This is not a conversation about guns. This is a conversation about items that have withstood abuse that are near unbreakable.
Some items I have heard referenced as AK47 of:
Gerber MP600: It’s a multi tool
Old Thinkpad Laptops
Mag lights
Toyota Hilux
Whereas a drip just passes through the coffee, a French Press is more of a steep. You get a stronger taste from it than you would on a drip.
Espresso is a whole other thing, expensive to get into at home. It uses a much finer grind and (IIRC) the water is pushed through under pressure.
Wild. That’s kinda intricate coffee for most people is just a simple process and keep moving. Thanks for the knowledge! I appreciate the write up.
French press is basically the same work as a drip machine, but a different shape. You just heat the water seperately and then pour it and the coffee into the French press, let it sit, press the plunger down, and pour. Actually takes slightly less time than any cheap dropper I’ve used and runs 0 risk of burning the coffee (drip machines like to put heating elements into their bases to keep the pot hot, this can burn the coffee and ruin the flavor, French presses cannot burn coffee because they cannot add heat)
Espresso is finely ground coffee that uses steam pressure to brew (thus why espresso machines are fucking expensive, my mr coffee unit was 80 buck), it’s an involved process (worth learning gif you’ve got 20m to make a cup of coffee every time) but very good if you use beans you like AND you like your coffee flavor strong
I switched to a French Press recently-ish. Instead of 4 or 5 cups of weaker coffee from my single serve drip thingie, I have 2 strong cups from my French Press and am ready to go. I’m thinking about trying a pourover to see how that is. Espresso is tasty and strong, but I don’t think I’d want it NEARLY enough to justify a machine. I usually only do espresso when I’m traveling, makes me feel fancy having a latte in the big city haha.
All that said, coffee is very individual. There is no “right” answer. If you’re happy with drip, than drip is the way. :)
If you want pseudo espresso grab a moka pot. You can snag them for like $20-50 and they make a good strong espresso style brew on your stove.