[Closed] *dons flameproof suit* What supermarket available pre-ground espresso?

It's ok folks I've banned him.

Aldi do some good ones if you're still reading IHN.

depends on what you like

Watches with interest.

[img] [/img]

*deftly ducks the banhammer*

Aldi do some good ones if you're still reading IHN

By supermarket, I, obviously, meant Waitrose (MrsIHN is nipping in in her lunch hour) 🙂

day to day, Lavazza red works just fine.

And the bag cut up makes perfect patches for sidewall tears AND with added 'I'm a proper cyclist' credibility that you don't get from a toothpaste tube.

I use Lavazza red also. But, I buy it from Tesco. Does this make me a bad person?

I'm not snobby enough not to buy supermarket coffee - the Waitrose Monsooned Malabar is on our weekly list from Ocado. But I do grind it myself. I've found that supermarket grinds are never fine enough for a good expresso. Might be worth giving their own label espresso grind a try but even it starts out as good beans, it might be hamstrung by not being ground fine enough.

[None of the above is meant to sound like the usual STW coffee snob advice so accept my apologies if it does.]

Modern Standard do some nice pre ground espresso, Sainsbury's stock it not sure about Waitrose though. The Sainsbury's taste the difference range isn't bad either.

Does this make me a bad person?

Yeah, probably.

I've found that supermarket grinds are never fine enough for a good [b]expresso[/b]

[b]BURN HIM!!![/b]

Taylors Italian.

I'm not snobby enough not to buy supermarket coffee - the [b]Waitrose Monsooned Malabar [/b]is on our weekly list from [b]Ocado[/b].

😆

Poshest supmarket we have is Sainsbury's but that's for special occasions.

Is it just me that can't stand illy or lavazza or anything by Taylors?

I should probably confess, I do have a Krups grinder like this:

[img] [/img]

Will that grind good/fine enough to satisfy the STW caffeinistas?

In the UK I'd get Illy....

In Italy or even France you have more choice but IMHO no point going for a coffee that's too difficult to get hold of.

With a good coffee being able to get the same coffee as usual is better (IMHO) than a subjectively better one you cant reliably buy.

Used quickly enough a good pre-ground coffee is likely better than home ground anyway... it might be less fun ... though

In keeping with the STW tradition of recommending something opposite to what you asked for, [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Coffee-Tea-Espresso/Hario-MSS-1B-1-Piece-Coffee-Mini-Mill-Grinder/B001804CLY/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1499331210&sr=8-9&keywords=hario ]it isn't exactly a huge investment.[/url]

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- your local aren't you? You should be @ Rave, no?

Lavazza red is fine, I've always found Taylor's to be too coarse a grind.

Is it just me that can't stand illy or lavazza or anything by Taylors

im sure others feel the same.

[shakes head] at man with posh grinder, but who doesn't roast his own [/shakes head]

Is it just me that can't stand illy or lavazza or anything by Taylors?

No. The last time I looked at the price of Illy I couldn't quite believe people pay that much for only ok coffee.

your local aren't you?

Yup.

You should be @ Rave, no?

Meh.

Lavazza Red. Does the job in my cheapo espresso maker.

Every now and then I read one of these threads about gaggia this n'that, fancy unicorn beans, grinders, skateboard tamps etc, and think, "am I missing out?"

Reality is that I drink 1 espresso a day, in a tired early morning state. I have no idea what it tastes like as I am too tired. If it was a gaggiaunicornskateboard one, I would still forget how it tasted.

gaggiaunicornskateboard

You should definitely change your username to that!.

IHN, not enough zeros in the price tag of that grinder for it to produce a decent grind :D.

your local aren't you?

He has an "aren't you"?

I'm quite partial to the Taste the difference Sumatra Mandheling at the moment.

I quite like the Sainsburys ground espresso. Lavazza red is fine. Not keen on the Taylors.

Can you not just use Mellow Birds or something?

[img] [/img]

Another vote for Lavazza Red

Does the job for me

theotherjonv - Member
And the bag cut up makes perfect patches for sidewall tears AND with added 'I'm a proper cyclist' credibility that you don't get from a toothpaste tube.

Pffft, new fivers are where it's at for tyre boots.

No. The last time I looked at the price of Illy I couldn't quite believe people pay that much for only ok coffee.

Per cup ?? Compared to a cup from Starbucks of not even close to OK coffee it works out pretty cheap.

Lavazza Red. Does the job in my cheapo espresso maker.

Every now and then I read one of these threads about gaggia this n'that, fancy unicorn beans, grinders, skateboard tamps etc, and think, "am I missing out?"

Reality is that I drink 1 espresso a day, in a tired early morning state. I have no idea what it tastes like as I am too tired. If it was a gaggiaunicornskateboard one, I would still forget how it tasted.

You'd probably benefit from a Nespresso type maker.... at 1 cup a day the coffee will have lost its flavour anyway but also in energy costs and ease of making ....

I've got a really fancy Gaggia (present from brother)
Quite honestly I rarely use it...so the coffee is past its best and the costs/time to heat it up way more than the actual coffee price.

Honestly thinking i'd do better myself just switching ....

I use Lavazza red also. But, I buy it from Tesco. Does this make me a bad person?

