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How can I make a fantastic cup of coffee at my desk at work? What equipment do I need?
Last year at home we decided to stop wasting our time at home on bad coffee. We ditched the blade grinder and drip coffee maker in favour of a burr grinder and Chemex, and the coffee is good! The problem is that it’s not always convenient to bring a cup to work, and I really like it fresh. How can I relatively easily make pour-over coffee at my desk? I don’t have a ton of space, but I’d like a hot water kettle, brewer, and maybe a hand grinder. I was thinking about maybe a Clever Coffee, but I’m open to suggestions. I’d like not to spend more than $100 all told. Part of this is to have awesome coffee and part of this is to have a sort of ridiculous set up at work to really make a cup of coffee a ritual and not an after thought. I am something of a coffee snob, so getting good beans isn’t really an issue.
posted by Fig at 12:52 PM on August 20, 2012
Added bonus – your office will smell fab.
posted by 26.2 at 12:53 PM on August 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by crush-onastick at 12:58 PM on August 20, 2012
A thousand times, this.
As an added bonus, you can opt to share your bit of French-pressed heaven with a highly-favored co-worker. I used an all-metal French press (as opposed to the one with a glass carafe), as I tend to be a bit clumsy.
I also used an Aeropress for awhile, but it’s a little too fussy for me. The coffee is good, but I wasn’t wild about having to lay in a supply of the little filters. So: French press all the way.
posted by jquinby at 12:58 PM on August 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
–Hand grinder.
–Low flow kettle, electric.
–Chemex
–Able Brewing Kone (if you want to reduce the amount of waste, in terms of coffee filters)
-Really good coffee (too many options to link. your profile suggests you’re in the bay area? Try sightglass, or Four Barrel)
You’ll probably get some coffee converts out of a setup like this.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:00 PM on August 20, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by chrispy108 at 1:01 PM on August 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 1:04 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by mce at 1:10 PM on August 20, 2012
I don’t necessarily think you need a grinder at work. I grind my beans at home each morning before leaving for the office and that seems to get the job done.
I also think that an important aspect of the coffee ritual that is often overlooked is having the proper drinking vessel. If you can keep it clean and safe, maybe get a bone china cup and saucer (Goodwill can be a good place to get individual pieces like that) or a favorite mug from home.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:15 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by scratch at 1:15 PM on August 20, 2012 [10 favorites]
posted by mlle valentine at 1:19 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:23 PM on August 20, 2012
I really like the quality of the AeroPress coffee, and I like that it neatly makes a single cup.
If you’re ok with using a filter every day, the AeroPress is super-easy to clean: just pop out the little disk of grounds and filter into a trash can. For me, the french press is much harder to clean, because I don’t have a garbage disposal, so I have to rinse the french press in the sink, and then clean the sink.
Also, the AeroPress actually recommends brewing with 170 degree water, so I imagine that it would work just fine to brew with the hot water that comes out of a water cooler, if your work runs to a water cooler. They also have quantity markings on the plunger part for people who heat their water in a microwave (like if you’re at work without a kettle).
Both a french press and an AeroPress are pretty inexpensive.
Not sure what to tell you about a grinding setup. I have a Bodum Bistro burr grinder and like it well enough, although the beans on top don’t go down into the machine as well as I would like (because I use french roast coffee), but that seems rather extravagant (and loud) for a work setup.
Of course, if you want to spring for a kettle, you could use a Melitta cone, but I like the AeroPress better, and it’s less work. And it brews up fast.
posted by leahwrenn at 1:53 PM on August 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
The only downsides are that it isn’t terribly tough and it can leak if the rubber stopper isn’t perfectly seated. I would not make coffee on my desk with one due to the risk of a leak.
posted by chairface at 2:01 PM on August 20, 2012
– use filtered water. This makes a huge taste difference.
posted by Fig at 2:56 PM on August 20, 2012
As for the coffee grounds from the French press: don’t put them in the sink even if it has a disposal. Dump the majority in the trash or compost, then add a little more water, swirl around and dump the rest in the toilet. This works for me where the bathroom is closer than any kitchen/caf and the toilet is a device already optimized for the disposal of organic waste.
The aeropress sidesteps the issue of bringing beverage preparation equipment into the bathroom, on account of the neat little pucks you can eject into the trash can when you’re done.
posted by KevCed at 3:08 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by kendrak at 3:16 PM on August 20, 2012
When I was a student who had access to a kettle in a tiny office but no coffee machine and a fifty-yard walk to running water, I used my Aeropress really extensively. I had been married to my French press before and thought the cleanup wasn’t arduous, but being able to eject the puck of coffee grounds and put the press back in my desk drawer was a whole new level of convenience. It makes beautiful coffee too.
posted by bewilderbeast at 3:36 PM on August 20, 2012
The french press vs. pour-over is apples vs. oranges; my opinion is that pour-over makes a superior cup. All other differences aside, I find that lifting a spent filter from the Chemex and dropping it into the compost is far more pleasant than rinsing out grounds from a french press. ymmv.
posted by gyusan at 3:42 PM on August 20, 2012
Grinding: Those Japanese Hario manual bur grinders are not fun after awhile and I do not think they are a uniform enough of grind to be worth it. I get a lot of different sized particles in the grind with mine.
Kettle, any will do, just get a temp Gage or just wait a bit after the boil.
I think the grinding is going to be the problem, unless your willing to export some pre-grinded from home via jar or something, you looking at money. Hand grinders that work are expensive, and well you know how much the electric ones cost.
posted by couchdive at 4:59 PM on August 20, 2012
* Use filtered water. Temp 192 – 205 deg F. (below boiling point of 212deg)
* Before brewing, poor at least half a cup of hot water through the empty filter to remove bleach from the filter and pre-heat the cup.
posted by Golden Eternity at 6:50 PM on August 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Then last winter a bunch of us pitched in and bought a Keurig machine — which I use with my own (good!) coffee grounds and a reusable filter cup. I only use a couple of tablespoons per cup, so I can splurge like crazy and still be thrifty.
But an even betterer technique is cold-pressed coffee in my fridge overnight that I cut with water. (Put 3/4 cups of coffee in a 1-quart French Press pot and mostly fill it with filtered water. Put this in the fridge without depressing the plunger and leave it there until morning. Push down the filter and dilute the resulting brew to taste. Heaven!)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:29 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by aught at 7:50 AM on August 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Click here for more information.
The Gourmet Coffee Company
http://www.thegourmetcoffeeco.com
greg@thegourmetcoffeeco.com
Miami:305 698 0990
Broward: 954 486 4339
posted by ellF at 12:49 PM on August 20, 2012 [13 favorites]