For the longest time I used to drink coffee only when it had three tablespoons of sugar in it. I remember how incredibly sweet coffee had to be before it was drinkable. In retrospect I guess when your parents only have Ricoffy as option, that is the only way to swallow it.

When I moved out of the house I discovered Nescafe Classic. A step-up from chicory drain water, this is at least real coffee. For a long time this is what I drank, and life was good. But like so many things, we tend to be content with the known at the expense of the unknown.

Eventually I grew up a couple of years ago and started grinding my own beans, and using a Hamilton Beach coffee maker similar to this model, basically made filter coffee at the strength of Espresso with warmed milk. This was much better, but still lacking the real deal.

Finally, only a couple of days ago I reached adulthood. And this is what I got:

Not the best on the market (the top models easily reaches $4000 plus), but it has a proper pressurised system that forces the hot water under high pressure through the tamped, finely ground coffee beans. The grinder itself is a step up from the chopper I used before, it is a conical burr grinder that does not heat the beans, hence deliver a better crema.

The net result is this, within 5 minutes:

The best of it all is that I add absolutely no sugar - the sweetness of the 2% milk is enough. Took me long enough!