Overkill?

On my way back from Kettle, I stopped at the General Store for some lunch, and picked up a pound of Alterra Coffee. Later that day, part of my Father's Day gift was a pound of Alpen Glow beans from Alpen Sierra Coffee in South Lake Tahoe, California. (I'm not a big fan of ordering beans from afar; I sort of want to get them in person or have someone buy them as a gift ...) The other part was an REI gift card.

What to do?

Well, with the new Gentrified REI in place, I wandered over there at lunch today. And in keeping with the coffee theme, I finally picked up a portable French press.

And then it hit me: how many ways do I have to make coffee?

Is the answer "Too many" ? I now have three French presses, a percolator, an AeroPress and a drip machine. I got rid of the espresso machine a while ago (only to reclaim counter space), but that still adds up to 6 different coffee makers. Geez.

In my defense, each has its purpose. I have a large French press and a single-serve one (SRAM schwag from a few years ago), and now the travel one; the percolator is for camping, but is better used for boiling water; the AeroPress just rocks, especially for single-serve shots; and the drip machine is, ahem, "reserved" for when we have company. (Actually, no one I'm related to drinks coffee as strong as I do, so they don't like my French pressing.) And each creates a good cup of coffee in its own way.

But is it overkill?