I don’t drink coffee. Please tell me what to buy for guests

[Mumblechum0]

Soooo, when we have guests, I offer coffee etc after dinner but because neither dh nor I drink the —foul— stuff, I just make them a cup of whatever instant is the most expensive in the supermarket.

I realise this is probably crap for our friends who all have posh coffee machines.

So I’m not going to buy a machine for using 6 times a year, but thinking of a cafetière. Any recommendations please for:

Said cafetière

What sort of coffee to put in it.

Thanks

I hate posh coffee, I only like instant.

Any cafetiere will do, they all work the same way. For the coffee itself go for a known brand like Taylors or Illy.

@madcat, fair enough but guests tend to take a couple of mouthfuls of mine and leave the rest so it must be pretty bad 😱

Thanks Pipandmum

I love coffee and I would politely decline instant, it upsets my tummy. Nothing too sophisticated is needed, I had a £5 caffetiere from wilko for years. Tesco finest coffee is under £3 and really nice.

Co op fair trade coffee is my favourite at the moment

Sainsbury's do a lovely ground coffee called No5 Italian Espresso. Around £2.30. I have tried lots, including all the Taylor's range, and am quite fussy about coffee. The only instant coffee I think is passable is Azera. It seems to stay fresh and I keep a jar of Azera Decaf in case guests want decaf. My large Sainsbury's sells cafetieres in the home section too. Around £13.

Instant and non-instant are entirely different drinks.

Yes any cafetière will do, once open keep the coffee in sealed box in the fridge. It doesn't last forever once open so get a small pack. Personally I would offer the guest to make their own if you don't know how to?

I warm the cafetière up and better to make it too strong than too weak as you can always add hot water to dilute it afterwards.

You could buy a coffee bag selection realcoffeebagco.com/product/selection-box/

How often is this? Coffee doesn't keep well. You'd be best keeping an opened bag in the freezer. Ground coffee, a desert spoon per person, in the cafetière. Boil the kettle, wait a minute and pour the water on.

Take it to the table with milk/cream and sugar and they can make is as and when they wish.

If you don't like coffee, you're probably making it too weak. Supermarket coffee is fine (Tesco finest, Waitrose No 1, whatever) but it does need to be fresh, it won't keep for months once it's been opened.
You could always ask your guests to step up and make it or tell you how they like it.

Ground coffee doesn’t keep forever after you open it so a lot would go to waste. Is anyone having friends for dinner at the moment??

Coffee bags would be good for this, Taylors do them. Individual sachets so will keep fresh for a longer time. No need for a cafetière.

I remember a B&B landlady once saying to me she didn't often drink coffee and was a teaspoon per person enough in the cafetiere? I think I said tea would be fine!

Thanks everyone, that’s all really helpful, I’ll buy a small quantity and keep it in the freezer as suggested.

Nope, no guests at least for a few weeks by the looks of things, I’m just alleviating lockdown boredom buy buying loads of stuff 😁

If you don't drink coffee and don't like it, then don't offer it. Or let them know you only have instant and which.

Even if they are heavy coffee drinkers, I'm sure they'll survive without one for one evening.

However, if you do want to give them proper coffee, apparently you can freeze ground coffee. You could buy a bag and freeze smaller portions for your dinners.

Crossed posts. :)

Are the coffee bags actually nice?

I just buy instant. Usually Alta Rica as my friend likes it.
People don't buy sweetner-free squash in for me. I'm not wasting money buying fancy stuff that inevitably gets binned when it goes off.

And why do teabags start at packs of 80??? Most of them get binned too.

Then I have to remember to buy cows milk in and most of that goes down the drain too.

Yes, the coffee bags are nice

Love coffee bags too.