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Best beans in UK for lattes

Postby Nekromantik on Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:00 pm

Hey people!
I just bought myself a Porlex hand grinder and have de pressurized my gaggia cubika plus portafilter.
Whats the best beans you can buy in the UK for milk based drinks?
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Postby GeoffPDX on Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:08 am

UK? Can you narrow it down a bit? If you're in the Orkneys, it's gonna be tough, but London is easy! Check out Monmouth in Covent Garden, which I really enjoyed as well as the cafes listed here: http://www.home-barista.com/cafes/londo...18473.html

also check out squaremilecoffee.com ...they ship. And they sell speedsters, so you know they're legit ;)
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Postby michaelbenis on Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:23 am

Other top roasters in the UK are HasBean, James Gourmet Coffee, Londinium and Union.

All of them have websites and will post freshly-roasted beans to you but they also all stock different beans/blends and all roast in different styles.

Gradually work through their menus to clarify your prefences and find your favourite.

Enjoy :D

Mike
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Postby ronsil on Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:54 am

- Personal prefs for best uk roasters in order. All can be ordered online:

1 - Square Mile - top of the range, try their seasons blends.
2 - James Gourmet Coffee - a close second, obvious loving care in roasting.
3 - Hasbean - worth a try but most beans under roasted for my taste.

Steer clear of the supermarket & tinned beans but try as many fresh roast as you can.

Enjoy your tasting :P
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Postby Firepile on Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:52 am

+1 Square Mile, always good, I think the seasonal blend is now called Red Brick.

Hasbean service is fantastic always a quick turnaround, and the beans come in nice resealable pouches.
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Postby Nekromantik on Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:09 am

Thanks for the advice.
There is no good coffee bean seller in my town so I gotta order it online.

I checked out James Gormet coffee and Has Bean and shipping on both make it expensive for 250g bag :shock:
Should have thought about bean cost before I bought my machine ha ha

I just wanted to practice using my porlex grinder so I bought starbucks beans and had porlex on 2nd finest setting and it choked my Cubika Plus so will try to 3rd finest and lighter tamp.

I might just get some Jailbreak blend mk5 to try out from Has bean.
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Postby P.B on Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:00 am

The cheapest way to get quality freshly roasted coffee in the UK is from Londinium espresso. Buy 1.5kg (6x250grm) for £24 + £6 p+p and freeze what you won't use within a few weeks.

Paul
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Postby michaelbenis on Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:10 am

That's quite true about Londinium. What's more their roasts are more consistent than many (not naming any names, though).

A good place to start for an Italian style espresso would be their Rainha farm Brazilian yellow bourbon, or their Daterra Montecristo if you fancy something with a a bit more tobacco. On the other hand if you want something lighter and sweeter, give the Costa Rican or Teres a try (the latter in particular if you want more caffeine in there too).

The Rainha bourbon is particularly forgiving as long as you grind quite fine, so it could be a good starting point.

Cheers

Mike
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Postby Nekromantik on Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:10 am

Londinium is around 40p more then Has Bean for 6 bags of 250g including shipping so not much difference.
Are the Londinium Costa Rica beans better then Has Bean Jailbreak?
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Postby michaelbenis on Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:27 am

They're not better, they're completely different. Steve at HasBean offers very competitive shipping costs. But until you know what you like it may make sense to buy smaller quantities....

Union also has pretty cheap shipping.
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