Which coffee maker / best way to make it?

[Otto]

I have a Baby Gaggia D, and a cheap burr grinder

http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2GZP6RS1LZVU3?ASIN=B0000E6DHZ&nodeID= this one

It's actually brilliant once you have tweaked it, this involves removing a plastic ring and replaceing it a little further round its rotation to allow for finer grinding...at £20 its a steal

 

[domtyler]

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

This is my point. I possess and have used a stove top Espresso machine for many years and used to spend money on expensive coffee, beans and ready ground. The coffee I am making at the moment is within a whisker of the best in terms of quality. I rarely drink a short espresso at home at the moment anyway, I prefer a large strong cup of filter (or two ) in the mornings.

Monmouth coffee in Borough market do produce some fantastic coffee though, it is ones of life's little treats to go along with friends and family and have breakfast in their busy shop in the middle of the bustle of the market.

 

[Dayvo]

A cup of 1,2 or Legendee:

http://www.trungnguyen.com.vn/en/default.aspx?c=262#content

One coffee-measure spoonful in one of these filters:

http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/about-vietnamese-coffee-filter.php

will probably give you the best coffee in the world and refesh parts other coffees can't reach! Or maybe I'm getting my ads mixed up!

Keith Oates will agree with me and tell you how good the coffee is!

 

[Danny]

To avoid ground coffee loosing it's taste you just need to put it in the freezer. It will keep for months!

 

[User482]

To avoid ground coffee loosing it's taste you just need to put it in the freezer. It will keep for months!

I'm not so sure about that - I freeze my coffee, but found that my espressos started to lose their crema and strength once the coffee was more than a couple of months old.

 

[Mr Pig]

I think the coffee ground are going stale which is why I was enquiring about grinding them myself.

They should keep for ages if sealed up. But if you want to you can freeze ground coffee.

 

[PpPete]

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!

I use a cafetiere - the one laughingly called an 8 cup model, which is actually just big enough for 2 good size mugs. Tesco's 227g foil packs - "french style" or " italian style" depending on what's on special, we get through 2 packs a week, so there is no time for it to get stale.

Result is rather like a French cafe "grand noir".

Rinse it out every day, and then once a week the whole thing goes in dishawasher - perfect, no faff at all.

We've several expresso machines and filter machines, none of which are used as taste is nowhere near as good.

 

[Lardyboy]

Got one of these http://www.salamandercookshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3130&currency=GBP and a
Bialetti. I use the Gaggia the most as it's so quick to get it up and running.

 

[PpPete]

Coffee maker for cycle touring

If weight is an issue becasue you are hauling around on the back of your bike....

http://www.facewest.co.uk/MSR-Mug-Mate.html

at 28 grams (less than 1 oz) is absolutely the dog's dangly bits.

We take one to the OMM, it's the only thing gets us out of the tent on the second day

 

[Wolf04]

They should keep for ages if sealed up. But if you want to you can freeze ground coffee.

I keep my ground coffee in the bag it came in. I squeeze the air out and use a plastic clip I got free with some coffee to seal it airtight then store in fridge. Seems to work well although the rate I drink it, it doesn't get much chance to go off.

 

[Danny]

I'm not so sure about that - I freeze my coffee, but found that my espressos started to lose their crema and strength once the coffee was more than a couple of months old.

I recently found a pack of expresso at the back of the freezer that had probably been there for a couple of years , but it tasted OK to me when I brewed it up.

However I suspect expresso aficionados such as your good self would have turned their noses up at it.