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Looking for some advice and recommendations guys and gals.
Recently purchased a small espresso machine and have been enjoying the process of making my own real coffee. I have been using Taylors espresso blend for machines (nice and fine grain) its a lovely cup but im after some alternatives.
Im weary of most of the stuff in the supermarkets as its too coarse for machine espresso and the range seems small. Tried the lavazza cafe espresso tonight but it didnt seem as good with a poor crema, possibly not fine enough.
Fire away stw, what do you drink?
Ignore any answer that doesn't tell you to get a grinder
HTH
I found that illy was about the only brand that worked as I desired with my gaggia Classic. Now moved onto eureka mignon grinder which is great, but not cheap.
The lavazza isn't bad for pre ground how hard are you tamping?
A grinder is a possibility in the future.
Must be some pre ground stuff as good as the taylors.
Ill give the lavazza another go later.
Seriously, for the love of good coffee, get a grinder!
Failing that some of the online places where you know it's freshly roasted and ground and hasn't been sitting on a supermarket shelf for weeks.
Illy Brazil or Lavazza Espresso beans plus Krups burr grinder (cost about £35, doesn't take up too much counter space, takes a few goes to get the grind right but brilliant bit of kit for the money) 🙂
Coffee goes stale soon after grinding it also has a sweet spot for use post roast of about 5 days up to about 5 weeks, unless your coffee has a roast date (not a use by date) then it's not as good as it could be and is probably bulk roasted with nor roast profiling.
Thanks for the suggestions
Tesco Finest Colombian has an excellent finish. Made in a stovetop, it provides a crema and tastes excellent.
Taylors (of Harrogate) available in supermarkets do an espresso one which is ground for machines. Has to be the espresso one though the others are for cafetiere
Going to disagree about the Krups grinder for Espresso machines, I have one and it is not great. For my Gaggia at home, a Hario hand grinder gives far more consistent results, and a better adjustment of the grind as it has proper burrs.
I have been using Pact Coffee. You can get it roasted and delivered within 2 days so it's pretty fresh and they will either supply beans or ground to your requirement. I have been using the option which gives you a different bean each time and she have been to my taste and others not so much.
The website is easy to use and you can stop your regular order anytime and then restart at the press of a button.
[url= https://www.pactcoffee.com ]pact coffee linky[/url]
Used to use pact coffee but found a cheaper place locally [url= http://ravecoffee.co.uk ]Rave Coffee[/url]
Another one I've been enjoying lately after a trip to Naples is from Passalacqua especially the harem [url= http://www.aromatico.co.uk/passalacqua-c-96.html ]Passalacqua[/url]
Pact or hasbean, currently use pact but whenever I the chance I'll buy from redroaster or small batch coffee in Brighton and postpone pact.
I think small batch do online, and if you go in I reckon their 'baristas' are head and shoulders above the Costa Nero types.
I buy my coffee and coffee accessories from Happy Donkey. Good quality and price and great service. My latest delivery of their Brazilian blend is being delivered today. The Ibertital mc2 grinder is great for us and has been known to accompany us on camping trips. For years we used red or gold Lavazza but now there's no way we would go back. And we're not massively fussy either. We save money this way too.
Another Pact user here - no idea if it's the cheapest or best though. Had some vouchers for them, tried it out, enjoyed the coffee and the ordering process was easy.
I use a bean to cup mainly, but for the stovetop I go for Segafredo Zanetti's espresso blend from http://www.espressodrinker.co.uk
Whilst the coffee snob in me would love to grind my own, I just can't be bothered so buy the Illy red one from the supermarket. I really like it.
My friend experiments loads with different coffees, trying to get the perfect blend and grind. For all the hassle and expense, it's always left me underwhelmed when i've had a cup.
Cheers all, ill check those links out.
Check out some of the [url= http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/has-bean-blends ]Hasbean Espresso Blends[/url] freshly roasted and ground, unlike the supermarket stuff, they are very reasonably priced too. As others have said, a home grinder will give much better coffee in the long run but some freshly roasted and ground stuff like Hasbean will be a good start.
I received an Aeropress as an Xmas pressie as an upgrade from the cafetiere. I'm just using some Aldi ground coffee that I had in the cupboard- is there anything else worth looking at?
Whilst the coffee snob in me would love to grind my own, I just can't be bothered
Then you're not a real coffee snob 😆
If you still need any more suggestions, I'd recommend: http://jamesgourmetcoffee.com just down the road from me, but if we moved, I'd still buy my coffee from James. It's a tiny place, but every time I walk in there, there is just this heavenly smell or coffee beans roasting 🙂
If you give him a call and tell him what machine you have, he'll recommend a bean/grind.
Taylors sister company [url= http://www.bettys.co.uk ] bettys by post [/url] may be worth a look (they grind in store, assuming their postal do too) if you already like the taylors stuff.
Should you move to a grinder they do beans in both ranges too.
It's also recommend caravan coffee (their Yirgacheffe is awesome) as a roaster personally though not sure where you'd source from in practice - I buy it at my local coffee shop.
Daft point and a bit teaching you to suck eggs but - any coffee (beans or ground) should be in an air tight container in the freezer. Should you get a grinder, grind what you need and keep the rest in the freezer.
www.deargreencoffee.com
any coffee (beans or ground) should be in an air tight container in the freezer.
Evidence for this seems about as reliable as the "degrease a new chain debate" 🙂
Evidence for this seems about as reliable as the "degrease a new chain debate"
...and that's being generous. Evidence for it when you're buying taylors pre-ground coffee that's probably been sat on a shelf for weaker still.
