I have a modest collection of obscure-ish British folk LPs. As much as I enjoy this music, I keep the vinyl undigitized and off my iPod. In keeping it reserved for dedicated sessions of listening I not only enjoy better sound, I get to savor it more than I would as background music for my commute.

This makes me think of siphon pots. More than just the unique flavor profiles, I like saving the preparation for times when I can fully devote myself. The coffee tastes better and I’m allowed to gleefully geek over each detail.

Then I saw that this theme can be expanded upon; there are convenient parallels between brew methods and music format. If I find siphons and vinyl to be the respective ultimates of quality, then perhaps French press and compact disc are the next best: Taste/sound are still great, but with the advantage of improved ease of use & cleanup/portability and storage.

Percolator pots and cassette tapes? Both produce relatively awful results and are generally super annoying to use. They’re also both ubiquitous staples of the thrift store, looking exceptionally outdated and run down.

Chemex and mp3 can both be pretty good, in a “substitute for the real thing” kind of way. They also seem to share a fairly healthy debate regarding their quality and proliferation.

I could keep this up (giant urn/FM radio, ibrik/street artists), but I’ll refrain. Some food for thought!

UPDATED: The folks at CoffeeGeek have me beat to this in many ways. Fixed “quality” link to reflect this!

*Stolen from a Tim Styles & Deaton Pigot exchange.