The Coffee Thread

Secteur

What beans / grinds do we all prefer?

What are the relative merits and tastes of different beans?

Any suggestions for the perfect coffee?

Good starting points?

Where do you buy yours from?

And anything else coffee related...!

Thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss it here!

willhub

23 seconds.

pinno

Depends on what you read.

If you read the Dailly Heil, it will just be any old instant crap.
The express, it wil be out of a machine.
The Grauniad (and we aren't all tw4ts willhub) its a difficult choice between buying coffee from nations ruled by despots that taste good and fair trade coffees which are bland but more ehtical.
The Sun - whatever Sally Spanker or Rebecca Rumpty Tumpty trolly dolly serves up to you, dressed in fishnet tights.
The Torygraph - Good god no sir, mine will be a cup of tea
The FT - Extra extra strong and black, interspersed with cans of red bull
The Independant - Well its more a case of "I don't know whether I want a coffee or a tea, perhaps some Ginseng, no wait... a fruit smoothie, no - change that. I'd like a hot chocolate...on second thoughts...forget it, ask me later".
The Observer - They just watch those horrible hypocrits drink and buy their coffee in Starbucks.
The Mirror - Instant one day, real coffee the next and so on.

n1ckster

For me, it's Lavazza Qualità Rossa, bought ready ground from Tesco, and brewed in a stove top espresso kettle; drank short in a small espresso mug or with added milk (full fat, of course).

Nick

tim_wand

Apparently it all revolves around equatorial positioning.

Asia Pacific growing region will yield Sumatran charachterised beans which are full bodied with low acidity, ideal for late night diner parties and spicy foods.

African beans are medium bodied medium and acidity, Floral tasting and citrus (Good all rounders) Kenyan and Ethiopian.

Latin American beans (Guatemala/Colombia) are medium bodied but high acidity with earthy tastes.ar

Thats single origin coffees, Most now days are blended to give a characteristics of each region and bean.

Mrs W works for the tax dodgers so shes quite passionate about Coffee.

byke68

Secteur wrote:

What beans / grinds do we all prefer? - Tried loads of different types, no particular favorite

What are the relative merits and tastes of different beans? - Whatever your taste buds like

Any suggestions for the perfect coffee? - as above

Good starting points? - buy 100g of different types at a time (if you can) to get used to various beans/blends

Where do you buy yours from? - Pumphreys up here in the North-east - there is a web-site. Waitrose

And anything else coffee related...! - No

Thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss it here!

- indeed it would

smoggysteve

n1ckster wrote:

For me, it's Lavazza Qualità Rossa, bought ready ground from Tesco, and brewed in a stove top espresso kettle; drank short in a small espresso mug or with added milk (full fat, of course).

Nick

Funny I just bought exactly one of them and use that brand of espresso too. Awesome bits of kit. Get a milk foamer too to make cappuccinos.

Secteur

As I am new to this, I am amazed how different coffees can taste.

I started with a straight forward grind from M&S, and it tastes lovely.

My missus just brought home one from Brazil, and it tastes (and looks) utterly different (but enjoyable).

PS I only drink espresso, so can probably taste it more.

Hoopdriver

Ethiopian Harar Longberry or Yemen Matari - my two favourites

chrisaonabike

Cafe Direct Rich Roast. I can't face the day without two enormous mugs of strong coffee first thing.

getnoticed

Secteur, are you looking for brewed coffee or espresso suggestions?

What's your budget? I can suggest a number of options for freshly brewed, starting from about £40 up to several £000's for the dream machine and grinder for espresso setups.

The middle ground is an Aeropress and a hand grinder. Approx investment is £50 and you can enjoy a range of tastes. There is no option to steam milk with this setup though.

I run a Coffee Forum with over 4000 members who are as passionate about coffee as we are about bikes.

Any questions just ask away

simona75

I love the at home versions of Dunkin Donuts coffee. Always try to bring some back from the US when I go

redjeepǃ

+1 for Lavazza and a stove top pot.

I sometimes make it into a cappuccino by foaming up the milk in a normal coffee press, microwaving it for 45secs (no metal on my press) and mixing.

thegreatdivide

Another +1 for Lavazza. The Cafe Espresso in the black packet is a winner if you like a thick crema.

ilm_zero7

favourite beans - love the IKEA strong beans for our bean to cup
favourite high st - Nero (by a mile)
favourite other - nespresso pods

willhub

Union coffee is very nice.

pauldavid

getnoticed wrote:

Secteur, are you looking for brewed coffee or espresso suggestions?

What's your budget? I can suggest a number of options for freshly brewed, starting from about £40 up to several £000's for the dream machine and grinder for espresso setups.

