Hi everyone, it’s Josh from Alternative Brewing today! Let's look at how you can be brewing delicious coffee at home with some of our most popular methods.
In fact, these next four methods using manual coffee makers are so easy you’ll most likely end up making more than one throughout the day, and don’t be concerned about breaking the bank on another coffee break, all these methods are super affordable and pay themselves off in just a few cups! So let's jump into my top four brewers for making coffee at home.
Aeropress Coffee Maker
First up, we have the Aeropress Coffee Maker - not a huge surprise to some of our viewers, this titan of a brewer costs a little over $35 Australian dollars to buy - comes with a fat stack of 350 paper filters, that's filtration enough for a years supply, there’s a bean scoop, stirring paddle and a neat funnel - for when you need a funnel.
The Aeropress is simple to brew with. All you need is hot water and medium ground coffee.
How To Use Aeropress Coffee Maker
To begin, rinse the paper filter in the cap and lock that in the bottom of the Aeropress - add two scoops or twelve grams of coffee into the brew chamber.. Then add your hot water to the grounds, stirring on the way up then place the plunger on and wait... Pressing at the 2min mark or you can wait longer and come back at four minutes, just make sure when you press - it’s nice and slow.
So for each cup you’re only using 12g of coffee, that’s 83 coffees in a 1 kilo bag. Buying a medium priced bag at $40, you’ll get 83 coffees from $40.. that's gonna work out to 0.48c for each coffee made, and that one paper filter you use each time is 2c. If you consider 350 more filters only costs you $7, but it already comes with 350 of these to start you off.. So if a regular take out coffee costs on average $4 … you’re saving $3.50 each cup of coffee you make at home. And you’ll have the Aeropress paid off in under 12 coffees made at home.
An extra savings' side note here. You can bring the cost down even more easily if you’re using a reusable metal disk filter like the ten mile disk with the Aeropress, swap out the paper filters for this disk and get the Aeropress and Ten Mile Disk bundle. This way you'll never feel the need to hoard paper filters.
Now the Aeropress Coffee is much like a long black - and you can add some extra water to top it up. And for all those latte lovers out there - all you need to do is double up on your dose, add half the water you would normally use and you’ll make a stronger coffee that’s rich enough to add some frothed milk for a tasty latte.
Hario V60 Cone Dripper
Next we have the Hario V60 Cone Dripper Kit, which makes a clean and balanced coffee, there’s a kit that has everything you need to get started that costs just over $40 Australian dollars to buy and this is going to include more than a month's worth of paper filters, a bean scoop and a coffee decanter. The decanter is a whole other piece of equipment. And this is why I like this kit so much - it’ll make 1 - 4 cups of coffee without any trouble. Which then brings the price down even further on each cup of coffee.
Now, it’s a pour over method, as the name suggests. We are going to pour water over the ground coffee.
How To Make Coffee With Hario V60 Cone Dripper
- To make a delicious V60, grab yourself some medium fine ground coffee, and water just off the boil. Fold your paper filter and place it in the cone, then on the decanter, rinse the filter and throw away your rinse water.
- Then add one and a half scoops or 18g of coffee to every cup you want to drink.
Begin pouring just a little bit of water to begin with, called the bloom, you wait thirty seconds and this helps get those tasty flavours ready to come out on your second pour in twenty seven, twenty-eight, twenty nine, thirty seconds.. - Finish pouring the rest of your water in with nice even circles starting from the inside out and back again.
So for each cup here, you’re still only using 12g of coffee, at 0.48c for each coffee made, the paper filters are 12c each. But if you end up making two cups with the V60 then you save by only using one filter… and two cups will cost you $1.08 to make.
Those two regular take out coffees cost $8 together … That means you’re saving $7 between the coffees you make at home. And you’ll have the Hario B60 Brew Kit paid off in under 4 brews, or 8 coffees.
Once it's drained all the way through, you’ll have a mighty V60 Pour Over to share and enjoy.
Now, adding milk is even easier with the Pour Over, all you want to do is add in an extra half scoop for every cup of coffee you’ll be drinking and I enjoy it more with just a dash of warm milk this time to the vessel, that’s gonna hit the spot.
