I’ve spent many hours researching and testing some of the most popular at-home coffee products on the market. This is my list of recommended products that I’ve tried and would recommend to others.
Keep in mind that this is by no means an exhaustive list of products, nor are these the highest-end products available.
Also, just know that I’m far from being a coffee expert. I’m just a guy who has become interested in learning how to brew a delicious cup of coffee at home. So please take what I say with a grain of salt.
Manual Burr Grinder
My pick: Ossat Manual Coffee Grinder
Price: $110.00 CAD
Purchased from: Amazon Canada
I’m adding this to the top of my list because it’s the one piece of coffeemaking equipment that has most significantly improve my coffee drinking experience.
When I first started drinking coffee I bought pre-ground grocery store beans, which I thought were perfectly fine and convenient at the time.
Then I moved to a blade grinder and started freshly grinding my beans before each brew. The freshly ground beans made a noticeable improvement in the quality of my coffee. But not a substantial amount.
I was hesitant to invest in a burr grinder because they can be quite expensive and I wasn’t convinced it would improve my coffee quality enough to justify the price. Boy was I wrong.
Burr grinder coffee is simply better
When I finally bought this burr grinder I couldn’t believe how much the quality of my coffee improved, in every aspect. For starters, the ground coffee itself looks much different because the grind is much more uniform. There are no large coffee shards or dust.
Next, the aroma of freshly ground burr coffee is hard to explain. It’s perhaps a little more aromatic, but there is no bitterness at all.
Lastly is the coffee taste. The brewing method obviously plays a role here. But the flavor was night and day compared to the old coffee I was drinking. For the first time, I could actually taste some of the toffee and citrusy flavors instead of just an overpowering bitterness.
Every sip seems to give something a little different. And the aftertaste is delicious. You don’t feel the dry and astringent texture caused by over-extracted coffee dust.
Suddenly, coffee switched from being just a comforting beverage to an experience. I know all of this sounds cheesy but listen…
Most people drink coffee every single day. It’s well worth improving that one aspect of your morning. I highly recommend picking up a burr grinder if you’re looking for a sure-fire way to improve your coffee experience.
What I like about this grinder
Everything is metal: All of the pieces are metal except the wooden handle, which makes it feel pretty durable and well made.
No loose pieces: Everything fits together nicely and does not come loose while grinding. Some containers have a magnetic or snap-on ground collector which comes loose. That wasn’t a problem with this one.
Stainless steel burrs: I’m glad I decided to opt for the stainless steel burrs over ceramic burrs. They are a little more expensive but are more durable from my understanding. I also learned that steel burrs create more heat which can have a negative effect on your beans. I certainly can’t conclude which is better at this point. But I’m happy with my choice.
The grind adjustment mechanism is great: To adjust the grinding density, you remove the bottom container, make sure the handle is fastened, and then twist the knob on the bottom side. Some grinders have an adjustment ring on the outside. This can cause the user to unintentionally change the grinding density while grinding. This doesn’t happen with the Ossat grinder because the mechanism is on the inside.
Uniform grind: To be honest, I have not tested many burr grinders because they can be pretty expensive. However, I can say with certainty that the grind quality of pre-ground coffee or blade ground coffee is not even comparable to this burr grinder. The uniformity, aromas and overall coffee quality has dramatically increased since buying this grinder.
What I don’t like
Not sure if it’s a real brand: I discovered afterward that Ossat doesn’t appear to be a real brand. They don’t appear in any web searches. I suspect this grinder was made in China and was white-labeled through Amazon FBA. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just know that you’re not getting a designer brand. I’m still very happy with the quality.
The capacity is a little small: It’s advertised as having a 20-25g bean capacity. I found that 20g was about all I could fit. This is probably enough for most single-serve coffee drinks. However, you will need to grind multiple times if you need more than that.
Grounds get stuck in the container: I found that my grounds were getting stuck in the 90-degree corners in the bottom container, the part where the grounds beans are caught after grinding. This is a pretty minor annoyance but it would have been a nicer design with rounded corners on the inside.
Food/Bean Scale
My pick: Ozeri Pronto Digital Food Scale
Price: $31.69 CAD
Purchased from: Amazon Canada
What I like
Simple to use: Press the button to turn it on and weigh your beans. That’s pretty much it. There’s not much else I can say. It does what I need it to do without any frills.
Tare feature: What this allows you to do is zero out the weight of any container you’re using to weigh your beans in. You simply place your container on the scale and press the Power/Tare button and it puts the weight to zero. You can then pour beans into the container and get an accurate weight of just your beans.
What I don’t like
It’s a little big: I’ve owned scales in the past that are a little thinner and sleek looking. This particular scale is a little clunky. However, it is pretty light in weight which is a bonus.
It only measures to the nearest gram: For example, it will read 15g if your beans actually weigh 15.3g. Other scales are certainly more precise. But I don’t find a need to measure any more accurately than that for now.
Contact pads are not secure: The four rubber “legs” or pads that make contact with the counter are just glued into place. When I first received this in the mail, one of these pads came loose. I don’t know whether or not a missing pad affects the scale’s accuracy. At the very least it would make it unstable.
Coffee Beans
My pick: Montecristo Guatemala Beans from Analog Coffee
Price: $14.99 CAD
Purchased from: CO-OP grocery store
What I liked
Even roast: I found the roast to be pretty consistent in terms of color, which suggests that it is a quality roast. I’ll be honest, coffee roasting and beans, in general, are an area that I’m least familiar with at the moment, so take this with a grain of salt. I believe this roast is more in the City range from what I can tell due to the color and appearance of the cracks, which means it’s a lighter roast.
French Press
My pick: Bodum Brazil French Press (1L)
Price: $27.00 CAD
Purchased from: Amazon Canada
What I like
Durable design: Everything is manufactured pretty well. There are no loose pieces or questionably weak plastic bits. I’ve had a few other French Presses that feel like they might fall apart at any point. That’s not the case with this Bodum.
Good size: I personally think the 1L size is perfect. I never brew a full carafe worth of coffee but the extra space makes it easier to add grounds and water, and prevents spilling and overflow.
Quality plunger: The plunger has 4 pieces. There’s a stem, screen filter, cross plate and spiral plate. Together they feel pretty sturdy. The cross plate has a screw thread that slides through the screen and spiral plate and screws into the stem. So all you have to do to is simply unscrew the one piece and you can easily clean or replace the individual pieces.
Turkish Pot/Ibrik
My pick: The Silk Road Trade – Turkish Greek Arabic Pot
Price: $42.50 CAD
Purchased from: Amazon Canada
What I like
Durable design: It’s thick, durable and certainly doesn’t feel cheap. I’m happy with the quality.
What I don’t like
A little small: Turkish coffee isn’t intended to be brewed in large batches. But this particular model was a little smaller than I was expecting. It will only produce around 5 ounces or so.
Awkward shape for storage: The wooden handle unscrews to make it a little narrower. But this exposes a sharp screw, which isn’t a great alternative. It’s just one of those products that’s going to fit awkwardly in your cupboard.