Wanted to get some suggestions for a rock solid coffee, or any coffee that offers a good taste to value ratio for an at home espresso machine. I used to quite like the Organic Grinds from ALDI but they've disappeared from stores near me in Melbourne. In need of a decent replacement that isn't $40 a kilo.
Hoping some people with much better knowledge of coffee than me can help out with some suggestions. Basically I'm looking for the Eneloops of coffee. What is the OzBargain coffee of choice?
As a total aside, their ice tray looks pretty cool!
Yup they are.
I've just realised I might be a Killer Groupie, the only think I don't have is the hip flask :)
Not missing out, the flask feels cheap af
-Another Killer Groupie :)
I've tried both Killer coffee blends. My batches definitely tasted over-roasted bordering on bitter. I've heard the same issue with a work colleague who tried them as well.
Love this coffee. Can be hard to find high quality dark roast, most want more fruity light or medium.
Pablo & Rusty's when they have 50% off sales.
Seems like the value to taste is best found only during sales. There's been a few 50% ones here in the past month and you can definitely get a good buy then. Perhaps it's only going to be the big scale operators like Coles, Aldi, Woolies that can offer cheap reasonable coffee 24/7.
Had three different styles of beans from them… all tasted like muddy water.
Agree but they havnt had a proper one in sixth months or more
damn, how did I miss this?
Some people might prefer more bespoke brands, but I always found the ORO labels from the two major sellers to be quite good, and readily available for cheap. Smooth, not bitter etc, makes a decent espresso.
I've also seen some Harris Farms selling self-serve coffee beans that you scoop out of barrels, with a grinder available if needed. There were always a few options, and somehow this was priced cheaper than most things on the shelf despite the setup.
Have you compared the Urban Culture Coffee from Coles with ORO?
nah not familiar with that stuff. been overseas a bunch lately so not explored options in a while
I got the Urban Culture medium, pretty weak compared to the last medium roast I bought. I also liked Oro better.
I've turned into an accidental Urban Culture fan. Tried it once, thought it was okay and then it then passed a blind taste test vs some much, much, much more expensive beans so it's now the bean of choice here. I have been told that I do have fairly uneducated palate though :-)
I usually go with ORO pods for a Nespresso machine and find it pretty good.
Gold?
Out of the stuff from Colesworth I've found the Republica Organic Coffee Beans (Red labeling) pretty delicious, when you've got your grind and dose dialed in it's a really smooth robust coffee. Best bang for buck IMHO.
I've been enjoying a nice pack of death Wish
Sounds killer!
Does get good reviews though
yeh I picked up a pack start of year in America. Will determinedly get more - Found out they also have a pumpkin version also which sounds really nice.
Cauldron Aged Pumpkin Coffee! Sounds like something out of Harry Potter
I can't comment on this product specifically but I live in the US now and almost all seasonal 'pumpkin/fall' flavoured products are garbage. Also autumn is 6 months off but that might be irrelevant if the product is permanent.
yeh found a seller on ebay selling from queensland. Gonna get a pack to try - if anything like the og death wish - should be good. you certainly want to follow the directions and not go overboard with too much.
International roast
You prefer it over Blend 43?
Yah, it has the word international in it.
a.k.a desert dust. Beautiful.
international roast. when some moisture already got in because the lid has been left off in the break room for days, and u have to smash it with a spoon to break it into shards.
smoooooooth.
Eewww
Most workplaces have gone to Nescafe Blend 43 nowdays… your workplace sounds like tight asses hehe….
I usually go with Industry Beans who are based in Melbourne but when there's deals posted on here I'll try others, especially if they're supporting roasters local to me. Most recently tried Proud Mary who are also Melbourne based.
I don't drink a whole lot of coffee though so when I do get it I tend to get the fancier stuff (but not something crazy pricey like Gesha).
Mocconna. I know there's probably better brands but once you're used to a brand it's hard to switch. And it doesn't taste as bitter as international roast or nescafe. And Mocconna jars are perfect for storing weed.
True OzBargaining! Multi purpose use for every product results in more savings!
I do tend to agree that once you settle in on a coffee it can be hard to switch
Mocconna
Moconna
It's actually Moccona - Unless you're shopping at Aldi ;)
Yep. Aldi all the way.
jars are perfect for storing weed.
Awesome jars, can you spare some w33d 🥺
Coles urban culture!
Dark or medium roast?
The strong one. Black and blue packet.
Thanks, will try this.
