This week: coffee rules to swear by, window vacs for crystal-clear results and the best slow cookers for fuss-free meals

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Several of my childhood memories have the rich, comforting aroma of freshly roasted coffee. Even now, I fondly recall the pungent clouds snaking through the Allders shopping arcade in 1980s Croydon. So it’s with no small amount of childlike joy that I find myself nearly four decades older, sitting in my basement surrounded by coffee machines I’ve tested for the Filter.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the hundreds of hours I’ve spent spilling espresso, expletives and tears over uncooperative coffee machines, it’s that there’s more to great coffee than a machine. With great essentials – good coffee and a trusty grinder – you can brew great coffee with nothing more than a kettle and a cafetière at your disposal.

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