How To Buy A Gift For A Coffee Lover

When it comes to buying a gift for a coffee lover, we understand that this can be a daunting task. Coffee jargon can become very confusing, very quickly. Lucky for you, we have put together a list of things to consider, to help steer you in the right direction and guide you to buying the perfect gift for the coffee lover in your life. This post draws on many years of experience and many festive seasons of shopping - we know what coffee lovers want!

Don't buy a coffee maker (yet)

It might seem like the obvious choice, but if they already have a coffee maker, don't get them a new one; at least, don't make it the first option you consider. It may seem like the obvious place to go, but it's not always the best choice. Although experimenting with brewers is something coffee lovers absolutely love to do, helping them improve their existing brews is even more powerful. You can arm them with the tools that will help them get better results from any coffee maker. Read on below to find out what those tools are. If you've made sure they already have these, then you can move on to some coffee maker recommendations further down!

Help them make better coffee

Our biggest piece of advice to you is quite simple but it warrants repeating: gift your coffee loving friends & family members the tools that will help make better coffee with the coffee maker they already have. The nice thing about these tools is that they can be used with all coffee makers and will have lasting value throughout their coffee journeys. Before looking at new coffee makers, a coffee lover must have the following pieces of essential equipment.

A quality burr coffee grinder

If the coffee lover you are buying a gift for does not have a burr grinder, then this is a no brainer; stop reading this blog post and get them a grinder. You might be thinking to yourself, "they have a blade grinder, so I think I'll get them something else," but you would be incorrect. If they are using a blade grinder, they desperately need a burr grinder. The consistency of any burr grinder is night and day compared to a blade grinder, and the ability to adjust the grind setting to suit their brewer and their taste preferences is essential for any true coffee lover.

Matt (our marketing man and resident coffee nerd) would even go as far as to say that if they have a basic burr grinder as well as everything else mentioned in this blog post, you would still be better off upgrading their grinder before buying them a new coffee maker. Matt may have some particularly strong opinions, but he has a point; a better grinder will yield better brews in every brew method. That sounds worthwhile doesn't it?

Here are some of our top picks for coffee grinders.

• Entry level manual grinder: The Hario Mini Slim Mill
• Mid-tier manual grinder: The Timemore Chestnut C2
• Entry level electric grinder for manual brewing: The Severin
• Mid-tier electric grinder for manual brewing: The Baratza Encore
• Entry level home espresso grinder: The Rancilio Rocky
• Mid-tier home espresso grinder: The Eureka Mignon Specialita
• Check out all our grinders here.

Measuring the variables

If you are not a coffee nerd, we can imagine that you don't understand the hype around scales. One of the most important factors in making better coffee is measuring your variables and, after grind size, the most important variable is your ratio of coffee to water. In order to measure this accurately, you need scale, and preferably a scale that measures in 0.1g increments.

Most coffee scales kill two birds with one stone and include a built-in timer in order to time your brews (another important variable). Being able to measure all these variable allows you to control them, change them and make tweaks to make your brewed coffee a little better. Perhaps most importantly, this allows a coffee lover to replicate a really great brew.

Modern coffee scales have come a long way, and while you can still get a scale that does the basics - it weighs and times - the addition of smart scales has made the world of coffee scales incredibly feature-rich. From connecting to your phone to record your brew recipes, to measuring more esoteric variables like flow rate (how fast you are pouring) to just measuring the basics, any coffee scales will help you improve your coffee, regardless of what end of the spectrum you are on.

Check out some of our top picks for coffee scales below.

• Basic scale: Timemore Black Mirror Scale or Hario V60 Drip Scale
• Smart scale: Acaia Pearl or Felicita Incline
• Espresso scale: Felicita Arc
• See all our coffee scales here.

The right temperature

The last variable that needs to be controlled is temperature. Most people just whack on the kettle and make their coffee, but coffee nerds like to control every single detail. The difference that a few degrees of temperature can make is huge, and having the ability to control that is just as important. This can be achieved through two means: a variable temperature kettle (which makes it a quick and easy task) or a simple thermometer.

Coffee kettles not only offer the ability to measure the temperature of your coffee, but offer precision pouring with gooseneck spouts. Although this might not be necessary in all brew methods, if you are buying something for a coffee lover who drinks pour-over coffee, a precision pouring kettle is an essential piece of kit.

