Once I got my own apartment in college, and was too poor to afford my own Mister Coffee drip-coffee machine, I resorted to a single cup pour-over jawn, which I filled by heating water in a pot on the stove. And here I need to take a minute. Because when I walk into a bougie café now and see “pour-over” as a special bullshit bespoke option I cannot help thinking that people are suckers. That’s how I made my coffee when I was too poor to make it any other way.
Mike Montiero, author of Design Is a Job and What Is a Designer? writes about coffee in his newsletter.
I’m currently using a pour-over setup after having cycled through my camping percolator (RIP) Jen’s one-cup coffee machine (RIP), several French presses, a brief attempt at an Aeropress (did not live up to the hype) and back to a French press. I like the pour-over but have been keeping an eye out for another cheap percolator at the thrift store—I did enjoy the coffee it brewed, and now that I have beans I like, I want to give it a try again. (He expresses a love for dark roast, which to me tastes like wet, burned paper towels).