Present for a Dorm Dweller

[The Nid Hog]

My daughter has become a much more enlightened coffee drinker since she went to college. She's moved away from the sweet drinks and she's learned to appreciate a nicely brewed cup. At the same time, she's on a budget, so she can't go out for a coffee whenever she wants.

I'd like to get her something to make a good cup in her room. Space is at a premium, so it can't be a stationary coffee maker. She already has a Braun electric tea kettle so she'd be set for hot water. I considered a French press, which was my solo option until I got a vacuum pot. However, I thought that cleanup might be a problem. I've never used a Aeropress, but I'm thinking that it might be a good solution.

What do you guys think?

 

[_JP_]

An Aeropress would be my first choice, followed by the French press. And consider a grinder for the beans! Fresh grounds makes a whole lotta difference.

 

[soapbox]

The Aeropress makes good coffee (Thanks again to Mysterion for giving me his!). Cleanup is minimal. Blade grinders are cheap and small and no problem if they get lost or broken. I sort of prefer French press coffee to the Aeropress, but I use the Aeropress at work for convenience. Aeropresses are very sturdy too.

 

[barman]

Go with the Aeropress. It makes a great cup of coffee and cleanup is easy. It's filters can be reused again and again. It takes up little or no space and doesn't leave grounds in your cup like a french press does.

 

[Saxmoore]

An even smaller and cheaper alternative would be a Melitta cone drip. Since she has the kettle, just the cone, filters and a cup. Cleanup of those things is uber easy.

 

[Jim]

An even smaller and cheaper alternative would be a Melitta cone drip. Since she has the kettle, just the cone, filters and a cup. Cleanup of those things is uber easy.

Yes, this would work fine.

 

[marvin100]

Nth-ing the Aeropress. Great little tool, virtually unbreakable, no cleanup, portable, and makes great coffee. About as dorm-friendly as it gets.

 

[alexo]

One more option - Bialetti Brikka on an electric cooktop:

There's an electric version that comes with a built in heater or you can buy the regular one and a small electric cooktop.

I got really good espresso from a 2 cup Brikka in my coffee days.

 

[Texican]

When I was in college I used a small bodum french press since I already had a hot water kettle for tea and packaged soups. It was nifty, but she may encounter some problems:

1) Having to go to a place, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, which sells whole bean coffees that need to be ground to the consistency to get french press coffee. A solution to this would be to get her beans whole at the store or online, and grind them herself using a grinder.

2) Cleaning. The bodum french press was a shrew to clean. Especially since I lived in a dorm with a communal bathroom where I would sometimes wash my cups and dishes (I know. Gross. Thank God those days are gone). It was a pain having to get all the grounds out and then clean the press, making sure that all the grounds went down the drain.

3) Time. Sometimes I had to get up early to take the time to prepare a good cup of coffee. I'm now encountering this since I'm back in school attending seminary. We have morning prayers in chapel from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM. Some of my classes start at 8:50, which doesn't give me much time to make a cup of coffee. Pretty much just shove the corn flakes into your gullet and go to class. I like my new drip coffee machine simply because I can program the time I want it to brew my cup, so I have my coffee ready to go for class.

I think for a college student, a small drip maker might be the way to go, as sacrilegious as it sounds.

 

[Jasonian]

An even smaller and cheaper alternative would be a Melitta cone drip. Since she has the kettle, just the cone, filters and a cup. Cleanup of those things is uber easy.

+1. Easier to use than an Aeropress, and dirt cheap to boot. Clean-up is minimal. Can you pick up a filter and throw it away? Can you rinse a piece of plastic? If you answered "yes" to both, then you can clean up after a manual pour-over brew.

