Any Coffee Nerds on the forum?

[Jelly_Sheffield]

I have just been permitted to purchase an espresso machine, after finally convincing my partner that coffee can be good (the kitchen is more my domain than her's, but she gets a veto on bringing appliances/gadgets into the house, to save me from my own bargain hunting if nothing else).

A really awful first cup of coffee later, I looked up what the hell I was doing... And holy hell, people are the topic unnecessarily complicated!

After further research, I concluded that whilst people are buying all manner of insanely priced coffee gismos, all that's actually required is spoon, a bit of stainless steel wire, and a 58mm round disk with a handle on top...

As far as I can tell, making an ok espresso comes down to some basic skills you can learn in half an hour, and making a really good one is down to developing experience by making a lots of it.


Anyway... I figure that I can't be the only member here who has been lured in by the promise of more, stronger, and better coffee. Plus based on normal standards for members here, at least one of you must be an expert barista just casually on top of your day job.

 

[MattF]

@Maker is one.

 

[Mick Annick]

I await the flack from those wiser than me on here, but having had a few different machines, for consistency I have a Nespresso, perfect espresso every time, life’s too short to faff around.

 

[Seadog]

The grind and the blend are crucial to getting it right.

 

[Barking Mat]

I've a stainless steel coffee machine which sits on the gas hob for about 12 minutes each morning whilst I hit the bathroom. Makes the best coffee in my world.

Like this but different.

I used to buy Carte Noir coffee, but I actually prefer my local supermarket brand which is much cheaper.

After that a cup of tea, and off to work.

The coffee and tea give me time to wake up scroll through the Guardian, Ouest France and the poor BBC sites to see what insanity is going on in the world.

 

[MattF]

The grind and the blend are crucial to getting it right.

That applies to more than just coffee.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I've a stainless steel coffee machine which sits on the gas hob for about 12 minutes each morning whilst I hit the bathroom. Makes the best coffee in my world.

Like this but different.

View attachment 489168

I used to buy Carte Noir coffee, but I actually prefer my local supermarket brand which is much cheaper.

After that a cup of tea, and off to work.

The coffee and tea give me time to wake up scroll through the Guardian, Ouest France and the poor BBC sites to see what insanity is going on in the world.

But where do you read about the real world?

 

[Barking Mat]

But where do you read about the real world?

The Daily Mail Online ?

Oh really....

 

[daleyd]

I've a stainless steel coffee machine which sits on the gas hob for about 12 minutes each morning whilst I hit the bathroom. Makes the best coffee in my world.

Like this but different.

View attachment 489168

I used to buy Carte Noir coffee, but I actually prefer my local supermarket brand which is much cheaper.

After that a cup of tea, and off to work.

The coffee and tea give me time to wake up scroll through the Guardian, Ouest France and the poor BBC sites to see what insanity is going on in the world.

I’ve got a few of those types (the hexagonal shape ones). Plus a bean to cup automatic one. And a recently acquired tassimo machine (more for kids hot chocolates but I’ve had a few coffees out of it). And a couple of cafetière types.

Best investment I did was the bean to cup machine (I’m on my second in about 15 years, my original Krups decided it had enough so I got a delonghi one) , an expensive outlay but beans, even good quality ones, are much cheaper than pods.

The stove top Bialetti type ones make very good espresso type coffee and aren’t expensive. They are what you will find in most Italians houses, and they tend to be quite picky when it comes to coffee!

I’m tempted for the next one to get a grinder and stand-alone coffee maker but I’m inherently lazy and bean to cup do make it very easy. So it’ll probably be another one of those.

 

[jmp49]

In the kitchen we have a Krups bean to cup machine that also has milk and a whole range of different coffee styles and sizes out that I won as a prize in a competition a couple of years back, I will say its possible to go too strong and make tar that keeps you up for days and give you heart palpitations to boot also but you can boop the strength up and down and change a setting on the grinder to tune it back a bit. Cheapo beans from the supermarket or amazon when they go on special are more my style. I like the coffee long or americano style, but I also like the latte and other stuff it puts out without having to wait.
Have tassisimo's in the sheds and in the motorhome, because for a while at launch they gave free machines out with pods, and you basically throw away everything the coffee or whatever goes through each time when you discard the pod, so no risk of green furry lifeforms forming between uses and the pods are less faff, albeit more expensive per cup to use. I quite like the chocolate too...

We had one of the ones that take the weird teabags of coffee, but forgot the brand and wouldnt go back as ultimately it started to leak and get incontient after a year or so, and a dolce gusto pod machine, which was ok but required more cleaning than the tassisimo.

 

[Mark 2]

As @Barking Mat above a moka pot on the stove.

 

[zzr1200]

My preferred brand..... .

Cant stand all this posh pot stuff...

 

[MattF]

My preferred brand..... .

Cant stand all this posh pot stuff...

That's my favourite too.

 

[Barking Mat]

Instant coffee, really ?

 

[drjim]

I have a Neff bean to cup built in at home, and my old DeLonghi bean to cup at work. Kids have started on lattes in the morning so going through beans at a furious rate. I buy 4kg of reunion blend a month from grind house. It's really good.

