Coffee. Grinder and Cafetiere or Pods in a machine

[Milner993]

Bonefish Blues said:

Blown2CV said:

quite polarising i think this topic. I quite like the idea of spending money on a really well engineered coffee brewer where i am centric to the process and i can fiddle with settings, have geeky accessories and just generally be the guy making the coffee. B2C machines never appealed to me as it feels like it misses the point of what i get out of it i.e. trying to minimise my involvement. To each their own!

I completely get that, and used to subscribe, but tbh once set up to one's taste, I'm almost as happy with mine as I am with a good indy coffee.

I also agree, however I'm after simplicity and ease of use.
The coffee machine at my work makes a mean coffee, better than any of the highstreet coffee shops i've been to anyway!

[Milner993]

Bonefish Blues said:

havoc said:

Only headache with B2C machines is you find youself emptying the drip tray regularly (say every 8-10 cups, and that's with putting a spare cup under the spout for the start-up and shut-down rinse).

Good point - the Melitta I had was notably pissy too!

I also read this, however I don't expect this to be a problem for me, as I would probably only use a home coffee machine at the weekends, "he said"

[Bonefish Blues]

Milner993 said:

Bonefish Blues said:

havoc said:

Only headache with B2C machines is you find youself emptying the drip tray regularly (say every 8-10 cups, and that's with putting a spare cup under the spout for the start-up and shut-down rinse).

Good point - the Melitta I had was notably pissy too!

I also read this, however I don't expect this to be a problem for me, as I would probably only use a home coffee machine at the weekends, "he said"

I submit M'Lud that the witness will be using his machine rather more than that

TBH it's a minor thing in practice, but a good point made nonetheless.

[Blown2CV]

havoc said:

I've got a very-well used Melitta B2C machine, and it's still going after several years. It's an older and less sophisticated model which just does black coffee (can adjust strength and length) and then has a swivel-out wand for frothing milk. But I've not had any problems with it so far.

Only headache with B2C machines is you find youself emptying the drip tray regularly (say every 8-10 cups, and that's with putting a spare cup under the spout for the start-up and shut-down rinse).

Blown2CV said:

quite polarising i think this topic. I quite like the idea of spending money on a really well engineered coffee brewer where i am centric to the process and i can fiddle with settings, have geeky accessories and just generally be the guy making the coffee. B2C machines never appealed to me as it feels like it misses the point of what i get out of it i.e. trying to minimise my involvement. To each their own!

The old-school bloke in me wants to agree, but the reality is we've 2 busy jobs and two young kids, and I find myself using this machine far more than I ever used my old fully-manual Gaggia machine, because the Gaggia took far more time and effort, and the results were more variable - when I got it right it was spot-on, but often as not I didn't get the crema right.

yea same here we have jobs and kids and all that... i enjoy the ritual and the break it gives me from work etc. Like I said, everyone is different.

[Milner993]

So I took the plunge and ordered the Melitta Barista TS B2C.
Any recommendations for Coffee?

My Coffee experience is limited to high street chains, Costa etc so I'm open to any suggestions!

[Bonefish Blues]

Remember the machine has space for different beans for different drinks so you need 2

Purists note it is a single grinder machine, but does produce good results with little retention IME

[dickymint]

Milner993 said:

So I took the plunge and ordered the Melitta Barista TS B2C.
Any recommendations for Coffee?

My Coffee experience is limited to high street chains, Costa etc so I'm open to any suggestions!

I mostly buy from Rave. Worth trying out their 3 bag 'bundle' ...................

https://ravecoffee.co.uk/products/best-selling-cof...

[Milner993]

Bonefish Blues said:

Remember the machine has space for different beans for different drinks so you need 2

Purists note it is a single grinder machine, but does produce good results with little retention IME

Newbie question - single grinder ?

2 bags

[Milner993]

dickymint said:

Milner993 said:

So I took the plunge and ordered the Melitta Barista TS B2C.
Any recommendations for Coffee?

My Coffee experience is limited to high street chains, Costa etc so I'm open to any suggestions!

I mostly buy from Rave. Worth trying out their 3 bag 'bundle' ...................

https://ravecoffee.co.uk/products/best-selling-cof...

Thank you, il check them out!

[Bonefish Blues]

Milner993 said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Remember the machine has space for different beans for different drinks so you need 2

Purists note it is a single grinder machine, but does produce good results with little retention IME

Newbie question - single grinder ?

2 bags

Although there's 2 hoppers they both feed through the same grinder which is less satisfactory than having a grinder per hopper because there's always a small amount of retention in all grinders so your medium bean will contain some dark roast and v-v when swapping between different drinks. The top Siemens machine has two, I know, and possibly other domestic machines too.
Didn't bother me when I was running one, I must say, and as long as you put the right beans in the hoppers the machine knows which to select for each drink.

[Milner993]

Bonefish Blues said:

Milner993 said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Remember the machine has space for different beans for different drinks so you need 2

Purists note it is a single grinder machine, but does produce good results with little retention IME

Newbie question - single grinder ?

