The Lemon Fool

Having had an espresso machine for a while in years gone by, we got fed up of grinding beans and the associated mess, so we bought a nespresso machine. It made great coffee but it was costly and limited choice.

We have recently bought a bean to cup machine and love it. We can now choose the beans we want again.

In the olden days, Whittard's Santos and Java was our go to. We like a strong coffee with a rich flavour.

Do you have any recommendations for us? Also, where can I read up on coffee types and roasts (that is factual and sensible rather than 'lifestyle')?

Thanks
Clariman

I've bought this on subscription with them for the past couple of years. A relatively moderate price, and a lovely blend of beans that makes a rich, flavoursome brew. I'm sure there are plenty of other great blends from other local coffee roasters, but these hit the spot for me. https://www.coffeemasters.co.uk/coffee/ ... lend-1x1kg

Hi Clariman.

I would suggest the "High Roast" Coffee of the Month, whatever it is, from here - currently Guatemala Huehuetenango. As an aside, I used to like the Guatemala Elephant from Whittards (an example of the Maragogype variation of Arabica).

https://algeriancoffeestores.com/collections/coffee-promotions-gifts

If you want a specific recommendation from the same store - Velluto Nero.

Regards, Newroad

WE bought a bean to cup machine last year and it has been one of the best things we ever bought.

We started off with expensive single origin beans and had some great coffee, but we have found that Lidl & Aldi's full flavour Italian and Expresso beans, make an excellent cup. In my limited experience, I'd suggest that something like 80% of the quality difference comes from the beans being freshly ground, just seconds before they are used. Counter intunitivley, the 'quality' of the bean seems much less important.

I recommend giving Maragogype or elephant bean a try.

But don't stick with it or it will become just coffee. Instead try to return to it for maximum enjoyment.

Always worth varying your brews and experimenting with different options.

But for a reasonably-priced staple, hard to beat Bellarom from Lidl. Available either as beans or ground, and better than many comparable or more expensive options.

UncleEbenezer wrote:But for a reasonably-priced staple, hard to beat Bellarom from Lidl. Available either as beans or ground, and better than many comparable or more expensive options.

We use an Aeropress each morning with freshly ground Lidl full flavour beans, great coffee.

IShouldCoco wrote:We started off with expensive single origin beans and had some great coffee, but we have found that Lidl & Aldi's full flavour Italian and Expresso beans, make an excellent cup. In my limited experience, I'd suggest that something like 80% of the quality difference comes from the beans being freshly ground, just seconds before they are used. Counter intunitivley, the 'quality' of the bean seems much less important.

Equally important is how long ago they were roasted, the best quality is 1-3 weeks after roasting.
A lot of supermarkets and shops will sell coffee that is months past roasting but packaged in those bags with some nitrogen and a 1 way valve, which I find does a really poor job of preserving the coffee.

Look for a Roasted On date. All good coffee roasters will print that on the bag.

If a bag of unground beans has a strong smell, that's a sign that a lot of the coffee's oil has evaporated already and the coffee is actually past its best.
Really fresh beans should have a very mild smell and of course really old stuff has no smell at all.

So yes the cheapest Lidl coffee, if it is fresh, will beat some fancy single origin stuff which has been sat on a shelf for months.

The best coffee I ever tasted was some Blue Mountain, expensive but absolutely divine.
The worst coffee I ever tasted was also some Blue Mountain, from the exact same supplier, a few months later.

I would 100% support Lanark's observations here.

I get my beans from a local roaster who is about 4 miles down the road from me. I used to use a different roaster about a mile away but they went out of business so I spent a bit of time trying the other locals before settling on the current supplier.

I know exactly when the beans have been roasted and it is always less than a week ago. I buy 1kg at a time that lasts us about 2-3 weeks. I use 18g per shot so that is 55 shots per bag. A kilo bag costs us £22.

I get a blend of Ethiopian and Columbian that suits our taste and a bit like Scotch it is you choice whether to choose a single origin for more distinct flavour or go with a more "rounded" blend. I prefer the later, no least because you really need to reset the grinder for each individual type of bean to get the optimum brew.

I would recommend you support a local roaster.

John

As we're approaching that time of year... and assuming you're not in a hurry...

Acorn Coffee
In a small saucepan combine the acorn coffee powder, water and salt. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes, stir well and set aside.
The acorn powder will swell and create a thicker sediment on the bottom of the boiling pan but you will only need the infused liquid.
In a different saucepan, heat the milk until hot, but not boiling.
Pour the infused acorn coffee / liquid into the mugs you prepared earlier (you should be able to fill each mug about half way).
Top up with the hot milk.
Add one teaspoon of honey or other sweetener in each mug.
Note: You also can make a black acorn coffee without milk. Feel free to add more or less acorn powder per serving.
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Method for acorn powder
Make sure you pick acorns under a White Oak (Quercus alba), not a Red Oak (Quercus rubra). The Red Oak has pointy leaves and the acorns will have a more bitter flavour because they contain more tannins.
Pick enough acorns to fill 4 cups or a 1 litre tub / container (or as much as you would like) of ripe, brown acorns. Note that the quantity of final product will be greatly reduced compared to the quantity of fresh acorns you start out with. You can definitely pick more, but a moderate quantity will be easier to process.
Inspect the acorns and discard the ones which have holes or big cracks in them.
Boil the whole acorns (still in their shells) for 30 minutes. This will make the shells a bit softer and easier to remove.
Shell and peel the acorns: Let the acorns cool down a bit. Cut them in half and take the acorn out. Discard if they are black or mouldy. After shelling, try to remove as much of the skin as possible, as this thin skin is very rich in tannins and will result in a bitter tasting acorn coffee.
Cut the acorns into smaller pieces or use a food processor to roughly process them.
Roast them in a dry cast iron pan or in a warm oven until they become dark and very dry.
Grind them in a coffee grinder. After this step you can return them back to the pan for roasting, if you think you would like a deeper roasted flavour.
Transfer the acorn coffee powder to an airtight container, where it will keep well for several weeks at room temperature.

https://www.realfoods.co.uk/recipe/acorn-coffee

V8

greenrobbie wrote:I've bought this on subscription with them for the past couple of years. A relatively moderate price, and a lovely blend of beans that makes a rich, flavoursome brew. I'm sure there are plenty of other great blends from other local coffee roasters, but these hit the spot for me. https://www.coffeemasters.co.uk/coffee/ ... lend-1x1kg

As above but I use Pact. I ended up buying a coffee machine through them, it would have cost the same elsewhere but through Pact it came with £50 worth of coffee.

https://www.pactcoffee.com