Death by Dearth of (Good) Coffee

It's hard to believe I've already been here for over a month!

Therefore it's high time for me to complain loudly and grumpily about the lack of good coffee in Hong Kong.  (I won't go so far as to say absolute nonexistence, because I know there are a few coffee shops that do actually serve good coffee -- except that's kind of the point too -- you have to hunt down these little storefronts out in Tin Hau, Causeway Bay, Sheung Wan...and in one particular example, a woman's private apartment -- and, really, in the morning when all one wants is a strong good cup of joe to kick off the day, who wants to go to all that trouble?)

I noticed the absence almost immediately, but it wasn't until Michael got here that I truly realized it -- the man lives on multiple cups of the black drip.   Now, before you think that we are all high fallutin' and snobby about our roast and beans, rest assured that Michael has the lowest standard for black coffee of anyone I've met.   The options and styles here range from bitter coffee grinds boiled into a syrupy sludge in a tea kettle on the stove, burnt coffee drowned in sugar and heavy milk, or a watery, mildly foamy, strained-through-an -espresso-machine-not-quite-espresso-not-quite-coffee mix.

It's gotten to the point that even I (I make pretty terrible coffee) have taken to making my own cup at work because it tastes more like coffee than any other coffee for sale that I've found thus far.  The situation is so dire that Michael has resorted to a big jar of instant coffee (Nescafe, ohh la la) to tide him through the mornings.

This brings me to my next point.  We thought, OK, so no one serves coffee the way we like it (and it still costs a whopping $5 at fancy Western joints), easy peasy, we'll go buy a coffee machine and some grounds.  Well, it turns out you can buy multiple brands and styles of rice cookers, ceramic heaters, hot water kettles, oscillating fans and even espresso machines ... but not so much a coffee maker with a simple timer.  We've looked at Fortress, Wing On, SOGO and multiple Japan Home Centers.  We're even willing to go without the timer or downgrade the size, but when the only models you've found are a 4-cup toy and an 8-cup no-brand, each charging upwards of US$50, you kind of want to dig in your heels and complain.

Do we want to buy the machine that we want on Amazon, for US$22.22, only to pay US$23 for shipping and handling?  Grumble grumble.