An essential part of brewing coffee at home is to have great gear to start with. This is why I’ll go over my recommended coffee gear to begin your journey to brewing coffee at home.
In this article, I’ll tell you about the coffee grinders that I recommend, the best coffee brewers to use, why using a scale can make a difference, and so much more.
Are you ready to get into it? Make yourself a good cup of coffee and start reading away!
A brief introduction to the recommended coffee gear
To get this article started, I want to tell you a bit about why I chose the coffee gear I recommend.
All the items I’ll talk about are equipment and coffee brewers that I highly recommend for people just getting started with brewing coffee at home.
Many of these items that are listed below are in my possession and have been for a while. Because I’ve used these items for a long time now, I think I can give you a good insight into them.
Let me begin by talking a bit about the coffee grinder I recommend using and move on from there.
1. Recommended coffee grinders
A good quality coffee grinder is the most important thing when starting with the home brewing of coffee. No matter how good the coffee beans are, they will never match the whole-bean coffee flavor if they have been pre-ground.
However, there is nothing wrong with the use of pre-ground coffee, and you’ll still be able to brew a fantastic cup of coffee with it. But for the sake of this article, I’ll tell you all about the difference between a manual coffee grinder and an electric coffee grinder.
Now keep in mind you can’t go wrong with either of them. You’ll brew an amazing coffee using them, but I’d buy a manual coffee grinder to get started if it were me. Learn all about why this is down below:
Electric coffee grinder
Electric coffee grinders come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. The difference between them is mostly whether the grinder is blade or burr focused.
Burr coffee grinders can be found in manual coffee grinders, but there are also electric burr coffee grinders. More on the manual coffee grinder later.
Coffee beans chip into different pieces when being ground. This means that you will never find equally ground coffee beans whether you get a blade or burr grinder.
Electric blade grinders are most often the ones being talked about when choosing an electric coffee grinder.
These coffee grinders are amazing to use and are very quick in grinding your coffee beans. A blade coffee grinder looks like this:
The blades of the electric coffee grinder smash everything it touches into finer pieces. This is a downside if you want to get as evenly ground coffee beans as possible. It is impossible to do this with a blade grinder.
However, I use the blade grinder to brew my French press coffee, as this doesn’t need to be ground to such a specific grind size, like pour over coffee.
Using the blade grinder for this purpose will make your life a lot easier, as you’ll get a fair amount of coffee ground up in seconds.
You can also find electric coffee grinders with a burr grinder, which is awesome. The burrs on these machines are super fast, and you’ll get perfectly ground coffee beans in no time.
The only downside to these electric burr coffee grinders is the price. They can be quite expensive, but you will get a high-speed coffee grinder to be used for the next few years at least.
I’ve compared a few different electric burr coffee grinders, and I’ve concluded that the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is the best in its price range. You can check it out by clicking the link above.
This coffee grinder has so many different grind sizes; it’s amazing. The coffee grinder will grind your coffee beans in no time.
Now that I’ve talked about the difference between the electric coffee grinder, it’s time for the manual coffee grinders.
Manual coffee grinder
Let me first say that manual coffee grinders are awesome. They are so versatile and can be used anywhere you’d like. You can take this thing anywhere you go and still brew great coffee.
Manual coffee grinders are always equipped with a burr grinder. The biggest difference between all the manual coffee grinders is the amount of coffee it can store in its top compartment and in the container below to catch the ground coffee.
Then there is the speed at which the coffee beans get ground. Most of the time, you can grind a cup’s worth of coffee beans in under 60 seconds. But this all depends on how fast you want to grind.
I use the Hario Ceramic Mini Slim Plus, and it’s great to use as an everyday coffee grinder.
This coffee grinder isn’t as expensive as the other coffee grinders, like the electric coffee grinders I’ve listed above. The coffee grinder looks like this:
As you can see from the photo above, the coffee grinder has been through its paces already. I’ve used it for almost two years now, and it still holds up.
