Coffee?

I rarely drink coffee (I don't have a machine at home), the only times I drink it is on a terrace with a croissant (yes v. stereotypical!) "the morning after the night before",
and it's the stuff that buzzes you for a few hours.. good old french expresso.

I sometimes have a capuchino from a machine. (hospital/stations etc.) but that can not be considered "coffee"...

But I drink about 2,5 - 3 litres of tea a day, (5 - 5,5 pints to you english folks!)

Max
 
Now we're talking!

My other half and I are huge coffee fans. We've tried pretty much everything going.

For the home, you don't need expensive gear - just a French Press (Bodum), freshly roasted beans, and a burr grinder.

The beans are the most important bit. Freshness is key! Supermarket stuff isn't fresh. Get some freshly roasted whole beans from somewhere like here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.londoncoffeeroasters.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.londoncoffeeroasters.com</a><!-- m -->. They roast the beans just before posting them to you. You can tell they're fresh as you get a huge "bloom" when you pour on the hot water!

The Monsoon Malabar is superb! :D

It's best to grind at home, just before you make the coffee. If you buy pre-ground, it's already lost a fair bit of flavour and freshness.

We also use a stove top occasionally (with expresso blend beans from above) and a Nespresso machine for convenience. No, it's not true espresso, but it's pretty good considering. The decaf is surprisingly good!

On the high street.... we avoid Starbucks like the plague. Who wants hot milk? Where's the coffee? ;-)

Nero is just plain wrong - horrible, bitter and burnt, time after time.

Pret and Costa are probably the best for Cappuccinos - nice and strong and smooth, and consistent.

However, what's with the ridiculous A4 sized Costa till receipts?! :eek:

John
 
quattrojames said:
For years I didn't think i liked coffee, then I realised I didn't like milk, and black coffee is great ;)
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+1. Good, fresh coffee doesn't need milk. If it tastes too bitter black, then something's wrong with your technique/coffee beans.
 
Bitterness/acidity can be a good quality too it just depends on your preference.

I found the supermarket beans I like to be fresh enough as long as you buy them and use them quickly within a week or three its a good place to start. Of course they cannot possibly be as fresh as they are from an independent roaster but the biggest difference in a quality brew is when you use a fresh grind. Definitely.
 
antdad said:
TBH Mockingbird I love going to a decent espresso bar but that is the reason my Gaggia Classic took a back seat to a semi commercial beans to cup machine I managed to buy second hand.
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Whats a cup machine? one of those ones you see on the coffee shops that drives high pressure water through ground beans.

I assume you drink it black? I am partial to a latte (decent one), this might be heresy but I think Starbucks is not that bad. I do like Coffee Republic and others more but I think some hate the chain like we hate modern Gillette, if your stuck it is still a decent coffee.

So looking for recommendations from experienced experimenters, if I like a fresh white coffee in the morning (latte type) what is my best bet? use a Nespresso machine or get a press and heat the milk on its own? The presses are quite cheap I think I have probably had coffee with them at someone else house and they more than likely used crap beans which led me to the conclusion that freeze dried Alta Rica was just as good with less hassle.

Just been looking on Amazon there, there are a lot of different machines some combining milk steamers.
 
Audiolab said:
Whats a beans to cup machine? one of those ones you see on the coffee shops that drives high pressure water through ground beans.
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No a proper espresso bar will have a commercial semi auto with multiple group heads. They are the most reliable for high volume.
A domestic semi auto is like the Gaggia mentioned previously with one group head.

A "beans to cup" coffee machine is fully automatic, press a button and it mostly does everything for you. Used in low to medium volume environments like Office, Cafe/restaurant or domestic.

I don't have a Nespresso type machine but they've tasted good when I've had one, you obviously pay a premium for the convenience of using a capsule. If you like high street coffee which can be perfectly fine except they tend to drown the drink with too much milk you'll be amazed how much better your own coffee is in comparison.

Depends where you want to start Audio.

A pack of pre ground coffee and a moka machine for £15 or a full blown beans to cup machine for 100 x that.
 
Is you beans-to-cup machine plumbed into the water line?

Only thing that aggravates me from using a machine is the amount of cleaning needed.
I use a 'blind cap' and fill it with that espresso powder stuff, it really returns coffee gunk.

...The smooth coffee makes it all worth while...

I've been using the milk frother for chai latte recently. But ya can't beat a good morning espresso.
 
I could plumb it in but it isn't really necessary for the amount of cups it needs to produce.

Cleaning is not too bad actually, it cleans itself daily before shutting down. I probably refill with water, beans and empty the grinds once a week and give the head a clean once every three weeks or so. It tells me when it needs a proper flush through or descale but then it doesn't really produce more than 20 - 30 cups a week in my household.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zaccardis.com/solis-mastertop-espresso-machine.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.zaccardis.com/solis-masterto ... chine.html</a><!-- m -->

They don't make it any more but I bought it second hand off a restaurant.

I know some coffee snoots (I'm one of them) don't like the super auto's because they find the grind isn't fine enough or group head pressure isn't high enough and the pull isn't long enough...that's all true but I have no complaints. I love my Gaggia Classic but this is fire & forget and reliable and that is appreciated first thing in the morning.

A nice pair of rat tails and thick yellow crema. The pull would be considered fast compared to a semi auto but it does have a pre infusion system that speeds things along. (mines about 15secs) The mic must be quite close it's not that noisy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE09gpir0xs[/youtube]

See if any of this tempts you Audio, I'm not saying a super auto is better than a semi auto,maybe I got lucky with mine, you are simply sacrificing some refinement for a lot of convenience. If you don't fancy being a "coffee enthusiast", a Nespresso type machine might suite you just fine. If you do, I think Yellow man was selling some good kit at a fair price quite recently on the B/S/T.

Quite nice Nespresso review
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKzoiccvaq4&NR=1&feature=fvwp[/youtube]
 
The Algerian Coffe Shop, 50/50 mix Vietnamese Beans for the chocolate taste and depth and Bolivian High Roast for the kick. Grind the beans as I need them, brew in a press (yes it's a Bodum !!). Drink with no milk and loads of sugar.................sets me right up for a day at work.....or home.......
 
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