Take it to the next level and use this in a cold brew. Most delicious drink.
Bonus: the coffee is cheap
Naturally, this is OzBlemmigan!
Opened the 1kg Urban dark roast yesterday.
Our new regular :)
@Speckled Jim: Enjoy. It’s a solid coffee.
I’ve spent far more on less superior beans.
I’ll continue my search for an even better bean ;)
I tend to enjoy the variety of changing, so I grab whatever goes on significant discount and freeze any extras to last me until the next major sale. My absolute backup is to get the medium roast from Aldi - actually decent coffee (if you're a milk coffee drinker - might not recommend for espresso pure) but the key is to look and see how fresh it is. They don't post roast dates on their packaging, but the expiry gives some estimation.
Good point about freshness. Aldi seems to have a pretty high turnover in busy stores
Yes Aldi single origin is a good enough coffee for me. I used to order from small rosters but found Aldi isn’t that much different.
Mylk or Beanery, Fox Coffee - dusk coffee from them
Moccona
Avalanche NZ.
My man likes the Dukes beans from Flinders lane in Melbourne. Not cheap but he likes them a lot.
I’m a self-confessed cretin. I drink Nescafé Gold. Like my beer, I enjoy a cheap, bland, and flavourless brew.
What's your beer of choice?
I usually get the cheapest one from Dan Murphy‘s, I think it’s called Arc Valley? Alternatively, I’d get Coopers Green but it’s too expensive most of the time.
You sound like a true OzBarginer lol I love it!
I resort to Nescafe if I can't be bothered making a coffee in the machine or Aeropress.
Nothing wrong with instant, only the coffee snobs who deride others for drinking it.
Aka the nectar of gods
I’m supporting my local in what are tough times.
Triple Pick Coffee in Bondi Junction for the win.
http://www.triplepickcoffee.com.au/
Awesome coffee. Roasted daily. Staff are great. Not cheap, but 100% worth it.
Byron Bay Coffee Organic beans, been on it for years, 2 x 1kg bags delivered for $81.
I know it sounds odd but a really tasty kilo is DeLonghi Signature Blend from The Good Guys. Initially I was "forced" to buy it due to not finding any other useful items to buy with my Good Guys Concierge credit. That's where buying an extended warranty gets you some $20 credits. Anyway that meant that I only had to pay an extra $5 in cash.
Well the coffee has a really distinctive nice taste, unusually it is a blend of 70% arabica and 30% robusta but it really works. Maybe I'd pay full price of $25 for it, well it's the best "supermarket" beans I've found so far.
Whats good for aeropress?
Generally if anything says it's a filter roast, they have cared enough to make it good for Aeropress. I don't have a specific recommendation because I get my beans locally (and they're damn expensive tbh) but good general advice
You'd be more concerned about the grind size than the actual coffee for the Aeropress. The Lazzio medium roast ground coffee from Aldi is what I use with mine, and it works pretty well.
Seconding this
Oh yeah I didn't even consider pre-ground. An espresso grind is terrible for Aeropress. It's very forgiving to any medium-coarse grinds though.
Vittoria, 1kg bag can be found for <$20 when half price at Colesworth. Note I’m not talking about their Italian blend (~$12 when on special) or their mountain bean, just normal one.
These are roasted in Melbourne and are about as fresh as ALDI ones so just letting you know in b4 “it’s not fresh” haters…
Didn't realise they were roasted here!
+1 Vittoria. Refuse to give bench space to a machine so use a stainless stove top rocket. Buy it when about 1/2 price and very happy with it to the point that I only buy a coffee when I am meeting someone at a coffee shop.
For the haters - unless you have a Civet Cat you have no real creds anyway…
I used to think coffee machines were a waste of time and space at home, but, since I'm well into my fifth week of working from home, I'm quite enjoying the convenience of my $69 kmart coffee machine. It will be even better once I've gotten through my big tin of disappointing Costco coffee (I think it's supposed to be used in a filter rather than espresso).
I found Vittoria coffee too bitter. Must be an acquired taste
Coffee company https://coffeecompany.com.au. Works out about $30kg. They roast daily and delivery is fast. We've bought some different brands recently because of all the specials and none of them have been as nice. Lots of single origin, blends, rainforest alliance etc available.
+1 for Coffee Company. I've been buying from them since 2016 and they've always been on top of their game.
If you can afford the trip down, their in store prices are really good, and I've bought a few bits and bobs from there before - picked up an AeroPress and some other stuff a few months back for a solid price.