Now, there can’t always be good news about everything I say. After a while, you can get exhausted from manually grinding your coffee beans over and over again, especially if you drink a lot of coffee during the day.
If this sounds like something you do, you might want to look into the electric coffee grinder a bit more. Otherwise, get yourself this amazing manual coffee grinder and start brewing some great coffee at home.
2. Recommended for drip coffee
The next important thing on the list for brewing Your Dream Coffee at home is using a good coffee brewer. Down below, I’ll talk a bit about the different coffee brewers out there.
I’ve used every coffee grinder that I’ve listed below, which is why I can tell you so much about them. To get started, I’d like to go over the pour over coffee brewers and move on to the French press and Moka pot from there.
Chemex coffee brewer
The Chemex is one of the best coffee brewers you can buy if you ask me. The coffee you can brew with this pour over coffee brewer is just amazing.
Because the Chemex is a pour over coffee brewer, the flavor will be a bit cleaner and even in taste. This is compared to the taste of coffee made with a French press, which produces a far more full-bodied cup of coffee.
Chemex coffee is far more complex than other coffee brewers. This is all because of the thicker filter used. These coffee filters filter out any inconsistencies in the coffee beans, and you are left with a smooth-tasting cup of coffee you cannot get enough from.
Because I’ll be going over the other pour over coffee brewer I recommend, the Hario V60, I’ll tell you about the filter used for these brewers a bit further down.
The Chemex comes in a full glass design with a wooden collar, which looks stunning in your kitchen. The only difference between them is the size.
There are four sizes that you can buy from the Chemex. There’s the 3 cups, 6 cups, 8 cups, and even a 10 cups version of the Chemex.
I own an 8-cup version of the Chemex myself, and it looks like this:
Except for the size, there are no real differences between these coffee brewers. However, the Chemex 3 cups version is designed a tiny bit differently; the neck of this version is a bit taller and sleeker.
This does not affect the taste at all, so the biggest question you need to ask yourself is, how much coffee am I going to brew at once? When you’ve answered this question, you can choose from any version of the Chemex.
As far as ease of brewing, pour over coffee is the hardest to get right from the start. Because you have to pour water onto the ground coffee, many mistakes can badly reflect the coffee taste.
But not to worry, although this isn’t the easiest coffee brewer to start your home brewing coffee experience with, it is one of the best ways to make coffee.
If you’d like to find out more about Chemex coffee brewing, you can click here. This will get you straight to the beginner guide I wrote about brewing coffee with a Chemex.
Now that I’ve covered the first of the two pour over coffee brewers, I think it’s time for the second. Down below, you get to find out why I recommend the Hario V60 to brew coffee with.
Hario V60 brewer
The Hario V60 is the best pour over coffee brewer if you want to brew coffee for yourself. This coffee brewer can produce a lot more cups of coffee than just for one person, but I like to use it for one big cup of coffee.
This coffee brewer is made of different materials and comes in various sizes as well. I like to use the Hario V60 plastic.
Using this material, the coffee brewers are cheaper than all other coffee brewers out there. It is the most affordable to own and can produce great coffee.
If you are interested in more colors and materials, you can check them out by clicking here. There is a Hario V60 in red, also made of plastic, an excellent copper version of the Hario v60, and even a glass Hario V60:
Amazon productBrewing with the Hario V60 is a little different from brewing coffee with the Chemex. Although they use the same pour over technique, they differ significantly in the amount of coffee used and how long it takes till you’ve got coffee:
- A Chemex can take up to six minutes to finish brewing
- The Hario V60 is mostly finished in under four minutes at most
Although the brewing time can vary by the amount of coffee you are brewing and how long you wait between the pouring of water, the Hario V60 wins by speed.
The Hario V60 is equipped with little grooves along the inside. These grooves will guide the water through. This makes for a different flavor profile and will improve the brewing time compared to the Chemex. The groove pattern looks like this:
This little coffee brewer can produce killer coffee in under three minutes at most times. Just think about it, grind a few coffee beans, boil some water, and brew a delicious cup of home-brewed coffee in only five minutes!
