Coffee...

olb81

I am used to a daily coffee shop flat white or portadown but soon I may need to cut down due to budget and buying a house. 
I am here to ask what's the next best thing to a coffee shop which saves a bit of money?
I have expensive taste so won't be using instant coffee just want to reduce from £4 a day. 
I also value convenience so things like the pods interest me.
Finally I'm slowly going towards less milk so happy to try a new habit of black coffee .
I know my sister has a nespresso and mother has a tassimo, are those the way to go and buy pods in bulk?
Or are there other ways which are just as easy? I really don't like mess and granules etc.

ButterCheese

Pods are expensive and not a lot more convenient than ground coffee IME.  I use ground at home; lots of good deals can be had for good ground coffee like £4/400g packet.  I use a £20 coffee machine which I've had for 3 years.  I use filters which work out about 7p each.

Advantage of ground coffee:  You can make more than one cup if you want, e.g. to put in a thermos flask.  You can have it as strong or weak as you want.  You can experiment with different brands to get a flavour you like.  The filters are biodegradeable and the grounds can be put in compost or used to deter slugs around your flowers.

Pods (we have them at work) are insanely strong unless you add half a pint of milk which doesn't fit in the cup.  They take nearly as long as my coffee machine to filter through.  They are noisy, and you need to buy a more expensive machine to use them

Zinger549

I use an Aeropress. It's good if you want 1 cup of fresh coffee. It's quick and easy to use.

teaselMay

Just buy a cafetiere, if feeling a bit more extravagant a stainless steel double walled one to keep it warm for the second mug. 

-taff

I have a ten cup cafetiera, the type you put on the hob, makes two big mugs of coffee, can be made as strong or as weak as you like and easy to either put the grounds in the compost or flush them down the sink. I use Lavazza Oro ready ground, or the fairtrade columbian sainsburys one. It's definitely better than any coffee from a bog standard coffee shop like Starbucks or their ilk.

flaneurs_lobster

ButterCheese said:

I use ground at home; lots of good deals can be had for good ground coffee like £4/400g packet.  

Can you name this coffee please? My usual brand is twice as expensive.

JIL

We have a bean to cup, its 6 years old cost £299 and makes fabulous coffee.  My favourite brand of coffee bean is lavazza oro and I find its cheapest in Asda. I probably drink two cups per day, husband has four. 

Have a look on ebay to see if there are any deals? I saw a refurbished delioghi for £190.  Might be a nice addition to a new house for visitors as well as saving money on takeaway coffees.  I do appreciate that it does cost initially. 

WindfallWendy

They say a V60 coffee is the 'best' if you are willing to put effort into the process (filtered water, freshly ground beans, attention to temperature of hot water). It's also the neatest as you use a paper filter (I think?) which you pop the ground coffee into, before the water, so cleaning it is just popping the filter in the grounds in the bin and rinse.
I couldn't get into that myself though.

Nespresso is always good in my book, and I bought one on the advice of an Italian coffee shop owner. The drink size is small - I always end up using two pods so it does end up rather expensive (at least it did for me). If you go for one of these, it's worth spending on the branded pods in my experience. I tried some environmentally friendly ones which didn't work well with my model so gave up in the end.

When we realised we were working from home for the foreseeable future, we went the whole hog and spent £500 on a Siemens machine. And two years on I still go to bed looking forward to my morning coffee. It is a bit of a faff with a monthly clean and rinse out of the brewing unit (which I learnt the hard way needs to be done regularly), but the cappuccino is perfect, and black coffee is delicious, the espresso is amazing, and you also get a latte, macciato and hot water function. Based on how many coffees I've had from it, I would have spent £1400 more than I have over the last two years ....if I'd gone to a coffee shop for my 2 coffees a day. Often I avoid getting a coffee when I'm out because I know the coffee at home is so good.

born_again

Would echo the bean to cup machine. Got one in covid, as pods were getting far too expensive.

I have the 

De'Longhi Magnifica S, Automatic Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, Espresso and Cappuccino Maker, ECAM22.110.B, Black

 & it's still the same £299 on Amazon.

CapricornLass

If there is just you and you only have 1 cup of coffee a day, then one of the pod machines may well be the right answer for you.  I have a retired friend who says this is the most economic way for her to have proper coffee.  However, if you have more than one cup, or you have visitors, then I don't think it would be economic.  And you would find that one visitor would drink their coffee and finish it while the others would still be waiting their turn for the machine to finish making their drink.

Unfortunately, I suspect that any option which involves using ground coffee will involve spilt coffee grounds, if my son and husband are anything to go by,  whether that is grinding it, putting it into the coffee maker, or when you are getting rid of the used grounds afterwards.  

Rosa_Damascena

My preference, which will make those mortgage payments that much easier:


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