Coffee... What, and how?
Discussion
So, there seems to be a whole raft of ways to get your coffee brewed, filtered, and plonked in a carafe thingy. So what do you use, how do you use it, and what coffee do you use?
As I have a wood burning stove in my little winter dungeon/den, I tend to use my stovetop coffee maker. I have a few. A single cup, and one that does about 9 cups.
Coffee comes out really nice, and it does taste different to my boggo coffee perc I use in the summer. Very simple to use. Fill the bottom with water to the pressure valve level, fill the insert with coffee, and screw the top on tight. Like a perc the pressure forces the water up, but on these stovetop ones it forces it up through the coffee, rather than dripping the water onto the coffee.
A few minutes later and the coffee is all nicely hot in the top section, ready for a nice mug of hot, delicious coffee stuff.
There are shed loads of coffees available, but the one I always come back to is Douwe Egberts 'Comfort' coffee, which is not only fairly cheap, but pretty damned smooth, and doesn't leave you with that nasty bitter taste some coffees can leave you with.
Now, this thread isn't about who's setup is the most expensive, or who uses only the finest 'monk produced, roasted between the thighs of voluptuous virgins thighs' brand of coffee. I'm just curious who uses what. My own setup is probably the cheapest. The pots cost between 3 and 10 pounds each, depending on volume, and the coffee was a few quid here.
So, how, what, and why?
As I have a wood burning stove in my little winter dungeon/den, I tend to use my stovetop coffee maker. I have a few. A single cup, and one that does about 9 cups.
Coffee comes out really nice, and it does taste different to my boggo coffee perc I use in the summer. Very simple to use. Fill the bottom with water to the pressure valve level, fill the insert with coffee, and screw the top on tight. Like a perc the pressure forces the water up, but on these stovetop ones it forces it up through the coffee, rather than dripping the water onto the coffee.
A few minutes later and the coffee is all nicely hot in the top section, ready for a nice mug of hot, delicious coffee stuff.
There are shed loads of coffees available, but the one I always come back to is Douwe Egberts 'Comfort' coffee, which is not only fairly cheap, but pretty damned smooth, and doesn't leave you with that nasty bitter taste some coffees can leave you with.
Now, this thread isn't about who's setup is the most expensive, or who uses only the finest 'monk produced, roasted between the thighs of voluptuous virgins thighs' brand of coffee. I'm just curious who uses what. My own setup is probably the cheapest. The pots cost between 3 and 10 pounds each, depending on volume, and the coffee was a few quid here.
So, how, what, and why?
sjg said:
Nespresso, because I'm too lazy to grind beans and all that stuff.
About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
Ah, I am always curious about these, but only because some of them do hot chocolate, and I am too lazy to make my own. About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
sjg said:
Nespresso, because I'm too lazy to grind beans and all that stuff.
About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
The downside being you're limited to whatever they choose to put in the capsules. Plus, how hard is it to grind some beans?About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
judas said:
We have a machine: beans in hopper, water in reservoir, press button, instant freshly-ground coffee 
Picked it up on holiday in Germany several years ago for about £200. Still haven't seen any other beans-to-cup machines over here for under £500.
Eyes closed all the time then?Picked it up on holiday in Germany several years ago for about £200. Still haven't seen any other beans-to-cup machines over here for under £500.
TheHeretic said:
Ah, I am always curious about these, but only because some of them do hot chocolate, and I am too lazy to make my own.
Nespresso doesn't, just 16 pretentiously named varieties of espresso (plus one or two limited edition ones).You might be thinking of Tassimo or Senseo.
rich1231 said:
judas said:
We have a machine: beans in hopper, water in reservoir, press button, instant freshly-ground coffee
Picked it up on holiday in Germany several years ago for about £200. Still haven't seen any other beans-to-cup machines over here for under £500.
Eyes closed all the time then?Picked it up on holiday in Germany several years ago for about £200. Still haven't seen any other beans-to-cup machines over here for under £500.
Then again, as we already have a machine, we don't go looking for them.
sjg said:
Nespresso doesn't, just 16 pretentiously named varieties of espresso (plus one or two limited edition ones).
You might be thinking of Tassimo or Senseo.
Well, I meant the 'pop a thingy in and press a button' variety of devices. I always end up thinking that the cost of them would keep me in coffee for a few years with the current stovetop setup.You might be thinking of Tassimo or Senseo.
My parents use one of the stove top pots, they've had alsorts of perc's/espresso machines over the years but they love the simplicity of the pot and the coffee out of it is great.
I keep meaning to get one.
Plus I think there's just something about coffee brewing on the stove as you digest your Sunday morning fryup
I keep meaning to get one.
Plus I think there's just something about coffee brewing on the stove as you digest your Sunday morning fryup
My parents like to use either cafetiere or a pot on the stove. Both make absolutely horrid coffee. I need to find out what they're doing wrong and correct their coffee based errors.
When I'm not drinking tea I either make a pretty mean cup of instant (cold milk first, stir a bit then boiling water then stir lots) or buy Costa at work.
When I'm not drinking tea I either make a pretty mean cup of instant (cold milk first, stir a bit then boiling water then stir lots) or buy Costa at work.
I'm a filter coffee convert. Bought one of the cheapy ceramic filter cones and typically use Taylors espresso.
king arthur said:
sjg said:
Nespresso, because I'm too lazy to grind beans and all that stuff.
About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
The downside being you're limited to whatever they choose to put in the capsules. Plus, how hard is it to grind some beans?About £150 for the machine (there's usually £60 credit against coffee with that) and between 28p and 32p a capsule after that.
I consider Nespresso to be the 320kbps MP3 of the coffee world. It's good enough to be enjoyable, but convenient and quick - but does the job.
I love vinyl - but given the nature of my lifestyle I don't get the chance to enjoy it.
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