Best Coffee Accessories for 2022

Best Coffee Accessories for 2022

For each coffee drinker, a "good" cup of coffee means something different. Coffee lovers may enjoy anything ranging from a lighter-bodied pour over made with meticulous timing and measurements to a cup of dark, almost chewy truckstop coffee. Even if you feel satisfied by your usual go-to cup of joe, the best coffee accessories can elevate your coffee to new heights.

If you're willing to step (or even tiptoe) outside the comfort zone around your tried-and-true favorite brewing process, you may find that a perfect cup of coffee, or espresso, or iced coffee, or even instant coffee is within reach if you have just the right coffee accessory.

Read more: The Best Coffee Grinder You Can Buy Right Now

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The simplest and most effective change you can make to your coffee routine, regardless of how you brew, is to grind your own coffee beans. Conical burr grinders allow for more control over the grain size of your ground coffee than more common metal blade grinders. Something like this electric burr coffee grinder lets you easily switch between coarsely ground coffee and finely ground coffee, unleashing the flavor inside of whole beans for whichever brew method you choose. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you could even try roasting your own beans for a freshly roasted cuppa.

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If you're traveling, this manual travel coffee grinder is small enough to bring to work or on vacation. Since it's completely hand-powered, there's no need to worry about having an outlet nearby. And this hand burr grinder goes well with other man-powered gadgets like your mortar and pestle, your hand-crank egg beater or your old-timey butter churn.

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A French press might be familiar to you, and you may already own one (or three -- seems like it's an easy gift!). But, if you regularly brew with an auto-drip coffee machine, you might want to bust out or buy a French press and enjoy an extra-flavorful beverage on the mornings when you've got a few more minutes to yourself. Grind your coffee extra coarse and bring out the French press to add a little romance to your usual coffee routine. Fun fact: You can also brew loose-leaf tea in your French press. Coffee and tea drinkers rejoice!

Pour-over coffee

If you've never tried pour-over coffee, either at a local coffee shop or at home, prepare for a completely different world of great coffee. Pour over methods release layers of flavor you never knew coffee could have: fruity, chocolatey, earthy, floral, juicy -- coffee drinks can taste like all of these and more without going to the coffee shop. At home, try brewing with one of these, which each require their own type of paper filter. You'll add a little extra time to your coffee ritual, but you will be rewarded with a cup of piping hot coffee that will have you savoring every precious drop of flavor. Pour-over coffee makers can also double as portable coffee makers. All you need is the accompanying hot water.

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This Japanese pour over dripper can be used with your mug for a single serving or placed above a large carafe for a big batch of several mugs of delicious coffee if you've got company (or it's just one of those mornings).

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With an eight-cup capacity, this classic pour-over maker has a chemical lab feel and is still a fine choice both aesthetically and functionally.

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For pour-over coffee methods, you'll want a good gooseneck kettle. Heat up cold water in something like this kettle, and the narrow spout will give you the control you need to distribute hot water over your coffee grounds (or tea), first to help "bloom" the coffee grounds, and then to evenly "pour over" the rest of the water.

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Take it a step further with this digital kettle, which allows you to select the appropriate temperature you need for your favorite coffee brewing method or loose leaf tea. The water will get hot quickly and precisely, setting you up for a superbly flavored cup of coffee or tea.

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If you've got the pour over and the kettle, and you're committed to seeing this brew process through to the end, then take the red pill and get yourself a kitchen scale, too. This digital kitchen scale will help you achieve the ideal ratio of beans to hot water, so that you don't end up with a coffee that is too bitter or too weak. Precision is essential to great coffee (And tea. And hot chocolate.).

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There are still other methods for brewing coffee -- and one of these is done via the wonderful AeroPress. Using these circular coffee filters, the AeroPress is small and lightweight, making it perfect for packing in your carry-on. It's kind of like the next step after the French press, creating a smoother cup of coffee by way of pushing the coffee through a paper filter. And, cleanup is even easier -- you're left with a puck-shaped cake of coffee grounds that you simply push into the trash (or into your compost bin) and then a quick rinse of the AeroPress sets you up for the next cup.

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Turn up the whimsy with this Bialetti stovetop espresso maker, preferably in a bright color. There is something very satisfying about watching coffee bubble up the spout and into the pour section of one of these portable espresso makers (also called a Moka Pot). As pretty as they are functional, these items are great to leave out as conversation pieces. Make coffee while camping by placing this coffee maker over your portable burner.

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This cold brew coffee kit with a Mason jar and stainless steel fine-mesh filter can take you there. The slower process unlocks milder, smoother coffee flavors, leaving you to add milk or sugar to your drink only if you're looking for some extra indulgence.

