Cycling takes up most of my free time, as does going to the YMCA.
I have a few really minor hobbies, I have 3 old tube radios, one is a shortwave which also picks up ham radio, it was supposedly the best shortwave radio reception of any made in the 40's, it's a Zenith Transoceanic. All my tube radios are Zenith their reception was the best. I have a 23 foot Sangean reel wire antenna, I clip it onto the Transoceanic antenna mast and it really brings in stuff then. SW isn't as active as it was when I was kid 65 years ago, but there is still quite a bit on it. You can hear stuff on news broadcasts that for some reason is not in the normal news we get.
Then I have a pretty good collection of vinyl and CDs I listen to through a decent stereo; a small coin collection, and a small watch collection, Plus I have two dogs.
We do like to travel, so there is that. Sometimes we take the Volvo so I can put my bike on the roof, sometimes we take the Lexus SC430 out of town when it will be warm and no cycling will be done.
I forgot to mention another small hobby because I only do it once in the morning. I have a bunch of ways of making coffee, I have a Vietnamese Phin by Nyugen, AeroPress, French Press, Bialetti Brikka Moka Pot, Hario V60 Switch, Haro OXO Goood Grips cold brew maker, Kalita Wave Stainless 185, antique style copper Turkish Cezve (also known as an Ibrik) made in Turkey by DEDE. All those makers are very inexpensive to buy. Lastly my splurge maker is a Cafelat Robot espresso maker.
I am the person that about 12 years ago experimented with putting a AeroPress filter into a Moka pot, I got on You Tube and told some coffee You Tube channels about the hack, including James Hoffman and now it's all the rage, there's even a company that is now making various sizes of these filters. The Bialetti Brikka Moka Pot also has another hack I found with their newer version of the pressure valve, that pressure valve on the top tube can be taken off, and the top put back on and then it becomes a traditional (Express) moka pot, so it's two moka pots in one. I also experimented with cutting a filter to fit a French Press, and insert it between the what they call filters but are just mesh screens, and told You Tubers about that, so far that hack has not caught on that I know of. But that filter addition reduces the grit by roughly 95% that is normally found in French Press coffee but still allows the oils to pass through. I did try pushing a large paper filter through the plunger but all it did was rip the filter, once I cut one the size of the mesh disk no more problems and one filter lasts months of use, just rinse it out, no need to take apart the mesh system to do so.
When I go bicycle camping/touring I take a simple GSI Ultralight Java Drip maker and not instant coffee because that stuff tastes like crap! I like this one for camping because I don't carry filters for it or dispose of the filters, all I do is just dump the grounds onto the ground then rinse out the mesh filter.
I like having control over my coffee making which is why I don't have any automatic makers, and really automatic machines do not do as good of a job as manual methods, people just don't realize it, or think it's not possible to make better coffee manually, or they don't want to take the time. I don't have a favorite maker, it's just whatever mood I'm in!
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