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!

Snap! Op find some decent beans & you are sorted. We currently use Grumpy Mule. Smooth & rich. Starts the day off right 😊.

Both.

I’m not a coffee fanatic, but my brother is and so I’ve managed to find pick up more information on the subject than I ever thought I needed.

Which method of brewing is best depends on the type of coffee you want, and of course individual tastes. if it’s espresso you want, and you have a gas stovetop, then the Bialetti Moka classic (aluminum) is a good choice. If you have an electric stove/ want an entirely electric machine then go for a stainless steel moka pot.

If you like Ottoman style coffee, then you can’t beat a simple copper džezva/cevze (the long handled pot) imo.

For a good all-rounder then look at Breville and DeLonghi machines with a burr grinder.

I have a džezva for when I’m in the mood for Bosnian/Turkish coffee, but otherwise I have a nespresso vertuo plus pod machine🤷🏻‍♀️

Those little pods seem so wasteful. Of energy, materials, time …

Whenever people start talking about coffee I’m reminded of the episode of Top Boy when our hero steps off a ‘plane from Jamaica (after an extended stay there) and wanders into a local London coffee shop. Where the hipster barista keeps him waiting for a good ten minutes while he faffs, and faffs, and faffs about with a whole load of unnecessary nonsense to produce a cup of coffee …

Yes, and neither DH nor I have ever had a cup of coffee we much liked from one.

I don't know if it's purely psychological, but coffee from pods always tastes 'plastic-y' to me.

I’ve occasionally investigated the nooks and crannies of hotel room coffee machines (that use pods) and found them so grimy I’ve declined to use them.

I’ve got a sage barista machine at home, but at work I use a cafetière with Lidl Italian roast coffee. I can’t admit it to DH due to the extravagance of buying the sage… but I really like my cafetière Lidl coffees!
I only drink black coffee, I do enjoy using the sage, I did a 1 day beginner barista course at a local coffee shop when I bought it which was really useful and enjoyable. I figured if I’m spending that much on a machine I want to know how to use it properly! My friends and family love asking me to make lattes when they visit! I have tried lots of beans, I prefer the ones from Carluccio’s. The sage is great if coffee is a hobby, I’ve enjoyed learning about different roasts and beans etc.
Also I find cleaning the cafetière everyday a chore. With the sage you knock out the grinds into the bin then quick rinse, very quick.
if you can afford a Sage, do it! But it’s not a necessity if you just want a decent basic black coffee.

Don’t get a pod machine. Anyone who actually really likes coffee will tell you not to go pod route. Terrible coffee. Always tastes artificial and nasty. I had a nespresso when they first came out, very quickly stopped using it.

You won’t regret it as long as you learn to use it properly! Invest in doing a barista class to learn the basics. If there’s a 200 degrees coffee shop near you, they do fantastic classes, the 3 hour beginner barista class will teach you all the basics to get you up and running. You can book online. Enjoy!

We bought our Sage Barrista 8 years ago and it’s still going strong. We buy freshly roasted beans from James Gourmet Coffee in Herefordshire which I highly recommend. Once you get the settings right on the Sage making a coffee is pure joy. And as some other posters have said, it makes coffee way better than most coffee shops. We often joke that if the house caught fire the first thing to be saved would be our coffee machine 😆

That's what I did, the 200 degree basic barista skills course. I got the Sage Barista after that.

I know this is an older thread but any recommendations for a ginder and cafetiere, I want a steel one, far too clumsy for a glass one.
I might also try a stove pot thing or areopress.

We own a filter machine but never use it (faff factor of pulling it out the cupboard) but I want an upgrade from instant. Been on holiday with friends who's grinder & cafetiere impressed me fairly faff free and doesn't take up too much space

If you are going to go to the trouble of grinding your beans at home, then why not just get a proper coffee machine - but don’t put it in the cupboard!

pp @blooooooor has it right. Everything affects the coffee. Air temp/humidity, machine type, grind size, beans age and roast, cleanliness of the machine, water used. Once you get into grinders it becomes even worse. Worth watching James Hoffman on YouTube. But what sort of coffee? Espresso requires high pressure but those Mokka pots are v.popular. Cafetiere is different to machine but isn't worse. Don't think that buying a machine = everyone sat around like an episode of Friends. And someone has to clean up the milk/coffee spills, eqpt etc

dual post there.

Judge or Pro Cook for steel cafetieres. I use a Kitchen Aid grinder.

The other advantage with a bean to cup machine is that unlike a cafetiere that needs washing/emptying of the residual grounds (can end up blocking the sink after several years doing this) the grounds are all collected in a box which you can empty into the bin. Like other past posters, we bought one two years ago- second hand in case it got consigned to the back of the cupboard- and it gets used every day and often beats coffees that we buy in cafes. We use decaf beans from Waitrose or a big bag of Lavazza decaf beans.

When I was a student, the best coffee shop in town only used cafetières for their huge range of fancy coffees. So I think the quality of coffee must make the most difference. Now, I think the best way to make coffee is probably an AeroPress with freshly ground, good quality beans.

Partly grinder, partly machine, mostly technique.

What would you use to grind?
I do think freshly ground makes a difference

DH uses a moka pot, buys beans and grinds them using a Bosch electric grinder. The thing that makes the biggest difference is the beans, we only buy from the coffee roasters near us.

A relative of mine spent about £3,500 on a machine (which also weighs a ridiculous amount) and over £300 on a grinder (!). He would look down on things like the sage barista pro.

But, he loves his espressos. I use a cafetière and beans I like (mostly Kenyan, Blue Mountain for a special treat). However, I line my coffee with full fat milk, and virtually no every article on coffee says it is only worth paying up if you don’t dilute the coffee with milk.

*virtually every

To be honest, I like Cafe Nero out of the chains (and Costa Coffee) but despite their machines costing 10s of thousand, I like but am not blown away by their coffee.

I think it’s both. We have a Delonghi bean to cup machine which we love (expensive but it’s 9 years old and has done a lot of work). We get our coffee from Rave. https://ravecoffee.co.uk/ Highly recommended! DH and I choose the next order together when we’re running low.

The best coffee is expensive beans, ground at home and done in the mokka pot. I can’t be bothered most of the time though so booths ‘finest and best’ beans put into the delonghi is a decent back up.