Second the idea of a small drip machine. |
There is only brand you should buy - Bodum. I have a cute single serve French Press from years ago, highly recommend if you're looking for something that doesn't take up much space. That said, I think you should get a small pour over maker, it's less mess than a French press. |
| French press |
| I like the Starbucks Via instant coffee packets. I bring packets with me when I travel- very convenient and tastes good and I'm pretty fussy about my coffee. |
I vote for a small Mr. Coffee. I hate the sludge that usually results from making coffee with a French press. |
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A Hario ceramic coffee dripper makes great pour-over coffee. It's simple to use/clean up and compact for storage. Set the dripper on top of your mug, put in a filter (Hario one is easiest but could use a regular filter if folded), pour hot water over. When your mug is full, take dripper off, throw filter away, and rinse dripper. A guest might find this approach easier than a French press, particularly for clean-up. You also don't get the sediment/sludge in the mug that can occur with a French press.
Ceramic Dripper https://www.hario-usa.com/products/v60-ceramic-coffee-dripper-02-classic Hario Filters https://www.hario-usa.com/products/copy-of-paper-filter-for-01-drippers |
This. If guests aren't used to a french press, they might just skip making coffee and go to Starbucks. |
| I don't like to clean the French press so we got a pour-over carafe. You put filter paper and coffee in the top, pour hot water in, and it drips. |
| Just get the Cuisinart one with the built in grinder. If you follow the directions to a T, it makes a superb cup of coffee and I'm a huge coffee drinker. Literally a 6 year old can read and follow the directions. |
| I’m a non coffee drinker and before I married a coffee drinker, I had a chemex pour over carafe. Pretty simple to use and I kept ground coffee in the freezer. Now we have a complicated setup that grinds beans and all, but guests liked the pour over. |
PP. You are supposed to use the disposable filters with the chemex, but I used the 3rd party metal reusable filter, and I can’t say whether it affected the taste, but people didn’t complain. There’s another carafe called the coffee gator with a reusable filter. I appreciate that you want to avoid keurig. Keurigs also get pretty gross, that’s why a simple setup that cleans easily would make more sense for you. |
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I use a French Press every morning. Love it.
But... People who like a French press also know how to use a drip machine, and are generally ok with drip coffee for a day. People who use drip coffee every day may not know what do with a French press. It's not hard, but many people are intimidated if they've never used one. How to heat the water? How much coffee to put in? So, a basic drip machine is the easiest thing to please 95% of coffee-drinking guests. The 5% who drink coffee but won't be happy with it .... you'll never please them anyway, so don't worry about it. BUT do make sure you have fresh coffee on hand. You can freeze leftover grounds and it'll be good for a while. If you really want to please, have a light/ medium roast and a dark roast on hand. The coffee makes a bigger difference than the brewing method IMO. |
| 100% pour over, it's like drip but on a smaller scale. |
I was 50 before I ever used one. I would have had no idea how to use one before that. So unless the OP learns to use it well, good instant coffee would be better. I would just want some kind of coffee. |