I have a Technivorm Moccamaster. It’s expensive but, you get what you pay for. Since I don’t drink booze I treated myself to good coffee. 

The “magic” of the Moccamaster is it heats water to the ideal temperature (92°-96° C) before it goes over the beans and into the pot. It doesn’t have a clock, it doesn’t grind the beans, it doesn’t do anything but brew one pot of coffee really well. That’s what I want, I really good cup of coffee. Any extra “feature” is something that might break. The design is pretty cool too. 

I don’t get into all the other forms of coffee preparation. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate it, I just don’t have time for the French presses, pour overs, or (gasp) those Keurig things. The first two take too much time and the last just doesn’t make a good cup of coffee. Also, it’s bad for the environment.

I have a friend whose kid is a corporate barista and a “super-taster”. Think a sommelier for coffee. One time he made his parents a cup of coffee and they said it was amazing. Expecting that he was using some magical beans, crapped out of a Vietnamese weasel, they asked about the coffee. Turns out, he used their own coffee and water, he just “did it properly”. Dude knows how to get the most out of a humble bean. Go figure. Coffee is not rocket science. 

This makes think back to photography and why I feel a little left behind.

I never really was one for unleashing photoshop on my images. I use both analog and digital workflows. Digital files are pretty straightforward. I make sure the highlights and shadows are nice and the color is decent. That’s about it. 

With film, primarily Ilford FP-4 black and white sheet film, I expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights with Pyro. These negatives will be contact printed in some 19th century process or other without a ton of manipulation.

As someone who has kissed a lot of the frogs in the process pond regarding both subjects. I come back to keeping things as simple as possible. Perhaps it is me just being lazy or the weight of age but, I don’t have the interest in chasing down every new trend and technological do-dad. I stick with what I know and what works. 

With cameras and coffeemakers, simple still works best. The more “features” and shortcuts, the lower the quality. It isn’t the coffeemaker that makes a superior cup, it’s the person who knows what to do with the materials available. 

I appreciate technology and innovation. My coffee maker reflects technology and simplicity, which is the best. Any one thing that does too many things does nothing well.