Been a coffee addict since I was about 10. I remember before anyone would show me how to make coffee, I would even go and eat the straight up grounds because I liked the flavor and loved the caffeine buzz (I was really big on staying up as long as I could as a kid. I still kinda have that problem. Hate the fact that I have to sleep to feel normal)
Of course that was my mom's Folgers, and I was satisfied with that for awhile, until I started using different kinds and realizing how good some of them are. A pretty good higher quality coffee to start with is Gevalia, I prefer their French Roast it's pretty good. Whole Foods has an autisticly large selection of types of coffee, pretty good dark roast.
My favorite right now is Cambraia. I found it one time when my wife dragged me to an international market. It's from Brazil and it's the creme de la creme cream la li la lou french whatever however it goes. I like all the ones I've tried from them, whole bean and pre-ground, but their Espresso roast is probably the best. Need more scientific testing...
Now I used to only use a normal coffee maker (still will if feeling lazy), but the best way so far I've seen is this traditional espresso from this italian company Bialetti (they make good shit, got some badass pots and pans from them on the cheap). It's a little more involved. You actually have to sit and watch it being careful not to let it get too hot otherwise, you'll ruin the batch and make a huge mess because it will boil over. However, if you have an attention span above that of the average goldfish, all you have to do is take it off as soon as it starts to steam and let it finish perculating then BAM badass homemade espresso that's better than most any coffee shop (unless you're a eurofag or elsewhere with very high quality coffee shops).
Then you can use the espresso to make any coffee drinks. Get you some flavoring and you'll be really set. Also, if you enjoy frozen coffee drinks, invest in a 10 bag of Xanthan Gum. All you need is 1/8th a teaspoon to make your frozen drink with, and BAM it has the proper consistency and doesn't fall apart like a shitty Dunkin Donuts frozen drink.
This is also great, because they are like ~$20, as opposed to paying out the ass for an automatic espresso machine that is generally going to be a huge pain in the ass to clean and won't always come out right.
I'm also really considering that Ninja coffee maker that
@Nekromantik mentioned to replace my shitty $10 coffee maker. That way I don't have to use a separate device to grind my beans with a separate device, also the built on frother will make it so I will basically have a full-on barista bar in my kitchen.
Jesus Christ, I didn't realize how autistic I was about coffee. Didn't even notice that this was an old thread no one has commented on in awhile, but now I've made a commitment