I have been living in Melbourne for 4 years now and have been using nespresso machine and pods. I want to step away from this due to the waste and will be moving towards brewing my own coffee and grinding my beans.
I wanted to ask the community what they would recommend in relation to:
a coffee pot, I have an induction hob
A grinder,
And most importantly beans
Any help, discussion or suggestions would be great before I take the plunge.
Thanks
OzBargain
Yes it is hipster heaven I'm just trying to fit in :)
So many options.
Consider how you want to make your coffee; if a stove-top is your preferred option, you can pick up a percolator from around $15.
You can also just buy some pre-ground coffee initially; I prefer freshly-ground but you could put off the grinder purchase.
Beans / coffee is such a wide subject. I'd suggest trying smaller packet sizes from the various deals that pop up on this site, and find the type / style / blend that you like. It can be a very interesting hobby or an obsession.
Thanks mate
I recommend The Coffee Company for beans, they can grind it for you until you get a grinder.
https://goo.gl/maps/fLUxrHC6RA9D92KV7
I second that, they are my local and in fact I was in there today picking up some beans
Awesome I'll check them out on the weekend
i have a decent coffee machine for many years, now i use Aeropress mostly, not worth the hassle with warming up and cleaning for a cup of coffee.
Aero press and fresh grind beans get me 75% of the quality of an average cafe long black.
I use a steel filter so no waste.
There are better options for a short black, and if you drink white coffee it is more about the milk.
I use a ceramic burr hand grinder, it takes about 100 turns to grind the beans, which is fine as part of my wake up ritual.
Long black being a shot from the aeropress + hot water? Or a long shot through the aero?
I've never understood the shot+water, always seems very watered down. Though I quite like them from pourovers which don't seem to get much attention in aus, though they would still be a bit below a percolator, or long pour from an espresso machine
Aldi single origin beans are quite good at around $13 a Kg, there is a red blend that is slightly cheaper.
The other important factor is the grind, and how you "tune it" this takes a bit of trial & error. What is essential is a good quality CONE grinder, the only way to go. There is a big range in prices for these, my first was a Nemox, but now I have a larger machine a Nuova Simonelli which so far has been great. I use a ECM coffee machine, designed in Germany and built in Italy, best combination for expresso machines!!.
They are expensive, but I waited for the 10% off on Ebay and saved a decent amount, you could do the same with cone grinders.
Second the Aldi coffee beans, so cheap and they are roasted in Melbourne.
Breville Smart Grinder (or similar)
Cold brew jug. I personally have the Primula Burke but Hario seems to be the jug of choice on OzB, mainly for the price I think. I prefer the Primula as it has a 1.5L capacity vs 1L.
I am a HUGE fan of these. Bean (!) buying them for about 7 years.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MIFEIA-Gold-Medal-Espresso-Coffe…
This can be either very expensive or very affordable depending on what you want to get out of it.
Basic espresso setups are going to cost several hundred dollars or more, but if you like your coffee black an aeropress can produce fabulous results for $50.
What is uniform through the options seems to be that you need a good grinder - most will say that the end quality of the coffee relies more on the capability of the grinder than that of the coffee machine.
I've had people specifically say to me they can make superb coffee with a $1000 grinder and a $100 espresso machine, but would make pretty poor coffee if the budgets were reversed.
For grinders you really want a good burr grinder that is well suited to the type of coffee you want to make. The Breville smart grinder is popular here because it is an entry-level priced grinder with lots of features that seems to suit it well to brewing via multiple methods (rather than just getting the right grind setting on a knob and never wanting to change it).
Some say the BSG is no good for espresso, though I'm not personally convinced that my palate is expert enough to pick the breville as problematic. I've never used one.
I recently bought a cafe quality grinder and did so over gumtree because I decided that I would trust the advice that a great grinder matters, but wasn't willing to shell the cost for a new $1000 grinder.
Beans I think are the fun part - it lets you have your variety, allows you to shell out a fraction more when something really appeals, and adds incentive to explore places and roasteries. I love trying different beans, and I suspect you'll find no shortage of options that appeal.
