I Tried to Fix a Perfect Machine

Hey,

Let me tell you a little story about a fancy coffee machine and the lesson it accidentally taught me.

I finally put a well loved automatic drip machine through its paces. First cup, I was honestly surprised. Rich, delicious, a little hint of grape, and it came out at the perfect temperature, ready to drink, no waiting. For a second it felt like the perfect machine.

And then the engineer in me woke up. I started poking at the limiting factors, the way the water comes out of the showerhead, the little things I'd change. Within a couple of days I was online looking at how to modify a three hundred dollar machine that most people think is already perfect. Which, if you say it out loud, sounds a little crazy.

But here's the thing I landed on. There are pros and cons to everything in coffee. To everything in life, really. That automatic machine felt flawless until I looked closely, and then I found the cons. My Hario V60 has its cons too. You can only change so much with it, the filter, the recipe, the grind, whether you swirl. At some point you just deal with the trade offs a piece of gear hands you.

And that's actually freeing. When something has more cons than pros for you, you don't need to get mad about it or feel like you wasted your money. You just use it less. You set it down. No drama. The gear that earns a spot in your daily routine earns it because the pros win for you, not because it's perfect. Nothing is.

So this isn't me telling you to buy or skip anything. If a machine or a brewer makes your mornings better, that's the whole scorecard.

But next time you're tempted by the next perfect piece of gear, remember it'll have its cons too. The move is to notice what you already own, play with it, and land on the side of just using it. That's where I'm trying to live. Watch me talk through the whole thing here.

Then hit reply and tell me, do you tinker with your gear, or just use it? I read every one.

Oaks, the Coffee Guy