Coffee is the original office biohack and the nation’s most popular productivity tool. As we lose sleep to the changeover to daylight saving time, the caffeine-addicted WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite coffee brewing routines and devices that’ll keep us alert and maybe even happy in the morning. Today, reviewer Simon Hill gives an ode to the Technivorm Moccamaster. In the days after, we’ll add other Java.Base stories about other WIRED writers’ favorite brewing methods.
I don’t function too well until I’ve slurped down my first coffee of the day. It’s an addiction I accepted long ago. But my pursuit of the ideal morning cup has taken years. I tend to get obsessive about finding the ideal gadget (there’s a reason I’m on the WIRED Reviews team). I’m always eyeing up the next big thing, but the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGT is my forever drip coffee machine.
Six minutes is all that stands between you and a perfectly brewed mug of delicious coffee. The Moccamaster is consistent, reliable, easy to use, and quiet. With an optimal design that’s more than 50 years old, it has attained evolutionary perfection for a drip coffee machine. It quickly fills your home with that irresistible aroma, makes the most of your beans, and looks great on the countertop.
The Brief
There’s no substitute for fresh-ground, quality beans, but I do not have time for the faff of tamping and tweaking. I also need enough for my wife, and I want a second cup lined up and ready to go when I’ve finished my first. Drip coffee is my go-to, and after a parade of mostly cheap machines over the years, I have settled on Technivorm’s Moccamaster KBGT.
I hated coffee growing up, but we only ever had instant coffee in the house. Watery and weak, instant coffee is enough to put anyone off. Good coffee was far from ubiquitous in ’90s Scotland. My wife introduced me to my first “proper coffee” at an Italian café. The aroma, the crema, the depth of flavor, suddenly I understood.
For years, coffee was something we got at a café or restaurant. We drank tea indoors. But my reliance built when I got a job testing games. We often had to pull all-nighters to get a build tested in time for the publisher. There was a pot of drip coffee available at all times, and it was a constant companion during my years in game development, though it came from a big Kirkland tin and was usually stewed to death.
At home, we graduated to a French press, perfect for lazy Sunday mornings. But eventually, we got a drip coffee machine of our own. There have been dalliances with cheap espresso machines, but the biggest step up in our coffee game was buying fresh beans from a good roaster and grinding them for every pot. After finding my favorite roaster (Glen Lyon) and pairing it with the Oxo Conical Burr Grinder, then upgrading to the Fellow Opus, I turned my attention to the machine.
Worth It
I dithered for a long time about whether the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGT could possibly justify its price. Even on sale, it’s three or four times more expensive than a standard drip coffee machine. But there are reasons.
Photograph: Simon Hill
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