Coffee is the original biohack and the nation’s most popular productivity tool. As we adjust to the changeover to daylight saving time, the caffeine-addicted WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite coffee brewing routines and devices. Today, contributor Brad Bourque pays homage to his manual espresso maker. Look out for other Java.Base stories about other WIRED writers’ favorite brewing methods.

For me, coffee is as much a nerdy obsession as it is a practical necessity. I dislike maintenance, and I prefer simplicity, but I also need my coffee to be bold and interesting. For years, I used a kettle and Aeropress, which were easy to keep clean and tucked away in a crowded cabinet. My roommates at the time really appreciated that. But when I got a place of my own, I wanted something more substantial, if also still dead simple. The Flair Signature, a manual espresso maker, seemed like an obvious choice. It still sits proudly on my counter in all its stainless steel glory, occupying a permanent spot by my sink.

Where larger, electric espresso machines generate the pressure and heat needed for espresso inside their massive housings, the Flair takes a different approach. A large lever sits atop a small stack of brewing equipment, and you use that lever to create the bars of pressure necessary to get espresso. There’s a chamber for your grounds and another atop it for hot water. Fill them up in the correct order, pull down on the handle, guided by the handy pressure gauge, and watch in delight as thick, crema-topped espresso drips out the bottom.

There are other crucial pieces to this puzzle, and I’ve fully committed to the bit by opting for a simple gooseneck kettle and hand burr grinder, chosen for their simplicity and consistency. Coffee enthusiasts should instantly recognize the Stagg EKG kettle from Fellow, and yes, mine is draped in green and yellow reminiscent of my favorite soccer team, thank you for noticing. The 1ZPresso JX-Pro S isn’t particularly fancy, but it’s easy to clean and consistent, and it came highly recommended by Reddit, though I’ll admit I’ve been tempted by the Comandante C40, a hand grinder that costs more than the rest of my setup combined.

The entire workflow is thankfully almost silent, a blessing on quiet and/or hungover Sunday mornings. I can throw some Steely Dan on the record player, fire up the kettle, and start turning the hand grinder as I take care of my other morning chores. While it seems straightforward, it’s a process that has a surprising number of variables to tweak, and I feel them firsthand every time I pull a shot. Each minor adjustment to the grind or water temperature creates a cascading set of changes to both the process and the end result. It’s a daily chase for unattainable perfection that I’m well familiar with after using the Aeropress for so long, and I find it deeply satisfying when I feel like I’ve nailed it. Knowing I was fully responsible for that great first sip gives me a bigger boost in the morning than any amount of caffeine could.

Inspire therapy—a hypoglossal nerve stimulation implant—has been FDA-approved for more than 11 years, with over 100,000 patients treated across the US, Europe, and Asia. Ruchir Patel, Inspire’s senior medical director, says data show reductions in daytime sleepiness, a 79 percent drop in sleep apnea severity, and a 90 percent reduction in snoring. Early US data report average nightly usage of more than 6.5 hours. “This is an exciting time because there are more treatment options available than in the past,” he says.

Pharmaceutical approaches are also emerging. In 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound (tirzepatide) for moderate to severe OSA in adults with obesity—the first weight-loss drug to carry a specific sleep apnea indication.

Meanwhile, Cambridge, Massachusetts–based startup Apnimed has developed a nightly pill targeting neuromuscular pathways that influence upper airway tone. Rather than mechanically splinting the airway open, the drug aims to stabilize it biologically.

“For a long time, OSA was understood primarily as an anatomical problem, so the logical solution was mechanical,” says John Cronin, chief medical officer at Apnimed. As understanding evolved, the question became: “Could we design a therapy that targets the biology of the condition directly, rather than relying solely on mechanical support?” The company has completed two phase three trials and plans to submit a New Drug Application to the FDA this year.

For all the innovation, Steier remains pragmatic. “I couldn’t be happier than finding someone who’s got typical sleep apnea and gets CPAP therapy,” he says. Modern machines automatically adjust pressure to airway resistance. “A single night can make all the difference.” Patients return re-energized, telling him they’ve got their lives back.

Sleep medicine is still relatively young, and research is only beginning to capture the diversity of the condition. That complexity also underpins efforts to improve CPAP use rather than abandon it.

Amanda Sathyapala, an associate professor at Imperial College London’s National Heart and Lung Institute, led the research showing 62 percent of patients were not using CPAP enough to make a meaningful health impact. Her team has studied the psychology of adherence, finding that factors such as understanding risk and confidence using the device shape long-term use.

Drawing on behavioral science, she developed CPAP Buddy, an app offering video-based behavioral therapy, peer support, and round-the-clock answers to patient questions. The project has received £2.2 million from the UK’s Medical Research Council, alongside backing from CPAP manufacturer Fisher & Paykel.

“CPAP is likely to be the most effective treatment that you can get because it’s giving air directly into the airway,” Sathyapala says. “[CPAP] is always going to be the most efficacious once the person’s using it, therefore it’s worth trying to get people to use it.”

For her, the problem is not the machine but behavior. “I don’t like to give up if we haven’t tried the right things,” she says. Using CPAP, she adds, is no different from “losing weight, stopping smoking, starting up a long-term physical activity program—it’s a behavior change.”

Building on top of what already works