Real Coffee....

Hand grinder and Aeropress is what I use when I don't want to fire up my espresso machine, take your time and check them out.
 
Same old question, same old answer. Get a hand grinder (porlex or hario skerton) and an Aeropress.

Buy your beans from Has Bean, Square Mile, Monmouth, Caravan, Nude, Volcano etc..
 
you want ceramic burrs and not blades.

You can get a porlex hand grinder for around £25-£35 which are excellent for starting out
 
ceramic burrs should stay sharp forever where as steel ones dull over time.
I believe ceramic burrs can also be set to a much finer setting without the burrs grinding (not that you really need to grind your beans to a fine powder)

there is nothing wrong with "stainless steel burrs" if you can get one cheap enough for a starter but DO NOT GET A GRINDER WITH STEEL BLADES MAKE SURE IT IS BURRS
 
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Hmm, I don't mind paying more for something that will last a long time. I also see that you can buy new burrs for that porlex grinder which is great.

Gah, it seems to be out of stock everywhere or £40 inc shipping if not out of stock :(.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hario-Coffee-Mill-Ceramic-Slim/dp/B001804CLY

Is this one any good?

EDIT: After some research it seems the Hario hand grinder is not very good at all for corse grinding for use with a french press. I think the porlex would be a better option.
 
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Grimley said:
It is. I bought mine a year ago & It's well worth the money.

I got mine from here.

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/grinders/products/porlex-ceramic-burr-coffee-grinder
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I tried to order from there last night but it says out of stock once you add to cart. I placed an order at this place, but now that is saying out of stock.

I ordered a bag of beans from there as well to get me started. Just went for the 'all day' ones as I have no idea what is good. I just like to make a normal cup of coffee with brown sugar and milk. I can't stand instant after getting a french press and some real coffee. Hopefully this and beans will be even better and allow me to store it for longer.
 
Guys is there really value in grinding the beans yourself? My parents have a Philips drip-type machine with a milk frother and warmer, into which they pour pre-ground coffee and to me it tastes really good.

How much difference is there in reality between this and freshly ground beans?
 
Think of it as the difference between freshly ground spices compared to freeze dried ones. It's the same thing really. Once ground, coffee goes off really quickly. A few days I think. Beans last a good few weeks.
 
Robbie G said:
Guys is there really value in grinding the beans yourself? My parents have a Philips drip-type machine with a milk frother and warmer, into which they pour pre-ground coffee and to me it tastes really good.

How much difference is there in reality between this and freshly ground beans?
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Yea unless you buy freshly roasted and ground beans in small quantities and use them quick.

Coffee goes stale really fast
 
This is a sort of guideline.
Green coffee beans - good for 10 months
Freshly roasted coffee beans - good for 21 days
Freshly ground coffee - good for 5 minutes... if that.

Pretty much any of the Hario hand grinders work nicely. Same with the Porlex grinders.

For brewing the coffee... Depends on how many cups you want to make. For just a single cup, I'd personally go with a small V60, an Aeropress, a Kalita Wave 155, or even a Kalita Caffe Uno.

They're all pretty good.

I'm not a huge fan of the french press, purely because of all the sediment you get in the final cup. I do have a couple of french presses, and the one I use is a small one, only around 250ml, and I have adapted it so that very few fines get into the cup at the end. The method I have does remove a lot of the coffee oils though, which some consider bad.
 
Flibster said:
I'm not a huge fan of the french press, purely because of all the sediment you get in the final cup. I do have a couple of french presses, and the one I use is a small one, only around 250ml, and I have adapted it so that very few fines get into the cup at the end. The method I have does remove a lot of the coffee oils though, which some consider bad.
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What would you recommend instead that doesn't cost the earth? I did have a filter machine that was ok, but the brew was a tad on the cold side for my liking. French press takes seconds to rinse out, makes nice hot coffee and was only like £15 to buy and has lasted years.

i agree on the sediment, although this can be reduced a bit by using courser coffee grains. Something which the Hario grinders aren't very good at apparently. Hope the Porlex will do the job, but it's hard to find much info out about it at all. from what i did find it seemed as though it would work ok for use with a french press.
 
Mark A said:
What would you recommend instead that doesn't cost the earth? I did have a filter machine that was ok, but the brew was a tad on the cold side for my liking. French press takes seconds to rinse out, makes nice hot coffee and was only like £15 to buy and has lasted years.

i agree on the sediment, although this can be reduced a bit by using courser coffee grains. Something which the Hario grinders aren't very good at apparently. Hope the Porlex will do the job, but it's hard to find much info out about it at all. from what i did find it seemed as though it would work ok for use with a french press.
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I tend to use the Aeropress or the Kalita wave most at the moment, but I do go for a while with one method then suddenly change to another method and then use that for a while.

Another one worth thinking about is the Clever Dripper. Looks cheap, and I suppose, is cheap. But allows you to have the french press style brew without the sediment.

You can get a mod that will allow you to grind coarser with the Hario Skerton, but you have to import it from the US and it's not an easy fit.

Robbie G said:
How many cups or mugs can you get out of an aeropress at once then?
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Just the one. It only holds around 220g of water at the most, so it's a single cup device. I'm one of the people who stretch it with some hot water to around 250-275g total drink weight.
 
I've never had any problems grinding for a french press with my Hario Skerton. Maybe I'm doing something wrong :p
 
Well my Porlex grinder and bag of beans has been shipped so i will report back how well it works with my french press.
 
Mark A said:
What would you recommend instead that doesn't cost the earth? I did have a filter machine that was ok, but the brew was a tad on the cold side for my liking. French press takes seconds to rinse out, makes nice hot coffee and was only like £15 to buy and has lasted years.
Click to expand...

A mocha pot makes better coffee than a French press, is easier to clean and the output is hotter. The only downside is it takes a bit longer.
 
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Arrived today. Very good service from http://coffeemagic.co.uk/ and their price for the grinder was the cheapest I could find.

The coffee I got with it to try it out isn't that great, but its not bad. I think i'll get the coffee from hasbean next time.

I used 6 clicks of the adjuster and it gets the grind course enough for my french press. At the recommended 8 clicks it was too course and was making a lot of very fine powder and some big chunks. At 6 clicks it's about what you usually get from pre-ground for french press from the supermarket.

There is some fine grains in there and I got a bit of sediment at the bottom of the cup, but no more so than the preground I used to buy. Not sure there is anything you can do about that and it's just something that goes with using a french press.

I guess for my needs I could have just bought a cheapo electric like in the OP, but tbh I much prefer this. Mainly as i'd rather have a manual one for quieter operation and the least amount of electric we can use the better. Also looks to be a quality bit of kit and should last a very long time. takes very little effort or time to grind enough for 2 cups and smells amazing as you grind the beans up.
 
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