Before I say (or write) anything about coffee, I want to make it clear that I’m in no way a coffee snob. I like coffee but I don’t have extensive knowledge about coffee. Sure, I can tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee but that’s about it.

I drink coffee fairly often, not daily, but often enough that I want to be able to make it myself.  However, I don’t like the idea of buying another huge appliance for the kitchen that can only do one thing (hint: just making coffee).

In this post I will be comparing 3 different manual coffee makers: The French Press, The Vietnamese Phin and The Italian Moka Pot.

Here are the qualities that I’m looking for in a coffee maker (not in any particular order):

Hot liquid never touches plastic.

Most electric coffee makers have many plastic parts that get hot when in contact with the water. Certain plastics can leech into hot liquid.

Compact

This is because I’ve never met anyone that complained about their kitchen being too big and needed a huge coffee maker to solve their problem.

Fool proof (easy to use)

This is because I don’t want to weigh, measure, and time (in other words: spend energy and brain power) to make something that has questionable health benefits. Seriously, there are as many articles about why one should quit coffee as there are articles about health benefits of coffee.

Inexpensive

I prefer my money to work for me rather than just sitting on the kitchen counter. If anyone should be sitting, it better be me.

No disposable part needed (such as paper filter)

Refer to the point above and I also don’t like waste.

The French Press:

The French Press involves too much guess work.  I usually don’t know how much coffee or how much water I need, and how long I should let the coffee brew until I press it.

The Vietnamese Phin:

The Vietnamese Phin involves even more guess work than the French Press.  On top of guessing how much coffee and how long, there is an additional worry of whether I’m pressing the filter too tight or too loose. (If it’s too tight the coffee will drip too slow, and if it’s too loose the coffee will drip too fast and you will just be drinking murky water).

One thing I like about the Phin is that you can brew your coffee directly on top of your cup.

The Italian Moka Pot:

The Italian Moka Pot  has the least amount of guess work.

Here is how it works:

The water should be filled up to the hole of the safety valve.

Insert the filter into the bottom part.

Fill up the filter with coffee grounds without packing it.

Screw the top onto the bottom.

Put it on the stove until the coffee fills the top container.

It is seriously easy and fool proof. Water and coffee are pretty much measured for you.  The brewing time is finished whenever the water in the bottom container is transferred to the top in the form of coffee.

For my personal purpose, the Italian Moka Pot is the winner of the battle of the coffee makers.

Italian Moka Pot: Bialetti Moka Express , Pezzetti Moka Pot.

French Press: La Cafetiere Thermique Coffee Press.

Vietnamese Phin: Vietnamese Coffee Filter Set.