These are some of our top choices:

• Variable temperature electric kettles: Timemore Fish Kettle or Felicita Square
• Precision pouring kettle: Hario Buono Drip Kettle
• Brew thermometer: Digital pocket thermometer
• Check out all our kettles here.

Now you should consider a brewer

If the coffee lover you are buying a gift for has all of the above, then (and only then) should you look at buying him or her a new coffee brewer. Below we've listed some of our top choices for someone buying a coffee maker as a gift, but we should mention that this is largely down to personal preference. We've gone with a few iconic (essential) brewers and a couple of slightly more "out there" options that are sure to intrigue and surprise a coffee lover while still making great tasting coffee.

If you want to browse all our coffee makers, you can see them here. There are lots of them!

The Chemex

The Chemex: it's beautiful, it's iconic and, despite its design being distinctly in line with the third wave coffee culture aesthetic, it has actually been around since the '40s. 

The reason we recommend the Chemex as a gift is that, not only does the Chemex brew incredibly delicious coffee, it is also one of the most beautifully designed coffee makers in the world. Having said that, there are many pour-over coffee makers to choose from, so feel free to browse and choose your own favourite.

• Learn more about the Chemex pour-over coffee maker here
• See some more pour-over coffee makers here

The Kalita Wave

Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't list more than one pour-over coffee maker on a blog post like this, but this one is worth considering for several reasons. The Kalita Wave has been particularly popular around very dedicated pour-over coffee lovers around the world for some time, but it only just recently arrived in South Africa. As such, there's a pretty decent chance the coffee lover in your life doesn't have one yet, and it is definitely an awesome coffee maker.

• Learn more about the Kalita pour-over coffee maker here

Wacaco

Although Wacaco is a brand and not a brewer, their products are unique, well-built, reliable and incredibly good at making delicious coffee. They all make great gift choices. Specifically, the Nanopresso makes surprisingly delicious espresso-style coffee in a portable hand pump form. Then there is the Pipamoka, a portable travel brewer that makes some of the most delicious vacuum brewed filter coffee that we have tried. Both these brewers are unique and a little bit quirky. Either would make the perfect gift for the coffee lover who already has lots of things. 

• Learn more about Wacaco here
• Learn more about the Nanopresso here
• Learn more about the Pipamoka here

The AeroPress

We couldn't possibly write about gifts for coffee lovers without mentioning the AeroPress. Its versatility makes it an amazing coffee maker, especially for a budding, coffee-curious home brewer. It allows you to isolate individual variables and tweak them to your preference. It provides you with full control to explore and experiment while remaining incredibly simple and easy to use. It's a great choice for a coffee newbie, or more advanced user. Just make sure that she or he doesn't have one yet, as many coffee nerds already do!

• Learn more about the AeroPress here

The most extravagant coffee gifts money can buy

If you've reached the end of this gift guide and you are thinking to yourself, "none of this is going to cut it," and, "I want bigger, I want better, I want the ultimate coffee gift," then it's time to bring out the big guns, the greatest coffee gifts that money can buy, the espresso machines.

If you really want to impress a coffee lover with the most extravagant and wonderful gift that money can buy, and give them a lifetime of exploration, then you can't beat buying an espresso machine. To gift a coffee lover an espresso machine is the ultimate gesture. It also may provide you with an easy source of flat whites.

• Browse all our domestic espresso equipment here and feel free to chat to our team about pairing an espresso machine with the right grinder and accessories.

Still Unsure?

If you are still unsure about what to buy the coffee lover in your life, we have a few fool proof options for you that are guaranteed to be appreciated.

The gift of coffee

It's the most obvious choice of all, really. One thing that all coffee lovers love and appreciate is good coffee. Having said that, good coffee is incredibly subjective. A lot of "non-coffee" people are of the understanding that intense and strong coffee is the same as good coffee, but this could not be further from the truth. There's much more to it than that, and personal preferences can point in a lot of different directions.

This is where we can definitely help out! Firstly, make sure to ask the right questions. You should ask, "do you prefer light or dark roasts", "do you take milk/sugar in your coffee", and "do you prefer delicate, fruity coffees or rich and intense coffees". Come to us with their answers and we can definitely find something that will be right up their alley.

• Check out all our coffee roasters and brands here

Bundle it up

We know that this is a lot to take in. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed why don't you take a look at our bundles page where we've done the work for you and put together some bundles that include everything you might need to make delicious coffee. Who knows, you might even find yourself a special deal.

• Check out all our bundles here.

