My Moccamaster Delivers Drip Coffee Perfection
Coffee is the original desktop biohack and the country’s most popular productivity tool. As we lose sleep over the switch to Daylight Saving Time, the caffeine-addicted WIRED Reviews team writes about our favorite coffee-making routines and devices that will keep us alert and maybe even happy in the morning. Today, reviewer Simon Hill gives an ode to the Technivorm Moccamaster. In the coming days, we’ll add more Java.Base stories about other WIRED authors’ favorite preparation methods.
I don’t work too good until I had my first coffee of the day. It’s an addiction I accepted a long time ago. But my search for the perfect morning cup took years. I tend to obsess over finding the perfect gadget (there’s a reason I’m on the WIRED Reviews team). I’m always looking for the next big thing, but the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGT is my forever drip coffee machine.
Six minutes is all that separates you from a perfectly brewed cup of delicious coffee. The Moccamaster is consistent, reliable, easy to use and quiet. With an optimal design more than 50 years old, it has reached evolutionary perfection for a filter coffee machine. It quickly fills your home with that irresistible aroma, gets the most out of your beans, and looks great on the counter.
The Brief
There’s no substitute for quality, freshly ground beans, but I don’t have time to worry about stuffing and polishing. I also need this for my wife and want a second cup ready to use when I finish the first. Filter coffee is my favorite, and after a parade of mostly inexpensive machines over the years, I settled on Technivorm’s Moccamaster KBGT.
I hated coffee growing up, but we only had instant coffee at home. Watery and weak, instant coffee is enough to put off anyone. Good coffee was far from ubiquitous in Scotland in the 90s. My wife introduced me to my first “real coffee” in an Italian café. The aroma, the cream, the depth of flavor, I suddenly understood.
For years, coffee was something we had at a cafe or restaurant. We drank tea inside. But my confidence grew when I got a job testing games. We often had to spend sleepless nights testing a version in time for the publisher. There was a cup of filter coffee available at all times, and it was a constant companion during my years of game development, even though it came from a large Kirkland box and was usually cooked to death.
At home, we’ve switched to a French press, perfect for lazy Sunday mornings. But eventually we got our own filter coffee machine. There have been dalliances with inexpensive espresso machines, but the biggest advancement in our coffee game has been buying fresh beans from a good roaster and grinding them for each 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.
It’s worth it
I hesitated for a long time whether the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGT could justify its price. Even on sale, it costs three to four times more than a standard filter coffee machine. But there are reasons.
Photography: Simon Hill