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If you're really in the mood to treat yourself, this automatic pour-over coffee maker will do the trick. Take all the guesswork out of a perfectly crafted hot cup of delicious coffee -- this machine heats, times and pours the water for you so that you get the pour over flavor complexity without risking a case of barista elbow.

PS: The beans

All these gadgets will help you make a better cup of coffee, certainly, but to achieve a truly great brew, you have to start with a strong foundation: the coffee beans! When purchasing a bag of beans, look for a roast date within the last few weeks or sooner. Freshly roasted beans will get you the most flavor and keep your coffee fresh. A local coffee roaster will be your best bet but there are online options, too. Bags of Intelligentsia coffee smell amazing and give you a preview of the flavors you'll get in your brewed coffee, and some brands of coffee will even benefit a charity, as with Grounds & Hounds ("Every pound saves a hound!").

Whether you prefer specialty coffee, iced coffee, dark roast coffee or even anything a step above instant coffee, any of the above will help you explore new ways to enjoy great coffee. And for coffee enthusiasts, that's really what life is all about. As Johann Sebastian Bach said, "Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat." Don't be a dried up piece of roast goat -- make a good cup of coffee.

More coffee recommendations

Originally published in 2020 and updated periodically.

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Keurig coffee: 4 tips to make it taste better

Keurig coffee: 4 tips to make it taste better

Keurig coffee makers are ridiculously convenient. Drop in a pod, press the button and seconds later you have a steaming cup of joe in your hands. Quality and flavor, on the other hand, are not Keurig's strengths. Pods can spend months on store shelves or in your pantry, a far cry from what you'll get with beans that are freshly roasted and ground. Worse, Keurig K-cups contain less grounds than needed for brewing ideal java.

That said, there are definitely things you can do to get the most out of your machine. From preheating it and reconsidering your water supply to choosing the right settings and accessories, this guide has tips you'll certainly want to try.

Check your tap water quality with a TDS meter.

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Use water that's pure

You can't make a good cup of coffee without using clean, pure water. One way to confirm the quality of your water supply is to check with your local utility. That's no problem here in Louisville, Kentucky, where the city water company takes its mission seriously. After all, superb bourbon requires water that's top-notch.

Another way to check your tap water is to test it yourself. The easiest method is to use a TDS meter. These handheld devices measure the total amount of dissolved solids, or TDS, in water by checking for electrical conductivity. The more impurities present, the more conductive a water sample will be.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the maximum TDS level for drinking water should not exceed 500 parts per million. Anything higher is associated with water hardness, staining and a salty taste.

A quick reading at my kitchen tap came in at a solid TDS of 185 ppm. While that number is slightly outside the Specialty Coffee Association's brewing regulations, it's well below EPA guidelines. To get that value down even further I could use bottled or filtered water.

Preheat the machine

Extracting flavor from coffee grounds is a tricky job, so before you brew your first cup of the day, it's a good idea to give your Keurig machine some assistance by preheating it. The reason why is simple: Good coffee requires water that's hot enough to extract flavor the moment it hits the grounds -- ideally between 195 and 203 degrees F (90-95 C).

The easiest way to help that to happen is by running a pod-free brew cycle first. It sounds like a minor step, but it makes a difference. Water that exited my Keurig machine's second cycle was a full 10 degrees hotter than the first time around.

There was only 11.1 grams of ground coffee in this K-cup.

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Brew it stronger

One key failing of Keurig coffee pods is that they contain a relatively small amount of coffee. For example, my Keurig Donut Shop K-cup came with 11.1 grams (0.39 ounces) of grounds. For a standard 12-ounce cup of joe, I typically use roughly twice as much (20 grams). Anything less than that tastes weak and watery.

Brewing a 12-ounce cup from one Keurig pod makes weak joe.

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If your Keurig brew gives you multiple cup size options, choose the smallest available to eke out a more concentrated brew. For instance, a 12-ounce cup brewed from one Donut Shop pod had a low TDS percentage of 0.8%. When I made a smaller, 8-ounce cup with an identical K-cup, I measured a TDS percentage of 1%.

That's still below the SCA's golden cup standard (1.15-1.35% TDS), but even so, it was an improvement over cup No. 1 -- and one that I could taste.

Put fresh coffee in your pods

One last, simple way of getting around the deficiencies of disposable K-cups is to skip them altogether and get a reusable one that you fill with your own coffee grounds. Plenty of companies sell them -- even Keurig hawks its own model. There are lots of different styles to choose from, too. You'll find everything from inexpensive plastic K-cups all the way up to fancy, stainless steel K-cups.

You'll no doubt brew better coffee than before with an accessory like that (not to mention the environmental benefits). For best results, get a good coffee grinder and grind your own beans right before you brew, and use about twice as much of the grounds as you'll find in a typical K-cup. Your taste buds will thank you.

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Best Coffee Accessories For Kitchen