Recommend a ground coffee

danish pasterys

I just bought a coffee machine and my first coffee was very unpleasent and after leaving a bitter taste on my tongue. I purchased the aldi ground columbian arabic coffee which won some award last year but was not what I was expecting.

Anyone recommend a ground that would be similar to just an average coffee from insomnia or starbucks something nothing like that coffee mentioned above!

PPC

Is it a drip machine or an espresso machine?
You'd be best going into CoffeeAngel and buying some of their beans which they'll grind for your machine.

danish pasterys

PPC wrote: »

Is it a drip machine or an espresso machine?
You'd be best going into CoffeeAngel and buying some of their beans which they'll grind for your machine.

Thanks for the reply, Its an espresso machine, should the ground im buying be an espresso type? What are the benefits of going in and having my beans grounded by them rather than buying ground coffee?

fleet

Lidl French Blend ground coffee is pretty amazing.

It's strong though!

fleet

I wasn't gone on their single origin ground coffee either.

PPC

Once you grind the coffee it starts going stale even if its vacuum packed, and is generally past its peak after 10 minutes.
You should be looking for something thats ground for espresso, but usually "espresso" beans are roasted darker and will be bitter.
If you're buying off the shelf stuff its been roasted, ground, put in a warehouse, shipped to another few warehouses and then sits on a supermarket shelf.
The best option would be to buy a grinder yourself and grind just before use, but if not you may as well shorten the time inbetween.

Zymurgist

PPC wrote: »

Once you grind the coffee it starts going stale even if its vacuum packed, and is generally past its peak after 10 minutes.

Is that actually true??

I have been buying beans from coffeeangel and having them ground for my espresso machine for over a year now and have never noticed any degradation in the quality of the coffee in the time it takes my to get through the bag, which is closer to 10 days than 10 minutes!!

Gran Hermano

Zymurgist wrote: »

Is that actually true??

I have been buying beans from coffeeangel and having them ground for my espresso machine for over a year now and have never noticed any degradation in the quality of the coffee in the time it takes my to get through the bag, which is closer to 10 days than 10 minutes!!

Do you notice any difference in shot time or quality between day 1 and day 10?

nc6000

fleet wrote: »

Lidl French Blend ground coffee is pretty amazing.

It's strong though!

Yes, I just opened a bag of it this morning to use with my Aeropress and it was very nice indeed.

Bohrio

Zymurgist wrote: »

Is that actually true??

I have been buying beans from coffeeangel and having them ground for my espresso machine for over a year now and have never noticed any degradation in the quality of the coffee in the time it takes my to get through the bag, which is closer to 10 days than 10 minutes!!

There are several sayings outthere, some say, 12 minutes for ground coffee, 12 days for roasted beans and 12 months for green beans. The exact time depends on several factors such as humidity, pressure, temperature etc but it is around those figures. Most roasted beans will star losing properties (or characteristics) after 10 days, clearly noticeable, thats why I buy green beans, dont have to worry about coffee going stale!

Zymurgist

@Gran Hermano - I wouldn't really notice a difference in the time taken to pour the shot although at the same time I wouldn't be looking out for one, I tend to just press go then just keep an eye to see when there is about a shot in the cup, then flick the switch again to stop the pour.

I'll keep an eye on the quality though and see if it's enough of a difference to add a grinder to my Christmas list

PPC

Have a read of section 2 in http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/694285/Espresso__A_ThreeStep_Preparation.html which explains it a little bit.

Wigsy

Zymurgist wrote: »

@Gran Hermano - I wouldn't really notice a difference in the time taken to pour the shot although at the same time I wouldn't be looking out for one, I tend to just press go then just keep an eye to see when there is about a shot in the cup, then flick the switch again to stop the pour.