Let them choose

Lastly, if it's all a little too much to take in, why not get them a Cape Coffee Beans gift voucher and let them choose the perfect gift for themselves? Gift vouchers also have the benefit of being delivered electronically. For last minute shoppers, this solves a lot of logistical problems!

• Get gift vouchers here

We're Here To Help

If you need any more help, feel free to contact us. Our customer service team would be more than happy to help you pick the perfect gift for the coffee lover in your life. If are lucky enough to live in the Mother City, pop into us at HQ and we can have a chat in person.

If you want some more, very specific suggestions, you can also check out our curated gift guide collections here. 

The Relationship Between Coffee And Water

Not all water is created equal

You might be reading this blog post and thinking to yourself, "surely water is just water." Well, we are here to tell you that you this is not the case, and the relationship between water and coffee is far more complex than most people realise. Considering that water typically comprises of more than 98% of filter coffee and 88-92% of espresso coffee, it is not surprising that the impact it has can be huge. Luckily for us, coffee can be fairly consistent and likes to play by the rules, so to begin, let's look at a few truths that apply to the relationship between water and coffee. 

1. If your water is inconsistent, your brews will also be inconsistent.
2. If your water is bad, your brews will be bad, consistently.
3. Good quality water can drastically improve your brews.
4. Having one less variable in your brews allows you to more accurately tweak your recipes.

With these points in mind, let's look at what factors we need to be considering in our water in order for it to be optimised for brewing coffee.

Flavour

Almost all water contains a plethora of minerals. The amount of minerals in your water is referred to as its hardness or softness; the more minerals you have in your water, the harder it is and vice versa. This is measured as the total dissolved solids or TDS; the TDS of your water tells you what percentage of your water is dissolved compounds. Minerals in your water affect your coffee's flavour in two very distinct ways: minerals have their own unique flavour characteristics and minerals have a significant impact on your ability to extract coffee from the coffee grounds.

The taste of water

Let's start off with the obvious - we've all had tap water that tastes like chlorine, and it goes without saying that we don't want coffee that tastes like a swimming pool. The most common undesirable minerals found in water are chlorine and fluoride. Their largely unpleasant, chemical flavours are often strong enough to carry through the brew and can leave lingering unpleasant flavours. High quantities of metals such as iron can also result overpowering metallic flavours in your brew.

Not all minerals in water are bad though, and no minerals (distilled water) is worse (we'll get to that in the next section). Generally speaking, magnesium and calcium will improve the taste of your water and give it more texture. When applied to coffee, these two compounds will offer distinct differences in the body of your coffee, with calcium highlighting creamier, more textured body and magnesium highlighting a brew's vibrant and acidic characteristics. Of all the minerals found in water, magnesium is definitely the one that has the most notable positive impact.

Minerals such as salt can also act as flavour enhancers, activating certain taste receptors on the palate and making the flavour experience seem more full and nuanced. It might even bring new flavours forward. Having said this, these can quickly become overpowering and only the smallest amounts are desirable.

Water's effect on extraction

Minerals in water are also essential if you want to achieve good extraction of your coffee. To put it simply, the delicious compounds in coffee need something to bond to in order to be drawn out of the coffee grounds and into your drink. Water that is too soft or distilled water will result in low levels of extraction and coffee that lacks body and character.

Having said that, more definitely doesn't always equate to better. Water for coffee is a delicate balancing act. Although the right minerals have a positive impact on brewing, flavour and extraction there is a finite limit to the amount of soluble material that can be dissolved in water - ergo, if the water is too saturated with mineral ions, there will not be enough "room" for flavour compounds from the coffee to dissolve.

Water & your equipment

Limescale can be a massive issue when it comes to maintaining your coffee equipment. Limescale is a build-up of minerals inside your equipment that can have a huge impact on how well it works as well as its longevity. Limescale can build up on your heating elements, causing your machinery to become significantly less efficient, or inside your pipes, causing inconsistencies and even blockages.

This is where the double-edged sword of calcium comes into play. Calcium can be a wonderful compound for flavour, as it adds a distinct richness and texture to your coffee, however, calcium is the number one culprit in limescale buildup in automatic coffee machines. Although calcium is potentially desirable in manual brewing, it is something that you ideally want to avoid in your machines. It seems that all water is not created equal and how you're brewing can have an impact on what water you want to use.

Regardless of whether you are using hard or soft water in your coffee machines, limescale is something to be consistently aware of; even soft water will begin to cause issues over time. 

