Coffee for beginners

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

We are in the process of having our kitchen totally refurbished and as part of this, we are having a new Siemens built-in coffee machine.

My two teenage sons and myself love a nice coffee as a treat but are no means connoisseurs.

So where should we order our first set of beans from?

We need to understand what beans we like, having never ordered beans before.

It is probably frowned upon but we like Costa coffee and McDonalds coffee !!

I'll get my coat!
LOL

Iceboy

PS. Should we start with a light roast coffee, medium?

Edited by IceBoy on Tuesday 7th November 09:06

[joshcowin]

Nothing wrong with either Costa or Mcdonalds!

I would start with a waitrose own blend

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-in...

it will take you a while to find your favourite beans as there is an unbelievable selection!

Do you have a local independent coffee shop that sells coffee? might be worth striking up conversation and enquire where they get theirs what they look for?

[VW_Sam_]

Can't beat a Costa Latte.. McDonald's isn't too bad.. especially as every 7th cup is free..!

I'm pretty sure the Costa coffee shops sell their own beans in-store, possibly online too? You might also be able to get it from the big supermarkets as well.. although I can imagine it won't come cheap - but then, can you put a price on a decent cup of coffee?

[BoRED S2upid]

Go to Costco and you can buy Starbucks beans.

Someone once bought me a selection pack of world coffee for Christmas probably enough per mini pack to last a week it was great I’m sure it’s on Amazon.

[PDP76]

I tend to use lavazza coffee at home.
I buy either the beans or ground, whichever takes my fancy when I buy more.
Pretty damn good coffee imo.

[jontysafe]

Start and end here

http://www.wogancoffee.co.uk/shop/all-our-coffees....

[cqueen]

Having worked in the high end of coffee for a few years, I would reccomend Marks & Spencer Colombian beans £3.50 -sometimes it's on offer at 3 for 2, perfect.

[TheKC]

Like stated above, there are literally thousands of roasts to choose from. Remember to taste everything. Some coffees smell amazing yet taste bland. Ask for some samples too, most companies offer samples.

[prand]

I've been getting Smokey Barn coffee for a while. The owner is a PHer I believe and sells small batch coffee from small producers.

Always enjoy the coffee I buy from there.

Very informative website too which gives you a good idea of what each coffee is like.

My tip is don't go for too dark roasted coffee, gets a bit like like fag ash.

https://www.smokeybarn.co.uk/

[cqueen]

prand said:

I've been getting Smokey Barn coffee for a while. The owner is a PHer I believe and sells small batch coffee from small producers.

Always enjoy the coffee I buy from there.

That was me! I sold the company a couple of years ago, new owners doing well I believe.

[Digger]

Give this one a go. I always gravitate towards a bag of these beans.

https://www.starbucks.co.uk/coffee/medium/guatemal...

[sidaorb]

Very much a beginner too, I've order various online but never found one that grabbed me, however Aldi's own expresso beans are absolutely spot on.

[uncinqsix]

IceBoy said:

PS. Should we start with a light roast coffee, medium?

For espresso, you should look for something with a medium roast from a good independent roaster. Lighter roasts are really for filter/plunger etc. Starbucks, Costa et al use a very dark roast that provides 'consistent' results at the expense of flavour complexity, and (IMO) just end up tasting burnt.

[Sheetmaself]

cqueen said:

prand said:

I've been getting Smokey Barn coffee for a while. The owner is a PHer I believe and sells small batch coffee from small producers.

Always enjoy the coffee I buy from there.

That was me! I sold the company a couple of years ago, new owners doing well I believe.

You seem to have the same idea of running a business as me, sell it before i jeff it up!

Just in case as tone is difficult to get right on the internet, im more laughing at me than you, i can just remember when you were starting out and giving the free samples and it seems like that was minutes ago not years.

All the best.

[Robertj21a]

Surprised that Caffe Nero hasn't been mentioned. Far better quality than the likes of Starbucks (yuk) or Costa and they sell their own beans.

[mikef]

I have bought wonderful coffee for decades from Algerian Coffee Stores in Soho. They do a good mail-order service (and the cheapest and best take-away cups of coffee)

[Magic919]

cqueen said:

That was me! I sold the company a couple of years ago, new owners doing well I believe.

Might be worth updating your profile.

[anonymous-user]

I used to like the Costa beans but they stopped selling them years ago. Closest, easily available, is 'modern standard' which is to my taste the best available from the supermarkets.

[wraggy]

Try Spiller and Tait signature blend from Amazon. We love it.

[Patch1875]

https://www.williamsandjohnson.com/products/guatem...

This is my bean of choice at the moment it’s lovely.