Coffee at home is just better. Sure, it’s nice when someone makes you a coffee and that $3 or $5 can feel trivial compared to the amount of joy you make from an expertly brewed coffee, but who wants to go out first thing in the morning for coffee? Who wants to wait in line?
I’m a huge fan of coffee at home — have been for many years — and I take my coffee kit seriously. I’ve don’t the research… so you don’t have to!
What’s In A Coffee Kit?
For a good at-home coffee setup you’ll want (in terms of importance):
- Some kind of coffee maker (French press, dripper, etc.)
- Grinder
- Coffee Scale
- Water boiler or tea kettle
- Accessories
After those, you can go crazy with coffee storage, scoops, mugs, and all sorts of other accessories, but these four at the top components.
Why this order? Because you absolutely need a coffee maker. If you have that and nothing below it, you can buy pre-ground coffee and be ready to go (I’m assuming you have mugs).
If you have a coffee maker and grinder, you can use a scoop or eyeball the coffee level to make coffee without a scale.
Budget French Press Setup
- Coffee Maker: Bodum Brazil French Press Coffee – Buy
- Grinder: Capresso 560.01 Infinity Grinder – Buy
- Scale: Ozeri ZK14-AB – Buy
- Total price: $125
This is a great setup that comes in at a really reasonable price. It’s good enough to last you for years — I’ve had my Capresso Infinity for about 10 year in fact!
All the pieces can scale with you as your coffee game improves as well. The Brazil is quite affordable and quite nice and the grinder outperformance models that cost twice as much. The coffee scale is probably the weak link in this trio, if a weak link exists, as it’s a bit slow to measure and doesn’t use metal parts… but it’s more than adequate.
I’m going to assume you have a way to boiler water, or you’re fine using a tea kettle, pot, etc. given that budget is the focus here.
If I wanted to upgrade this french press kit I’d mainly consider upgrading the coffee scale. You might feel some pressure to upgrade the coffee grinder, but trust me, you’ll have to spend a lot more to see a notable increase in quality.
Step-up Pourover Kit
If you want to take the next step in your coffee-making experience then this will be the kit for you. It’ll be a good step up in terms of the relative amount of money you are spending, but
- Coffee Maker: Kalita Wave Coffee Dripper 185 – $26
- Grinder: Baratza Virtuoso+ – $250
- Scale: Jennings CJ-4000 scale – $30
- Total price: $301
At this point you’ll start to acquire parts that you’ll be able to keep for years, even as other components are upgraded. The most notable increase from the previous kit will be the grinder, which will be able to do the job for years.
Coffee Geek At Home Kit
- Coffee Maker: Chemex or Kalita Wave Brewer – $60
- Grinder: Baratza Virtuoso+ – $250
- Scale: Acaia Pearl Model S – $185
- Boiler: Bonavita Adjustable Kettle – $75
- Total price: $570
Now things have gotten pretty high-end, but you have lifetime level equipment that you might never feel the need to upgrade. On the upside, if you master this equipment and can get your hands on some good beans, very few coffee shops will be able to match your quality.
Automatic Coffee Making Starter Kit
Not everyone wants to manually make coffee. And that’s fine, there are good automatic brewers these days.
- Coffee Maker: Cuisinart Stainless Steel Thermal Coffeemaker – $130
- Grinder: Capresso 560.01 Infinity Grinder – Buy
- Scale: Ozeri ZK14-AB – Buy
- Total price: $235
This is a pretty standard coffeemaker, in fact it’s more expensive than most, but it’s worth it to get the insulated carafe.
At this stage some people might consider upgrading to a coffee maker with an integrated grinder, but I say don’t do it. It’s just another part to break and integrated grinders rarely have the quality of a stand-alone grinder at the same price point!
High-end Automatic Coffee Making
Some people want a top-quality coffeemaker and want a machine to do the work for them. Here’s the kit you want…
- Coffee Maker: Technivorm Moccamaster – $329
- Grinder: Baratza Virtuoso+ – $250
- Scale: Acaia Pearl Model S – $185
- Total price: $764
The big ticket item here is the Technivorm Moccamaster. It’s expensive and it’s flashy, but it’s universally admired by coffee fans. I’ve spent some time using one (in the bright Yellow Pepper color no less) and while it is an impressive machine, it’s not going to make or break your coffee making, so if you want to lower the price to something less expensive, like a Breville, feel free to do so. Unless you insist on piping hot coffee, the maker will be a better area to save money than the grinder.
And, with these options, possibly some mixing and matching, and you should be all set.