For me, the Hario V60 wins in terms of brewing speed and price. If you want to learn more about brewing coffee at home using the Hario V60, you check it out here.
Now, because I’ve talked about the brewing of pour over coffee just now; it’s time to tell you about the coffee filters used in these coffee brewers.
3. Recommended coffee filters
Filters for pour over coffee brewers are the most essential piece of equipment to brew that great coffee.
You can buy so many coffee filters, but if you want the best fit and the best extraction of your coffee, I suggest buying the original coffee filters.
For the Hario V60, I suggest checking out this coffee filter package:
These coffee filters come in 100 pieces per pack, so these will last you a pretty long time. The Hario V60 coffee filters come in this package:
As for the Chemex filters, there are two choices to be made. You can either get the circular coffee filters or the square coffee filters.
I use the circular coffee filter, and they look like this:
The only difference between them is that the square coffee filters will have two pointy ends to get rid of the coffee filter after brewing more easily.
However, taste-wise, it doesn’t matter which filter you pick. They are the same filters, and it will result in the same coffee you brew.
Related article: Circle vs. Square Chemex Filters: Which Should You Use?
If you are using a 3 cup version of the Chemex or want to buy one, you can check out these coffee filters:
These coffee filters are made specifically for this size of the Chemex. This way, you get the best fit, and ultimately it’ll leave you with great coffee!
There is one big difference in filters that I would like to briefly touch on, which is whether the coffee filters have been bleached or not. I use bleached coffee filters for the brewing of my coffee.
However, if you’d like to use an unbleached coffee filter for your coffee, you can check them out here. Here are the unbleached filters for the Chemex and here for the Hario V60.
I’ve tested both the bleached and unbleached coffee filters and can find no difference between them. However, always make sure you rinse the coffee filter and throw the water out before brewing your coffee. This will get rid of the papery taste the filter tends to leave behind.
4. Recommended for steeping coffee
Now that you’ve learned why I recommend pour over coffee brewers for the starting home brewer, let me tell you a bit about the amazing coffee brewer called the French press.
A French press uses a very different brewing technique than pour over coffee brewers. French press coffee is made by steeping ground coffee and water for a few minutes before pouring the coffee out and enjoying it.
If you like very flavorful coffee, you’ll undoubtedly be more than happy with a French press. This coffee brewer produces terrific, full-bodied, and incredibly balanced coffee.
Some of these flavors are more commonly found than others, like bitter notes. Bitter notes are one of the main reasons people either love drinking French press coffee or don’t like it.
If you really dislike the coffee flavors that I just mentioned, you are better off sticking with either of the pour over brewers. The coffee that these coffee brewers produce is more likely to suit your favorite flavor profile.
A French press comes in many different sizes, shapes, and materials. I use the Bialetti French press. The glass design did the trick for me, and when I’m brewing coffee, I also get to look at how the brewing of the coffee goes from the sides.
You can check out the coffee brewer that I use here. I own a 3 cup version and the 8 cup version, and there’s even a 600ml version:
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Best For Small Household
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Best for 2 Cups of Coffee
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Best For Larger Families
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$26.50
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$31.84
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$28.07
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I can highly recommend these coffee brewers as they’ve held up really well. They look like this:
I mostly use the little French press to brew two amazing-tasting cups of coffee or just one big cup of coffee for myself when I feel like it.
The bigger version is the 8 cups version and is used when I’ve got people coming over and I want to brew a bigger batch of coffee at that time.
These coffee brewers are amazing to use, and I’ve had them in my possession for quite a while. They have held up really nicely, and they show no deterioration whatsoever.
If you are not a fan of the glass design, you always buy a fully stainless steel design. This French press might be more suited for your needs, and it looks epic if you ask me!
Now, I would suggest buying a smaller French press for the brewing of just a few cups of coffee. Get a bigger version if you regularly have people over or need the bigger version because you have a bigger family.