The middle ground is an Aeropress and a hand grinder. Approx investment is £50 and you can enjoy a range of tastes. There is no option to steam milk with this setup though.

I run a Coffee Forum with over 4000 members who are as passionate about coffee as we are about bikes.

Any questions just ask away

Have you tried Nescafe, readily available from most supermarkets and cheaper than what your currently paying, feel free to let your pals on the other forum know, HTH.

MattC59

Tea

RDW

Beans for espresso from Square Mile (usually Red Brick) Monmouth (usually Monmouth Espresso blend), occasionally Hasbean or Londinium. The Algerian Coffee Stores do good old-school roasts like the Formula Rossa blend that is nice in moka pots:

http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/
http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/
http://www.hasbean.co.uk/
http://londiniumespresso.com/
http://www.algcoffee.co.uk/

RDW

Espresso machine is a Gaggia Classic; replaced their silly pressurised filter baskets (and 'perfect crema' widgets) with a standard double basket. Also use a Bialetti Brikka moka pot (the one with a weighted pressure valve), sometimes a Bodum french press, Swissgold filter or Aeropress (is it just me, or does this look like the 'Swedish Enlarger Pump' from Austin Powers?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WCvULMRUq8 ).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-RI8161- ... B0000C72XS
http://www.xpresscoffeeuk.co.uk/product ... t---double
http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/b ... rikka.html
http://www.bodum.com/gb/en-us/shop/prodlist/87/
http://www.swissgold.com/
http://www.aeropresscoffee.co.uk/

I want one of these:

http://mypressi.com/

Espresso grinder is an Iberital MC2. Because it's designed to make very fine adjustments in grind, it's hard to switch quickly to the coarser grind you need for the Brikka or filter coffee. For these I just use a cheap Krups blade grinder:

http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/iberital-mc2-grinders.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Krups-Twin-Blad ... B00004SPEU

For major coffee geekery, see:

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/

Do not mention Nescafe there...

Edit: I think this is actually the same forum getnoticed was too polite to link to.

Secteur

getnoticed wrote:

Secteur, are you looking for brewed coffee or espresso suggestions?

What's your budget? I can suggest a number of options for freshly brewed, starting from about £40 up to several £000's for the dream machine and grinder for espresso setups.

The middle ground is an Aeropress and a hand grinder. Approx investment is £50 and you can enjoy a range of tastes. There is no option to steam milk with this setup though.

I run a Coffee Forum with over 4000 members who are as passionate about coffee as we are about bikes.

Any questions just ask away

Just general coffee chat...

I only drink espresso and i have a baby gaggia (courtesy of Father Christmas!) which i love!

smoggysteve

Think I may start a thread on boobies!!!

Ben6899

pauldavid wrote:

Have you tried Nescafe, readily available from most supermarkets and cheaper than what your currently paying, feel free to let your pals on the other forum know, HTH.

Brown. Check.
Hot. Check.
Wet. Check.

And that's about it.

smoggysteve

Brown. Check.
Hot. Check.
Wet. Check.

And that's about it.

You talking coffee or boobies?

Ben6899

SmoggySteve wrote:

Brown. Check.
Hot. Check.
Wet. Check.

And that's about it.

You talking coffee or boobies?

I was actually talking about coffee, but I suppose some of that applies to boobies as well. Depends what one prefers.

getnoticed

Indeed that link is the one. I wasn't sure what the rules were on self promotion so chose not to.

pinno

Lavazza is my prefered choice done on a stove top. However, the Qualita d'Oro is the best but v. expensive so the Rossa or Nero tends to get bought instead.
If you have friends going to Italy for hols, ask them to buy you some coffee as their prices are so much better than the UK. There is an Italian brand called Splendid. The Aroma Classico is perfect for cafetieres.
That my two pence worth.

smoggysteve

Has anyone any experience of using this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Brikka-Espresso-Maker-Cream/dp/B0001DJT7G/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1356879045&sr=8-19

Its the model up from mine. Its got a crema unit. Just want to know if its worthwhile. I am a lone espresso drinker in my house. Wife would prefer to drink powdered rubbish, but she's German so what does she know? I get on reall well mith my Bailetti Mokka but would upgrade if its worth the punt.

confused@BR

@pauldavid; whist Nescafe is, indeed, widely available and entirely satisfactory; have you encountered 'Kenco'? It shares many of the characteristics of the other brand but may be considered an alternative.

The discerning consumption of our daily refreshments does add a special quality to ones life.

Yellow Peril

Hi, I've only just started drinking coffee so would like as many hints and tips as possible. I have it without milk and sugar. My wife has one of those cafetiere things. Lavazza is getting a thumbs up here. How many scoops should I put in the pot?

rodgers73

Decaf.