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!

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

This.

Mokka pot makes great coffee

Both.
You need a decent machine. Mine is Sage barista. Also your need decent beans from a roaster or coffee shop
My beans come from Rave. Chatswood blend.
Better beans need less fiddling on the settings with the grind texture and the grind amount in order to keep the pressure gauge in the right zone.
A good shot should have a crema head on the top when it's in the cup.

Excellent thread, so much wisdom! Thank you all 😊

Oh god am I about to spend £550 on a Sage coffee machine?! 🙈

You won't regret it! I have the impress so it does the tamping with a lever instead of having separate tamper.

I got mine from Very because they pretty much always do a 20% off first credit order (up to max of £100) so if you've not had a very account worth getting, paying it off right away and closing account.

After many years of research, DH buys posh beans and grinds them as needed. He has a little hand grinder. He then makes the coffee in an Aeropress or Mokka pot. So, very unfancy machines. He says it’s all about the bean. I don’t drink coffee, I can’t comment.

I prefer beans, separate grinder and espresso machine

Beans, hand grinder and japanese drip filter jug here - used to use a cafetière but now enjoy no residue in the cup. Fresh ground definitely makes a difference although wouldn't claim to be a coffee gourmet!

Just adding another vote for a separate coffee grinder and espresso machine!

Whenever we go on holiday, coffee seems really disappointing in comparison - whether filter, aeropress, pour over etc. As for bean to cup, I’ve mostly had experiences in hotels and conference centres where the machine also froths the milk as part of it. These are always bad. Maybe a bean to cup with a separate milk frother might be OK - not sure.

Both - we have the sage barista and I love it !!

Frothy milk is the death of coffee …

Can you tell me about your Japanese drip filter jug, @JustPlainStanfreyPock? I don’t think I could improve on my paperless Swiss gold filter for one or two cups, but I’m always interested in possibilities for when I’m making for more people. (Have tried and dismissed all the usual options over many decades.)

Firstly it's the beans. What do you like? Dark or light roast, fresh roast, freshly ground? Grind settings? Then the machine. Temperature, pressure, cleanliness all play a part. Water hard or soft or mineral water? Was in Cyprus a while back and had the best espresso I've had for ages. Lavazza apparently but the barista got it right. I start the day with a cafetiere of fresh ground Sumatran coffee. That's the one for me. Espresso is a dark roast on a certain grind (I have a grinder) through my Gaggia. It's a black art imo and hard to be consistent.

I'm out for the day but will post details and photo later!

^THIS^

Do it!!! It makes me so happy every morning.

We use good beans from a local roaster, a burr grinder and an aeropress, or a v60 filter if we want to make more than one mugful at a time.

It’s both BUT….

With great beans (freshly roasted so within the past 2 - 6 weeks) and freshly ground (to an appropriate grind for the method you’re using to make your coffee) and you can have amazing coffee pretty much regardless of what machine / device you use (as long as you know how to use it correctly to get good results).

Even with a top of the range coffee machine, you can still produce appalling coffee if you use rubbish beans.

When we changed our kitchen, I insisted on sacrificing a cupboard for a built in, Miele coffee machine. I couldn’t be without it, I never buy coffee out anymore as it’s nowhere near as good as I can make it home. That was 10 years ago and reckon it’s just about paid for itself now 🤣

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

Not only have I heard of it, I have a photograph of myself, on my honeymoon (the photograph lasted; the marriage didn't!), pointing at the very sign 😀

Plunge cafetière makes excellent coffee but you need the right beans for your taste

I have an assortment of cafetieres at home, and decent quality ground coffee, ordered from a specialist supplier. Water at slightly lower than boiling point.

The best cup of coffee I can find. 😊

We have a bean to cup, cost about £350 a couple of years ago. We buy beans from wonky coffee as they're surplus from the industry and we buy the medium roast. They make a really good cup of coffee and we've been happy with that combo for a while now. My sister has a sage that does all sorts of fancy stuff but her preference is M&S Italian beans. It ok but I prefer our beans. Her machine is great and granted, it can do a few more things than ours but it was £1200 which isn't something we could buy.

I'm going to suggest a Mokka pot with a hand grinder. I have a subscription to Fountain coffee so they send me a packet of beans every couple of months. Makes me happy 😁