I think I need to buy a new coffee machine. Mine bit the dust after 7ish years. RIP.
I’m thinking of getting a large French press instead of another drip coffee maker because I don’t like the idea of buying another coffee machine every 5-10 years forever. I was considering a percolator, but the coffee is a bit too bitter for my taste and it seems that you need to use a lot more coffee beans daily (which is a bigger issue for me).
I’m not knowledgeable about coffee. I don’t need the BEST coffee. I just want something that isn’t wasteful, doesn’t take too long to brew, is easy and convenient, and ideally lasts longer than 5 years.
Any suggestions or information would be really appreciated.
…I could rebuy the same coffee maker I had (my research shows 7ish years is a fairly long time for a coffee maker to last) but that’s $70 and I hate the idea of producing that much extra waste.
French press vs new coffee maker? Longevity, convenience, and overall cost.
byu/Kat353 inFrugal
Posted by Kat353
44 Comments
My coffee machine is on year 15.
My friend still uses his code machine from college, so that’s … 25 years now?
My former roommate, the machine he got after he moved out is now 9 years old and going strong.
My mom’s coffee machine is still the same one from when I moved out 30 years ago.
What are you doing wrong with your coffee machine? That you expect a new one every 5-7 years?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/ivw5e5/most_efficient_extraction_method
Someone there cited a study that said the stove top espresso maker is the most efficient. But thats a pain.
Id say stay with the drip coffee maker. $20 every 7 years comes down to ease and convenience for less than $3 annually.
Just saw you spent $70 on yours. Is it fancier somehow than your bog standard cheapo Mr coffee?
I love my French press. I have one made out of stainless steel. It’s double-walled, so it keeps the coffee inside warm for quite a bit.
It’s lasted about 6 years now and still going strong. No electronics to break, and honestly makes better coffee than drip coffee from a coffee maker.
I’ve had my ninja for four years now and it’s still working great. It’s a fancy one i got on clearance. It has a milk frother, I can make espresso and brew by the cup or mug, and can program brew times so I wake up with fresh coffee waiting for me. I highly recommend it.
I have a French press but I don’t use it that much. The coffee maker is so much h easier.
Spend money on a good handgrinder (it will be more expensive than 70 probably), and then French press (metal ones will last forever) or aeropress or v60.
Percolator technique I saw from James Hoffman is about using boiling water in the pot, and taking it off the heat ASAP.
A good French press can run about $40 and will last forever. You do occasionally need to replace the screen, and that runs about $10 each time. The coffee takes about 7 minutes plus the time to boil water. I have both;I use my machine (mine does either a k-cup or a pot, and I mostly use the single cup feature) during the week and my French press on the weekend (it feels fancy). I’m not a coffee snob either, so the coffee tastes the same to me either way. All of this to say that the French press can be economical, but you like what you like.
French press hands down. One of the best value/price and will last forever (unless you drop and break it). The coffee comes out richer than in drips or percolators. Two downsides though: cant make a lot of coffee at once and cleaning coffee grounds is pain sometimes.
Aeropress!
We’ve had our Moccamaster for a long time. A friend of mine has had theirs for over 20 years.
My Cusinart drip is going strong at 12+ years.
Your coffee machine should have a life of 7 years they should last much longer. A drip coffee machine is much more convenient than having to boil water then clean the French press after
Pour over is superior to both IMO. Similar, but slightly easier cleaning compared to a french press, but fewer grounds get in the coffee and easier to just toss the spent grounds into the trash. Also for some reason I found myself not using the french press that much where I use the pour over a lot more.
For a quick cup I do use a nespresso.
But to answer your question, french press is better than a drip maker.
If you go French press or pour over get an electric kettle too
french press or moka pots are the best. they are durable, better for the environment (as in less waste , plastic etc) and they take less space!
you can find metallic french press : no breakage!
added bonus of the french press you can froth milk with it!
As someone who moved from manual pour over to a drip machine, you’re going to have to really consider how much you enjoy the process making coffee every morning. If the thing you liked best about your machine is that it had a timer and made things more convenient, then making sure you have hot water before brewing the coffee may become a bit of a hassle. Microwaving it the fast option, but you have to do it right, or the temp will be uneven, and heating on the stovetop takes time. For me, I had a hot water heater, so the water was already ready for me, but while my Chemex makes wonderful coffee, it became enough of a nuisance that I just stopped making coffee for myself until I got an automatic brewer.
If you want to save money, I’d look into a used coffee machine or keep an eye on local estate sales for a machine.
I bought a moka pot specifically because I didnt want to buy a kettle or filters. I have a small kitchen and didnt want anything else taking up counter space. Best of all the moka pot doesn’t have any electrical parts so it never breaks! I have the bialetti.
I also prefer the coffee to French press, but obviously that’s just a preference.
We use a Hamilton Beach BrewStation as it has an interior reservoir. No carafes is better for arthritis wrists. The keep warm is turned off, which has kept it working for over ten years. We just reheat cups in the microwave as needed.
A basic time-delay coffee maker isn’t really much more expensive than a French press so I don’t think cost should be the driving factor.
Using a French press means getting up in the morning and doing stuff and taking time until your coffee is ready. Some people enjoy that part of their morning routine. If the time delay feature was the thing you appreciated about it your old coffee maker, I’m guessing you won’t.
Starting your day the way you want makes a big difference in your happiness, I find. I wouldn’t compromise that for the sake of fifteen bucks.
I’ve been using a stainless steel moka pot. It’s indestructible and makes a great cup.
