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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to grind my own coffee beans?

63 replies

BruegelTheElder · 16/10/2018 11:21

DP thinks I'm a coffee snob. I'm aware that being all into coffee is quite a hipster thing these days, and I do have quite a lot of tattoos and good taste in music, so maybe I'm a little worried.

But it's just that I bought a little hand grinder thing a couple of months ago and coffee made from freshly ground beans tastes so much better! I'm quite lazy though and am getting sick of doing it by hand multiple times a day, so I want to get an electric one. AIBU?

OP posts:
Helipad · 16/10/2018 13:05

Damn, I may have to go googling bean to coffee machines. My life needs one.

SpoonBlender · 16/10/2018 13:07

You can get a perfectly fine electric burr grinder for £30-40, tastably better coffee than a £20 spinning-blade grinder and rather better value than £600 on a bean-to-cup machine.

Mind you, I spent £500 on a second hand bean-to-cup Jura Impressa X7 monster at a cafe closing down auction as a present for myself when I started working from home in 2006. It's still going strong! Does rather dominate the room though, it's an 18" black plastic cube.

sadnessin · 16/10/2018 13:11

I have a Jura bean to cup machine that also has a milk fridge attachment. I couldn't live without it. It's an expensive machine but I'm determined to recoup the cost now I only have to buy beans Grin

MaisyMary77 · 16/10/2018 13:11

I’ve a Miele bean to cup machine-less than half price from the Miele outlet in Oxfordshire. It’s great-you can adjust how fine to grind the beans, you can also use pre ground coffee if you want. It makes everything from cappuccino to espresso.

Original poster
BruegelTheElder · 16/10/2018 13:11

Spoon I just googled bean to cup machines and there's a fairly well-reviewed one for £100 on amazon. Not bad at all! Just got to find space in the kitchen among the bread machine/blender/kettle/etc. Darn you modern appliances for being so useful.

OP posts:
BabySharkAteMyHamster · 16/10/2018 13:12

Ds grinds his own beans and has done since he was 14 and discovered the vile stuff. He drinks it black with no sugar too. Envy it stinks the house out but apparently does taste better. He has a cafetierre full each morning.

How a decent tea drinker like me managed to spawn 2 coffee drinkers is.beyond me.

cabingirl · 16/10/2018 13:12

I'm not really all that into coffee and we grind our own beans every day.

Definitely get an electric grinder if you're doing several times a day.

PippilottaLongstocking · 16/10/2018 13:19

I once met someone who would get coffee beans direct from the growers and roast them himself, just for his own use!

SputnikBear · 16/10/2018 13:20

My coffee machine grinds just enough beans for one cup and then makes the coffee. It’s amazing, well worth investing in.

MorningsEleven · 16/10/2018 13:25

DH is into all of that. He spends 20 minutes making a cup of fucking coffee the washes his coffeee stuff but ignores any other washing up (like the 20 billion cups and plates he brings down from his office every day). I think you are VVVU based on my irrational hatred of DH's coffee habits. Made worse by the fact that I am perfect in every way.

Growingboys · 16/10/2018 13:29

Delonghi Magnifica is the only bean to cup machine. Ours is six and still going strong.

Once you've had bean to cup there's no going back. But when you have coffee elsewhere, you realsie you're ruined!

Silverstreaks · 16/10/2018 13:30

YANBU.

Fresh ground is definitely the best. That's how the coffee shops get so many through the doors.

I'm lazy so happy to buy ready ground. I do use a small electric grinder but that is for spices or making coconut butter.

DH bought a bean to cup machine. Too strong for me.

Elephantinacravat · 16/10/2018 13:52

It's not snobby at all. We have a grinder from Tesco which I think was about a tenner and Tesco cafetiere thing as well which was even less, and just buy beans from the supermarket, and grind as we go. And we are definitely not posh or coffee snobs or anything!

Drummingisfun · 16/10/2018 14:12

My electric grinder is a bodum one but it's a burr grinder. It doesn't get much use these days because I treated myself to a bean yo cup machine.
I have a delonghi eletta with milk carafe and now I slurp freshly ground cappuccino whenever I please. It wasn't cheap but it has been 100% worth it.

astoundedgoat · 16/10/2018 14:16

YABU to use a hand grinder.

We have the Bodum one off Amazon (about £55) and it's brilliant.

Are you using a V60, Chemex or Aeropress?

And what beans? I recommend Jericho Coffee Traders - super basic website but great coffee from a small indie run by a really friendly couple with a gorgeous toddler (for Mumsnet cred etc), or if the budget stretches to it, Square Mile are fabulous.

anniehm · 16/10/2018 14:31

I've ground my coffee for 20 years, I thought most coffee drinkers do. Ready ground goes off really quickly. I have an electric one

ethelfleda · 16/10/2018 14:40

You are my people.

I need to pick your brains (sorry for hijacking, OP)

  1. How do you make your coffee once you’ve ground the beans? I read that the pressure has to be a certain level and the coffee has to be tamped a certain way etc - can you just use a stove top coffee pot and still get a good result?
  2. If you buy a bag of beans, how long do they last for? How do you store them? Or do you buy very small bags of coffee beans at a time?
  3. Why am I so obsessed with coffee?
Hoppinggreen · 16/10/2018 15:05

We’ve got the delonghi magnifica too and it’s great

Coffeeisnecessary · 16/10/2018 15:11

If you are making coffee for yourself and like it black I recommend either a v60 filter or an aeropress. I'd also say if you are getting an electric grinder a burr grinder is a much better investment than one that just chops with blades. If making for lots of people a good filter machine like a wolfs svart is amazing but not cheap! Espresso is hard to make well, training is needed to get it tasting perfectly sweet usually, and good quality coffee is often roasted medium/light which is harder to make as an espresso without a lot of adjustment to the grind. It's a complex science!

Troels · 16/10/2018 15:26

My BF used to do this, we lived nearby and she'd make a fresh pot oof coffee when I'd go over. Small electric grinder and a drip filter pot. Her coffee was always delicious. She also kept the beans in the freezer.

ethelfleda · 16/10/2018 16:28

coffeeisnecessary great username!

I love combining science and eating/drinking!
I’ve just been looking at an aero press. And I figured out on google that you can grind coffee beans in a nutribullet- which probably won’t be as good as a proper grinder but I can test it out before I make an investment Smile

I drink black coffee

Confusedbeetle · 16/10/2018 16:30

get a Krups burr grinder

Original poster
BruegelTheElder · 16/10/2018 16:46

I drink it black and use a Moka pot. I have no idea how that compares to all the fancy methods being touted in here that I've never heard of, but I do know I much prefer it to a drip coffee.

OP posts:
Leighhalfpennysthigh · 16/10/2018 22:04

Once you've had bean to cup there's no going back

Agree with this. I've worked out that it also saves me money because my coffee tastes so much better than Costa/Starbucks so I take a flask with me to work instead of picking up a coffee on the go. That's my justification for the hideous amount of money my beloved DeLonghi cost.

I used to have an electric grinder and once used it for curry spices. It was a massive mistake as I never quite managed to get all the spices out....don't do it.

Can I derail and ask for bean recommendations please? I've tried SquareMile but don't like their coffee much. I buy from an independent in Kent called Perk and Pearl, but always happy to try elsewhere.