Best "Economical" Coffee Beans

tonydav on 01/02/2023 - 09:29

My 14yo daughter is doing a barista course in high school this year. Basically learning how to make coffee shop food/drinks etc.

I have an old Sunbeam EM4800 Espresso maker. Almost 20 years old and still makes fantastic espresso. I also have the Breville burr grinder (Pro).

I'm looking for some good quality beans for her to experiment with, without going overboard on cost. I've noticed Costco have some reasonably priced packs of beans.

Reasoning is firstly she's learning and will probably waste a heap of beans and secondly her tastes in coffee are still very immature and I don't think she notices much difference in taste between good beans and excellent beans.

Thoughts?

Home & Garden Coffee Coffee Beans

Comments

  • Quasi Human on 01/02/2023 - 09:41
    +23

    ALDI beans are still reasonably fresh, taste okay, and probably the cheapest you'll find

    • SurprisedEwe on 01/02/2023 - 09:43
      +2

      Second this - I usually have them as my go to when I run out. For the price they are pretty good. My office used them for the coffee machine and always seemed to revert back to them after trying anything else.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/02/2023 - 10:14
        +1

        Third this. I unironically rate the ALDI beans (both beans or pre ground) . Value hard to beat.

        • HerpinDerp on 01/02/2023 - 11:05
          +1

          4nd this. Definitely confused a few coffee snob friends.

          • BOGOF on 01/02/2023 - 11:49

            @HerpinDerp: 5th this. 'Lazzio dark beans' is my daily grind.

            • SimAus007 on 01/02/2023 - 12:56
              +1

              @BOGOF: 6th this, I love the Brazilian blend the most.

    • askvictor on 01/02/2023 - 12:44
      +2

      From what I understand, they have the roast date printed on the packing, but backwards. So if they were roasted on 24/1/2023, the number would be 32021042 (or something like that).

      Personally I buy AirJo which goes on special (30-40% off) very frequently.

  • namlub3 on 01/02/2023 - 10:00
    +2

    Sicilia are a cheaper option and I thought they were pretty good.
    Airjo and Inglewood both often under $30 a kg which I think is about as cheap as you will find that are freshly roasted.

  • lookingforTV on 01/02/2023 - 10:08
    +1

    I'd also say ALDI beans for best economical coffee beans, when Airjo isn't on sale and I run out. I always opt for Aldi beans. I buy Airjo when the timing is right and it's a nice treat as Airjo tastes better than Aldi. But, if I had to tighten my budget, I'd stick with Aldi beans.

  • Witchdoctr on 01/02/2023 - 10:15
    +1

    I actually enjoyed some of the costco beans, think it was "gypsy"? maybe. It honestly tasted ok but could have been luck of the bag!

    Aldi is another good place for OK cheap beans.

    I use to live near here https://coffeecompany.com.au/ and they have a huge selection of freshly roasted beans for rather reasonable prices if you want to branch out and try different beans.

  • Geoff897 on 01/02/2023 - 10:26
    +1

    Speak to a few local roasters and see if you can get some for training. Make your daughter ask ;)

    • tonydav on 01/02/2023 - 10:48

      I think I'll do this once she's gone a bit way through the course. There are some good roasters locally so that's an excellent idea.

  • tonydav on 01/02/2023 - 10:49

    Thanks everyone for your excellent advice.

    Aldi are very local and think this is a good place to start. The stuff she was using yesterday to experiment was gross. One of those 1kg pre-ground tins from Costco. Must be like 3 years old. She didn't actually mind it (which is what I meant about her tastes not being very developed).

    • Quasi Human on 01/02/2023 - 11:17
      +1

      Buy a decent grinder if you haven't already. Fresh is best. Freshly ground beans absolutely blow pre ground out of the water.

  • CharlieBrooker on 01/02/2023 - 11:20

    Costco Colombian beans are pretty awesome for the price!

  • Debt Free on 01/02/2023 - 11:25
    +2

    Coles brand- I think it is ‘Urban’ brand coffee beans come in Medium, Strong and Intense strengths, and 1 kilogram big pack is $12. I grind them as fine as possible every morning to make my Turkish coffee. Coles have a price freeze until 31 Jan 2023 - yesterday so the price has most likely gone up substantially today. I stocked up- the use by date is one year away. I adjust the amount I use and the taste to suit me, adding sugar as required.

    • mapax on 01/02/2023 - 11:31
      +2

      Still shows as $12/kg on the website

  • bym on 01/02/2023 - 11:31
    +4

    Shout out for Coles Urban Culture medium roast. These are the next best 'economical' beans since I no longer have access to ALDI.

    • SimAus007 on 01/02/2023 - 13:02

      Yep, I always get the Aldi ones, but if I am not close to a store I grab the Coles Urban ones and they are great for the price.

  • Debt Free on 01/02/2023 - 11:58

    The Coles Urban Intense has a harsh undertone but I add a bit of sugar and milk to counteract it. I like the Strong intensity but is a tiny bit bitter, and I bought the Medium to mix in with the others but have not tried it yet. I have 3 proper vintage hand grinders, but for mornings I just use the Kmart $19 electric coffee grinder to completely pulverise my beans.

  • AustriaBargain on 01/02/2023 - 12:51
    +2

    Aldi Brazil beans. The dark is cheaper but is too dark, medium is slightly cheaper but too medium. Brazil is just right. Check the expiry dates, sometimes some bags are fresher than others. The Aldi beans are roasted in Melbourne apparently, just like Airjo and others that cost five times as much.

  • Kraise on 01/02/2023 - 13:29

    When I first started, I went through maybe only 1 to 2kg to figure things out with my machine, grinder and processes.
    After that I already moved on to Airjo's.

    I was basically buying any 1/2 price beans from Coles/Woolies at close to $18 per kg. Aldi beans is a good option.

  • dasher86 on 01/02/2023 - 16:00
    +1

    Aldi Lazzio
    Coles Urban Coffee Culture/
    just try to get them as fresh as possible.

  • Debt Free on 01/02/2023 - 17:35

    And store them properly- in a completely airtight container. And when the price goes up, I’m going to buy fresh green beans and roast them myself.

  • Hugh G Rection on 05/02/2023 - 23:36

    find a deal on here that has freshly roasted beans that is on sale on here.

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