My Daily Coffee Setup + Potential Upgrades
Daiso spray bottle for RDT (basically a spritz of water to stop static buildup in the grind)
Pouring kettle
v60 paper filter holder
Coffee beans container (anything that forms a good seal, don't waste money on expensive vaccuum types)
1Zpresso ZP6 Special grinder (my review here)
a baking scale
A BOWL, ANY BOWL (this is important, more later)
random plastic cup I use as a doser
Hario brew server (you can use any cup tbh)
I do the James Hoffman Ultimate V60 technique. I do not do the Better One Cup Technique because I'm always brewing two cups for me and my partner.
The scale is probably the most important thing. Listen, sweetheart, you do not need one of those Acaia Lunars. Just get a good, cheap baking scale that handles grams very well. If you're going to put in any effort, get one that takes AAA batteries instead of those annoying and expensive C2023 batteries.
I've also gotten really good at pouring about 6-8g/s, so if I wake up really lazy, I just don't use the timer on my phone! It's fine, I'm the one drinking the coffee. I'll cut corners if I feel like it.
If I were to upgrade anything, what would I go for first?
Three things, from cheap to expensive:
1. The v60 itself
I like pretty things. I can't help it. I have to have everything nice and fancy.
Which is why I got a ceramic v60 and I regret it every single day. God, the amount of effort it takes to preheat that fucking thing.
Just buy a plastic v60. You'll thank me. They're cheaper, they're easier to preheat. Just make sure you get the large 4-cup version instead of the small 2-cup version.
GOD, I HATE THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO PREHEAT THE CERAMIC.
2. The dosing tray
I'm using that janky plastic cup on the side. I really, really want the Loveramics Dosing Tray. It's so nice and pretty.
It is however, so hilarious expensive I'm not even going to try to justify it. Also, you can't get them in New Zealand.
Do NOT buy the cheap 3 dollar dosing trays from Aliexpress. I have them. They suck. There's a stupid lip at the end that prevents the coffee beans from actually coming out of the dosing tray, meaning you can't use it for its intended purpose!
What's the point? Are they stupid?
I've gone back to using whatever small plastic cup I have lying around.
3. An ELECTRIC kettle
I want a kettle with a stand that heats the container directly. For now, I have to preheat this kettle too otherwise it drops the temperature by about 5C+. To be fair, it's not the worst thing in the world. Since I need to preheat the stupid ceramic v60 anyway, I pour a tiny amount of boiling water into the kettle which gets used to preheat the v60 inside the sink. Then, when I'm about to brew, I fill the kettle again with boiling water.
I used to want an EKG Stagg. I can't afford it, hell, I don't know anyone who can. That is, until I tried the EKG Stagg. I don't really like it! Something about the ergonomics feels a bit off. So not only is it overpriced, it's just not for me.
If you have any electric kettle recommendations, please hit me with it. At the moment, I'm considering the Hario.
Okay, so that ALL IMPORTANT BOWL
When you're done with your coffee filter + grounds, do not chuck it into your rubbish bin immediately. Put it into a bowl and let it steam out; otherwise, you're containing all that hot moisture inside.
You're going to get mold. It'll stink up your bin and it's incredibly bad for your health.
So get a bowl. Any bowl. Chuck your spent coffee filter and beans into it for about 3-5 mins minimum to cool down. You don't have to take care of it right away. I basically just leave it there and come back to it; maybe it's an hour later, maybe it's after work (your kitchen may smell mildly like coffee grounds but that's not a terrible problem to have). That's when I chuck it.
If you've got a worm bin/compost bin like I do, you don't want to throw it in hot and steaming anyway.
On a final note
Some of you amazing, lovely people drink way too much coffee. (JESS I LOVE YOU BUT I'M CALLING YOU OUT) Sleep is important; it drastically affects your mood and well-being. Anything that disrupts your sleep is probably bad. Haha, HRT is destroying my sleep, send help. :eggbug-sob:
Your mileage my vary, but I don't drink more than two cups a day. Excess caffeine is bad for your liver. Filter also extracts more caffeine than espresso. To me, one filter cup is around 250 ml, which is around 15g of coffee beans. I'm mostly a one cup a morning person now.
Happy to answer any questions if you have any!