I know there are some coffee experts on this forum so after some advice.
I currently have a subscription with PACT for fortnightly coffee bean delivery (c£8 per pack) but if I'm honest I dont think I really appreciate the quality of that. The coffee is good but it's not like I can tell a huge difference between the different types so seems like a waste of money.
There is a local supplier I could use but that will just cost more and be more hassle.
Therefore thinking of just buying beans from Supermarket. Are there any that people would recommend? or should I try a different subscription service or stick with Pact?
(Just using an Aeropress to make the coffee)
You could try Happy donkey at half the price, no Sub required, decent coffee and you can definitely taste the difference.
Just do what James says! A Beginner's Guide To Buying Great Coffee - YouTube
I have a great roaster which is conveniently a 2min cycle from my house, but I imagine there is good coffee to be found in the supermarket too.
Definitely not co-op, I found their stuff very bitter so assume even the medium roast was still quite a dark roast compared to the likes of PACT and Hasbean.
One or two of the Union ones weren't too bad (Waitrose/Sainsburys and poss others). I can't remember the names, but they were the ones described as having a lighter roast and more of a fruity profile rather than chocolatey which does seems to roughly equate to a more bitter roast in supermarket coffee IME.
I like Morrisons ‘The Best’ Colombian beans.
We get PACT coffee beans in at work now and I really don’t like them compared to what we normally get from the roasters that are local ish to us.
So, normally, we end up getting in a 1kg bag of beans from here that lasts us for a few weeks:
HOTNUMBERSCOFFEE.CO.UK I'll be hated on here I'm sure but when I'm not doing a pourover I have a delonghi espresso maker and I just stick Starbucks blonde roast beans in there, 3.50 a bag from Asda. They are as good as anything else I stick in there.
Aldi beans are as good as any of the supermarket stuff imo, and £1.79 per pack...
Put the change towards a proper espresso machine.
Definitely not co-op
Agreed. For the reason you state. Over roasted, and always taste "old".
Found Lidl to do good beans... sometimes exceptionally good.
But supermarkets aren't the best source of beans.
I would second Happy Donkey beans.
I have been using them for 20 years and have not found any better.
Aldi beans are good… but we have different aldis in the southern hemisphere, so dunno if that translates for you northerners.
Another vote for the Aldi beans
I buy all my coffee at supermarkets, nearly. My favourites so far, given that I make milky drinks:
Waitrose:
Own brand French blend
Own brand Italian blend
Ueshima
Asda:
Finest Espresso
Finest Java
The two Waitrose own brands are my favourites, I can't decide which. If you drink black coffee you may find these too dark though with the exception of Ueshmia which is really smooth.
I would recommend checking the roasting dates though if they are printed. Our Waitrose is quite small and has a wide range of beans so some of it spends a fair bit of time on the shelf - sometimes it's 6 weeks or so. Asda has few whole bean offerings and it's often fresher.
Whatever is on offer.
Currently going through a 1kg bag of Lavazza Espresso Barista beans.
I found PACT hit and miss, and ended up liking the house beans the most.
From supermarkets I like the Asda 'Extra Special' range. Colombian and Espresso both good. Two bags for £5
Aldi are okay, and I always have some in the cupboard as backup.
Starbucks / Lidl also passable if I've got nothing else in.
Waitrose do Union Revelation beans which are nice. I also really like the Waitrose 1 beans that come in tins. (Both good for espresso, dunno about other forms.)
Currently half way through a big bag of M&S Italian style. Very nice it is too, and quite reasonable price wise as i remember. I'm no aficionado/coffee throbber, more a caffeine addict. My usual source is Lavazza. So make of that what you will.
If you're up North pop into Booths
their own brand Monsoon Malabar is very nice
Morrisons, Aldi and Asda own brand beans aren't too bad, traditionally a darker roast which means less mg of coffee per shot and they're quite dry compared to fresh roasts but they aren't bad, in fact a steal for the price.
The best I've found are Asdas extra special Javan Volcanic Island beans, they've been the best for flavour closely followed by Aldi's Italian blend.
If I fancy some real good coffee I usually get Coaltown Black Gold no.3 but the price per kg is crazy for it, £32/kg (used to pay £18 before lockdown!) compared to circa £12/kg for the ones from Asda
I used to use a variety of more expensive beans and now use Sainsbury’s Fair Trade Espresso beans - £11 per kg and just as good as all of the more expensive ones - in fact I often find the boutique stuff too harsh / bitter.
You really should use your local supplier - Monsoon Estates. Cheaper than Pact and much better. Espresso Blend, Fire Dancer and the Bloke are my favourites. Buy online, from the roastery near Stratford (it's a nice ride over there), from the Stall in Warwick Market on Saturday, or from Golden Monkey Tea Company at the bottom of Smith Street.
Unfortunately you missed the club blend
We get our coffee beans from rave coffee but if we get caught out and haven’t ordered a new bag we always go for lavazza rossa in the supermarket, they’re cheap and they always make a nice coffee.
I've tried various ones from a number of supermarkets and keep coming back to the Sainsburys fairtrade single origin.
