Is a really good coffee at home down to the beans or down to the machine?

[Dup]

In other words, should I spend a few hundred on a fancy bean to cup machine?

Or do I just need to buy the very best, freshest ground coffee I can, and my plunge cafetière is good enough?

I am fed up of making coffee where I can’t taste that really good, authentic ‘coffee’ taste!

Hmm - I think it is both.

i used to make coffee at home using a French press/plunger. It wasn’t too bad.

Then after many years I got a sage coffee machine and haven’t looked back! I only have one cup a day but it is worth it. Teen dd loves it too.

Personally I think it's about what you like.

i spent a small fortune on a Sage Barista machine. It grinds the bean, you manually tamp the coffee & steam the milk.

I was looking forward to trying lots of different beans.

i faffed & fiddled with grind settings, only put 18g of beans in each time.... tried lots of different beans, freshly roasted etc

watched hours of YouTube about beans, grinding, steaming....I did a day course.

& still wasn't terribly happy with the result.

my preference now is Costa Beans (No5) from Tesco, with a shelf life that is way past the few weeks you're supposed use freshly ground beans by.

fill the whatsit (but where the beans go) and leave the grind setting alone.

not quite the barista dream! But the best latte I can make.

I tried some already ground coffee, but didn't get on with it.

If I still drank black coffee ud go for a grinder & a stove top set up.

Coffee machine for me. Replaced my delonghi bean to cup (not cheap!) with a Gaggia one and it was night and day.

We have a melitta bean to cup which makes fantastic coffee, the beans matter but good beans in a caffetierre is not the same as good beans in a decent machine.

Both unfortunately!

Personally I would get a really decent grinder, a budgetish coffee machine and decent beans. A bean to cup unless you get a super super expensive one won’t be as good as a stand alone grinder.

Both
We have a bean to cup machine and I wouldn't be without it BUT if I buy cheap beans its certainly not as good

Both i think. I have a sage barista. It's amazing.

I tried a bunch of beans but now get the same ones everytime so don't need to fiddle around with grind settings. They're decent beans though from local roastery.

It actually makes going out for a coffee a bit disappointing sometimes because it's not always as nice as the coffee I can make at home.

PS you want a flat burr grinder

Hmm, not really. It’s not all about the coffee machine.

I worked in independent coffee shops for years when I was younger and went through quite a bit of training (not high street chains like Costa or Starbucks). Not all coffee beans are suitable for bean to cup machines. Some are better brewed using methods like a French press or a percolator. Grind size plays a huge role too, as do factors like pressure inside the machine and water temperature. All of these variables together determine how the coffee tastes. It’s very easy to burn coffee, and just as easy to end up with something overly sour.
Cleaning is just as important. Regular deep cleaning and descaling make a big difference, not just a quick wipe on the outside. Old coffee oils and limescale can easily ruin the flavour.

Some expert I listened to on YouTube said the cut of the bean is the single most important thing. I have no idea if that is true but he was adamant. I do a cold brew for myself (I should grind it myself but can't be bothered) and it's a game changer for me. I do a very concentrated mixture and then mix it with boiling water.

I have a sage barista touch. Get my beans from cworks. Not too expensive actually on subscription. Cheaper than my old nespresso and so so so much better!

Took me a while to find my favourite beans and get it dialled in correctly, but now I always buy the same beans and don't have to touch the settings.

Like a previous poster said, I have to be really choosy with coffee out now as its often a disappointment.

The multimillionaire eng guys in our office who can do what they like have cafe presse filter drip blah blah type accessories and dont use our vvvv expensive pro barista machine (and they could by just bringing their own beans to work then using the fancy pants machine)

Bean grind gets a lot of chat in the micro kitchens.

So i reckon a drip filter and fanciest beans, stored and ground correctly.

DH has used a bialetti moka pot to make coffee for decades. During lockdown we discovered a coffee roasters not far from us. Complete game changer. DH bought a Krups grinder and we’ve never looked back. Have friends with very expensive coffee machines and none of them produce what DH’s old pot can.

Going by logic, I'd venture that the fanciest coffee machine will only make coffee as good as the beans that go inside. So I'd be inclined to buy the best beans you can afford of whatever variety, roast etc. Then spend some brass on a good quality machine but don't spend silly money on it.

Speaking of beans, has anyone heard of a hamlet in Leicestershire called Barton In The Beans? It's an excellent name for a settlement.

Beans, fresh grinding and style. A cafetière makes cafetière coffee- it’s not worse than espresso but it’s different. Apples and oranges.

I’d definitely go for good freshly ground beans in a moka pot or aeropress over bad beans in a fancier machine.

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God, don’t buy ground coffee.

You need a decent burr grinder and a local roastery who can source good beans and know what to do with them.

I have no patience with fancy machines at home. But I couldn’t live without my manual grinder and Swiss gold filter. ( Though they’re not called that any more and I had to order my replacement from the US.)

Beans from Yemen (if only), Ethiopia, Indonesia always make me particularly happy. And the grinding keeps my arms toned.

For some reason the wording of my post directly following @Sophomore’smakes it look as if I’m disagreeing on the subject of beans, when I’m not!

Yes we used to live near Barton in the Beans. It's a tiny place and never found out how it got it's name. I never associated it with coffee though!

Coffee: you need both IMO. I CBA with grinding but we buy very fresh ground coffee and use it quickly in the Aeropress. It spoils you though for cafes unless they are very good.

Dh has an espresso machine- dirt cheap, but he buys coffee in a coffee shop monthly and everyone adores it

eta they grind it at the coffee shop

Both.

Even the worlds best coffee machines won't make a bean like the sort they use in Costa (which is possibly why Costa is struggling...) nice. But a cheap coffee machine, particularly bean to cup, can ruin a very good bean.

I have a Jura E8 at home and a Nespresso machine in the office. I always end up buying coffee in the office as the Nespresso machine tastes like dirt even when not using the Nespresso pods.

My Jura is great. Never had a bad cup of coffee and it's used 4/5 times a day and 5 years old, so brilliant value for money. I use Monmouth beans or Union or Red Brick. Think they're about £28-£32 a kg. So not the most expensive beans, but decent quality.

This is best thread on mumsnet ever!

I absolutely love my bean to cup coffee machine. At the time it felt a ridiculous purchase money and is it another item for the kitchen that will rot at the back of a cupboard after a couple of weeks. It hasn’t been at all. Lattes, flat whites etc every time I have a coffee. If it broke I’d replace it in a heartbeat.

In my opinion as an Italian coffee lover, it's coffee machine first (doesn't have to be that fancy but it should reach a good pressure). Then of course it's the type of coffee (arabica for me), then the roasting. I for instance don't like the roasting that I find in many independent British coffee shops (Monthmouth style) because I find it way too bitter. At home I have a Lavazza a Modo Mio machine with either Lavazza or Caffè Borbone pods and I'm happy with that.

It’s the coffee. I don’t really use a machine. It’s either a cafetière or a moka pot or pour over funnel. Some of its down to preference. I think unfiltered coffee is better (cafetière) compared to unfiltered (pour over).

The only caveat is that a machine can definitely ruin coffee, but it won’t make mediocre coffee great.

whats a cold brew please?