Bialetti Venus Moka Pot
Now, we have the Bialetti Venus Moka Pot - this is the newer version of an old school brewer that’s been around for almost a century.- what's new is the Venus is made completely from stainless steel and will work on the latest induction stove tops tops as well as your regular electrical and gas stoves.
The Four Cup Venus brewer is going to set you back a little more at around $50 Australian dollars but it’s going to make two deliciously rich espresso style coffees every time. The Venus is ready to use straight out of the box. Let’s check how to use it.
How To Make Coffee With Bialetti Venus Moka Pot
- First fill up the bottom vessel with water, to the top of the pressure valve, then fill the brew basket with finely ground coffee about 12g per cup or a heaped tablespoon per cup.
- Press this down with a back of a spoon, place this in the water chamber and screw the top vessel on.
- Turn your stove on to a medium heat and let it brew away - it’s going to start slowly at first and it can help to use hot water in the bottom to begin with as this will speed things up.
So for each cup with the Bialetti you’re still only using 12g of coffee, at 0.48c for each coffee made, I would say you’re best to brew with the whole basket so it’ll cost you 96 cents each brew.. But here’s no paper filter to use, so in the long run you save here. The two cups will cost you, let’s round up to $1 to make. Considering two take out coffees cost $8 for two … That $7 you’re saving by making a coffee at home ,you’ll have the Bialetti 4 Cup Moka Pot paid off in under 8 brews, or 16 coffees.
Now it does finish quite quickly with a bit of a splutter… just keep the lid down..
you’ll have full pot of a strong, full bodied brew. And now it’s time to fill that up with hot water for long blacks, or go and froth some milk up using the Bialetti Tuttocrema and you can easily be making yourselves a very decent cappuccino that’ll be worth working from home for.
Delter Coffee Press
My final mention for this episode is the Delter Coffee Press - it makes it in as the AB Top pick for 2020 as it makes coffee with less bitterness and more flavour clarity compared to a French press or the Aeropress, and can make just a single cup of coffee or upwards 600ml of coffee depending on how you prefer to drink it. Personally, I like a big batch of black coffee, so this is why I enjoy the Delter so much.
It’s selling for just under $40 Australian dollars and comes with a bean scoop, plenty of paper filters to get you brewing for months,and you can use a metal disk filter with this too. Really easy to use. All you’ll need to get brewing is medium fine coffee and water just off the boil.
How To Make Coffee With Delter Coffee Press
- Rinse the paper filter in the cap, add coffee to the bottom of the brewer and set this up over your cup.
- Add water to the top of the Delter Press and slowly bring the plunger up to the 50ml line to press back down slowly again --- this is our beautiful blooming of the coffee.
- Wait 30 seconds and then raise the plunger again all the way to bring it back down and press through the coffee. Pressing slowly is important to a smooth flavour.
- Once finished you can stop here to add milk if you prefer it that way, but I’m going to go ahead to add another 400mls of water to the top chamber and continue to brew to get a pot of tasty batch brew.
Now, I’ve used 24g of coffee with the Delter, but you can use less.. so at 0.96c for each coffee made, I’ve used a metal filter to save on the paper filter here, and I’ve made a batch of coffee of 600mls that’s really enough for 3 cups - so each cup only cost me 30c to make.. But I’ll be paying the Delter off pretty quickly if I’m making even 2 cups at a time, at $1 to make again I’m saving $7 by making a coffee at home ,and have the Delter paid off in under 6 coffees. And this is going to keep me going all day at the desk.
The few honorable mentions are other pour over style coffee brewers to check out too but the Hario V60 Brew Kit is the best package for everything you need to get started.
The Nanopresso, with all its accessories is a hand-held espresso brewing device, it makes a fantastic brew - but it is a little more expensive at just under $100 - worth checking out though if you also want a lightweight espresso brewer to take camping.
I haven’t gone and mentioned automatic brewers, or manual espresso brewers as they’re all a bit of an investment and this video was to show you how to brew a good, quick coffee you can enjoy at home, that’s affordable and fun to brew.
They’re my top four picks for manually brewing coffee at home, that will keep each cup of coffee under 50c each time you brew. Check out this post on travel coffee makers if you travel a lot and need something portable.
If you have any questions on any of the methods, throw them in the comments section below, we'd love to help! See our range of manual coffee makers here.