What is the solution (pun intended)

If you want the perfect water for coffee, there are a few options. Some take a little more work than others; it largely depends how much detail you're willing to go into and the amount of control you want to take.

DIY

If you fancy yourself a scientist, you can create your own water for coffee. You can experiment with adding various minerals, adjusting the TDS, tweaking the PH and creating the perfect water for your everyday brew. This option is no doubt for the extreme coffee nerd.

If this is something that interests you, the SCA has published guidelines on water for coffee, and this would be a great place to start. Check out the SCA's guidelines here.

Ion exchange filters

Ion exchange filters offer a fantastic everyday solution to improving the quality and consistency of your everyday drinking water. These filters remove unwanted chemicals and use an ion exchange to exchange minerals you don't want with minerals you do want. Essentially, the TDS of your water will remain mostly unchanged, but the compounds in the water will be far more suited to brewing tasty coffee.

We're particularly impressed by the BWT Penguin Water Filter. When stacked up against water designed specifically for specialty coffee on a cupping table, we actually found the BWT filter to offer the best tasting brew with several coffees.

Bottled water

Although we couldn't recommend this as a daily use case (the waste associated is astronomical), as a once off when you're out and about or on holiday, the right bottled water is a simple and accessible solution that will offer a great improvement on tap water.

It's all about the variables

Even though it might seem like an inconsequential thing, the impact of water on coffee will surprise you; everyone at CCB was quite taken aback by how much of a difference changing the water made in our HQ experiments. At the end of the day, brewing great coffee is all about managing variables; the realisation that water is not a constant (but with a little bit of work it can be) is a great step towards brewing better coffee every day. 

Leave your thoughts in the comments below. We'd love to hear about your experiments and experiences with water for coffee!

Can You Afford To Make Specialty Coffee At Home?

Many people are under the impression that drinking specialty coffee at home is out of reach. With bags of specialty coffee ranging from R100-R200 (and upwards for the really exotic stuff), and the initial cost of the setup being quite substantial a lot of people struggle to justify the costs of brewing specialty coffee at home.

The Economics Of Home Brewing

We've looked at the numbers and we disagree; after doing the maths, it actually turns out to be significantly cheaper. In fact, compared to drinking coffee at your local cafe or drinking capsule coffee, you can pay off an entry level home brewing setup in as little as a few months with just the money you save. If you would like to punch your own numbers in and do some of your own calculations, you can access our spreadsheet with all of our formulae here. Feel free to enter the details into your own version of the spreadsheet and see what your numbers deliver!

Below we have a number of specific scenarios that we have looked at. To start off, let's just look at a few assumptions we have made on the costs of coffee.  Most of this is based on averages, but if these numbers look way off from yours, try put yours into your own copy of the spreadsheet.

Basic Manual Brewing At Home vs Filter Coffee Out

What you need:

• Coffee maker
• Coffee grinder
• Scale

Given that this is the starting point, we looked at this scenario with a minimal, budget-friendly setup in mind. With the typical type of entry-level gear available, you can get a brewer, a grinder and a scale for just shy of R3000. Let's assume you would usually drink two cups of coffee a day, bought from a local cafe. The money spent on your home brew set-up will be made back in only three months! 

Obviously we understand that it's not just about the money, you might have a great relationship with your local cafe, and we think that's a great thing. It's actually still worth it if you want to split the difference and have one coffee at the cafe and and brew one at home. We adjusted the number of cups to one and the figures below show that if you do this, you will have the setup paid off within 5 months.

Although we looked at milk in our calculations, it made a negligible difference. The figures above were calculated using 18g of coffee per brew and drinking it black.

Batch Brew At Home vs Filter Coffee Out

What you need:

• Batch brew coffee maker
• Coffee grinder (you're probably going to want to go electric for this one)
• Scale

This option makes particular sense if there are a lot of people that need coffee! If you are feeding a family of coffee fanatics, or maybe live in a house share of coffee nerds, this is definitely a good option for you. A batch brewer, grinder and scale will set you back about R8000. The table below is based on 2 cups a day and shows that this setup will pay for itself in as little as 6 months.

Given that this setup is a great option for lots of coffee, we also looked at a scenario for a couple. If we double the number of cups per day, you suddenly have a really great setup that has been paid for in 3 months.

