I've found that if you go the french press route you still end up spending a fair amount for coffee, with the french press being a minor cost. Still less than $4/cup, but not nearly as cheap as a drip coffee machine and Folger's.
You'll still spend $8+ per small bag of whole beans, and french presses LOVE using lots of beans... then you've got $60+ for a good ber-grinder (sp?), then you need a $40+ hot water kettle. Plus you've now got a ton of stuff to wash and it takes 5 minutes of attentive time to make the coffee.
I love myself some properly made french press coffee, but it's a different kind of thing from the Clover. Both are good, they are just different.
Roast your own. A decent bean is usually $4-5 a pound (less when bought in bulk) and lasts well over 6 months. If you drink a pound of coffee a week, the savings would return the initial cost of a roaster ($200-300) within two years.
A $20 blade grinder works just fine with a little care. You can pick up an additional filter screen for the press for a couple of bucks to compensate for the increase in grit.
Not sure why you think a press requires any additional cleanup than any other coffee maker, even the clover has to be wiped down and have the grounds removed. At the end of the day I have a dirty press and coffee mug which I simply rinse out and reuse while the water is boiling.
I think my wife would kill me if I came home with a $200 coffee roaster and tried to claim it would "save us money". It would, if I would use it all the time, but I bet most often I wouldn't have the patients and time and would end up not using it.
I've never really had good success with a blade grinder. I invariably end up with powder and large chunks.... maybe I should work on my technique.
At my last job we did the french press thing, and we found that if we didn't clean off all the residue everywhere (including taking apart the entire press and scrubbing everything) we got a pretty heavy bitter flavor after a few days.
Hmm, have you tried a Chemex? Every single comparison I've seen between the two basically point out the inconvenience of the aeropress when you're trying to make coffee for, say, more than one or two people, which is inconvenient for me...but it's another alternative to french press.
I have both - the chemex is a much cleaner cup of coffee but more difficult to produce a 'perfect' cup. As a benefit, it doesn't require a burr mill grinder - the key to a solid french press cup is consistent grind.
But a french press cup brewed properly will express the flavor of the beans better than most other coffee brewing methods. But for the love of coffee, don't use a home drip machine. They suck.
Give or take a week of getting temperatures and measurements correct and you'll have amazing coffee for yourself every morning for much cheaper.
But to be honest after reading that article the coffee from the Clover sounds ... nice :) I will have to try it out one day when I can