These guys look good and I like the subscription model.
How much coffee do I go through in a month? I've only recently started grinding at home and it's been ad-hoc bean purchases since then.
For reference, I drink 1x moka a day. Any ideas? I'm thinking 500g/month? Very hard to know haha.
$9.95 for delivery though..
At the moment, I use about 7 g of coarse (ground) coffee per cup of coffee that I make. With 2 in the morning thats ~15 g a day, so comes to about 450 g a month. Unsure whether or not to sign myself up for this, totaling to almost $25 a month for coffee
$25 a month for two coffees a day is still cheap. On par with pods (? I don't drink a lot of pod coffee so not clear) and certainly cheaper than cafe.
Edit: just did some maths of my own - I'm using ~16g per coffee - what's your brew method that I'm using double!?
@[Deactivated]: I'm just having trouble rationalizing the delivery cost, maybe I'll offset it by ordering two months at a time or something.
I use a plunger! Pretty basic kit, I've only just started brewing my own. One scoop equates to 7 g of coarse according to the inscribing on the handle.
Do you grind your coffee from beans or purchase the already ground coffee?
@covid-20: I wouldn't do two months, I think the general rule is more than 30 day old beans you shouldn't bother. Totally feel you on the delivery cost. I'm rationalising it by comparison with boutique local beans which would be a similar price without shipping… Lol
Ah ok cool cool! I'm pretty new to my method but was using a plunger before. So I have a grinder and a moka pot, it's pretty great tbf and I'd recommend that if you ever want to upgrade from plunger coffee.
@[Deactivated]: have you worked out if the pods work out cheaper when on sale then using ground coffee?
@boostpak: @boostpak no mate I haven't, but I would say for supermarket ground coffee though it's likely cheaper to do grounds on special vs pods on special.
Plus you do have the extra rubbish factor with pods of course.
I think generally, beans has the highest potential to be cheap but you need a grinder.
Grounds and pods have increasing level of value-add to the product so it's more expensive.
If you wanna talk about prices when one is on special, you might have an argument, but then of course the cheaper option goes on special too.
Central Coast Coffee has some really nice blends and single origins. They area little bit pricey though so I just order from them occasionally as a treat.
For 10+ years, Harris Espresso blend. ~$17/kg from Coles. Will try the Coles branded stuff^^^ if my local has it.
I just made the same recommendation below. My old house mate got me onto Harris coffee. I use the dark roast expresso now
Couldn't see Harris at last Coles shop. They only had their garbage urban brand. Never again.
Harris special blend or dark roast for the win. Still available at Woolies.
$17/kg full price. Cheaper on special. Can't go wrong.
Yeah, well, been here before.
Tried others and always returned to ol' greeny. But times are tough, so once we suffer (lol) through the open Harris, we'll give the Urban Culture a go.
Predicted result? Won't be as good and it'll be my "special" (punishment) coffee.
Wife will open the next Harris :/
We get our coffee from our local roaster, but I remember years ago I loved Melitta German Blend from the supermarkets, very smooth. Haven't seen Melitta lately, though I admit I haven't been looking for it - has it disappeared?
Coles in their Brisbane Metro catalog for this week have Melitta Filter Ground Coffee 250g for $3.-
Wow, thanks!
+1 for Sicilia, decent and cheapest I've seen freshly roasted stuff by a long way (unless you're roasting yourself).
Danes Specialist Coffee hands down - however it isnt ever on sale so OzRRP….
Manna Beans when on special
Delta Chicco D’Oro from Coles/WW
$3 for 200g
Lasts me week or 10 days in my Vietnamese home brewer or bodum
Don’t get paying $4 takeaway
so, so, so good
well you may not be home 24/7 to make a delta chicco coffee that's why, how do you not get it?!
If you are likely to go through a fair amount of coffee, consider getting a roaster and buying green beans from a place like Coffeesnobs.com.au. Green beans (depending on what you want) usually end up at around $10 - $14 a kg delivered. You'll end up saving a fair bit over time, even allowing for cost of electricity and roaster.
That's an interesting idea. Had never thought of roasting. Given my history of home brew beer however it would most likely be an unmitigated disaster!
I'm a fan of Killer Coffee (https://killercoffeeco.com.au/shop/) - their schtick is 'all the taste with none of the bitterness' and that's pretty close to true. I use their pods and their beans and it's been consistently good.