In answer to several requests. This makes no pretense to being comprehensive but I hope it helps. Thanks to the OP and everyone who has posted here for a great thread! And apologies in advance for my excessive coffee geekiness.
Essential Coffee Information
Buying and Storage
Coffee remains fresh for up to a year in green (unroasted) form but once roasted is at its best for only about two weeks. When properly packaged in vacuum-sealed one-way valve bags such as those used by Starbucks and Peet’s, coffee remains at peak freshness for up to three months from roast date.
In order to enjoy your coffee at peak flavor buy only what you’ll use within a week in whole bean form and keep in in a cool, dark place such as a cupboard or countertop. If you need to keep coffee for longer, store it in the smallest practical airtight container in the freezer and don’t let it thaw when using - just grind frozen beans. Whole beans stored in this manner will remain delicious for a couple of months or more.
Ground coffee is stale within 24 hours so investing in a home grinder is essential. Blade grinders in the $25 range from companies like Bodum and Krups are fine for most purposes, while a burr grinder (decent ones start at around $70) will give you a difference you can taste in consistency and clarity of flavor.
Where to Buy Coffee
For good-not-great coffee at a great price Costco is the way to go - provided you can either share coffee with friends or have ample freezer space since the packages are so large. Current best choice is their Kirkland Guatemalan whole bean. Some more exotic coffees on costco.com. Coffee from independent local roasters can range from awful to transcendent.
Brewing
Water: West Coast and Midwestern tap water is hard (high in mineral content) so it’s essential to use filtered or bottled water for coffee and tea brewing. Water from self-service machines such as Glacier is likely to be the most cost-effective solution for most consumers and works well for coffee and tea. Pitcher-type and faucet-mount filters just remove some sediment, chlorine and off tastes and odors but don’t take out any minerals (with the exception of the Zero filter) while sophisticated reverse osmosis (RO) systems remove everything from the water which also doesn’t make for good-tasting coffee.
Water temperature for brewing should be 195-205 degrees F. The boiling temperature of water decreases 2 degrees for every 1000 foot gain in altitude so at higher altitudes (e.g. Denver, ski towns) the only way to get the water hot enough is to boil it in a kettle and brew by hand, use a Behmor Brazen or a vacuum pot. Contact tine between grounds and water should be 4-6 minutes. Typical Braun, Krups, Black & Decker, etc. drip brewers take twice that long and should be thrown out,
Proportion: use 60-70 grams per liter or 2+ ounces of beans per quart. This translates into one Standard Coffee Measure (2 Tablespoons) of beans or grounds for every six ounces of water (6 rather than 8 ounces because a coffee “cup” is based on fine dining china not the giant mugs many use today). In simple volumetric terms this is about an 8 oz. measuring cup of beans (the capacity of most blade grinders) per 1 qt. pot.
Most consumers use far less coffee than this at too fine a grind which results in bitter, over-extracted coffee.
Grind: the finer the grind, the briefer the contact time between grounds and water. Espresso coffee in our bars is very finely ground - nearly a powder- but brew time is less than 30 seconds.
For pour-over and electric drip brewers use a medium grind (about the consistency of coarse sea salt) - about 20 seconds in a blade grinder.
For the Aeropress (see below) a finer grind - finer than fine sea salt - about 30 seconds in a burr grinder - is ideal. And for the French Press (aka Plunger Pot) a coarse “perc” grind - about 12 seconds in a burr grinder - is ideal.
Recommended Coffee Makers
All of these brewers can usually be purchased at Amazon.
Aeropress: this nifty brewer is the most versatile home coffee maker you can own. It can make excellent espresso-strength coffee for a cappuccino or caffe latte, superb drip-strength coffee and fits into a small travel pouch for your next road trip. Once you have boiling water available you can brew up to 4 cups of coffee in less than a minute and clean-up is a snap.
If you’d like to make espresso drinks with it at home, buy an Aeromoo milk frother when you buy your Aeropress. The complete set-up will cost you less than $60 - a tiny fraction of the $2000+ you’d have to spend for a decent home espresso machine plus the required doser-grinder to go with it.
Clever Dripper: If you like the clean cup and no muss/no fuss of drip coffee and drink 18 ounces or less this is your ticket. The Clever combines the full immersion extraction of a French Press with the sediment-free cup only paper filters deliver. Very easy to use. It comes in two sizes but I recommend the large (18) oz. one since the small brews only one small mug.
Bodum Pourover (1 liter size): For only $15-20 you get a beautiful borosilicate glass carafe and sophisticated permanent filter. For a couple or small family who drinks 24-32 ounces of coffee at a time this is probably the ideal (and certainly the least expensive) choice.
French Press (plunger pot): This is cowboy coffee for grownups. Coarsely-ground coffee is steeped in boiling water for 4 minutes, then a filter disk is gently plunged through it yielding a rich cup full of natural coffee oils.
The classic Bodum French press yields a thick cup that in addition to the aforementioned oils will also contain a bit of fine rounds and sediment, while the patented Espro Press pot (available in sizes ranging from a commuter mug to a liter), while more expensive, yields a piping hot (it’s made from double-walled stainless steel instead of glass), sludge-free (due to its sophisticated filters) cup that has revolutionized French Press brewing. It’s well worth the investment.
Electric Drip: the Behmor Brazen Plus ($159 from Willoughby’s Coffee) is the only home electric drip brewer that can be calibrated for altitude and is my first choice. Less expensive and still excellent are the Bonavita home brewers, available in two sizes for $80-105 from Amazon. Other good options are reviewed in this recent article:
https://www.cnet.com/news/the-best-coffee-maker-for-2020-oxo-bunn-bonavita-ninja-and-more/
Recommended Grinders
Bodum Burr Grinder: * Probably the best of the $20-30 entry-level grinders but others from brands such as Krups and Mr. Coffee are also fine. Nowhere near as even in grind as a burr grinder (shaking gently while grinding helps some in that regard) but grinding just before brewing - even with just a humble blade grinder - is the most important thing you can do to enjoy great coffee at home besides buying fresh beans, using the right amount and using good water.
Capresso Infinity: At $99 it’s the least-expensive burr grinder I can fully endorse and will work wonderfully for any brewing method other than commercial espresso. If you”re willing to spend more the Baratza Virtuoso will last you a lifetime.
Learning More
The home roasting supply site sweetmarias.com is a virtual coffee university with extensive, updated information on all sorts of brewing and grinding equipment.