Calling coffee geeks.

[InductionRoar]

I spend too much money on beer and am after a new, cheaper and healthier avenue of interest and have decided on coffee. The problem is though, I want to do it properly, however, as with all things, there are products at eye-watering prices which seem to offer extremely poor value for money. I understand the top-end of everything is extremely poor value for money, which is why I want to stay firmly at the bottom end.

I hate gadgets so I am not considering any new-fangled electronics, and have bean looking at manual coffee grinders and French presses. So far I have seen that Porlex and Hario produce ceramic burr grinders and Bodum's French presses seem very reasonable. Am I heading in the right direction or should I be considering other makers? I don't need to make loads of cups at one go, so the mini offering from any maker would be more than sufficient for my needs.

[fat80b]

InductionRoar said:

I spend too much money on beer and am after a new, cheaper and healthier avenue of interest and have decided on coffee. The problem is though, I want to do it properly, however, as with all things, there are products at eye-watering prices which seem to offer extremely poor value for money. I understand the top-end of everything is extremely poor value for money, which is why I want to stay firmly at the bottom end.

I hate gadgets so I am not considering any new-fangled electronics, and have bean looking at manual coffee grinders and French presses. So far I have seen that Porlex and Hario produce ceramic burr grinders and Bodum's French presses seem very reasonable. Am I heading in the right direction or should I be considering other makers? I don't need to make loads of cups at one go, so the mini offering from any maker would be more than sufficient for my needs.

You can go quite far with manual bits n pieces.

I quite enjoy the http://www.aeropress.co.uk/ for the coffee itself and a separate milk warmer / frother for any milk etc.

The practical benefits of the aeropress are what does it for me, use the upside down method (youtube) and wash it out ready for the next use immediately having neatly dumped the grounds in the bin - it is about as low-faff / zero effort as you can get.

I personally dislike a true french press as I end up with coffee slops in the sink which annoy me.

Get a grinder to grind your own beans as well.

Bob

and after doing this for a while, you'll end up wanting a bean to cup machine....which is actually the right thing to do

[prand]

I like coffee but can't have too much of it (sends me a bit crazy/shaky after too much).

I'll usually have a cup once a day, which doesn't justify a full bean to cup machine at home. Luckily we have one at work which produces a pretty decent brew.

At home I use a nice cafetiere for longer americano style and a one (or two small) cup mocha pot for shorter, stronger shots of coffee, which is also easy to use on the gas stove when camping. I quite like the look of the aeropress but have not splashed out on one yet.

I order my coffee from Smokey Barn coffee roasters (the guy who runs it is also a PHer I believe). I get a couple of packs of mail order once a month or so, there is lots of interesting and good quality choice from small producers on his website, each variety clearly described with a taste target describing the balance of sweetness/acidity/fruitiness/chocolatiness etc. You can select if you want beans or different grades of grind depending on how you want to brew it.

The website also has really good sections talking about all aspects of coffee making, equipment, tasting and drinking.

There are a couple of coffee threads on here, well worth looking them up too for tips.

[joshcowin]

I agree with above, the aero press is a great place to start and you can play around with temperatures and brew times with it!

I have had a decent bean to cup machine, they are great but expensive and quite large. I had a de'longhi and had no problems with it!

This is what I had without the milk option as I drink black coffee.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/23-463-b-DELONGHI-Coffee-...

[NDA]

fat80b said:

after doing this for a while, you'll end up wanting a bean to cup machine....which is actually the right thing to do

Do you think?

Perhaps it's my knackered old tastebuds, but I persevered with beans for a few years - burr grinder etc. But these days I buy pre ground in 200g bags for my espresso machine. I honestly can't tell the difference.

[ZedLeg]

Yeah, I've never bothered with a bean to cup machine. I get my coffee ground from a decent supplier and use a Delonghi Espresso machine we got for £130ish during the january sales.

Makes a belting cup of coffee.

[Baron Greenback]

fat80b said:

You can go quite far with manual bits n pieces.

I quite enjoy the http://www.aeropress.co.uk/ for the coffee itself and a separate milk warmer / frother for any milk etc.

The practical benefits of the aeropress are what does it for me, use the upside down method (youtube) and wash it out ready for the next use immediately having neatly dumped the grounds in the bin - it is about as low-faff / zero effort as you can get.

I personally dislike a true french press as I end up with coffee slops in the sink which annoy me.

Get a grinder to grind your own beans as well.

Bob

and after doing this for a while, you'll end up wanting a bean to cup machine....which is actually the right thing to do

Thumbs up for areopress, got 1 for work and home. Had machines and stainless gas hob percolator (which i prefer but a hastle to clean) but areopress make awesome coffee strength and temp under your control. I double filter stainless steel mesh and paper.

[InductionRoar]

Thanks for the recommendations. I will look into aeropresses.

I know I definitely want to grind my own beans (ooh err) and I don't want any chintzy gizmos. I just want to make a normal cup of coffee with the best freshly ground beans I can. I don't like espresso or any frothy milkaccinos, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find what I want at a reasonable price.

[jmorgan]

I have a simple one cup filter. Stainless filter, chuck in required amount of coffee then put in the other bit and chuck in the water.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SwissGold-Coffee-Filter-r...

[CardinalFang]

top tip OP if you're going down the cafetiere route at any point. You'll wander into John Lewis (or similar) & buy a glass one at £15, because there's no way you're going to shell out £40 for a stainless steel one. You'll break three glass ones in two months & THEN you'll buy a stainless steel one...sigh...Bl**dy expensive hobby, this coffee lark...

Otherwise, I hear Jura make very highly rated bean to cup, also the Sage/Blumenthal machines have a fan base. Extensive man maths may be needed at these price points though. (See last weekends' FT "how to spend it". Their tech column (Jonathan Margolis?) & Nik Lander food column both highlight the latest Jura models & various Bialetti-type espresso makers (the classic hexagonal stove top device)). I'll dig it out & edit it into this post.

Can't offer any advice on grinding & beans I'm afraid: us ex smokers know our taste buds are sha**ed so I stick with Waitrose house blend for the cafetiere & Illy espresso for the gaggia.

Good luck in your search. Can't be doing without a decent cup of coffee in your life. It's just not right.

[ZedLeg]

If you really want to see how far you're man maths will stretch look up the Slayer espresso machine. $8499 for the single group version, my dream kitchen would absolutely have one .

[anonymous-user]

NDA said:

fat80b said:

after doing this for a while, you'll end up wanting a bean to cup machine....which is actually the right thing to do

Do you think?

Perhaps it's my knackered old tastebuds, but I persevered with beans for a few years - burr grinder etc. But these days I buy pre ground in 200g bags for my espresso machine. I honestly can't tell the difference.

I agree with the bean to cup. I have two places, one with a b2c and one with a traditional barista style coffee maker.

It's more hassle to get the b2c set up, but once it is then the convenience means I drink at least twice as much coffee as I do at my place with the manual system.

I also have a DeLonghi (Magnifica), and the secret seems to be to turn coffee strength to max, water volume right down to 1/4, and then always use the double cup button.

Do that twice and you have a mug full of delicious proper strength coffee

[CardinalFang]

ZedLeg said:

If you really want to see how far you're man maths will stretch look up the Slayer espresso machine. $8499 for the single group version, my dream kitchen would absolutely have one .

Blimey! Very nice though - where's that lottery ticket??

[Swervin_Mervin]

Stove top >>>>>> French press, any day of the week. I'd imagine it's about as good as you'll get without getting a machine.