I have friends who love theirs. I've had their coffee and it was okay. But the quality of the beans may have been lacking or the lack of enough beans. (I do like strong coffee. The K-cups seem wimpy to me.)

Aeropresses seem to be popular. This couple lived on their sailboat for quite a while and the lack of mess was also important to them

I make one drip cup a day with a Melitta. I used to use Chemex but broke them all and gave them up. :( I like a French press but do not have one at the moment. My last one left with my son when he moved away.

Eileen

I gave my son an Aeropress a few years ago at his request. He likes using his. I use a Melitta filter holder that sits on top of my large 2 cup mugs. Sometimes I make French press in the nice mug that Lee sent me in a swap. I try to find ways to keep things simple these days.

Teresa

I'm a fan of Aeropress, especially the clean-up (or lack thereof). I may have mentioned previously, but I'm not a true coffee weenie - it's a hot brown beverage to me. But many of my guests are much more discerning, and really like an Aeropress cup, especially if I get the beans and grind right. When I have to make a potful for a crowd, I use a 6-cup Mellita filter. But I'll never do French press again - way too icky to clean, for no taste benefits over my other options.

melitta here too! So easy and you can compost those filters if you want to! It's not as fancy as owning an expensive Keurig coffee maker and your friends won't uuuuw and aaaaah over it but it makes tasty coffee. ;)

jkom, I also have a Chemex and really like the coffee it makes. I do use a french press occasionally when I want a single cup, somehow I haven't figured out the exact ratio of coffee to 8 ounces of water for the Chemex....

Annie

Annie, when I make a cup of coffee with my drip Melitta I use a bit more than 8 oz(10 I think) but I use a 1/8 Cup measure for coffee. I like a mild coffee. Since the chemex is the same basic thing..this may help.

Oooo, thanks jkom. I've been looking for something inexpensive for work. I always say our breakroom/work area is like living on a sailboat, so this might be perfect. Half my crew likes their Folgers brewed in the Mr. Coffee, and the rest of us like it fresh and stout.

I thought of a Keurig (DH loves his...he found plastic caps and reuses the cups several times), but we can't justify the expense of the cups at work and no one wants to pay for breakroom coffee.

arkansas girl, is that 1/8 cup ground or 1/8 cup beans before grinding?

Annie

Annie, I just buy already ground coffee...sorry. Probably if you are grinding your own you can use less coffee, I think it would be stronger if it were fresh ground. But starting at 1/8 cup(ground) would be a good starting place. I think if you grind it very fine, it's stronger?

Thanks AG. I don't think coffee is necessarily stronger if I grind it fine, but it is definitely more bitter!

Annie

Oh, darn it, it's a GADGET! And I WANT one!

I have an Aeropress. I haven't used it much because I don't like to change the setting on my grinder. I have it set for french press.

There is actually a small manual grinder that fits on top of the Aeropress that I am considering buying.

Mary, On Once Upon a Plate did a blog post review on the Aeropress.

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Aeropress

Ann, the word on those hand grinders is that they do a good job but they are NOT fast. Grind, grind, grind, grind, grind... and then grind some more. ;)

Another Melitta user here. I have one of those gold mesh cone filters too, but only use it when I run out of paper filters. I don't like the grounds it allows through, but I'll use it in a pinch.

I also use a single cup Melitta cone. I always make just one cup of coffee in the morning. Sometimes I'll make another cup during the late afternoon or evening. It all depends... My husband doesn't really care for coffee that much, so the single serve Melitta contraption works well for me. I use the unbleached bamboo filters. As someone else mentioned, they can be composted if desired. I like my coffee pretty strong, so I use 1/4 cup ground coffee for each large mug I make.

I've also got a French press and an Aeropress. They both make really good tasting coffee. But they're more difficult to clean than the Melitta cone. With that, it's just a matter of throwing away the used filter and a quick rinse of the cone.

I've used them all. I've used the cone (wimpy!), a French press (too gritty!), and Aeropress (too much coffee!), but now I use an Oneida 4 cup percolator. I started with a stove top percolator, but the Oneida requires less attention. Good coffee, easy, and really hot. A "cup" of coffee is 5 oz, so I make 2-3 "cups" for breakfast. I clean it once a week by running a cycle with 2T of baking soda in place of coffee and just rinse it out daily.

Jxbrown, if the coffee from your French Press is too gritty, you don't have the grind right. Or are you talking about disposting the coffee grinds?

Ann