Ground V's Bean coffee fight - Which wins?

[Pixel-Snapper]

Possibly not a fight as such, maybe that BP style cafetiere I had just kicked in...

Now I've become abit of a coffee snob after I had a coffee machine for christmas, I will now only drink filter or machine prepared coffees. (is it just me or is anyone else feel the same, long gone are my days of instant mush)

I quite like the idea of sourcing some beans from some far fetched corner of the globe, hand picked my a small monkey or similair, grinding them in a little machine, whipping out a little stove and making a cuppa black hawk down sytle.

Anyway my question is...

Whats the best way to purchase said coffee? pre-ground in a bag or beans and grind one's self.

Edited by Pixel-Snapper on Thursday 20th January 10:52

[squicky]

It's best to buy beans and grind them yourself as you need them. It's all an ageing process from the roasting to the grinding to the actual making of the cup.

Try to keep your beans in an air tight containing and don't buy them in larger quantities than you'll use in a sensible amount of time.

I'm rather fond of Monsoon Malabar which I used to get from my local farmers market. However he stopped going so I switched to getting them from Waitrose. Whilst the waitrose beans are good, they're not as good as the ones I was getting from him but I make do as I've not found a sensible alternative source.

[Tumbler]

I've not drunk instant for years, started off with those little one cup coffe filters, then moved to a Bodium and ground coffee, dabbled with griding my own beans for that, then we got a Gaggia bean to cup, loved it but hated cleaning it, now we have a Nespresso and for me it's just brilliant, different taste coffe at the flip of a pod.

[hornetrider]

I'm just getting into this myself, having got a nice Bialetti for Christmas. As I understand it, there is a technique to grinding that affects the flavour of the coffee (course, medium, fine etc). As such, I'm tempted to by my coffee already ground at first, before moving onto grinding myself.

Thoughts?

[staceyb]

I buy mine from, as beans,

http://www.imperialteas.co.uk/coffee?zenid=d4f396a...

If I'm unsure on what way is best for them to be ground, I'll ring and ask and they will tell you (if its a particularly rare coffee the grinding and serving instructions come on the bag). The grind depends on the coffee and how you are going to use it.

[shirt]

i drink instant only if someone else has offered to make a brew at work, bit impolite to ask them to faff.

i'm looking at getting a bean grinder as the ground i'm buying for my cafetiere is too fine resulting in a gritty brew.

[Pixel-Snapper]

hornetrider said:

I'm just getting into this myself, having got a nice Bialetti for Christmas. As I understand it, there is a technique to grinding that affects the flavour of the coffee (course, medium, fine etc). As such, I'm tempted to by my coffee already ground at first, before moving onto grinding myself.

Thoughts?

Sounds like i'm a step ahead of you then, I had been given some different make's and blends of ground as presents with the machine, I've now almost ran out of them so thought I try and see if there is a difference again from instant - ground - bean.

staceyb said:

I buy mine from, as beans,

http://www.imperialteas.co.uk/coffee?zenid=d4f396a...

If I'm unsure on what way is best for them to be ground, I'll ring and ask and they will tell you (if its a particularly rare coffee the grinding and serving instructions come on the bag). The grind depends on the coffee and how you are going to use it.

I like some of the names of their coffees hehehe

Panama Dark Side of the Moon and Nicaraguan Black Bull caught my eye

Interesting wasn't aware you had different grade's to grinding certain beans

shirt said:

i drink instant only if someone else has offered to make a brew at work, bit impolite to ask them to faff.

hahaha shirt man up it take's no longer really.

[Wadeski]

keep your unopened packs of beans in the freezer then grind as you need for the freshest taste.

[toast boy]

Beans, we've got a grinder and they keep for much longer as beans as long as you chill them and try to keep them airtight. There's next to no difference between freshly bought grounds and beans that have been ground but keeping the pre-ground fresh can be tricky. I don't get too upset drinking instant occasionally as long as it's the Nescafe decent stuff, Alta Rica/Cap Columbie, nowhere near as nice as proper coffee but at least it doesn't make you want to spit it out like other instants.

