Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Muska · 3 Mar 2018 at 19:41

Well I'm relatively new the decent beans and grinding myself etc and I can say hand on heart that the cheap beans you can get are no comparison to decent, fresh beans. I found most supermarket beans bitter, stale and generally not very nice (I'll exclude the Union beans I had from Waitrose from this statement)

Best bet is to give something a try to see if you like it/can tell a difference.

I'm still trying beans from different roasters to find which I like

What bean to cup machine are you using by the way?

Scottland · 3 Mar 2018 at 20:28

M&S beans are pretty decent & cheap to start off with.

Squink · 3 Mar 2018 at 22:00

I've got a delonghi cheapo bean-to-cup machine after hearing they're all very similar internally. £141 from AO.com after cashback. It seems to be quite impressive so far.

It's good to hear the m&s beans are good. So far I've shied away from buying supermarket's own beans since I'm scared of hitting a bad lot and having my opinion on fresh ground beans spoiled.

godinman · 4 Mar 2018 at 08:55

You might be surprised at the price of beans from a high street shop, I bought a load of 100g bags and am in the process of finding my favourite.

Price per 100g starts at £1.80.

In fact my local shop delivers - https://www.aroma-coffee.co.uk/coffee/

Grimley · 4 Mar 2018 at 15:47

Muska said:
I'm not sure what to suggest that's a bit cheaper, you pays your money etc

However, Rave do a taster pack

£12 for 3x250g bags so a bit closer to your target price

Waitrose also sell Union beans that have a roast date on them, although it can vary from recent to a bit too far.

I've bought Rave taster packs on a few occasions in the past, when they send out a discount email & I'm low on supplies, its good coffee. Union from Waitrose is last resort for me these days.

Street · 4 Mar 2018 at 22:45

mulpsmebeauty said:
This is probably already mentioned in the thread, but I'm looking for some recommendations for coffee beans to use in my new bean to cup machine. I've tried some lavazza qualita ones and some Taylor ones (can't recall the exact type). I've not been hugely impressed by either though I'm only just getting to grips with the machine.

I'm looking for something easy to buy that doesn't cost the earth.

I really rate Neighbourhood Coffee!

Scottland · 5 Mar 2018 at 10:14

mulpsmebeauty said:
I've got a delonghi cheapo bean-to-cup machine after hearing they're all very similar internally. £141 from AO.com after cashback. It seems to be quite impressive so far.

It's good to hear the m&s beans are good. So far I've shied away from buying supermarket's own beans since I'm scared of hitting a bad lot and having my opinion on fresh ground beans spoiled.

I used to have one of those machines, and they're pretty solid with parts available if it does go wrong. The only problem I found when using it was that it was quite easy to choke if the grind was too fine.

jpaul · 5 Mar 2018 at 13:33

Street said:
I really rate Neighbourhood Coffee!

seems at top end internet prices £7.5/250g so 3x supermarket , and more than Rave - but maybe cheaper on their doorstep.
good web site - they should make it a sales advantage being in Liverpool - Mersey coffee

tasters - coffee compass 3x500 ~£23, per my earlier post, was good

Ayahuasca · 5 Mar 2018 at 14:20

Street said:
I really rate Neighbourhood Coffee!

That's pretty expensive for coffee if you go through it at the rate I do, as above its 2-3 times the cost of M&S/Waitrose beans.

Street · 5 Mar 2018 at 15:16

Luckily a bag generally lasts me a week so at £6 a week I don't mind.

robj20 · 5 Mar 2018 at 19:41

I go through so many the only viable option is lavazza in bulk from costco.

Grimley · 8 Mar 2018 at 17:10

I would like to thank stu at Lost Sheep Coffee in Canterbury for sending me 500g of their beans for FREE! because one of my comments on Twitter about driving a distance to drink their coffee. The hat? I had to buy that. The filter Coffee is from Indonesia & its a Peaberry. I've just drank the filter, it's as good as any I've drunk in the last year and it's only the second time I've drunk Indonesian coffee. I take my hat (the one I've just bought!) off to them.

Ayahuasca · 8 Mar 2018 at 18:06

Got the Waitrose Columbian beans while they're on offer for £4.50 per 454g bag, definitely the best I've had from a supermarket.

Squink · 8 Mar 2018 at 19:56

When people say "don't burn your coffee by using water that is too hot" does this only apply at the stage where you're forcing water through the grinds? By which I mean can I make the coffee and then pour boiling water into the espresso to make it hotter without burning the product?

Grimley · 11 Mar 2018 at 18:25

mulpsmebeauty said:
When people say "don't burn your coffee by using water that is too hot" does this only apply at the stage where you're forcing water through the grinds? By which I mean can I make the coffee and then pour boiling water into the espresso to make it hotter without burning the product?

That's more or less correct according to what I've read. For espresso the PID on my machine is set for more or less 93c for when the water is pumped into the portafilter. For filter (v60) they say leave a boiling kettle for a about a minute before pouring.
from here:
https://extractcoffee.co.uk/2017/03/the-golden-rules/

robj20 · 12 Mar 2018 at 08:52

mulpsmebeauty said:
That taster pack looks ok and I'll check it out

I think what I really want to know is if these specialist beans are noticeably better than your £3 pack of big-name beans from a supermarket. I'm quite new to the world of decent coffee and it all tastes miles better than instant at the moment. In other words, I'm not sure I'm in need of connoisseur-level coffee just yet, though I'm open to suggestion.

I've tried loads from the likes of Rave and Tank, none have been to my taste. Currently on some dark roast beans from Costco that to me taste better.
The darker roast keep better as well and the beans fob Rave cost far too much to drink every day. I went through 3 bags in a week. Costco I get a kilo for about £8.

jpaul · 12 Mar 2018 at 09:27

Once you are familiar with a bean and can grind and get a good cup of coffee with your machine, for me that is often better taste+economy than experimenting too much, especially if you only have 250g from another vendors taster pack to play with; by the end of the 250g pack I have just about figured it out, and whether the taster packs taste notes are a nice/meritable change.
Running multiple packs in parallel where you can really appreciate the diference can be even more problematic, coping with their ageing and dialling in, as you swap.

Nonetheless, not all the supermarket beans are redeemable.

(lets knock the millenials) but this trend for providing consumers with a large choice of beans(preceived customization), does not give me greater customer satisfaction - Mr Ford had the answer.

Raymond Lin · 14 Mar 2018 at 00:11

Just referring to my previous post a few months back on Starbucks Reserve Bar in Ginza 6 in Tokyo….think Harrods equivalent, kinda. They have a Starbucks and right next to it, there is a Starbucks Reserve bar. On top of a regular latte or espresso, but you can get cold brew on tap or one of these.

You select a bean, they let you smell it post grind, then proceed with the brewing process.

They sell this separately in the store, I really wanted one.

Shoeyuk · 14 Mar 2018 at 07:06

I get my coffee from here https://www.algcoffee.co.uk/ they have a lot of choice.

the-evaluator · 14 Mar 2018 at 07:19

I miss my Hario vac pot. It met an early end when I accidentally knocked it against the kitchen tap. Sad times.