At work - shitty flavia italian roast (put the sachet into the machine + press button + wait two minutes!) At home - either filtered Illy (or whatever is in the house atm) or espresso using Lavazza. On the move - anything that ain't Starbucks - where all shite coffee comes from (or so it seems!) ....Best coffee I have tried so far? A friend of mine brought some beans back from ethiopia - we ground them - poured hot water over them - waited! glorious!
The one coffee to rule them all: the carajillo. Something I picked up since moving to Spain. Basically it's an espresso with a s**t load of alcohol put in. I liked it so much, I even incorporated how to make it into the website I made for an Open University web design course I did last year: http://webs.ono.com/doncristobal/eca4.html Do it properly, and it beats the pants out of any Irish coffee you will find out there.
Almost any cappuccino from a coffee shop will do me - even Starbucks at a push Not sure what instant coffee we have in the hosue at the moment - some cheap Asda Gold blend type stuff I think but it's drinkable.
Best coffee I've had in the UK since moving from Sydney, Australia, is at The Missing Bean @ Turl St, Oxford. They have some seriously trained baristas in there. The Chai Lattes are insanely good as well. The reason why I seem nostalgic about the coffee in Sydney is because I had a friend who did everything himself (from ordering fresh beans - even growing them occasionally - to roasting them etc) and his coffee was the best I'd tasted overall. Now if only I could get him to send me some vacuum packed ground coffee...
First thing in the morning and sometimes early evening: Brazilian yellow or red bourbon beans, something on the sweet, thick and molassesy side, always ground there and then, KitchenAid Artisan/ProLine grinder with Mazzer burrs, Gaggia Classic PID'd machine, bottomless portafilter and a Reg-style tamper (GEEK). Somewhere half way between a double espresso and a ristretto, an average length pull on around 20g of grounds. I'm entirely unable to function without one of these first thing. Through the day when I work at home: Something a bit cleaner and sharper, still South American, but I mix it up a bit more with what beans I pick. Usually ground a little bit finer than I in theory should. Morphy Richards Arc picked on account of it being one of the few filter machines with a thermal carafe and no hot plate (ended up getting rid of the vac pot because it was such a pain in the arse to use and clean), poured into a large mug and allowed to cool for 20 mins or so before sipping. Through the day when I work from the office: Nescafe Green blend instant. For an instant, it's not terrible (for an instant). I did intend on buying a pod machine for the office (pods for the sake of ease and cleanliness), though these day's I'm only there one or two days a week, so I'll suffer with the instant and save myself £100! I'm a bit of a coffee elitist if you couldn't tell. Try espresso and Baileys - it's actually pretty awesome.
No idea what I use at home but I have a fancy espresso machine that grinds the beans fresh every time you turn it on. Normally I'm too lazy to make a cappachino so I grab an espresso, throw in a splenda (sweetener) and milk. When I go to Tim Hortons its a regular double double, cream and sugar. When I go to starbucks I love caramel macchiatos and whenever I go to other places its normally a latte of some sort.
See thats why for the office I bought an aeropress, is it as good as my Gaggia, no but it still beats every instant I've tried. Plus it's quite neat and tidy to dispence of the coffee grinds. It does unfortunatly get comments from the office about looking like a pump available from ann summers.
This is my espresso machine. The Saeco Magic comfort+ http://www.amazon.com/Saeco-Comfort-SuperAutomatic-Espresso-Cappuccino/dp/B0007U7P4M Had it for roughly 6-7 years, and it's my made thousands of coffees, it keeps track and its easily in the 5k range. A good investment by my parents. As for beens, I looked in the fridge and saw a beige tin foil package that said Kimbo and Italian espresso beans so yea.
What ever my parents have.. They buy their own green beans then roast them themselves at home, So it varies from week to week but its always gorgeous...
I've owned different machines over the years for home including Gaggia's, but currently use Nespresso's Volluto capsules. It makes a perfectly measured rich espresso. Illy is also a very high quality coffee. Uhhm, think I'm going to make myself one now.
Guatemalan elephant. Australian Sky-berry. Monsooned Malabar. Three Very Good all day coffees. IIRC, I've also got some Jamaican Blue mountain left in the fridge. On the other hand, one suspects that there may be a few people around here that think that "coffee" refers to how it's drank. in which case, I'll have the dopio machiato. or if that's too much trouble, (or it's early) Filter coffee machine (erm, Drip?) for one of the above coffee's. If I've got time however I'll sometimes fire up the Bodum E-Santos. Which Does make Very good coffee, but is something of a "faff" to set up and clean. And if i'm really desperate, some Taylors of Harrogate "Red Hot Lava Java" (For some reason this Christmas i got the ususal collection of gifts, Socks, Coffee, Jumper, coffee, Smellies, coffee, Coffee, and coffee. what DO you do with 15lbs of coffee? (in one go) )
Kenco smooth without a doubt! I also like kenco Costa Rican Edit: Just read the other replies and just remembered that I'm half italian! I luvs myself an espresso!
I love a nice Ethiopian coffee myself, really nice and smooth and nutty. I was planning to get an Isomac Giada but have only just got a new telly so the old wallet refuses to play ball currently :/
There's a little Austrian coffee shop in Bakewell that has all sorts of coffees, last time I was there I thought sod it and treated myself to a Jamaican Blue Mountain. Smooth like nothing else but dang was it pricey.
Hey, hey hey. It's an acquired taste. My GF has got me trained to love it, I have to it's Finnish. Everyday either this: Or this: The hand luggage gets full of the stuff every summer with bread and cheeze in the hold
I love Jamaican Blue Mountain, black one sugar. However I wish it was more readily available in places such as Tesco. Heresy I know but I want some and I don't want to travel long distance to get it. So I'll have to order some online I guess!