[dmitsi]

Grind your own beans, and go for a decent burr grinder, especially if you ever want decent espresso.
Minimun spend will be about £70, and at that price the Dualit Burr Grinder is the best, about £70-80, though you may find it on sale now.
If you're feeling flush go for Ascaso, about £150-200
If you're loaded then spend £400 on something from Mazzer.

[Pixel-Snapper]

dmitsi said:

Grind your own beans, and go for a decent burr grinder, especially if you ever want decent espresso.
Minimun spend will be about £70, and at that price the Dualit Burr Grinder is the best, about £70-80, though you may find it on sale now.
If you're feeling flush go for Ascaso, about £150-200
If you're loaded then spend £400 on something from Mazzer.

Christ thats more than the cost of my coffee machine

WoW that Dualit does look pretty cool though, I was thinking more of a classic hand grinder though.

Edited by Pixel-Snapper on Thursday 20th January 14:13

[Pixel-Snapper]

Just been reading the info on this website about coffee blending.

http://www.roaste.com/CafeRoaste/CoffeeGuides/Coff...

Quite interesting, I never understood it too be such an art.

[SwanJack]

I buy green beans to roast myself (they're good for 18 months). The roasted beans are never around for more than week, ultimate freshness .

[bishbash]

SwanJack said:

I buy green beans to roast myself (they're good for 18 months). The roasted beans are never around for more than week, ultimate freshness .

I've promised myself that I'm going to learn how to do this, I've read that you can stick them in a popcorn maker, how do you do it?

[dmitsi]

Pixel-Snapper said:

Christ thats more than the cost of my coffee machine

WoW that Dualit does look pretty cool though, I was thinking more of a classic hand grinder though.

The hand grinders look nice, but if you want to make really good espresso you need a quality burr grinder. The Dualit is the best entry level. There is a Krups Burr grinder for about half price, but it's not nearly as good.

My grinder cost about 4 times my espresso maker, but it is just a stovetop one. I have an electric espresso machine from DeLonghi, but it never get's used.

[Mr Will]

dmitsi said:

Pixel-Snapper said:

Christ thats more than the cost of my coffee machine

WoW that Dualit does look pretty cool though, I was thinking more of a classic hand grinder though.

The hand grinders look nice, but if you want to make really good espresso you need a quality burr grinder. The Dualit is the best entry level. There is a Krups Burr grinder for about half price, but it's not nearly as good.

My grinder cost about 4 times my espresso maker, but it is just a stovetop one. I have an electric espresso machine from DeLonghi, but it never get's used.

What's the difference between a hand powered burr grinder and an electric one?

[SwanJack]

bishbash said:

SwanJack said:

I buy green beans to roast myself (they're good for 18 months). The roasted beans are never around for more than week, ultimate freshness .

I've promised myself that I'm going to learn how to do this, I've read that you can stick them in a popcorn maker, how do you do it?

I started off using a popcorn machine from e-bay, however they tend to blow up after a while (I went through about three!!). You need to get one with a high wattage and no thermal cut out, the early 'Prima' ones have this. They are great for learning the basics of roasting (first crack and second crack etc), but hard to get any consistency between and within roasts. I now have an I Roast

https://www.i-roast.com/asp/index.asp

Sweet Marias is also a good resource for most coffee issues

http://www.sweetmarias.com/tradition.php

Edited by SwanJack on Thursday 20th January 15:30

[dmitsi]

Mr Will said:

What's the difference between a hand powered burr grinder and an electric one?

Laziness on my part Also the majority of manual burr grinders are a conical burr. To get really fine ground you want a flat burr. It's a design issue with the manual ones. There are some really beautiful manual grinders about, and you have the advantage of a cooler grind so the ground coffee doesn't absorb the heat from the electric ones.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Ow dear I've just also found this

http://www.londonschoolofcoffee.com/courses.php

You know when you start something......

[dmitsi]

Be careful what you start. After one of those courses, using their kit, you'll convince yourself to buy expensive kit so you can get the results you learnt at school. Friend of mine recently opened a cafe with a decent coffee maker. After my dad had tried the coffee, he took him aside and gave him a days tuition. The difference is very noticeable, not only on flavours but presentation. Most of the customers commented on it. So I think they're worth doing if it really interests you.