Having managed to buy one of THESE for what seems sensible money as my Xmas present to myself, I’m wondering where I should start on the beans?

I normally drink quite strong black coffee, about half a cup, so not as strong or short as espresso, but not a regular filter type of coffee either, sometimes with a bit of warm milk. Now I like my coffee full of flavour, but very smooth if that makes sense, I don’t like harsh or bitter coffee at all, so where should I start with the beans?

I know it’s all trial & error, and its also a bit personal, but would a good starting point be 100% arabica from a known brand like Illy?

On another point, how long would the beans be good for if left in the machine?

Over to you, & many thanks in advance.

Cheers.

Find a local roaster and see what they have to offer, or look at people like Hasbean or Deep Mills in Suffolk who do mail order. If you’re in London try Monmouth coffee – you can have a tasting session there before you buy. Anything you can buy from a supermarket will already be stale. Illy or Lavazza are the best of a bad lot

You’re best off buying small quantities regularly, although you can freeze beans if you want to without too many problems

Beans are best not kept in the machine, but then NOT doing so kind of defeats the point of the ease of use of a beans->cup machine. They’re best off sealed up in somewhere cool, dark and dry. I notice a difference in taste and quality of extraction after about 1.5 weeks with properly stored beans, so probably less than a week if they’re in the machine.

Squaremilecoffee for what I believe is as close to perfect roasts as you can get but mind you on the pricy side. If they are a bit rich for you go to hasbean. About as much as you would pay for a supermarket bag.

if you like it smooth dont squeeze as much out of the bean and top up with milk / water to suit taste
happy shakes

Thanks guys, I have until now gone with a caffe italy capsules as at least they are fresh every time, seems a bean to cup may be a small step backward 😕

It will be worth it if the wife stops asking me to makes cappuccino as she can’t master the machine though 😉

alexxx – Member
if you like it smooth dont squeeze as much out of the bean and top up with milk / water to suit taste
happy shakes

But does that mean I need to set the grinder courser or finer, or just go for an espresso then top up?

This could get complicated 🙂

PS, with a name like yours, did you used to frequent a Spanish car forum?

Order a selection from Hasbean

Delivery is very quick so the coffee will be fresh. And they have extensive tasting notes so you can choose some that suits your palette.

+1 Hasbean – particularily enjoying their Kicker espresso- some wicked citrus flavours in their and it keeps making me go wow after every cup – supposed to be a difficult one to get right, but I’m definately no expert and I seem to have hit it well.

If your not keen on espresso per se, learn to froth some milk for a flat white, or just make an americano using your espresso shots.

I was thinking about the hasbean subscription, but the earlier thread has made me wonder if it’s for me, it may be a little to specialist?

Cheers.

it may be a little to specialist?

Not sure what you mean by this.

I use Hasbean but I’m by no means an expert on coffee. I know I like a smoother taste so use the tasting notes to pick coffees that are like this. Generally the Indonesian ones are less bitter. More chocolaty.

What do you mean too specialist? They sell well roasted coffee beans, use their descriptions to get a few coffees and once you find some that you like keep looking for similarly described ones. Excellent coffee all around and as I said about the same price as a branded pack of dated over roasted stones in the supermarket

I was talking about the subscription offer where they send you a different coffee every week/month, but the chances are they send a very random selection, I was worried that I may not like them. I can see the site in general the site sells some great coffee.

Cheers.

They used to do a subscription pack with 4 coffees for something around 17£, good place to start really. I know that it might sound steep but why don’t you give SquareMileCoffee a go?

You don’t need a machine for the coffee you want to drink. Get one of these:

Small filter holder

and some filter papers to fit. You put as much water through as much coffee as you want, directly on top of your cup. Direct, full control and any coffee you desire. You don’t need a machine to experience great coffee – they react differently to different methods anyway.

Might have been me that sounded negative about Hasbean (having just started a subscription myself). I guess I was just a bit surprised how much variation there was in taste and that fruity flavours seem to be a big thing. I’m still glad I ordered the subscription though otherwise I’d have kept playing it safe – only tried 3 types so far and the first (Blake, normal non-fruity blend) is still my favourite but the current one I’m drinking (peach and stuff on the tasting notes) is pretty good. Still need to open this week’s one (nutty, mushroom, meaty, savoury, chewy on the tasting notes) but it sounds more what I was after.

I love hasbean coffee – but these tasting notes need to be taken with a pinch of salt, they just mean a hint of these flavours.

For the most part they all taste like coffee (nice coffee mind)