Basic Espresso Setup vs Espresso Coffee Out

What You Need:

• Entry Level Espresso Machine
• Entry Level Espresso Grinder

This is where we start to get to the big hitters and things start to get a little more interesting. The cost of milk in lattes and flat whites begin to make a big difference in the operating costs; they really do add up! Our assumptions here are based on a Rancilio Home Espresso Bundle which, at the time of writing this, will set you back in the region of R22000. We know it might seem like quite a chunk of change but based on 2 flat whites a day (using a standard 18g dose), this will be completely recouped in as little as 18 months. Given that this type of equipment can last many years if well cared for, this makes it a good investment!

High-End Espresso Setup vs Espresso Coffee Out

What You Need:

• High-End Domestic Espresso Machine
• High-End Domestic Espresso Grinder

The ultra premium domestic espresso setup really is a labour of love. Even with the savings you will make brewing at home, it is a long journey to pay off. This sort of set-up is for the real espresso enthusiast who is willing to dedicate time and energy into making the best coffee possible. It's tricky to put numbers to this setup; what we would consider a "high-end" domestic espresso setup ranges from in the region of R30,000 all the way up to R250,000 for the BEST everything. For argument's sake, let's use a ~R60,000 setup. Based on 2 x 18g flat whites a day, this espresso machine will pay itself off in 43 months. It's hard work, but if you love espresso, it is definitely worth it!

The Capsule Argument

We also included capsule coffee in our calculations. There are a few points about capsule coffee that you should be aware of. On the surface, it seems that capsule coffee is quite affordable, and in some cases, even more affordable than manual brewing. The graph below shows the cost of capsules (based on the price of a popular brand), compared to the cost of brewing a cup at home, however this cost is an illusion.

Most capsules only contain about 5g-7g of ground coffee; this is quite a vast difference to the 17g-20g used to brew most filter or espresso-based drinks. The calculation above shows the cost difference based on a one-to-one ratio. It treats one 15g manual brew as the same thing as one 5g capsule. Of course, not all coffees are created equal. The reality is that one capsule does not contain the same amount of coffee (or caffeine for that matter) as one manual brew. In the table below, we have included a calculation which adjusts the capsule cost to the same quantity of coffee. In other words, 1 x 15g cup coffee = 3 x 5g capsules.

As you can see, when you take into account the difference in the amount of coffee and the fact that you will not be satisfied with a 1:1 comparison of cups of coffee to capsules of coffee, it quickly becomes apparent that capsules are quite astronomically expensive. We included the cost of the capsule machine in our break even point calculation.

The Major Players

This has proven an interesting experiment for us. It helped us to realise that things are not quite as black and white as we thought they were. For example, we were convinced that milk would be a big deal, it turns out that while it has an substantial impact in the cost of flat whites and lattes, we were surprised that a drop of milk in your filter coffee is pretty much negligible, but we're still going to encourage you to drink it black.

Another surprising factor was that the cost of your coffee makes very little difference in the bigger picture. Using R120 coffee vs using R150 coffee has a difference of 27 to 29 months to pay off a R60,000 setup and makes no discernible difference in the time taken to pay off smaller setups. Brewing your own coffee will actually allow you to purchase more expensive specialty coffees. Isn't that a fantastic thing to realise?!

Another factor that proved to be far more significant than we'd initially thought was the adjusted cost of capsule coffee. At the same cost as a coffee in a cafe, capsule coffee just is not worth the money! If you're happy drinking just 5g of coffee a time (and don't mind it stale), then capsules might be for you, but if you want a proper cup, you're going to need another solution.

At the end of the day, the biggest factor that impacts how long it would take to pay off your setup was the number of cups you drink per day. The more coffee you drink, the bigger the incentive to make at least some of your coffees at home (and the fancier the coffee gear that you can justify buying)!

Final Thoughts

With all the numbers in front of us, we think that specialty coffee in the comfort of your own home is accessible to most of us, at least those that regularly drink coffee out. We kept the setup costs to the bare minimum here, but if you have been bitten by the coffee bug, you can keep going and upgrade your setup to include fancy carafes, pouring kettles and multiple types of brew methods. It seems that the economics of home brewing can easily justify it.

With that being said, we don't want this to be all about the money. While there are obvious benefits to your wallet when it comes to home brewing, there are also other benefits that are a little more difficult to quantify. Home brewing offers you the opportunity to learn a new skill and explore coffee brewing with newfound fervour. It will allow you to try different coffees of different processing methods, origins and roasters more easily. It will also get you involved in the sometimes frustrating but often rewarding process of getting those wonderful flavours out of those little beans. Our hopes are that it will take your appreciation of this wonderful beverage to a whole new level.