use a single cup filter like this, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PB6D7NL?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1 No filter paper needed and it goes into the dishwasher. The only downside of it is that you can't use it on a wide mug so it only fits about half the mugs in my drawer. I use this Krups coffee grinder which is very reasonably priced and effective, but loud. www.krups.co.uk/COFFEE-GRINDERS-AND-FROTHERS/COFFEE-GRINDERS/KRUPS-GVX231-Expert-Burr-Grinder-Black-/p/1500813215?superCategoryCode=coffee-appliances

The biggest difference IME is the quality of the coffee beans. I buy Monsoon Malabar beans from a local roaster. I found my favourite by joining a coffee shop of the month club and just trying everything they sent me.

My DM and DB both have Nespresso machines and I will drink it but wouldn't choose to buy one myself.