Current Coffee setup
When you're really into something, but feel like you aren't that into it because you see other people who are REALLY into it. Coffee is like that for me...
Average Cup
80% of the time, I'm going to be drinking either nitro-infused coldbrew or a double-americano at Cafe Stella, in Ghent.
Home
When I'm not at Cafe Stella, I use the following to get that daily fix...
Beans
Yes Plz Coffee is my current bean dealer. I'm on an every 2 week plan, but should probably cut back a bit as I've been spending much more
Grinder
After much research and discussion with friends, I ended up going with a Baratza Virtuoso+ Conical Burr Grinder. Because I use a french press 90% of the time, I use a pretty rough grind (~9 on the neck scale), and I size it out around 10.5 seconds of grind time.
Prep method
I use a large stainless steel french press that I found on Amazon. It's indestructible (no fancy double walled fragile glass, etc.), and it goes in the dishwasher super easy. It's SO much more user friendly than many of the french presses I've seen, and it's vacuum double-walled, so it keeps the hot coffee hot for a few hours at a go (on the very rare occasion I don't drink it before then!).
Water
The City of Norfolk has amazing water quality, so I just use tap water in a Stagg EKG gooseneck kettle. I saw a youtube video of James Hoffman pouring out of the TOP of the Stagg, and that blindingly obvious solution solved my only problem with the kettle (when pouring french press or non-pourover, the gooseneck control becomes a time suck that's un-needed or un-wanted). Water is heated to 205F and poured into the press in 2 stages - 1/3rd to start the breathing/outgassing, and then the remainder dumped in to brew after 30 seconds or so.
Insanity
I'm not QUITE into coffee enough to weigh my water or coffee grinds, but that feels like the last addition. Given the consistent kettle, press and grinder usage, I'm probably within a few % of identical brews on a normal day, so I don't think the scale would be worth the trouble, honestly.
The coffee is consistently good, and substantially better than what I was doing before. Part of this is the fresh grind on the beans, and part is the consistency in water/heat used, rather than just hoping for something to work right each time.