There was a time when we'd spend half an hour choosing equipment in the morning before we'd even brewed any coffee. Which grinder should we use for these beans? What grind setting? The V60 today, or another dripper? By the time we actually started pouring, we were a little careless: we were getting ready to leave, and we'd already spent our energy on those earlier choices.
We used to buy tools to make better coffee. Later, though, we found that as our equipment collection grew, we enjoyed drinking coffee less. We kept learning and experimenting, so why couldn't we find that early excitement again?
Back then, we really believed bigger and more expensive meant better
When we first got into coffee, we'd spot beans that interested us in a shop, enjoy their aroma, then take them home and brew a cup we liked. That made us want to try a little more. What we looked forward to was simple: what would the next bag taste like?
Then we started looking into equipment. We changed grinders and tried drippers to see what else we could get from the same bag of beans. The research itself was fun, and it was easy to believe that a bigger machine with a higher price ought to make better coffee.
We really did think that.
More equipment meant more combinations to choose from before each brew. Yet having more options didn't bring more enjoyment. It felt as though we'd reached a point where even one more piece still left something missing, so we wanted to try the next one.
Looking back at that half-hour in the morning, almost all the attention we'd meant to give our coffee went into deciding how to brew it. We'd chosen the tools and settings, but overlooked the final step: drinking it.
The pieces we kept were the ones we used all along
Later, we gradually passed on the equipment we rarely used. We kept our regularly used V60 and Kalita 155, along with the grinder and coffee cups we knew well.
With less equipment, we felt the joy we'd had when we first started drinking coffee slowly return. We can't be sure whether that was because we had less to think about before each brew. For our routine at the time, at least, it was a change we wanted to stick with.
Still, there's no need to rush into selling your equipment at home after reading this. The tools you only use occasionally might be exactly what you look forward to at the weekend. Try putting away a few pieces you rarely use on weekdays and see whether you miss taking them out. Is it the flavour they produce that you miss, or the process of using them?
That answer will be far more useful than deciding what to keep by its price.
Looking forward to the next bag of beans
Another thing that changed was the budget.
We already had a fixed monthly coffee budget. The more we spent on equipment, the less was left for beans. After buying fewer tools, we began putting some of that money towards beans and trying processing methods we'd rarely tasted before.
It was a pleasant surprise to try coffees that were new to us and find so many we liked. The equipment was still familiar, but what we looked forward to had changed: what would be different with this next bag of beans? A little of that feeling from when we first got into coffee came back.
That's something we'd now like to suggest to anyone who already has a setup they're comfortable with: leave part of your next coffee budget for beans. Especially if your current tools already make coffee you like and things have just felt a little less exciting lately, you may not need to start researching another grinder straight away.
Finding beans doesn't have to start with a list of expensive coffees. Next time you enjoy a pour-over coffee in a café, ask whether the beans are for sale and get the café's brewing advice while you're there. When browsing posts on IG or Threads, notice whose tastes are close to yours, then look for a coffee you'd like to try. Knowing which flavours you enjoy is more useful than keeping up with whichever beans are popular.
So, should you buy that next piece of equipment?
If you've been feeling something similar lately, try making several brews with a familiar setup, beans you already have and a recipe that has made coffee you like before. Keep the same set of tools for now and notice exactly where you start to lose patience.
Does the coffee taste wrong to you, or does choosing everything before brewing take too long? Or is cleaning up afterwards the part you least want to do? Hold on to that specific inconvenience so you know what to change next time.
If the flavour doesn't suit you, ask the roaster for recipe advice first, then adjust either the grind or the coffee-to-water ratio while keeping everything else as consistent as you can. To start with the grind, read how to adjust grind size based on your actual brews. If you already like the coffee and simply spend too long deciding during preparation, stick to your familiar method for those brews. There's no hurry to add more options.
What exactly should your next tool make easier in daily life? Once you can describe that need, you'll have something worth comparing.
Choosing is much easier when you can describe what you need
Perhaps hand-grinding feels like hard work every day and you'd like to use an electric grinder. Or you used to brew just for yourself, but now you often share coffee with someone else. You already know what to compare, so you can check how the equipment works, how much it brews and how to clean it, rather than just looking for something bigger and more expensive.
If you want to change the mouthfeel of your coffee, it also helps to be specific. When a medium-dark roast brewed in a V60 feels thin, for example, first distinguish between coffee that tastes weak and wanting a fuller body, then decide whether to try another dripper. There's a separate article on how to work this out using a V60 and Kalita 155 as examples, which you can turn to if you actually run into this problem.
Of course, collecting and comparing equipment can itself be part of the pleasure of coffee. We still like tools.
Tonight, choose the setup you'll use tomorrow. In the morning, brew in your familiar way and use the time you would have spent deciding to enjoy your coffee. When you run into a specific inconvenience you want to solve, then choose your next tool.
