I let my cafetière brew until the grounds have settled. It’s a Bodum Columbia double-walled steel thing (shiny!), so I can’t actually see what it is doing, but the sound it makes when struck by a spoon changes from a dull clonk to a cheerful clang when it is ready. Basically, when the grounds have given up their CO2, so they are no longer floaty nor acting as sound dampers.
But I am not fancy with my coffee, so those who take a more scientific approach probably have better advice than me!
Well, shoot. That was an easy sale.
There are more micro/small roasteries producing instant coffee from their roasted beans. This straddles the balance of … instant coffee… with fresh roasted / curated coffee, as in, not Folgers or Nescafe. Here is one such roaster in Montana that I’m a big fan of - ON THE GO – Treeline Coffee Roasters - they’re not ‘mixes’ in the sense of dry milk or anything - just add hot water, and you have hot coffee with ‘better’ coffee than the traditional instant producers.
You’ll get this with ‘immersion’ brewing, and pleasantly, it becomes really difficult to ‘over’ brew in a French Press. Don’t fully ‘press’ either - just need the plunger to act as a filter. Here’s a video on stepping up your French Press game (if you think there still might be something there 
) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st571DYYTR8
Have you tried Black & White Roasters - B&W Coffee Offerings | Black & White Coffee – Black & White Coffee ? They put out consistently good stuff, and I really like their flavor / rating scales. If they say something is ‘clean’ - it’s clean. If they say something is ‘funky’ - buckle up!
Standard recommendations for Onyx Coffee Lab, of course - but in the ‘hobbyist support’ sense - check out My Friend’s Coffee - https://myfriendscoffeela.com - Gary puts out pretty solid coffees.
they’re pretty handsome pieces. But my local Japanese shop had a ceramic singlewalled dripper for $5 so I wasn’t quite as enticed (not to mention I already have 3 drippers -) )
I think I know those, we have an “H-Mart” near by and I love looking at all their different tea/coffee making devices. I have to avoid that though because it’s not like I don’t already have a very expensive hobby with Keyboards.
My coffee routine just tends to be boiling water in an electric kettle with some coffee settings for water temp, grinding the beans with an electric grinder (my manual one broke and I’m saving to get a nice one down the line), and then either French press or Chemex pour over. No particular preference to roast, but I tend to lean towards darker medium or dark roast with nothing added - good ol’ black coffee for me.
In terms of what brands I buy, I do the monthly subscription through Atlas Coffee so that I can try different beans from different parts of the world. No too expensive, and I’ve enjoyed all the ones I’ve tried from there over the last year or so.
Chemex is the way!!!
I am a light roast enjoyer, but have found a great local roaster by the name of Ceremony.
They roast out of Annapolis, and have a few shops set up near me in Baltimore.
My two favorites are their “Thesis” and “Antithesis” blends.
Can order it whole bean or pre-ground (for you savages 
) in different grinds such as French Press, Aeropress, Cold Brew, etc.
It’s the only coffee I buy now and it got men into the rabbit whole of finding the right grinder and scale, as well as buying one of those ridiculously overpriced Fellow electric kettles.
Chemex is next on my list to try. Following that will be a project to store all the different coffee making equipment I’ve acquired.
Found out about the ceramic ceramic porous dipper+filter * _ *
Woah! You try this yet or talk to anyone that has?
I saw people on socials talk about them. I think it’s getting mixed reviews so far. Many people are used to paper filters, so cleaning is a “con” on this one (not as much to me personally). I think it would be interesting to test this long-term and see how it plays out.
I’m more interested in how this porous ceramic filter keep the smells out long term? Would it inherently absorb the scent of the environment that it stays in? soaps? perfumes? cooking scents?
Oof I didn’t even think of that. Yeah you might get some smells and even gross flavors over time. Typically coffee isn’t something you want “seasoned”. I was thinking it might be nice to not have to use so many paper filters, but yeah now that you mention it, it seems like there are a lot more inconveniences.
Yeah, you’d probably want something that isn’t porous for something that is reusable.
I wonder about this one:
That is a good looking one too! I almost tempted to get this, but I wonder if it would struggle to retail heat while doing the pour over? Ugh maybe it is best to keep with my ceramic one and paper filters.
Here’s another option for you-
Cotton Coffee Filter for Pour-Over Cones #4 Reusable Coffee Filters (3-Pack) Handmade by Hide & Drink
https://www.amazon.com/Pour-Over-Reusable-Handmade-Hide-Drink/dp/B01I02G328
I have this filter for pour over from Ikea. It works but it has too large holes so water goes through too fast. I liked my older one (no idea of what brand) better but the spot welding broke