Following on from the how many coffee beans do you use thread....
What beans/roasters are people using currently?
Darkwoods I think is my current favourite (probably Under Milk Wood if I had to choose).
Caravan are excellent, if expensive, and if I'm in London I try to bring a bag or two back.
North Star are pretty good, and local, but I don't like them as much as Darkwoods.
If I'm desperate I turn to Maude, which I can generally get from a local coffee shop.
And if I'm very desperate then a trip to Waitrose to get the freshest bag of Union I can find.
What are you guys on?
And any recommendations for subscriptions?
ethiopian yirgacheffe from [url= http://www.macbeans.com/ ]http://www.macbeans.com/[/url] my LCS
I'm happy enough with Brodies Mt Etna beans from my local deli, i've tried quite a few beans from other "artisan" roasters but for ease of use and consistency i find the Mt Etna suits me fine as i know what grind to use and how firm to tamp down.
I previously used hasbean but found it was very hit n' miss having to adjust settings for different beans
Bruzzi (Brazilian) from [url= https://www.scotsmagazine.com/articles/z-secret-dundee-braithwaite/ ]local coffee roasters.[/url] around 150 years in the same family, I think they've nailed consistency. Got some Vietnamese beans from them yesterday, looking forward to trying it
I got a Pact subscription as a birthday present, so get one bag of something single origin from them each month. The rest of the time, my standard is [url= https://breakfluid.cc/ ]Break Fluid[/url]'s BFGT, whatever blend or single that is at any given point (it's a single origin at the moment)
if you like North Star and Caravan (you obviously like speciality coffee not over roasted commodity coffee) then have a look at Roundhill, Curve, Dept of Coffee and Social Affairs, Origin, Notes, Momentum, Barn Berlin, Tate, Drop and Workshop.
Lavazza Rosso. Job done.
Lavazza Espresso Crema e Gusto
Bang for buck - Happy Donkey at nearly half the price of the competition.
Have a look at Crankhouse Coffee. It's an independent roaster in Devon. Great range of coffee, and free postage over £30 I think. And there's a cycling link there too! Currently enjoying the CH8 which is an espresso blend. Dave the owner does special promotions every so often (e.g. when the tour is on).
I use Stewarts of Trent Bridge, as the roast house is about a 5 minute walk from my office.
The only problem is that having had beans so freshly roasted, everything else tastes stale by comparison.
Usually either The Bloke or Fixie blends from https://www.monsoonestatescoffee.co.uk/coffee-shop/dark-roast/, with occasional forays into the single origin options.
I like trying expensive ones at atkinsons of lancaster, c 8 to 9 quid. Tbh they are generally v good but are not 2 to 3x better than lavazza rossa which is what they cost.
Best thing i did was buy a really good stove top, it really does make a difference v my old cheap one.
We use our local roaster here - Carvetii
The lake districts finest. Very nice coffee.
Ouseburn Coffee it’s from Newcastle so it’s awesome.
Treat myself to a bag of Sqaure Mile - Red Brick seasonal blend every now and again. Any decent local roasters in Portsmouth?
I'd second crankhouse coffee currently on the ch8 blend and their latest el Salvador single origin and both are excellent. For local I also either use north star(leeds) or Casa espresso (baildon).
After a colleague brought some back from Vietnam I've been drinking Trung Nguyen Sang Toa no 1 via a drop cone.
Very different but lovely.
RedBur's Guatemala Finca medium roast for me.
Wogan's Riposo is a good second and local.
Extract's Dr. Strangelove is also a good alternative.
Roost, based at Malton.
Another vote for Crankhouse coffee. Dave is my local roaster, so I may be biased, but I've not found anywhere else with the same range or consistently good quality. My current faves are Duromina and Sitio Capoeira, but the Grand Tour blend is good too.
I like the shop in castle st Dundee too but tend to stick to espresso blend of beans as I add milk, has to be a flat white for me full fat milk minimum of two shots and a Rancilio machine to replace my leaky Gaggia classic
No scales with me just heaped spoonfuls but insist on a thermometer for ma milk
Another happy Happy Donkey drinker here.
I don't get on with the sharp flavours that a lot of "better" beans have and the Happy Donkey Brazilian Blend is the one I keep returning to. When I say returning I mean I have 16 bags of Brazilian, then try one bag from somebody else (like Pact, Hasbean) and then half way through that bag I return to happy Donkey.
Mrs BigJohn doesn't like it much (muddy, she says) so she has her own beans in a second Iberital grinder.
Rave's Italian Job is my morning staple.
Crankhouse is my local too. Just down the road. I'm no connoisseur but I've enjoyed his as much as any and more than most.
That said, I partly also just enjoy going to ask stupid questions of my local roaster. So maybe try that, wherever you are.
Edit: hang on a sec - Beardo - I think I know who you are!
Currently on Pact following many recommendations, but not convinced. I may go back to HasBean as preferred that stuff. Just Pact has an easy online ordering and flexible stuff for regular orders. Far less choice though and coffee seems a bit meh to me. Not bad, just not as much flavour.
And any recommendations for subscriptions?
Some of the Hasbean subscriptions can be good - I've found with Hasbean their range is very extensive and frequently changing but his descriptions of the coffees use very consistent terms, even if they seem very flowery and hyperbolic, so if theres something you've particularly enjoyed its quite easy to spot what other coffees in their range you'd like too.
I started out with one of the one of their 'In My Mug' subs
Without a doubt [url= http://www.inmymug.com ]Hasbean[/url]. Though I found a good [url= http://www.casaespresso.co.uk ]Bradford-based roaste[/url]r at [url= https://www.cupnorth.co.uk ]Cup North[/url] last year.
Edit: hang on a sec - Beardo - I think I know who you are!
I should hope so - I live next door!
Treat myself to a bag of Sqaure Mile - Red Brick seasonal blend every now and again.
Ooh, hell yes. Nearly forgot about that. It's a regular at Laynes near Leeds station. Buy it every now and again, but go through it far too damn quickly...
I like Whittard's Guatemalan Elephant and Bourbon Espresso - they are half the price of many mentioned above and if you order online you always get nice fresh beans that give excellent crema.
[b]russianbob[/b], are you me in disguise? I just logged on to ask pretty much this exact question.
In the three months or so I've had a grinder, I've found Momentum the best available in the supermarkets (one of very few with a roasted on date). Haven't tried any mail-orders yet, but other good beans I've tried (pretty much all espresso blends) have been from Monmouth coffee (London) and Hot Numbers (Cambridge). Looking forward to trying some of the suggestions above...
Nambian Covfefe, obvs