Yes. Yes it does.

Will that grind good/fine enough to satisfy the STW caffeinistas?

It's what I have, but I suspect I too am a bad person.

nespresso...

*runs away awaiting explosion/*

failing that Lavazza red, can be got cheap from costco, but then you don't use it quickly enough. H R Higgins ftw though... too lazy now 🙁

Whats's the machine? My silly pavoni just won't make anything worth drinking with a pre-ground supermarket jobbie as they are all far too coarse. When in a bind Lavazza Oro in the aeropress or stove top is my go to.

Bit of a bump but I've tried all sorts (and bought two machines) from advice/recommendations on here. To date, this is the best source I've found and they do grinds to your taste as well as beans. If you buy by the kilo it's quite reasonable:
https://hormozi.co.uk/

Whats's the machine?

Gaggia Classic, obvs.

Per cup ?? Compared to a cup from Starbucks of not even close to OK coffee it works out pretty cheap.

What did all you people do before Starbucks and co. introduced non-instant coffee to the High Street? Or weren't you born?

Pffft, new fivers are where it's at for tyre boots.

That would make my tyre boots worth more than my tyres.

I grew up with instant. For really special occasions a percolator came out. Identical to this:

[img] [/img]

Mostly it made some good noises. I can't remember if the coffee was any good.

Mostly it made some good noises. I can't remember if the coffee was any good.

TBH that's half the battle. Aeropresses are rubbish in that respect.

A tassimo for me, don't drink enough espresso for it to be worth buying bags of coffee.

Still going after 4+ years too so happy days,

I used to think nescafe gold was posh proper coffee! I don't have much taste 😀

You can get Union Roasted coffee in Waitrose, the beans i had were recently roasted and reasonably good. They also do preground. Your krups will do espresso grind but you may need to mod it to go fine enough, see Google.

I recently signed up to pact coffee, got a 5 quid intro discount. Massively underwhelmed, Aldi beans taste better.

Lidl's Guatemalan (#4, purple topped bag) is very good.

we have a healthy, loud, enthusiastic population of italians at work, the (bean to cup) coffee machine is under their expert care.

After years of using Lavazza red, i asked if we could try different coffee... after a few moments of bafflement, Guatano suggested tentatively 'Lavazza blue?'

so, there you have it, according to the italians, it's either Lavazza Rossi, or Lavazza Crema e Gusto.

The stuff from Booths isn't bad... currently putting beans through a Jura, but that is being upgraded (or maybe downgraded since I am going for a cheaper brand, but up to date rather than 8 years old) imminently... well... as soon as the delivery man gets it to me!

I like Lavazza of all varieties too. And Illy. And pretty much everything. My only burning question is... why don't Taylors sell Hot Java Lava beans 😉

Booths do very good coffee for a supermarket

I used to think nescafe gold was posh proper coffee! I don't have much taste

You probably enjoy coffee more than anyone else on this tread 🙂

Whatever we do with Taylor's it comes out tasting like over-stewed tea.

Modern standard or the new Taylor's stuff in the different bronze coloured packaging single varietals (not the rich Italian etc)
Just about all the rest are burnt/ashy tasting

I keep meaning to put an order in to Redbank Coffee in Coniston - if any of you non-locals are visiting the trails hunt out some of the coffee shops that sell their stuff (the wee kiosk in Grasmere Village springs to mind, and I think More in Staveley too)- properly good stuff!

Alas I can't pop in and get some, just keep meaning to get them to drop off a delivery when passing! I may treat the new machine to some next week....

This is my current go to [url= http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/sourced-by-oxfam/food-and-drink/coffee-and-tea/caf-direct-ground-machu-picchu-coffee-227g-hn013331 ]Oxfam machu picchu coffee[/url]

another vote for Lavazza red - had taylors last time, wasn't that impressed tbh

the aldi ones are ok, I think they do an ethiopian that is the best of them

stovetop is great, way less arsing about than a full coffee maker

The thing which the makes the most difference for ground coffee IMO is the actual coarseness of the grind. I have bought some premium ground coffees and they have been okay, but i find that the grind is normally to coarse and do not work well in my stove pot.

Lavazza black, sainsburys espresso, and the waitrose own brand in a tin work best for me. Illy works ok as well, but for the price i get an eual cup of coffee from the sainsburys own brand.

I have a coffee grinder and occasionally think that i should freshly grind my beans, but to be honest, it's not worth the faff for me.

I use Lavazza red also

And me in my stove top pot. But I keep it in an Illy container to keep up with the Jones

Kellies heros - Member
The thing which the makes the most difference for ground coffee IMO is the actual coarseness of the grind.

This is a big part of it, buying roast and ground you'll get a cafetiere ground for most things, including some "espresso" blends. Good espresso needs finer ground and will only come ground that way in "espresso" coffees as far as r&g goes, obviously beans you do your own so not relevant.

For actual espresso, illy is good according to folks in the know (not me) but they look for acidity and citrus flavors and i prefer tobacco and burnt rubber in mine. Equally i know a chap who drinks camp by choice and enjoys that so who am i to judge?

It's like beer, can't stand this hipster IPA stuff and i drink best or mild by choice but plenty folks are the other way around, asking for advice isn't going to help too much other than by chance.