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Coffee

Started by irish_goat, February 03, 2016, 09:30:59 PM

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irish_goat

Any coffee enthusiasts here?

I've gotten a coffee machine for my birthday and went out to buy fresh coffee and was a bit overwhelmed by the selection in Tesco. I was just looking for a standard coffee shop blend but there was the guts of 40 different blends. Went with a local roasters strength 4 blend and it's ok just. Reading online I see it's a good idea to get a grinder as well so that'll be the next purchase I think and then I'll get whole beans.

So, any recommendations for coffee bean brands?

ronniedeb

I used to get Segafreddo and Lavazza beans etc., but started buying from DiscountCoffee.ie and havent looked back. They have some Robusta heavy Espresso blends, that are particularly cheap if you like you're coffee a little bitter and earthy. Also do single origin and fairtrade beans if I remember correctly. What machine did you get?

irish_goat

It's just a Dualit Xpress. I'll only be making espresso or americanos so I think it should do the job fine for now. Will take a look at Discount Coffee cheers.

Leann ull

Sorry to bust your thread but not unrelated anyone recommend a bean to cup machine, I'm reading reviews and some of the cheaper ones are getting slated on Amazon

On topic I thought the supermarkets rated 1-5 5 being treacle?
I use the ground Costa or lavazza, silver Tin red stripe.
If your getting pissy coffee on a 4 strength put more in, temp of water very important too for optimal oil extraction, gonna say something stupid now, did you read the manual that came with machine

irish_goat

I fill the filter basket as much as I can. I think it is the blend which is just a bit on the bland side really. Don't have any control over the water temperature either though, I fill it with cold water, push a button and coffee comes out.  :P

armedcor

Coffee is almost like brewing, one of the most important aspects is water to coffee ratio. It's only since I started weighing my coffee beans and only grinding what I need at a time have I really started to enjoy my homemade coffee.

A problem with a lot of supermarket coffee is that it's been sitting in packets for months on end maybe even in the foil bag it can get pretty bad. Think of it like using old hops.

For a proper bean to cup espresso machine you're looking a quite a chunk of cash. The cheaper machines just don't really cut it tbh. Wildly fluctuating water temps, not enough pressure etc etc. People go to the trouble of wiring in pids to their espresso machines and everything which might seem wild to most people but when you look at some of the systems us homebrewers come up with I totally understand.


dcalnan

@irish goat Most of the supermarket coffees on offer arent suitable for using in an espresso machine (except lavazza). the coffee isn't ground fine enough to offer the proper resistance to the water, and it can under extract an espresso. Buying it from a coffee shop, they'll be able to grind it to suit an espresso machine, but with ground coffee it doesn't stay fresh for long, unless it's stored in an dark, airtight container, and not the fridge/freezer as people have been told in the past. The best option is to get a grinder for your machine, if you're only doing a few cups a day something like a hario skerton is really nice and easy to use, it's a hand grinder, but more importantly it's a conical burr grinder which makes the  ground coffee much more consistant, blade grinders chop and cut the coffee, so it's not as precise. But if you want a free blade grinder, I got one from work just lying around at home and it was only used once.

@CH I was working for delonghi for the past few months and can highly recommend their bean to cup machines, the one I was using was the magnifica s, but the normal magnifica was good as well, according to people who bought it.

johnrm

@IG, try patting the coffee so your coffee 'cake' is a little more compact. Not too much! You could blow something.
This will provide some of the resistance that DC mentioned.
This only applies to pressurised machines, either pump or steam, not filter.

johnrm

I went back to basics for fun recently with a stove top Moka Pot.

ronniedeb

I got my machine and grinder from here. http://www.best-of-italy.com/en-eur/i/coffee-grinders-325.html
They had an amazing deal at the time, several years ago. Buy 8kg of Segafreddo Coffee and get a Gaggia 8002 MDF Grinder for free. That seems to be gone now though. Worth keeping a look out for it's return though.

Eoin

I'm not a huge fan, but I drink good coffee a few times a year, but when I do then it's normally from Ariosa Coffee roasters in Ashbourne.

You can get him at the temple bar market and you can buy coffee on his website.

http://www.ariosacoffee.com/

His blends are really tasty.

I have no affiliation, I just knew the guy growing up who owns the company.

Fal

I've started buying my coffee from a roastery in limerick Ponaire.ie..buy Irish and all that!  I used to buy whole bean and grind them myself, but now it's easier to just buy a couple of 500g packets from them(instead of a 1kg or 2kg bag that's open to the air). You have to say what type of grind you want in the add note part of the shopping card so that they know what grind you want, otherwise you just get course grind.
...used to be NewBier

googoomuck

Badger and dodo coffee from Galway have some really tasty coffees. Their blackwater blend is a good starting point, light, fruity and refreshing.

johnrm

Ahem, you mean Badger and Dodo from Fermoy.

irish_goat

Quote from: johnrm on February 04, 2016, 07:41:37 AM
I went back to basics for fun recently with a stove top Moka Pot.

My housemate has one and the coffee is probably on par with what I get out of the machine.

Have always enjoyed 3FE and a few other independent coffee shops so I might look at buying beans from them someday soon.

Hario Skerton grinder looks like exactly what I'd need. Probably don't need an electric grinder as I'd only ever be making one or two cups at a go.