I really like James Hoffmann’s French Press technique: Hoffmann’s Ultimate French Press

Oh man there are so many starting points! If I understand the goals you gave us, they are:

• Want good coffee
• No pour over
• Willing to do French Press
• Minimize grounds in the brew
• Single serve
• Brother-in-law is too intense about it for my current state

With that I would recommend an AeroPress. It is great for single serving, it extracts using immersion first (similar to French Press) then pressure, the paper filter ensures it will be a clean cup (no grounds), it is much easier to clean up than a French Press, and there a lot of different recipes to play with should you ever choose to. Plus it’s relatively cheap.

Cold brew is also nice, especially when made in batches. You can probably already do this with vessels you have at home. Toddy cold brew is a well-known system. I also have (and prefer) the Oxo cold brew system - I find it easier to handle and looks better on the counter.

If you are willing to get a burr grinder you will immediately make better coffee, regardless of the method you choose! There are many directions to go here, so you will need to research to find what makes most sense to you. Skip the blade grinder. Conical burr is fine for what you’re getting into. A safe bet that will work fine for French Press, AeroPress, and/or Cold Brew is the Oxo Brew Conical Burr Grinder that you can find for around $100 in the US.

There are so many deep rabbit holes from there. Maybe you’ll come join us someday…it’s a lot of fun and one of my favorite hobbies! Sounds like your brother-in-law is lost somewhere down here too. We all started asking the same questions as you!

Any craft store will have tiny rubber and nylon hammers for jewelry and crafts. Small Rubber and nylon mallet

Maybe, but 5 hours isn’t much time for a true cold brew. I am leaning towards cold drip, where the ice water slowly drips onto the grounds. In the right setup maybe that would take 5 hours.

https://a.co/d/4o9KbYe

I agree with some other comments here that $100 won’t get you what you’re hoping for.

A better upgrade would be to start saving for a good handheld burr grinder (like an 1zpresso model) to replace the blade grinder. Your French Press and AeroPress will likely taste notably better!

If you do want to venture into good espresso, as someone else mentioned, start looking into Cafelat Robot or Flair. Both can make fantastic espresso at higher quality than semi-automatic machines of the same price point and require much less upkeep. But, for any espresso, you will need more gear (scale, tamper, vessels, etc.) which adds to the price. And all espresso machines will massively benefit from a good grinder.

Good luck!

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Ethiopian natural, local roast, V60, Hoffman Ultimate technique. Cheers!

This is such a great write-up. Thank you!

Why not go back and encourage your favorite subreddits to make the jump to similar communities over here? Lemme just needs continued infusion of content and a little time.

Yeah I loved that thing!

What beans are you using?

Currently enjoying the comfort and familiarity of where my coffee journey really started: Ethiopian natural ground in 1zpresso K-Max and brewed with Hoffman’s Ultimate v60 Technique in a clear plastic v60.

My kit’s still in transit so I’ll be doing the tasting asynchronously

Same here

I prefer the glass versions to ceramic, as ceramic really sucks the heat out of the slurry. Hario has a beautiful glass v60. Also I have the new glass Orea V3 flat bottom brewer.

That lock looks really promising. I wish they had more info on their website about it. Is that a physical key hole as well? Also, I wonder what the inside portion will look like.

Just pulled an espresso blend (Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras; washed and natural) on my Cafelat Robot.

I am planning the same. Why Power Delete Suite? Just want to make sure I do this as thoroughly as possible!

Depends on the recipe I’m using, but generally between 1:15 and 1:17 grams coffee:water. I use a manual conical burr (1zpresso KMax) for my pour overs.

Simple