5. Recommended coffee brewer for espresso
Now that I’ve covered most coffee brewers that I recommend, there is just one left. As the above-mentioned coffee brewers cannot produce a good enough espresso-like coffee, the Moka pot is your best bet when you want to brew that espresso.
A Moka pot produces espresso-like coffee. I call it like this as this is not an espresso; like you are used to, that was made with an espresso machine. These big espresso machines use more bars to produce that espresso.
You have to see a Moka pot as a smaller version of the bigger machine. The Moka pot produces excellent coffee you can use in the making of different coffee recipes.
It is best used in the making of recipes that require espresso as the base layer. You get to make a ton of different recipes like an Espresso con Panna, Flat white, and a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
All with the Moka pot, isn’t that amazing? I use the induction Moka pot, as I use induction at home.
But there are, again, a lot of different sizes and shapes for this coffee brewer. The induction version of the Moka pot looks like this:
If you cook with a gas stovetop, I recommend checking out this Moka pot. This is the regular version of the Moka pot that you might’ve seen in your local coffee bar already.
If you use induction at home, like me, you can check this Moka pot out. This Moka pot works amazing, and I haven’t had any trouble with it after years of using it.
These Moka pots will produce a simply amazing coffee. Because you’ll use lots of ground coffee and little water, the coffee that is brewed tastes so delicious and robust; it’s incredible.
I recommend buying a Moka pot to brew your coffee if you are interested in brewing espresso-like coffee. This coffee can be drunk just like that or can be further processed in a recipe that requires an espresso.
If you have never brewed coffee with a Moka pot before, you can check out this beginner’s guide I wrote about brewing coffee with the Moka pot.
6. Recommended gooseneck kettle
The best part about home brewing coffee is that you get to use whatever you want; however, if you want to look like a barista at home, use a gooseneck kettle to pour your water from.
A gooseneck kettle is most often used to brew pour over coffee. Because the amount of water is pretty low every time you pour water on top, these kettles are amazing to use.
They are made in such a way that the little stream of water that comes out is so delicate that it makes for a perfect fit to brew your pour over coffee.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t use these kettles to brew coffee using other coffee brewers. You can use this kettle for everything coffee related, but also to brew your tea with.
There are many variations to a gooseneck kettle; you’ve got the plug-in kettles and the stovetop gooseneck kettles. Whichever you choose depends on your needs.
Most people like to buy a standalone gooseneck kettle, which you have to plug into a power station. You can just leave this kettle on your kitchen counter and use it whenever you need it.
The stovetop gooseneck kettles are amazing as well. These are best used when you have a gas stove, as it will work just like a pan you put on the fire. Just boil the water in there and pour onto your ground coffee straight from the kettle; simply amazing.
I recommend checking them out yourself. Would you like to use the gooseneck kettle not only to boil water for your coffee? Then you might be best off with a plug-in version.
If you are focused on brewing just one cup of coffee, you’ll be okay with a stovetop gooseneck kettle. Just keep in mind that it can get super hot on the sides when you’ve set the gas on full blast.
7. Recommended scale for coffee brewing
And last but not least, I recommend using a scale to brew your coffee at home. The scale will help you determine the amount of water and coffee to add to your coffee brewer.
Never will you have to guess the number of coffee beans you’re going to need to brew that amazing cup of coffee.
By following the same coffee and water ratio each time you brew coffee, you’ll end up with the same coffee each time. There will never be a difference in taste, as you haven’t switched anything up.
The Hario V60 drip coffee scale is amazing and comes with a timer, so you have everything you need to brew that cup of coffee.
Conclusion
Wow! This was a fantastic article to write. Because I struggled to find the right coffee equipment when I started brewing coffee at home, I wrote this article so you won’t have to go through the same struggle.
You now know how to get started on brewing coffee at home. I’ve talked about many different coffee brewers for you to try.
I’ve also listed a lot of equipment for you to check out so you can brew Your Dream Coffee at home.
I hope to have given you enough information to start your coffee journey and to see you back on my blog very soon to share my passion with you.