When all is said and done the outcome is what matters most - people will advise you to constantly perfect and essentially upsell, but whatever makes you feel like you're enjoying the coffee is probably the best spot for you to be in. I was making coffee with a $70 used espresso machine and a $20 hand grinder up until 2 weeks ago and was very happy. You do you (but please use freshly ground beans that aren't ancient)!
I recently splurged on a bean to cup coffee fully automatic machine after the constant self guilt of plastic pods (ALDI brand, Nespresso to me was always a marketing gimmick).
I’m still on the journey to finding the perfect bean and grind ratio but a little of what I’ve learnt so far that hopefully helps.
Beans: as mentioned by others, ask cafes where you’ve enjoyed their coffee what beans they use.
There are now many cafes that roast their own beans and some independent roasters around, some that a few I can recommend:
https://www.rwspecialtycoffee.com.au/
https://marketlane.com.au/
https://qvm.com.au/shops-stalls/mcivers-coffee-tea-merchants…
Get yourself various 250g packs and try them, personally I found the non cafe roasters (ie Mcivers) to be much cheaper 250g =$10, with cafes charging $13-18 for the same.
Key with beans is to buy them freshly roasted and store them accordingly, so avoid buying in bulk unless you can consume them within 4-6weeks.
Grinder: I’ve learnt this is almost just as important as the beans. How smooth/coarse the grind is will significantly alter the taste of your coffee and it will vary pending the brew system/machine and beans used.
So it a bit of trial an error.
There are plenty of YouTube videos.
Goodluck and let me know if you come cross any other good roasters in Melb.
Here are some cheap suggestions
Aldi espresso machine: used to have one for around $80 (not the pods) and it made some of the best home espressos I've had. Build quality not amazing though, after a couple of years I replaced it with a $300 breville and the coffee wasn't as good. (Also used $1k machines at other peoples places, better than the breville but not the aldi).
Was a bit of a crappy basic machine, but did well. Not sure if they would still have the same thing, I might have just got lucky with an old model.
Percolators also good, or if you are on the fence over what machine to get, you could even consider a pourover. You can probably find one at Daiso for as little as $3, which will do a surprisingly decent job making a long black with little effort.
Beans: Lavazza/Vittoria ORO always came out well and always on sale at colesworth. I never cared for much else from these brands though.
Check if your local Harris Farm or similar sells loose beans. I found their unpackaged beans (self serve, sold by weight, grinder available) were actually cheaper than most stuff on shelves.
Grinder: don't let your gf use it for spices or your coffee will forever taste like cloves and you'll be back to preground.
Also I would leave this to last, it makes the least difference. Preground from a freshly opened pack is almost as good, the trick is to finish the pack quick enough that it doesn't dry out.
beans taste best within first few days after freshly roasted, i suggest not to get beans from colesworth if you have any other choice. But if you can't tell the difference than there is no issue.
Hi community, I really appreciate the feed back.
I am thinking of getting these:
https://www.myer.com.au/p/venus-stainless-steel-induction-4-…
https://www.myer.com.au/p/bcg200-coffee---spice-grinder-1958…
As an entry point.
Thanks for the suggestions with beans I will try a lot of different beans to find my favourite.
What do you think?
Would definitely recommend you spend a little more on a burr grinder. Spice grinders use blades instead of burrs and leave really variable grinds (read bitter coffee with sediment)
Thanks for the tip I will look into burrs
OzB community is great I really appreciate all the replies so far
Cheers. For the record, my work setup is a Porlex mini hand grinder, a Delter brewer*, and whole filter roast beans from No BS.
@cnitsuj: I'm happy with both, but coffee is less bitter with the Delter. The flipside is it's a bit more effort to clean the Delter, which negates the minor time saving from not needing to steep (as is the case with the Aeropress).
I'd ultimately suggest you decide whether bitterness or effort are more important, and select accordingly.
Is this manual grinder good value for a beginner?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AU-Ship-Portable-Manual-Coffee-G…
Work out what kind of coffee you want to drink first.
Do you want espresso, filtered, milk based coffee
From there you can work out what kind of equipment you want to buy
Beans I would suggest just go around to a bunch of local cafes and try their beans. If theres a coffee shop where you love their coffee, they probably sell the beans. The alternative is to buy something cheap until you get your process down and then buy the fancier beans.
Plus you're in Melbourne, isn't that coffee hipster heaven.