Which coffee maker / best way to make it?

[Danny]

If you want the ultimate coffee of coffee you need to get a Clover coffee machine. According to the Guardian the boss of Starbucks was so impressed he bought the company.

However I just use a filter cone and a thermos jug. This keep the coffee piping hot for several hours and without it becoming bitter as can happen with filter coffee machines.

You need to use a good quality coffee. Cafedirect coffee is fair trade and wins a host of awards. Percol and Taylor's coffees are also good, as is Sainsbury's premium blend.

 

[Mr Pig]

We used to have a Krups coffee machine that cost hundreds, my wife is into coffee and it was the one thing she really wanted. It packed in and I bought her a cheap machine for her birthday, she likes all kinds of coffee. It's a Morphy Richards, this is it:

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/pr...ee_Makers&cm_ite=341231_MORPHY_RICHARDS_47010

According to her the coffee it produces is every bit as good as the coffee out of the Krups, with the exception of the cappuccino not being quite as good, but still pretty good. This machine will do espresso, cappuccino and filter.

As has been said, it's more down to the quality and grind of the coffee than the machine. You just need to experament until you find the ones you like.

 

[bonj2]

some coffee machines such as the industrial ones that they have in cafes and take 20 mins to warm up in the morning can cost up to 60 grand.

 

[Aperitif]

Something like one of these? Easy to use and shouldn't break the bank - thats the first one I found.

I get a decent brew using the Lavazza packs of ground coffee. Tried most of the "flavours" and prefer the Gold myself.

Bialetti + gold for me too. Don't wash the inside Rykard - just rinse it out with running water after use..."the ageing process"

I have tried one of these at a mate's and it gives a tip top cup of coffee with minimum mess. Various styles and prices but I don't know if the taste is any different! A benefit of a pod machine is that a few flavours of coffee can be 'stocked'.

 

[Rykard]

it's only me that drinks the coffee, so I think the coffee ground are going stale which is why I was enquiring about grinding them myself.

That looks interesting Mr Pig.

 

[radger]

I would also recommend the Bialetti - we got given one with a jar of Illy espresso grind. The jar is pretty airtight, and now has some espresso from Monmouth Coffee Co in London in it, which is nice. I tend to get my coffee from good coffee shops (not Starbucks) - if there's somewhere in Leicester you know you can get a good cup of coffee, see if you can buy ground beans from them.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Try buying ready ground beans before you splash out on a grinder. My tastebuds don't know the difference - yours may differ.

Apparently you don't need to refrigerate your coffee* - keeping the air out is much more important.

*and if you do you're supposed to get it out the fridge five minutes before you brew up.

we use a vacuum jar (you can get them in fishing tackle shops for some reason), works like the vacuvin things you get for keeping open bottles of wine from going off.

and we keep it in the fridge.

 

[yello]

If you want the ultimate coffee of coffee you need to get a Clover coffee machine. According to the Guardian the boss of Starbucks was so impressed he bought the company.

Hardly a ringing endorsement!

Personally, I'd start with a simple stove top pot (as in Bonj's pic) and buying ready ground. Develop your taste that way trying out different beans/blends. That might be enough for you. I'm sure there are shops in Lestoh that'll sort you out there, it's pretty hip in places innit?

Me and the misses grind beans and use a cafetiere for our 11's but if I'm only doing a cup for myself then it's stove top pot and ready ground - does me fine. And we do keep ground coffee in the fridge.

 

[User482]

I have Gaggia Classic espresso machine (here) which works in exactly the same way as their coffee shop models. I've yet to have better espresso elsewhere, and it also does a pretty decent cappucino. I get my coffee ready ground from Brian Wogan direct (their fairtrade espresso with espresso grind). I do find that the pre ground coffee tends to lose its flavour before I get through a whole bag so I may invest in a burr grinder.

 

[Fnaar]

No accounting for taste is there?

tbh, I think he says it just cos it rhymes and is mildly amusing

 

[domtyler]

I just use a cafetiere and the big catering size Kingsland ground coffee tubs from Costco. One of those lasts me about two months, it has an airtight seal on top but I don't put it in the fridge and the coffee is superb. I am just at the very bottom of the tin at the moment and the coffee still tastes great. Why faff around with more expensive stuff that needs to be constantly cleaned? My cafeteire is cleaned about once a month!

 

[yello]

Monmouth Coffee Co in London

This is one of the places I do genuinely miss. I used to get a very mild and fruity flavoured coffee from there, an Ethiopian bean I think. Very refreshing and not at all what you might expect from a coffee.

The French cafés do offer a consistently good cup of coffee, it's true, but they are not prone to the adventurous. If one word was to be applied to French way of life then it would be conservative... and protective... oh, hang on, that's two. Anyway, the point is that they like things as they always have been!

 

[nickb]

We had a Krups machine for a while that did both espresso & filter coffee - it was rubbish.

In the end I stuck it on eBay and bought a La Pavoni Europiccola espresso machine which is great once you get the hang of it.

I also bought a Rancilio Rocky grinder, although I get good results with Lavazza's black or gold ready ground espresso coffee

 

[User482]

I just use a cafetiere and the big catering size Kingsland ground coffee tubs from Costco. One of those lasts me about two months, it has an airtight seal on top but I don't put it in the fridge and the coffee is superb. I am just at the very bottom of the tin at the moment and the coffee still tastes great. Why faff around with more expensive stuff that needs to be constantly cleaned? My cafeteire is cleaned about once a month!

Well, firstly, it tastes better. Secondly, an espresso machine isn't hard to keep clean.

 

[swee'pea99]

The Bialetti is the one to get, not least for the cartoon on the side, which never ceases to amuse me (admittedly I'm easily amused).

It makes excellent coffee, with no hassle. The only reason to get anything else is if you really want a true espresso, in which case you do need to get a proper espresso machine (15 bar +). Personally I can't understand why anyone grinds their own beans - or keeps them in vaccuum jars/the fridge/whatever. I guess if you have just the occasional cup...

Myself I have a mug a day and maybe two or three a day at the weekend, and I get thru' a 250g slab of ground lavazza rossa a week, so it never gets a chance to go off.