Home-brewed coffee: any suggestions..?

Filed by: Darren on November 27, 2006 at 13:17
Filed In: Drink

Now, I like a good cup of coffee. I've publically admitted before to enjoying a Starbuck's caramel macchiato (scarily artery-hardening though it clearly is) and about the only good thing that I can see about being anywhere near Manchester city centre during this pre-Xmas season of pure shopping hell, is that it gives me a chance to get my hands on their gingerbread latte (no whipped cream, extra shot, thank you very much).

photo by 'mandilee', available from www.sxc.hu Okay, that might not be your idea of 'good' coffee (maybe it's more like 'junk' coffee in your book) but hey... I have a sweet tooth, and sometimes that syrupy sugar rush is all that gets me around the shops and back on the tram without exploding with the sheer loathing of the aforementioned pre-Xmas thing... but that's another blog entry.

Since I started working from home, I've been trying to keep my coffee intake under reasonable control, basically for fear of not being able to sleep at night. And ever since I set up the home office, I've been meaning to get myself a decent yet inexpensive coffee machine; one that brews an espresso or two at a time, so I don't have to drink a whole flask before it goes cold, and one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I mean, hey, I'm not a coffee-freak or anything, I just want to have a decent brew a couple of times a day, y'know?

So, if you have any suggestions as to a reasonable machine that I can try to get hold of in the January sales (the physical January sales being second on the pure-loathing scale only to the aforementioned pre-Xmas thing, so online options would be most welcome) then please do leave 'em in the comments.

I've already seen a nice-looking hand-grinder from Clipper, and I've still got a jar of Illy beans (generally a smooth roast with a pleasant, not too bitter flavour) that might not be too far past its use-by date yet, so I'm sorted for that side of things. Unless you have any particular accoutrements and / or roast recommendations for me as well.

Ta very much.

Filed on: November 27, 2006
Filed under: Drink
Tagged with: coffee |

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6 Responses to 'Home-brewed coffee: any suggestions..?'

Joe on November 29th, 2006 1:46 pm

I used different machines over the years, being a proper coffee freak, but these days I have simply settled on a cafitierre - good one at home, cheaper one at work - and decent coffee to put in it (occassionally use one of those sonic screwdriver-like devices to aerate the milk and make it frothy). Although I am trying to be a good boy these days and only have my usual pint of fresh brew at lunch, replacing the morning cuppa with some Green Tea.

However the real secret to drinking lots of coffee and staying healthy is quite simple - drink only Fair Trade coffee. Fair Trade coffee does only nice things to you (similarly Fair Trade chocolate makes you slimmer and healthier - no, really).
Ariel on November 29th, 2006 2:02 pm

LOL :)

Cheers Joe, I'll bear that in mind. Perhaps all I need is a decent grinder and a plunge-pot and I'll be set for life. Although, can you actually use normally ground beans in a cafetiere? Or do you have to do them extra-fine or something..? I know, it's amateur hour here...
Ed on November 30th, 2006 12:05 am

Use a cafetiere occasionally myself as well. All those other coffee makers just look like too
much hard work, especially all that cleaning required afterwards. The only thing
is to make sure you get an insulated cafetiere, that way the coffee stays warm
for a couple of hours. Debenhams do one called Smartcafe, which also comes in
a mug version. Captain Cook's did a couple of stainless steel ones, if they still
trade; the Belfast store closed a few months back.
Ariel on November 30th, 2006 7:04 am

You know, I used to have a thermal cafetiere and yes, it was rather good. The only problem was that it was huge, so I ended up drinking far more coffee than was good for me. Oh, and it developed some sort of condensation problem and would leak cold water all over the place after it had stood for half an hour or so... maybe I just need a better model.

Thanks for the advice though!
Chris on April 13th, 2007 10:11 pm

I really like the Keurig one-cup-at-a-time machine. It's about $100 USD and
there is a large variety of flavors available.

Chris
Ariel on April 14th, 2007 8:11 am

Hi Chris - thanks for the suggestion, but I sorted myself out with a small filter unit back in the January sales. That'll do until I want to get a bit more adventurous, I reckon.