Grind house Coffee Roasters | Speciality Coffee Bean Suppliers

Grind House coffee roasters provide freshly roasted coffee delivered next day at discount prices - save when you buy direct from the roaster

www.grindhousecoffee.co.uk

 

[MattF]

Instant coffee, really ?

Oh yes.

 

[Craig-SM]

I have a Delonghi bean to cup which has been great even though it has needed some repairs. Quick and easy coffees on a morning and after a bit of personal fine tuning a good coffee too.
Previous to that I’d had a few Gaggia's, both bean to cup and pump, and they just don’t compare with build quality, ease of use or for the end product.

Last year had to send the Delonghi off for repairs and bought a Delonghi Dedica pump machine to keep me from caffeine withdrawal and the mass murder that would follow. I was seriously impressed with it and even taken it with me when away in the U.K. https://www.coffeefriend.co.uk/p/co...oocAACxuHHoG6b8h_OQ1ZisSvSFZWtnhoC_0UQAvD_BwE

A pump machine will always make a better coffee than a bean to cup but does involve more time rather than just pressing a button. I’ve not come across a coffee pod machine yet that makes a decent drink and the cost per drink is much higher too.

 

[ajlelectronics]

The Daily Mail Online ?

Oh really....

Certainly not, they have their own poisonous agenda just like the one you prefer, although the DM also likes to promote animal abusers' interests. I read all sorts, as described before from all of the spectrum and then make up my own mind.
The Readly app gives inclusive access to all sorts of publications that I now look at. Some of the womens' weeklies can be an eye opener too!

This evening I have read a shipping magazine and learned about the new Brittany Ferries' ship 'St.Malo', which was interesting. Practical Classics I am working through in stages and I have a number of others waiting for me to have time.

I am allowed to share my login, so if you would like to have a look on there, I would be happy to give you the details.

https://get.readly.com/

 

[Mick Annick]

I've a stainless steel coffee machine which sits on the gas hob for about 12 minutes each morning whilst I hit the bathroom. Makes the best coffee in my world.

Like this but different.

View attachment 489168

I used to buy Carte Noir coffee, but I actually prefer my local supermarket brand which is much cheaper.

After that a cup of tea, and off to work.

The coffee and tea give me time to wake up scroll through the Guardian, Ouest France and the poor BBC sites to see what insanity is going on in the world.

I saw today that BBC Sounds is being switched off here

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

I've a stainless steel coffee machine which sits on the gas hob for about 12 minutes each morning whilst I hit the bathroom. Makes the best coffee in my world.

Like this but different.

I bought a cheap aluminium version of one of those from the Asda homewares section when I was about 19, and used it for a decade until the innards literally disintegrated.

Moka pot coffee is its own thing (generally extracts more caffeine than espresso for one thing), but I do enjoy it a lot...

When I still worked early shifts and had to leave the house at 4am, my morning routine was to put my 12 cup Moka pot on to brew whilst I took a lighting fast shower, pour the coffee into an insulated mug, get dressed and jump in the car.

Took me a while to work out that drinking the equivalent of 12 espressos on my commute might be why I was so shaky in a morning when I was unlocking the site at 5am.

In the kitchen we have a Krups bean to cup machine that also has milk and a whole range of different coffee styles and sizes out that I won as a prize in a competition a couple of years back, I will say its possible to go too strong and make tar that keeps you up for days and give you heart palpitations to boot also but you can boop the strength up and down and change a setting on the grinder to tune it back a bit. Cheapo beans from the supermarket or amazon when they go on special are more my style. I like the coffee long or americano style, but I also like the latte and other stuff it puts out without having to wait.
Have tassisimo's in the sheds and in the motorhome, because for a while at launch they gave free machines out with pods, and you basically throw away everything the coffee or whatever goes through each time when you discard the pod, so no risk of green furry lifeforms forming between uses and the pods are less faff, albeit more expensive per cup to use. I quite like the chocolate too...

We had one of the ones that take the weird teabags of coffee, but forgot the brand and wouldnt go back as ultimately it started to leak and get incontient after a year or so, and a dolce gusto pod machine, which was ok but required more cleaning than the tassisimo.

My parents have a Tassimo or Nespresso or something, and it makes an acceptably nice coffee...

But compared to beans or ground coffee, it rapidly gets expensive for the volume I drink in a day!

You also can't get espresso pods for any of them in a light roast (it's not traditional, but after having some at a coffee shop opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, I am a convert to light roast espresso).

Bean to cup would be very convenient, and
very consistent, decent coffee (my first real employer had one in the kitchen at Head Office) but unfortunately no-one was selling one used for £30 when I was trawling eBay.

My preferred brand..... .

Cant stand all this posh pot stuff...

I have a sort of stockholm syndrome relationship with instant coffee...

I have drunk so much of it over the years that sometimes when I'm cold and tired, a tar like cup of black instant is just what I want over "proper coffee".

Three heaped teaspoons of Nescafé, one heaped teaspoon of sugar, ¼ cold water, ¾ hot water, drink immediately.