I’ve overhauled my coffee station at home to become somewhat minimalistic. Currently, it only has one scale, manual grinder (along with its accessories), an electric kettle, a couple of carafes, filters, an origami dripper, and of course coffee beans. Why? We recently had a couple of bouts with flooding in two months, so I decided to keep it simple to lessen the number of perishable items I need to bring up when rain falls too heavy for our own good. Just to clarify, I didn’t get rid of the other stuff, my wife just helped me arrange upstairs so I can have a storage space for coffee things I am not currently using (like the Hello Scale).

To be honest, I like the look better. It’s easier to brew coffee because I have more space to use. I also liked the look before when I had all my other equipment in it, but regardless if it’s full or not it’s me already moving up in the Home Coffee Station Hierarchy that I totally just made up sitting down trying to type this.

Bottom Tier: You have coffee equipment, with no specific place for them

I once had a Bodum French Press, a Melitta Style Dripper Set from Starbucks, and an electric blade grinder. I would grind at the window near where our TV used to be because the thing had a European style plug and this was the only socket compatible to it (I did not bother with adapters before). I would heat water up in the kitchen, over the gas stove, with our large kettle. The brewing part would usually be in our dining table.

This is low-cost brewing by someone who only occasionally needs coffee at home (but at least it’s a step up from just cracking open a packet of instant coffee). You have some equipment (usually a French Press, and I have no problem with that) and you brew coffee only when you really can’t get it anywhere else. I did not care that much about home brewing then because I always preferred coffee I bought outside, so investing in equipment and finding a dedicated space solely for coffee was out of the question.

Second Tier: You have an actual space just for coffee

To be perfectly honest, this is already enough for anyone home brewing coffee and where most home brewers are. If you’ve read this post of mine, I believe it is important to have a space just for coffee especially if you are working from home. Now, space is not easy to get especially for us middle class people – more so if you live in the city. What almost all of us has, however, are kitchen counters.

You have access to sockets if you have some electric equipment, you have easy access to potable water, sinks, and the kitchen is already where you expect food and drink to be prepared anyway. I was already satisfied with my little area before, but I had to move it due to a combination of an increase in brewing stuff and we added a couple of kitchen appliances. Of course, it does not necessarily have to be in the kitchen counter but it most likely is in a space (or more specifically a surface) shared with other functions of the house.

These equipment could range from a simple coffee or pod machine, to a smattering of brewers, a proper home espresso machine. Point is coffee making stuff are not strewn everywhere in the house but in one specific, easily accessible space. Again, this is already appropriate for most coffee connoisseurs and there is no need to spend more resources for the next two tiers.

Tier 3: You have a dedicated space that is shared with spaces that have other functions in the house

Because of the flooding situation, the most I could do was a fairly sized table tucked away in one of the corners of our dining area. It’s not in the way of anything, it exists solely for coffee making, and it gets some nice natural lights and shadows (for the gram) – and before the recent flooding situation, I was able to store all my coffee gear in it ready for brewing. Well, I still have to clean everything prior to using them and I have to walk about ten steps to the kitchen sink for that, but those are trivial things.

As long as you have an area of the house (no matter how big or small it is) just for coffee, then you fall under this tier. Some coffee stations I see on Instagram look way better than mine, and that shows that people who love drinking coffee at home (or have been forced to because of the pandemic) have really personalized their areas. I like to believe that this is them really showcasing their passion for coffee.

The Top Tier: You have a room just for coffee

I, personally, have not seen anyone have this. I, personally, would want to have something of the sort in the future. I would have a bar or an island in there, with areas for espresso and areas for filter coffee, and most importantly seating where I could sit down drinking coffee while doing some other mundane stuff, like reading a book or the newspaper (both could be done thru a tablet). It could also function as a room to entertain guests prior to or after dinner, like those fancy rooms you seen in period films about the rich and powerful.  You can also have afternoon tea time (complete with fancy biscuits) in here, if that’s your thing.

You can see how this is in the top tier. It requires a sizable investment of resources, and frankly I can only see those who are also on the top tier in society to be able to afford this.  However, and you have to admit it with me, this would be so cool and special to have in your house. But really, how many of us can afford dedicating an entire room in our house just for this function?

If you really want to, you can turn put your coffee station in your house’s living room and I guess it kind of will be a coffee room? Or if you have your own office at home and you also make your coffee in there, then hooray? I just want a proper room designed specifically to make and enjoy coffee in it.

So, what tier are you in this totally made up and unofficial hierarchy system? Or, you know, who cares as long as we can all enjoy good coffee at home.

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