I really appreciate the replies everyone, they have given me a direction to go.

By the sounds of it I have a few things I can try. I think Ill invest in some good beans and a grinder and put that through my coffee machine and see what Ive been missing. Or do you guys suggest a different setup then the the standard drip coffee machine?

I think you should just get some freshly roasted beans and a decent burr grinder and stop with that, for now. You might find that this is all you needed to create an enjoyable cup of coffee without buying stuff you end up not using.

Agreed.

The Lido E is a good choice for a burr grinder too as it isn't overly expensive and has a grind quality great enough to stand up with any espresso machine you eventually wind up getting.

yup.. start with great beans and you're 80% there. The trick is not to mess up that last 20%

scate636 wrote:I really appreciate the replies everyone, they have given me a direction to go.

By the sounds of it I have a few things I can try. I think Ill invest in some good beans and a grinder and put that through my coffee machine and see what Ive been missing. Or do you guys suggest a different setup then the the standard drip coffee machine?

Grinder - Lido is well-regarded (I have an older model, although I don't use it much anymore). Powered - Baratza Encore ($99 refurb'd at baratza.com or $129 w/free shipping on Amazon) is the best bang for the buck, but doesn't have the adjustability desirable for espresso. Have more to spend? Baratza has more expensive grinders.

Along with coffee and a grinder, get a scale. Something that reads to 0.1 g, say 1kg capacity. That should be around $20. You really want a scale.

If you use your drip coffee machine, then most don't get hot enough. A trick is to "brew" a half-pot of (just) water first (with the paper filter in place, but no coffee) - then empty out the water and then brew your coffee. This gets the brew temperature up a bit.

Good inexpensive brewers to start with: Aeropress, or Clever coffee dripper, or a standard Melitta-type (e.g., Bonmac #2) - see pics/info at https://www.sweetmarias.com/category/br ... /pour-over There are 'better' brewers, like the Hario V60 or Chemex, but they're nowhere near as easy to learn to use as the Clever or the standard Melitta-style "one small hole" brewers. Aeropress is in a class of its own for ease of use and versatility. Almost everyone has an Aeropress ...

Some good intro videos to watch: Verve "street smart" series on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/album/2759560/sort:date/format:detail

Good luck!

Such reasonable advice being shared!

I will second the recommendation of an Aeropress and the Clever. Both are simple and consistent. I gave up hand grinding a couple of years ago, so I vote for a Baratza Encore.

I think that brewing a concentrated coffee using an Aeropress and a quality espresso blend is a good way to get your toes wet as a milk+coffee drinker. Nothing pairs with milk like espresso, but making good espresso is so hard and so expensive, it's a rocky place to start.

Well I should be getting my lido E sometime this afternoon. I also bought a scale and aeropress to play with. I went to a local roaster and sampled some of there coffee and bought some beans. To be honest I totally spaced asking them how fresh they were and it has me a little concerned now. When I got home this evening and was looking over the bag it had no date other then a use by date of 05/16. At this point there probably better then Folgers lol.

It sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun!

Well my local beans are stale. I did the ziplock bag trick and if there was any gas released it was very little. I also need to do some home work on the grind and steep time because what im brewing i wouldnt call very good. Then again Im new to this whole coffee thing.