Brand not with standing the preground in sealed bags should sit on the shelf for much longer without significant detrimental effect than beans in a porus bag.
Beans may survive better when stored the same for the same period but, ground out sells beans massively so most beans will be on a shelf a lot lot longer than the ground before you buy it. (if you're buying micro roaster/specialist retailer stuff this is less of an issue but it is if you're buying from supermarkets)
As for evidence it's not something you'll ever get empirical proof for given taste is a wholly subjective thing but, (and my "knowledge" is hearsay essentially as I'm not personally a q grader) I have good cause beyond personal opinion to believe it to be good advice.
Freezing? Read [url= http://www.home-barista.com/store-coffee-in-freezer.html ]this[/url] on freezing beans if you are bored at lunch.
As for freezing ground stuff, I would never advocate buying ground coffee anything other than as fresh as possible and one bag at a time anyway, so freezing it is akin to trying to polish a turd.
Thanks for that doug, interesting diversion for a few minutes
Daft point and a bit teaching you to suck eggs but - any coffee (beans or ground) should be in an air tight container
Would rather just fill the hopper up with a bagful and not have moisture condensing on cold beans and causing clumping in the grinder. IMHO
I can inderstand if you buy 5-10kg at a time but if it's just by the 250-300g bag it's likely t be gone before the beans have started to degrade after 3-4 weeks post roast.
Grinder from Happy Donkey. Fresh roasted beans from somewhere like Has Bean. Grind to the setting you want. Job done.
Or you can self roast to go further, but that's getting too much hassle for me and the likes of Has Bean do a good enough job.
And personally I don't have any issues with freezing beans. I do it after opening a pack and just take out what I need. Still, read the barista forums and there's arguments about condensation on the beans after removing them from the freezer destroying the beans 😯 😆 . All I know is I get damn fine coffee and the beans aren't stale in a few days if I keep the opened pack in the freezer.
Anyway, in the absence of a grinder, pre-ground fresh roast. Fresh within a day or two. I'd keep in fridge air tight (I do that for cafetiere grinds I prepare for when Espresso is too much faff in a morning rush). Lasts a few days. Supermarket pre-ground, forget it.
I go for Farrers of Kendal Italian Blend. They roast their beans in Kendal and grind them as course or fine as you want in front of you in the shop. So generally get a 250g bag of espresso grind and 250g bag of cafetiere grind for when I can't be arsed to use the espresso machine. They are really good value too, £3.80 for a bag, which compares favourably with pre-packed stuff. Their teas are awesome too.
I used ground illy which is readily available from supermarkets which tastes pretty good, I could whip up a nicer drink than any coffee shop I've drank in, and convenient to buy. Keep in the fridge or freezer and it stays fresh for ages.
I gave a grinder a go but it was just too much faff for little or no taste difference. Espresso machines are a faff already without having to bother with a grinder too.
"received an Aeropress as an Xmas pressie as an upgrade from the cafetiere. I'm just using some Aldi ground coffee that I had in the cupboard- is there anything else worth looking at?"
Dirt from the garden would likely be better . Doing your self a serious injustice with the aldi stuff , they dont have a single decent tasting coffee on theiir shelf, not even the specially selected.
Stale isnthe only way i can describe it.
Dirt from the garden would likely be better . Doing your self a serious injustice with the aldi stuff , they dont have a single decent tasting coffee on theiir shelf, not even the specially selected.Stale isnthe only way i can describe it.
Luckily a friend of mine works far Hasbean Coffee and sent me some of [url= http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/america-brazil/products/brazil-fazenda-cachoeira-da-grama-yellow-bourbon-pulped-natural ]this[/url] to try out, it dropped throught the door on Saturday. Blown away by the difference between this and other coffee I've had, not sure if I drink enough coffee for a subscription but I am quite tempted.
I was under the impression that moisture was bad for beans. So if you open a container, let some humid air into it and then put it in the freezer, the moisture condenses on the beans. Repeat that and you'll end up with worse beans.
So the best bet is to put a few days or a week's worth of beans in a sealed bag inside a sealed container out of the freezer, and the rest in.
The bag inside a jar is so that you can squish all the air out of the bag as you close it, because the oils evaporate into the air and also the oxygen in the air oxidises the coffee. Then the jar simply helps to seal it further.
I see someone has already recommend James Gourmet Coffee in Ross but I'll second it and also recommend their Formula 6 espresso and the Chapin Blend.
Hands On coffee from Cornwall do a nice roast in the Lusty Glaze and also their Black Chough.
If anyone wants to try Pact coffee for a quid I got a referral [url= https://www.pactcoffee.com/?voucher=hugo-9s5cza%40tw ]link[/url] when I ordered some the other day. I can't complain with what I received but haven't really much to compare it to as a recent convert to filter for work purpose
As a long term hasbean buyer I was persuaded by a thread a while back to try happy donkey beans for a change - left me very underwhelmed.
That said my aeropress lives at work and I just treat it as my 'a bit better than instant' coffee and chuck pre ground Lavazza red in it at a rate of about 3 blocks a week. It's passable. I leave bothering to grind for the La Pavoni at home.
I have an old De Longhi espresso machine in the office which does a surprisingly good espresso/latte using Illy Espresso (red label on tin)
I've bean using grinders beans for a while. makes a nice sweet shot with a good crema.
however coles had buy one get one free on vittora high mountain beans, so I've got two kilos of that. see how that goes.