About the Bench
One person, one kitchen counter, and a deliberately short list of things worth testing properly.
PlaceholderAlicia Pearse
Writes every guide and runs every test on this site.
Why this site is so narrow
Most coffee gear sites review everything. This one tests four things: a pour-over dripper, a scale, a hand grinder under $100, and a milk frother. Four, because that is how many one person can actually use long enough to have an opinion worth publishing.
Everything else here is a guide. Guides explain how brewing works and answer the questions that come up while you are standing at the counter. They do not pretend a test happened, because one did not. You will always be able to tell which kind of page you are reading: tested reviews say so, in the first person, with the method attached.
Who writes it
I am Alicia Pearse. I have been brewing coffee by hand for Fill in: how long, specifically and currently own Fill in: which drippers, grinders, scales.
Before this site, Fill in: relevant background, if any. If that turns out to be “none, I just make a lot of coffee,” that is what this page will say. A fabricated resume would undermine the only thing this site is selling, which is that the person writing it tells you the truth.
How the money works
Some links here are affiliate links, and a purchase through one earns this site a small commission at no extra cost to you. That is the whole business model, and it never decides a ranking. If the product that pays best is not the best product, it does not win.
One relationship deserves naming here rather than buried in a disclosure page: the author has a personal connection to Zulay Kitchen, whose milk frother competes in one of the four tested categories. That is disclosed again, specifically, on the frother review itself. Read the full affiliate disclosure.
What is finished, and what is not
None of the four reviews have finished testing yet. Until one does, they say so instead of showing a verdict. You can see where each of them stands:
- Best Pour-Over Dripper — testing in progress
- Best Coffee Scale — testing in progress
- Best Hand Grinder Under $100 — testing in progress
- Best Milk Frother — testing in progress
The method those reviews will follow is written down in advance, so it cannot be retrofitted to justify a result: how I test gear.
Getting in touch
Corrections are genuinely welcome, especially on the guides. If something here is wrong, tell me and it gets fixed with the date changed at the top.