The Top Coffee Bean Machine

You’ll probably agree that coffee is one of the tastiest beverages in the world. Chances are good that if you’re sat at your computer reading this or browsing on your phone, you’re drinking a cup of coffee right now. But how much do you know about choosing one brand over another? What makes a good cup of coffee?

The Two King Coffee Beans

There are two main species of coffee: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is the finest, growing in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Arabica coffee beans have more complexity of flavour and fragrance, are not bitter and contain less caffeine than the Robusta.

Taste Vs Cost

Although Robusta coffee beans do not produce a gourmet grade of coffee, many large coffee companies use a blend of Arabica and Robusta, due to the significantly lower cost of the Robusta. These blends are generally weaker in flavor and aroma, producing an inferior product. When purchasing coffee, look for coffee labelled ‘100% Arabica’. Pound for pound, Arabica delivers superior taste with less coffee.

Growing The Beans

The quality of a good Arabica is largely determined by growing conditions. The best coffee bean is produced from trees grown at high altitude and under shade trees. Beans grown in the traditional way, under a canopy of shade trees slow the growth of the coffee, allowing each bean to mature slowly, producing more natural sugar, a more refined and complex flavour, with less caffeine.

Roasting

Roasting is another important factor in producing the perfect cup. There is no single roasting method applicable to every coffee bean. Roasting is an art and the specific degree of roasting the raw bean depends on the particular flavour characteristics of each variety.

Coffee beans are sold green, or (effectively ‘unroasted’) to the coffee importer. Once the harvest has been roasted, freshness becomes an issue. As soon as the process is complete, the flavour and characteristics begin to degrade, as the volatile oils which determine the taste and aroma begin to oxidise. Both flavour and aroma are degraded relatively rapidly by this process of oxidation. When purchasing coffee at the grocery store, look for products sealed in oxygen tight bags, preferably in whole bean form. Store the bags in your freezer if you’re not going to be using them within a week or two, and grind the coffee beans as needed for each pot. If you’re using a coffee machine, that grinding process may be integral.

Roasting At Home

If you’re really into producing a premium gourmet cup of coffee, you can purchase green coffee beans and roast your own. Roasting your own can be a rewarding hobby, allowing you to develop your own roasts to suit your taste. The results can prove outstanding, as each batch is so fresh, little oxidation occurs. According to experts, the difference in flavour is phenomenal. Oxidation occurs so quickly that even a month between roasting and consumption makes a world of difference in the flavour and quality potential. That sounds like a long time, but for most of us a lot of that time expires before the bag gets home.

So now you know how to shop for the perfect beans for the perfect cup. The degree of your enthusiasm will dictate the lengths to which you may go for a truly gourmet brew. I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll go make a pot right now!

If you’ve taken a look at our recipes section (if not, just check out the menu section), you’ll notice we talk several times about using coffee machines, and in particular espresso makers.

You can of course do everything by hand, but manual espresso techniques are quite a challenge to master. On the other hand, a machine can take just a few minutes to learn to use, and a matter of days to master.

It’s also something that will be easy to pick up for other members of the household too – take our word for it – it soon becomes tiresome being known as the one that makes great coffee if you’re doing things the slow way!

Just because you use a machine to make the espresso, doesn’t mean there’s no skill beyond that. You can be as creative as you like once the coffee is brewed – it’s a case of quickly adding to it with a plethora of choices of flavourings and syrups to head towards your chosen creation. Speed is, of course, important as espresso lovers are well known for loving their coffee consumed hot.

In a few years, these machines have come a long way too, and you’ll find the market has a lot of variation to offer too. If you don’t know what you’re looking for in order to enable you to create your DIY coffee masterpieces, take a look at this coffee machine reviews website, which gives you a run down of some of the most popular machines available today.

While that site focuses on the more expensive end of the market, there are also a lot of cheaper options too, some as low as £25. Have a look at Amazon to see what’s available, and there’s also some websites that focus on them. The downside is all the sites looking at the cheaper models tend to be aimed at the American market, so you may need to do a little bit of cross referencing to find the ones you can buy in the UK. Don’t be tempted to buy an American product though, you’re not likely to be covered under the warranty and it won’t even have a UK plug!

As a final tip, there’s always Currys PC World to have a drive down to – they’ve always got some on the shelves to look at, but they’re often quite expensive compared to buying online, and since you’re going to be getting an identical product it makes sense to go for the cheapest price you can find.

Take a look at Amazon and choose a coffee maker without any help – it’s a near impossible task.

The web is your friend – a little Google here, a review or two there, and you’re on your way to a much more informed choice.

Amazon itself carried reviews, but they all see to contradict each other – how can you have one review awarding one star slating a product right next to another raving about it with a five out of five write up? Some people think it’s all a fix, but more likely it’s down to the fact that people don’t know enough about what they’re buying.

A little research can mean that you’re not one of the one star whingers – you’re a five star flyer every time.