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Best method for making one cup of coffee?

My local shop just bumped up the price of a cup of coffee, and I stop there every morning in the way to work. I'm considering starting to just make a cup each morning, and save money over the long term.

What is a convenient way to make a good, quick cup of coffee? How are the k-cup machines? What else sould I look at? Thanks!
 
A 1-cup Moka pot (Bialetti) can be obtained which delivers coffee which is pretty close to espresso in quality. I fill with approx 30ml water which has already been heated in an electric kettle to near boiling (care needed when filling lower chamber!), although this may be frowned on by connoissieurs. It saves time on the gas or electric burner where a trivet may be needed to support the pot. Then add milk, as required, frothed for a cappuchino.
 
What's a cup to you in the morning? 6 oz, 12 oz, 20 oz? Here's the breakdown of the coffee makers I favor based on batch size.

200 ml (6-3/4 fluid ounces) An Aeropress with a water kettle is a great way to make a cup of coffee. It's fast, easy to clean up, and you can control all the brew variables (time, temp, grind)
400 ml (13-1/2 fl oz) The Clever Coffee Dripper (AKA CCD, Brewt) is a great way to make two, 200 ml cups. It has a valve that allows you to steep the coffee for as long as you like (3:30 - 4 min recommended) and you use standard cone filters
400 - 600 ml (13.5 to 20 fl oz) I like the Chemex 8 cup coffee maker for this batch size, either with the thick white paper filters for a clean cup or a metal filter for a thicker cup with more body and oils
800+ ml (27+ ounces) This is where I am today with four drinkers in the house. It was taking too long to make coffee with the Chemex the way I like so I dug the old Bunn BTX out of the garage and it does a good job once you dial in the grind.

Whichever method you choose, the best way to get a good cup of coffee is to buy whole bean coffee and grind it fresh in the morning. A burr grinder gives a better grind than a whirly blade, look at Baratza grinders for good grinders or consider a hand grinder for small batches to save money (like a Hario Slim, etc.) which will get you a good burr grind but less convenience.

To see instructions for making great coffee for most of the popular manual brew methods, check out the Brew Methods website which has links to instructions and videos.
 
You would be stunned how much money you save per year when you stop buying little things like cups of coffee and make them at home. I personally use a drip coffee maker. As mentioned above, a good alternative is a French Press. You can buy a decent one for $20. I personally do not like the way coffee tastes from from a French Press but some people like it better than drip.... definitely tastes different.
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Hard to get any more convenient than a pour over filter holder or a one cup French press.
 
I love my Keurig. It may be expensive compared to other at home brews, but still a great bargain compared to buying coffee out. It is quick and easy. Very little cleaning and upkeep required.
 
Clever Coffee Dripper. It's the same thing as a Melita funnel except you get to steep the coffee. Pretty quick. Put water on to boil, grind beans into filter, take hot water and pour over grind, brush teeth, drain coffee into cup.

I got two of them - one at work and one at home.

-jim
 
The fastest single cup for me is my espresso machine.

It is hot and ready to go much faster than anything else I have

It does a very nice double that will stand up without the cup in place :w00t:
 
Once again touting the PacNW... I have been through all the different ways to make a quick cup of joe... I have a Hamilton Beach Brew Station, Mellitta Ready-Set-Joe that cost $2.99, 1st Generation Senseo single cup pod maching, a Bodum Frech press and occassionally I'll make a cup of instant Cafe Bustelo from Mexico... all have there pluses and minuses... The Brew Station is big and bulky (but works great when my 16YO son sets it up the night before so he can have a cup on his way to school)... the Ready-Set-Joe is OK... finding pods for the Senseo has become difficult with the advent of the K-cup... cleaning the French press is a drag... and even though Cafe Bustelo is better than most it is still a freeze dried instant coffee

SOOOO...

As far as I'm concerned the easiest and quickest cup of coffee for on the way to work is a Starbucks Via... I have an InSinkErator built in hot water dispenser so it takes about 30 seconds and I'm gone. I'm not sure what kind of black magic/science goes into creating micro granules but it is good stuff. Via's come in a ton of varieties and if you buy them in bulk at someplace like Costco they run about 0.55 per tasty cup.
 
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let's look at the math:

Outside the home:
$2/cup of coffee * 5 days/week * 50 weeks/year = $500



Inside the home:

estimating that a 14oz bag of locally roasted beans costs $14 and can last 2 weeks (that one cup in the weekday morning)
$14 * 25 = $350

400 #4 filters
$4.50 * 4 = $18

your cup
$0

Making coffee at home costs $368

That leaves some room to buy some coffee making tools and breaking even the first year. A lot of guesses in those computations though.

But I got to tell you truthfully, I don't do it to save money.

-jim
 
I use a Nespresso Pixie. It is not the cheapest way but the quickest and most comfortable way (according to me). A bonus is that i love the taste of the espresso that this little machine makes in no time at all :001_wub:.
/thorsten
 
I use a bodum siphon it's great! makes anything from 1 big cup up to 6ish cups...it's like a french press upside-down and uses vacuum to draw the coffee out. it's easy to use, easy to clean, doesn't take filters...and was relatively cheap.
 
Hey how about that! I always assumed the Cafe Bustelo was Mexican coffee as it is usually found in the Hispanic food section of most West Coast grocery stores... but much to my suprise it Cuban and has migrated west from Miami! Google it and see that is has some pretty good review and taste comparison results.
 
Thank you all for sharing your comments, you've given me much to research. My normal morning cup of coffee is a 16oz travel mug. I had forgotten about the Aeropress, that may be a strong option. I need for it to be a quick process. I oftentimes use a French Press on the weekends, but I don't see that being speedy enough on a work morning.

The arithmetic that Gearchow provided is similar to my own thoughts, except that I used $11 for a 16 oz bag of coffee from Caribou. I also end up buying a sweet roll or muffin about half the time, so my cost on those days is more in the range of $4. I figure if I eliminate stopping at the coffee shop altogether, that I will save about $400 annually, plus a bunch of useless calories.
 
May I suggest a simple 4 cup drip with a timer. Prepare it the night before. If you can't find one with a timer built in get one that works inline with the power cord. I like my coffee strong and black.
...like my jeep.
 
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