Coffee Machines at home

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Can you tell the difference between fresh beans and supermarket ones? Since Christmas, I've gone from ground coffee to supermarket beans this year. Whilst hand grinding the beans adds to the whole display (compared to instant!), I'm not sure I can really tell the difference to the ground coffee, but that's with a pour over rather than an espresso machine.

Waiting for black Friday and will probably go for the Sage Barista Express Impress or Ninja Luxe Pro based on price and may have to up the game to fresh beans.

You can 100% tell the difference. The ideal beans are generally ones that have been roasted within 1-4 weeks and kept in an airtight container. Too fresh and they have can have an underdeveloped/bitter flavour due to excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the beans.

With good quality beans you just get more of the characteristic flavours of the beans the fresher the roast is. Old roasts tend to have a flatter, lifeless flavour profile. Always go by 'roasted on' date rather than 'best before'.

 

[Blue Since 76]

You can 100% tell the difference. The ideal beans are generally ones that have been roasted within 1-4 weeks and kept in an airtight container. Too fresh and they have can have an underdeveloped/bitter flavour due to excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the beans.

With good quality beans you just get more of the characteristic flavours of the beans the fresher the roast is. Old roasts tend to have a flatter, lifeless flavour profile. Always go by 'roasted on' date rather than 'best before'.

Good timing - my Sage Barista Express Impress has turned up today. Refurb unit without the pressurised baskets which creates a bit of an issue as have about 500g of supermarket beans to use up and no fresh beans currently.

Waiting for half time to have a play

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Good timing - my Sage Barista Express Impress has turned up today. Refurb unit without the pressurised baskets which creates a bit of an issue as have about 500g of supermarket beans to use up and no fresh beans currently.

Waiting for half time to have a play

Good luck getting that dialed in.

Grind 18g of coffee into the basket and tamp it down (not too hard), then aim for 36g of liquid in the cup in around 20-30 seconds.

Too fast? Grind finer.

Too slow, or stalls? Grind coarser.

If you get it in the ballpark you should be somewhere near a decent shot. Taste and adjust as required.

Remember - Small adjustments make a big difference.