I'll keep an eye on the quality though and see if it's enough of a difference to add a grinder to my Christmas list

Couldn't agree more. Talk to Karl in Coffeeangel and he is sure to point you in the right direction on which grinder to get. I bought the Encore from him this year & is perfect for aeropress to French press. I see he does vouchers too. Could be a handy hint for a Christmas present!!!!

geoffro bodine

just got my first home espresso/cappuccino maker for xmas off my mum and my 2 girls. Its a delonghi ec152, and was wondering if anybody has any tips on what is the best type/brand to use? At the moment im using lavazza at but cant seem to get it right, it keeps ending up vey bitter or very watery. Any ideas please or am I using the wrong size cup for the type of coffee im trying to get

geoffro bodine

I am a newbie to boards and any info about making the perfect cappuccino would be most welcome as its very annoying in the morning to keep getting it wrong, im looking to re create the type you get at any decent barrista shop

geoffro bodine

I am experiencing the same difficulties as yourself. First of all its hard enough to find coffee to use in my home espresso/cappuccino maker, let alone the rite one for your own particular requirements. At the moment im using lavazza but cant seem to get it right, it either turns out to bitter or watery?? maybe its a case of trial and error but if you have any suggestions they would be very welcome

danish pasterys

Dose anyone know the cheapest place i can buy an areopress, I checked online where its about 30 euro, surely its not that expensive for a little plunger that looks like ya could buy in the euro shop

Krusty_Clown

danish pasterys wrote: »

Dose anyone know the cheapest place i can buy an areopress, I checked online where its about 30 euro, surely its not that expensive for a little plunger that looks like ya could buy in the euro shop

It's €27.95 from Coffee Angel. If you think you can get it cheaper in a euro shop, by all means check it out and let us know. I'd love a second one for my work place.

Brian

The Aeropress is made from a special food-safe plastic and comes with several accessories including a year's worth of filters. It may look cheap because of its simple design but it's also robust, conveniently sized (for one) and makes very fine coffee for the price.

mandarin

Bailies advertising Aeropress, filters, 250g coffee and a mug for £27.50 (about 33 euro) at the moment, free delivery.
http://bailiescoffee.com/productdetails/281/aeropress-starter-pack-free-delivery-to-uk-ireland.aspx
Badger and Dodo has Aeropress for 25.95. Delivery extra, although can bundle in up to four packs of coffee for same delivery price.
http://www.badgeranddodo.ie/site/products/

LD 50

Have you got a stainless steel jug for the milk. If not, get one. They can be easily gotten online. And a thermometer too.

Always use fresh ice cold milk. This gives you the maximum amount of time to froth the milk. Full fat milk will also behave differently to low fat milk.

Use the steam wand just under the surface of the milk to start with (but sink it low enough to avoid big bubbles) I'll call this frothing. the milk should be swirling around the jug too. Depending on how much foam you need, you add more or less bubbles e.g for a latte, you wouldnt froth it as long as for a cappuccino. Once you have the volume you need, sink the wand low until you hit the correct temperature, but NOT all the way in so the nozzle touches the bottom. Aim to keep the vortex moving throughout the process.

For a foamy cappuccino, spoon your froth in to the cup, then pour the steamed milk through from a height of a couple of inches. Use the back of the spoon to hold any remaining froth in the jug. It should punch through the foam to mix with the shot. A machine of this class will lack the pressure to foam the whole jug consistently. There is nothing wrong with spooning, a lot of baristas will do it once in a while, and they'll be working with machines worth 10 times as much.

This will take practice. Trust me, I used to do this for a living. So take some time a the weekend or whenever, and just practice. A relatively good alt to milk, is water and some washing up liquid. It will froth up, and you can go through the motions. Also, check out youtube.

danish pasterys

Are blade chopping grinders any good for a nice brew ? I noticed a few coffee machines with built in grinders at very cheap second hand, taught it was too good to be true to get the grinder built in with it for that price, but then looked at a youtube video of the machine and the blade grinder was as loud as a plane taking off.. No way can i have that noise at 7:30am. Would this type of grind give as close of a good grind to the more expensive burr grind crush method ?

Brian

Burr grinders are better for consistency I believe, but they're probably pretty noisy as well. Even the hand-wound ones are a well audible volume.

Brian

---

danish pasterys

What is a nice ground coffee for a filter machine from say tesco or so ?

I bought a filter machine and was told ive the wrong ground as mine was very fine and more suited for espresso machines