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In my quest to be optimum STW forum member I am now proud owner of bean to cup coffee machine courtesy of outstanding discounts on DeLonghi at Currys. I have few bags of artisan beans from a couple of local deli's and roasters, it very nice but not cheap. Working from home also means I am motoring through it. I am therefore after a decent supplier of good value beans. I'm not a massive coffee snob but I do like a strong, rich coffee.
So, what are you buying without spending big ££££
After trying quite a few in the supermarket I've settled on Sainsbury's Fairtrade Italian Espresso Coffee Beans.
A princely 9 quid for a kilo.
Jeff
Join Costco if you can.
I tried loads and my poor taste buds found the aldi grade 4 or 5 quite good. Again at around £10 a kilo you can play around getting used to the machine without great expense.
For quite some time I've been buying the Italian beans from Aldi, which at £1.09 for a 227g bag are the cheapest beans that I have seen anywhere. They actually taste surprisingly good and produce a pretty good espresso.
However, I've just tried the Best Selling Bundle from Rave Coffee and their Italian Job blend is out of this world.
Costco is good post lockdown choice. Its a 70mile round trip for me so will need to wait
Sainsburys is also a good call as the nearest one is next to Mrs S place of work, I can send her round to buy them and pay for them!
In the thread up there ^^^ is a link to a roaster run by a fellow forumite.
I've not tried it yet so can't comment but will be ordering my next batch from there once I'm out of my current supply.
WEJ
Subscriber
Set up a new Coffee Roastery last year, going well until March… Still in the process of finishing my website, http://www.coffieryri.cymru I’d be delighted if you had a look!10% off for forum users with STW10
Fwiw, small roasters and growers have been hit hard by the recent what not.
Much of their trade is into good coffee shops /cafés & restaurants and it hasn't carried over into off sales, I can hazard a (less than charitable about your average consumer) guess as to why, but they will be [extra] glad of your money at the moment.
Peak STW and beans on a budget? Are you new here? Artisan roasted ethically sourced single origin high grade beans only is surely what you are looking for? 🙂
For reference I've been using Square Mile for the last couple of months, they aren't exactly local, but the quality has been spot on with every bag. They don't meet the cheap criteria though. But I'd rather 1 or 2 really good coffees a day than 3 or 5 average ones.
Peak STW and beans on a budget? Are you new here?
But I need to save money to buy a VW van
My usual go to beans are Aldi beans. Pretty good and more than acceptable...but not their Italian blend. I've tried some from Costco - Costa Rican beans and some Starbucks ones. I struggled with the Costa Rican ones as my grinder didn't like them...they seemed very oily. The starbucks ones were drier and grinded better, but flavour wasn't particularly good...not as good as the Aldi beans.
Most recently I've dried mail order from Rave and been impressed. Initial order discount and got some of their Signature Blend and Mocha Java blend. Just about finished the Mocha Java blend and they are really good, so we'll see what their signature blend is like over the coming days. So would recommend Rave...not too expensive but definitely a cut above the supermarket stuff.
My usual go to beans are Aldi beans. Pretty good and more than acceptable…but not their Italian blend.
I'll give the others a shot. Any recommendations?
I use Monsoon Estates Coffee these guys, Coffee is nice, wide selection to keep you going for a bit, and the service is spot on.
I use their Vernal Vibe and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe blends. Both v nice
But I need to save money to buy a VW van
😉
Ah, I was forgetting that!
Another Monsoon Estates fan here. My favourites are Firedancer, Espresso Blend, The Bloke and Fixie. Until lockdown I bought them from them in person at our town market every Saturday, but now I buy 4 bags at a time from the website. Great service.
[begin coffee snob]
If you're going to buy cheap burnt beans (sorry, "dark roast") which to be fair gets more consistent results, you're better off making milky drinks and/or using a stove top pot or doing filter. Decent espresso needs good beans and fresh roast. Ideally not burnt (generally rules out supermarket beans).
[end coffee snob]
Our Aldi sold out just after the great stockpiling escapade and haven't re-stocked since. Those are usually my go-to though, less than £2 a bag and still produce better coffee than most coffee shops in my experience.
Not a coffee snob, and not a very sophisticated palate, but Sainsbury Fairtrade Espresso is my go-to.
Another vote for Aldi. I also like the Italian Blend Taylor's of Harrogate beans (available at most supermarkets).
For a good compromise between cheapo and the silly prices that places like Squaremile charge, I find that Whittard's are very good - the Guatemalan Elephant beans they do are great and are always very fresh so produce the beautiful crema that is often harder to achieve with supermarket beans.
Peak Bean Eccles Pike works for me. Local coffee roasters. They drop it off on their way home 🙂
I used to use Hasbean, who did amazing coffee, but they've become more and more expensive.