2 bags

Although there's 2 hoppers they both feed through the same grinder which is less satisfactory than having a grinder per hopper because there's always a small amount of retention in all grinders so your medium bean will contain some dark roast and v-v when swapping between different drinks. The top Siemens machine has two, I know, and possibly other domestic machines too.
Didn't bother me when I was running one, I must say, and as long as you put the right beans in the hoppers the machine knows which to select for each drink.

Thank you for clarifying, makes sense.
I've just ordered the Rave bundle + their no 109 Brazil Fazenda Campestre.

[thebraketester]

Bonefish Blues said:

Although there's 2 hoppers they both feed through the same grinder which is less satisfactory than having a grinder per hopper because there's always a small amount of retention in all grinders so your medium bean will contain some dark roast and v-v when swapping between different drinks. The top Siemens machine has two, I know, and possibly other domestic machines too.
Didn't bother me when I was running one, I must say, and as long as you put the right beans in the hoppers the machine knows which to select for each drink.

I modified ours so that both hoppers feed the same way so we just load both hoppers up with the same coffee and get double the capacity.

[NDA]

Milner993 said:

My Coffee experience is limited to high street chains, Costa etc so I'm open to any suggestions!

The quest for 'the' bean is rarely finished... I have been experimenting for years. I have my own favourite (Lofbergs) but others will go to local roasters for fresher beans.

Worth Googling roasters local to you to kick off with.

[Blown2CV]

scout out some local speciality coffee shops. They often sell bags and this is about the best way to get hold of the fresh local stuff. You might try some duds before you find the gold.

Make sure that they have tasting notes on their bags not because of wkiness but because when you find something you like you can note the sorts of flavours and it will help you pick other products in future. If the notes are chocolate, biscuit type notes these are less acidic. If they are fruits and berries these are more acidic. People tend to gravitate towards one of these two broad categories.

Personally I get mine from Pact though because there are limited local options as I live in the middle of nowhere. There are better options available but the convenience works for me.

Absolutely categorically definitely do not get supermarket beans. They have best before dates rather than roasted on dates, because the supermarkets want to maximise shelf life so often they are old product. Major label brans are often not good at all. There will be people on here coming out in support for illy or whatever but i am unwavering in this opinion!!

I think you said you were looking to home grind which is good, just make sure you understand the fine/coarse setting that is best for your chosen brew method(s).

[havoc]

Blown2CV said:

Make sure that they have tasting notes on their bags not because of wkiness but because when you find something you like you can note the sorts of flavours and it will help you pick other products in future. If the notes are chocolate, biscuit type notes these are less acidic. If they are fruits and berries these are more acidic. People tend to gravitate towards one of these two broad categories.

I think you said you were looking to home grind which is good, just make sure you understand the fine/coarse setting that is best for your chosen brew method(s).

These two points, definitely. (Oh, and the supermarket one too, obviously)

Ref. acidity - part of that will depend on how you take your coffee (and your partner too, if they like their coffee) - e.g. someone who has it black-no-sugar will probably not want as much acidity as someone who has a sweet latte*.



* I suppose it is coffee...just about!

[RizzoTheRat]

havoc said:

* I suppose it is coffee...just about!

The Dutch call a latte "Koffie verkeerd", which translates to "wrong coffee"

[PhilAsia]

Lance Hedrick explains how to dial in an espresso extremely well:

[JackReacher]

Looking for some advice on upgrading my set up.

I've had a Delonghi Dedica with a Krups grinder for 3 years. Very entry level, but it's averaged 5 coffees a day over that period and still going strong.

However, I'd like to improve my espresso and upgrade the grinder and machine. The krups grinder is great, but messy and doesn't offer a dose as such, so I end up grinding more than I need. I also want to taste the benefit of fresh beans more. I usually buy supermarket beans (please don't string me up), but when I do buy fresher ones from Rave/pact/local shops et , I can notice an improvement but not a big difference to justify the extra cost.

Ideally I'd like a grinder and machine to help improve that experience.

I am looking at the Encore ESP grinder with Bambino plus bundle for just over £400 and trying to understand whether that will get me what I want. I am willing to spend a bit of time playing with settings etc, but not to the extent of weighing out coffee etc.

Would that be a good option or should I get a more advanced grinder and/or machine?

[Lefty]

I would say the grinder makes a bigger impact than the machine. Try to find a second hand niche zero (£300 on fb marketplace) and you’ll never need another grinder unless you get REALLY deep into coffee.

OR, in actual fact, a good hand grinder will be more budget friendly. 1z-presso do some great stuff. Bit of a faff and takes time if you are preparing a few coffees at one time.

[Blown2CV]

home ground is miles better than shop ground, even if it is speciality coffee. However, it is really important to be aware of the grind settings for the different types of brew method as they are crazily different.

You may well find that manual grinders don't have sufficient control to be able to manage this. I still have a hand grinder that I don't use anymore as it was pretty much luck of the draw as to what you get out the bottom.