Forget the idea that there's a one-size-fits-all way to caffeinate. Your morning ritual is personal, and whether you prefer a punch-in-the-face dark roast or something light and tea-like, the "perfect" cup is entirely subjective. That said, if you're still relying on a pod machine to do the heavy lifting, you're settling for mediocrity. Precise brewing is a science, and some methods are actually better at extracting a balanced, complex flavor than others.
After countless hours testing everything from high-end espresso setups to monthly bean subscriptions, we've learned that the gear is only half the battle. To settle the debate once and for all, we went straight to the pros to find out which brewing style actually reigns supreme in the eyes of coffee experts.
If you're ready to graduate from basic drip to a more sophisticated cup, here's the expert-approved list of brewing methods and the tips you need to master them at home.
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Seeking an answer, I grilled 10 coffee experts, including roasters, cafe owners, educators, barista champions and one former president of the Specialty Coffee Association. I asked them to rank seven of the most popular methods for brewing black coffee.
The contenders (listed alphabetically): AeroPress, automatic drip machine, espresso, French press, K-Cup, moka pot and pour-over.
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One method to rule them all: pour-over
The pour-over method received near-unanimous top ranks from the coffee experts I grilled. skaman306/Getty Images
While it wasn't completely unanimous, pour-over was the clear winner for the overall average ranking. The good news is, pour-over is among the least expensive coffee brewing methods available, requiring little more than a handheld kettle or other device for pouring coffee and a funnel dripper outfitted with a conical filter that sits on top of the cup or carafe to catch the coffee. (You can certainly spend more money for a serious pour-over kit.) On the other hand, well-executed pour-over coffee can be fussy and isn't a set-it-and-forget-it kind of method.
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