I have a machine at home for convenience- but the below kit makes great mobile coffee - camping at circuits with decent coffee!
I think I'd rather take part in the Porsche or expensive watches thread.... I love coffee, Kenco if Instant and ground beans if not, whatever SWMBO has purchased.
It's a DeLonghii bean grinder and CookWork coffee maker. Beans are whatever Monsoon are doing at the time. They did warn me about beans not staying fresh for very long and I try to use up in a month - or freeze them. Dunno how many grams that I use but it's about half a filter full.
Maybe try to remove the 'machine' from your test. I use an Aeropress or paper-filter-on-a-mug methods as I prefer the results from my La Bastilla Natural Arabica that I grind sort-of 'medium'. Took a while to get the grind right tho' and I believe 93C is the best water temperature. Hahaha FFS - 1st-world problems
The 'best' water temperature varies from bean to bean. Light roast naturals tend to need a higher temp.
I love my coffee black, high caffeine and espresso strength, but rather than taking it from those silly little dolls house scale cups, I drink it by the mug-full with lots of sugar. At the risk of being labelled a philistine because I don’t grind my own beans (fnarr fnarr), my favourite blends are Hot Java Lava and High Voltage from Taylor’s of Harrogate. I also love Cafe Bustelo, but you can’t get it in the U.K., which is a shame, as it’s amazing. I was introduced to it by my Colombian born American ex girlfriend Alex, who I was living with between 2010 - 2012 as she used to get her mum to send care packages containing packets of it over from Florida. That’s probably about as high a recommendation as it gets, I reckon. I don’t have a fancy machine either. I use a thing called an Aero Press, which is basically just a piston, like an oversized hypodermic syringe without a needle, which forces hot water through the coffee and filter paper under pressure and it really brings out the flavour. It cost, IIRC, £25. Pictured below are the coffees, the machine and, for completeness sake, the ex girlfriend, in whatever order the app decides to embed them.
Slight bend of the thread... If you're out & about (mainly Bristol area) try Friska for their filter coffee (not Americano). £1 a mug for the best I can buy round here.
Plenty of ways to make qualty coffee. you dont need a 2k espresso machine to do it. Most important are beans and grinder, there are some good hand griders avaialble. Then use whatever method you prefer, AeroPress, V60, French Press etc.. Set of scales are useful to keep things repeatable, otherwise experiment with the grind and let your taste buds decide. Dont use 100c boiling water, let the kettle stand for a couple of mins to cool down.
We’ve got this super duper Jura bean to cup coffee machine in the kitchen. It looks great sat on the granite work tops and cost a bastard fortune. But honestly- if I want a nice coffee I go to Spain. Dunno how they do it but it always tastes much better than the stuff our fancy little spaceship thing churns out.... I’ve never told the wife. She’ll be upset....
Similarly, if you're out and about near Stroud/Cirencester you can get the best coffee in Gloucestershire at Jolly Nice Farm cafe.
I just tried to take a picture of my coffee maker but couldn`t. She wouldn`t stand still, then She got all aggressive and tried to grab my phone, She said She didn`t want her picture splattered all over the internet. I`m beginning to think She`s in hiding and may be on Interpol`s most wanted. I don`t know about Spanish coffee, but Spanish hot chocolate and churros are to die for