Grinding is a bigger factor, and all things considered, I'd suggest the Capresso Ifinity. It's not my first choice, but it seems the ideal candidate or the given situation.

edit: If I were moving back into the dorm life today, this is what I would personally do. I know for a fact that I would lose parts of the aeropress set. Paper cone filters are cheap and readily available, so even if a roommate tosses them out thinking that they are trash, it's no great loss. They are easily bought at any local grocery store for next to nothing. I'd suggest a #4 filter.. just in case. (or a #2, which works well for a single cup)

 

[KeepsItClean]

What about a coffee maker that only makes one cup? I had one of these when I was in school and it was great. Something like:

http://www.brookstone.com/single-cu...-E985-DE11-9973-0019B9C2BEFD&mr:referralID=NA


I had a black and decker model:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-DCM18S-Personal-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005MF9C/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_c

 

[marvin100]

+1. Easier to use than an Aeropress, and dirt cheap to boot. Clean-up is minimal. Can you pick up a filter and throw it away? Can you rinse a piece of plastic? If you answered "yes" to both, then you can clean up after a manual pour-over brew.

Hehe, those are also the only criteria for using an Aeropress--except you don't even have to rinse the plastic.

The pour-over type makers aren't easier than the Aeropress, imo, because it takes effort to make good coffee with them, whereas the Aeropress is completely idiot-proof (and well-nigh unbreakable--I dropped mine down twelve flights of stairs a week after I got it and it wasn't even chipped).

 

[thebikingengineer]

Hehe, those are also the only criteria for using an Aeropress--except you don't even have to rinse the plastic.

The pour-over type makers aren't easier than the Aeropress, imo, because it takes effort to make good coffee with them, whereas the Aeropress is completely idiot-proof (and well-nigh unbreakable--I dropped mine down twelve flights of stairs a week after I got it and it wasn't even chipped).

I've just gotten a pour-over and have found the consistency and quality of coffee to be as good as or better than Aeropress coffee. I think this has more to do with grind consistency than brewing method. I think that either method would be a fine choice for the budget-conscious college student, although the pourover should have fewer parts and slightly less clean-up.

Also, my pourover was $4 while my aeropress was $30.

 

[marvin100]

I've just gotten a pour-over and have found the consistency and quality of coffee to be as good as or better than Aeropress coffee.

I've found the opposite, but hey, ymmv

A dorm dweller should probably buy pre-ground beans in small quantities. Colleges usually have good specialty roasters nearby who surely use pro grinders, and a grinder is probably overkill (and mess) for a dorm room (except maybe a hand grinder? There are some good ones).

 

[Jasonian]

I've found the opposite, but hey, ymmv

A dorm dweller should probably buy pre-ground beans in small quantities. Colleges usually have good specialty roasters nearby who surely use pro grinders, and a grinder is probably overkill (and mess) for a dorm room (except maybe a hand grinder? There are some good ones).

Fresh ground is ALWAYS better than preground. I'd advise placing whole beans in a plastic bag and smashing them with the heal of your boot over having coffee pre-ground, regardless of how fantastic the grinder may be.

note: This is only true for fresh-roasted coffee. If the coffee is already stale, then you can't really do it much harm by increasing the exposed surface area by grinding ahead of time, but the cup quality won't be very good either way if you start with stale coffee.

 

[Saxmoore]

I've found the opposite, but hey, ymmv

A dorm dweller should probably buy pre-ground beans in small quantities. Colleges usually have good specialty roasters nearby who surely use pro grinders, and a grinder is probably overkill (and mess) for a dorm room (except maybe a hand grinder? There are some good ones).

This sounds like a good excuse for dad to to visit often; he has to bring her fresh ground coffee!

 

[The Nid Hog]

This sounds like a good excuse for dad to to visit often; he has to bring her fresh ground coffee!

I think that she'd rather switch to tea than have me dropping by with the daily grind.

 

[davecmu]

As a housing professional, I'd just like to suggest you get something without a hot plate surface, which rules out pretty much every auto/drip machine. They are often not allowed in residence halls because of the open heating element. That way, she'll avoid any run ins for policy violation just because of her love for coffee.

That having been said, an Aeropress or a vacuum pot are both likely to get a double-take from the RA on the floor because they look 1) out of place and 2) a bit like devices which are used for more ... uh ... nefarious purposes, if you know what I mean.

I say french press. Cheap, effective, very fashionable right now.