Columbian for a ligter brew and Guatemalan for something a bit more intense.
Usually under £3.50 for a 227g bag.
M&S Colombian beans. Lovely full and rounded flavour. Excellent value for the quality I reckon.
Waitrose:
Own brand French blend
Own brand Italian blend
@molgrips has it. Gone up a tad lately, but still great value and consistent beans.
I usually just get Lavazza Rossa from Amazon - currently £12.50/kg (3x 1 kg bags)
I don't drink the stuff myself so have no awareness of taste (although from memory, it just tasted awful)...as you don't feel as though you aren't appreciating the expense of the stuff you are ordering, why not just go for the cheapest stuff and start from there? If it tastes really bad then move up a price point (if that is possible) and try that...
last time I was in the posh end of town I nipped into Waitrose and bought some of their 'own brand' stuff. I buy ground coffee so not quite the same, but really thoroughly enjoyed this -
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/no1-rwanda-ground-coffee/405881-535098-535099
...and (significantly) cheaper than the stuff from my local shop!
So maybe give some of their own brand beans a try?
I really like the Tesco Finest Colombian ones. Or Guatemalan also.
Waitrose own brand. Prefer the Italian to the French. The Wife prefers their Columbian, although I do think the No1 Waitrose in the gold packets are nicer still. Especially the Sumatra Mandheling.
James Coffee from Ross-On-Wye is very nice but a lot more expensive for a day to day coffee. I occasionally get some for a treat.
Taylors Rich Italian beans, £10 for a 1kg bag from Tesco
I mix m&s Italian beans with a local roasters roasted that day beans. Very economical way of getting great flat white
Watching my espresso pour is a delight so much cream perfect pour but you need the new roasted beans to mix in
Aldi ground coffee is perfectly fine, you could get 4 packs for one of your PACT's
For supermarket ground coffee I find taylors sunday roast the best of the bunch. This thread reminds me, I keep meaning to change my Pact sub to someone more local.
onewheelgood
Full Member
You really should use your local supplier – Monsoon Estates. Cheaper than Pact and much better. Espresso Blend, Fire Dancer and the Bloke are my favourites. Buy online, from the roastery near Stratford (it’s a nice ride over there), from the Stall in Warwick Market on Saturday, or from Golden Monkey Tea Company at the bottom of Smith Street.Unfortunately you missed the club blend
You’re probably right! I did do the club trip out there. And to be fair I did go along to the market a while back but they weren’t there! Maybe I should get on my bike and kill two birds wi5h one stone!
I use Booths when I don't have any posh stuff in. It's quite nice, but I prefer something posher when I want a treat. It's still miles better than what I've ever found in the over roasted section of most mainstream supermarkets.
And to be fair I did go along to the market a while back but they weren’t there!
That's bad luck, they probably only miss 1 or 2 Saturdays a year. Forgot you were on the club visit - that ride back after 5 espressos was super fun 😁, but I didn't get a lot of sleep that night!
I just buy whatever's on offer, or lavazza red by default. Only ever had to take 1 lot back, booths, those bulk machines I reckon they d filled too many bags and mine had sat there for ages. It was awful, they just refunded me. Morrison's mid strength, no 3, the best range, was actually really good and only 3 or 4 quid.
My local artisan roaster is 10 quid, it's good but not 3x better. Sadly I don't support it any more, I went there all the time when it was 7-8 quid, but got too expensive.
Another vote for the Aldi beans
I wouldn't say they're the best, but they're certainly the best [I]value[/I]
as above, Sainsbo SO fairtrade pretty good, otherwise tend to just buy what's on offer, don't remember ever getting anything truly terrible so I guess they're all probably somewhat much of a muchness!
Mine definitely is 3x better - you can actually pick out the individual flavour notes the coffee is supposed to have (like with good wine/beer) - but it's just too expensive to be more than an occasional treat unfortunately!My local artisan roaster is 10 quid, it’s good but not 3x better.
if it's ground coffee not whole beans then yeah, anything, it's all the same 😂For supermarket ground coffee
You really should use your local supplier
This.
'm sure there are loads of small roastery's that offer postal delivery. I use ManCoCo in Manchester - by far my favourite coffee shop in manchester city centre (mainly because the shop is attached to the roastery)
MANCOCO.CO.UK Useful thread as have been finding that my usual ground coffee from Aldi or Costa, if on offer, has deteriorated. Strongly suspect that for reasons of economy that they're adding something to it cos it's become very weak. Perhaps I need to try beans from a roastery but then that requires a grinder doesn't it?
but then that requires a grinder doesn’t it?
Most will grind for you, at least my local roastery does.
The reason I grind at home is because the beans keep fresher longer than grounds do. It also allows me to vary the grind - some beans work better finer than others for espresso. But you don't need to spend £500 or whatever on a grinder, Cardiff man discovers amazing hack that will save you hundreds! Click to read more!
I have a cheap Krups grinder, and I get good results by grinding the beans twice. Made a huge difference to my espresso which is now spot on nearly every time.
Helpful info there, thanks both. Will look out for a Krups. Is there anything wrong with grinding sufficient for a couple of days and storing in an airtight container?