This one here:
https://www.stevens.co.nz/bialetti-venus-induction-espresso-maker-4-cup-6600024?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19931823327&gbraid=0AAAAADpYD_pl9kHddkGM1TYZPAp8iW3EA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6vHm3_-_kAMVDCV7Bx0VQS7pEAQYASABEgKti_D_BwE
Get an aero press
This is strictly a matter of preference for how you want to make your coffee. A French press is a little cheaper to buy, but it makes less coffee, and is a little more labor to make a cup. The quality of the coffee will be better out of the press, but it’s a nominal difference. In my entire life I’ve never had a French press or a coffee maker break, and I use them a lot. I have a French press, pour overs, a normal coffee maker, and an espresso machine, and I use them all regularly. The coffee pot is by far the most convenient and makes the most coffee for the money, so I use that the most. Every one of these options levels out over time in terms of the cost of the device, so I would focus on how you want to make coffee as part of your daily routine.
I like a French press but hate having to mess with the coffee grounds .
Thrift store item. I bought a Starbucks branded machine with insulated carafe for $10 from a thrift store in CA on a road trip 17 years ago and I still use it to this day. My gf at the time was questioning my enthusiasm for the score I was making but the machine is still with me and she’s long gone lol. I pack of 400 filters is $4 from Costco. I prefer it over a muddy acidic French press and it’s clean up hassle but obviously that’s personal preference and highly debatable. Coffee preferences can be very polarizing
If you just want decent coffee and the convenience is important, I’d just get another drip coffee maker honestly. French press/pour over/aero press make great coffee and are super cheap (and don’t really break unless you drop them), but you do need to accept the time it’ll take to manually make your coffee. If and when you get a new coffee maker, think about how you can maintain it and prolong it’s lifetime. I’m not suggesting you beat it up, I’m sure there are just things anyone can do from time to time that will keep it in good shape. Like, if your water is very hard and salts start accumulating, it’ll wear down faster.
My French press is going on 25 years now. Get one with a Pyrex holder/cylinder..
It’s my go to when it’s just me in the house.
I switched to a chemex pour over. My wife drinks tea so we have a kettle for heating water.
We have compost in my city so I can just take the paper filter with grounds and put it in the compost. Rinse the glass pot and good to go.
Cleaning the grounds out of a French press was annoying every day.
I want to like the press but I like hot coffee. My Cuisinart lasted about 7 years. A percolator would probably go longer but I bought what I had for about $80. Still less expensive than buy coffee out.
I got a brand new, basic 12 cup drip coffee maker in the box from a thrift store for $10 and plugged it into a smart plug I had laying around.
Works like a $35 coffee maker
Aero Press
Love my double walled French press. My absolute favorite thing about is that counter space it allows me to
We used Bodum French Presses for years. After breaking the last glass one, we switched to Stainless Steel French presses.
No broken glass, and Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend ground every morning with Krups grinder. Boiling water via a Black & Decker water boiler.
Zero taste difference and no broken glass disappointment.
Part of this depends on your preferences: some people prefer the fuller flavor of a French press, others dislike the bitter notes.
In terms of both drip coffee and French presses, the main failure point in a standard model is the glass container. Those are normally made from soda lime glass and soda lime glass is subject to thermal shock. Best practice is to never run cold water into a soda lime glass container that’s just finished pouring out hot coffee.
In terms of frugality, consider the cost of both the device itself and of the filters you’d be buying with filtered coffee systems. Then if you go with a French press, I’d recommend the ones from IKEA. They’ve lasted me twice as long as the fancier brands, and they’re probably the most long-lasting you’ll find unless you go with plexiglass or metal.
Check your local thrift store. Most of the time people get them as gifts and donate them for just a few dollars you can pick one up
French press requires kettle. An electric one or stove top, which means you probably won’t have coffee with no power.
French press makes great coffee, but requires cleaning it out which is minorly annoying unless you have paper towels. And if your roll out of bed and leave person, you won’t like cleaning it before work. I don’t usually clean mine till lunch break.
Tbh I’d suggest cheap pour over and a french press, french press makes enough for 2-3 people and makes good coffee. Pour over with disposable or resueable filter is easier to clean and combined with electric kettle that turns off is press button, shower, make coffee, come back in 5 minutes.
Walmart instant. It is the cheapest. My son went to pour over vs the French press. The French press left at the house leaves too much grounds. Pour over needs filters. They all take some time. They don’t call it instant for nothing.
I have both. The french press is for special treat “civilized” coffee. The grounds are a nuisance. The drip is a little 4 cup minimalist job for the morning joe. It has a screen filter so they’re the same on that.
The best coffee I ever made was from a La Creuset stoneware French press. If you preheat the press it helps to brew more evenly. They’re very durable and worth the investment.
Zojirushi French Press. Holds about a liter and it’s insulated and stainless steel. It won’t break like the glass Bodum.
Honestly, the plastic cone where you add the filter and coffee, then pour the hot water over it, has been the best for me. Works great. Tastes great. I’ve done french press and coffee makers. This little cheap plastic cone wins first prize.
As much as I loved the french press when i used it, I now recommend some pour over setup and a water boiling kettle.
Cleanup is much easier, the paper filter prevents the french press sludge & personally i think the taste is better.
$20 gets you the larger Melitta pot & filter cone.
I used a glass French press for years (until it got dropped by accident one day) and now I use a V60 pour over setup. I’d take either one of those over a drip coffee maker any day, but I also enjoy the ritual of making my coffee every morning.
10+ yo Mr Coffee, still going strong.
We have a cheap French press that we’ve been using for like 9 years and it’s still going strong. It’s just a standard glass press. I made a cozy for it to help keep the water warm.
I bought a $12 metal mesh pour-over filter last winter from IKEA and love it. I do recommend coarse grind, but even when I use fine grind, I just treat it like cowboy coffee and let it sit for a couple minutes before drinking.
I tried a French press and thought it was a waste of time. It was about the same for cleaning and convenience as my single serving coffee maker, without the plastic parts.