About 15 years ago, my sister-in-law bought me a fancy coffee maker as a present.
It made very good coffee, but TBH it was way more than I wanted to think about at 6 in the morning. Way too many steps and options.
And the truth is, I like middle of the road, totally unflavored, average coffee. Solid diner coffee is all I expect — not burned, not watery, plain and simple. Agent Cooper-style.
When “flavored” coffees began to become a thing in the 1990s, a journalist of my acquaintance wrote that “Coffee already has a flavor. It’s flavor is COFFEE.” Yeah, I know, there’s all kinds of beans, and roasts, etc. Just give me it straight up, no bells and whistles.
So I threw away the fancy machine after the fifth repair and umpteenth cleaning, and now use a basic coffeemaker I bought at Target ages ago. Takes supermarket preground coffee. Its most advanced feature is a mesh basket, so I don’t have to mess with paper filters. Rinses clean in about 12 seconds; that’s the most fuss that I can handle before my first cup.
Every few years it starts struggling and I have to run some vinegar through it, then I don’t have to mess with it again for another 7,000 cups.
The grinder was the most expensive part of the set up and the filters are incredibly small and cheap. My Moccamaster has been sitting idle for over a year now and the Breville 2 or 3 years idle. I feel like espressos was much more enjoyable for guests who came to hang out and wanted a cup. I've always enjoyed regular coffee more.
