# Beans for Barista Express



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

Hi folks,

Just purchased the Barista Express but I'm not sure on what beans to get for it.

I'm looking for a bean that I can buy regularly at a reasonable price?

Any help will be great


----------



## GerryM (Feb 6, 2016)

Hi, If you're not sure what roast you like then try a selection from a company such as Rave or Coffee Compass, they both offer a good variety.

If you're new to espresso based drinks then I suggest reading up on the basics on this forum of how to prepare an espresso as that will save you wasting a lot of coffee on bad tasting drinks.

If you've not got a set of scales that you can sit a cup on when you're pouring your coffee then I recommend picking up a cheap set from amazon (other retailers are available!) and a timer to time the duration of your pour. Weighing in the amount of coffee and weighing the pour over a set time will get you to an acceptable drink fast.

If you don't use freshly roasted beans from a decent roaster then you are on a hiding to nothing, supermarket beans won't cut it unfortunately as they are generally past their best date wise.

There is a host of information on the forum to get you off to a good start and there are lots of helpful people here too.


----------



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

Thanks so much for the response.

Will off the shelf ground coffee in a supermarket still worth with my machine? I would like to mix and match really if possible.


----------



## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

Pre ground is a step further down from supermarket beans. As soon as the beans are ground they start to go stale.

To get the best out of your machine buy freshly roasted beans and rest for 10 days. The choice from roasters and beans is massive - far more choice than your local supermarket shelves


----------



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

Ok thanks for the advice.

Can anyone suggest some particular roasters/beans I can try? If it's for a solo drinker what's the most cost effective way of buying?

Cheers all


----------



## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

You could start with the two mentioned in thread number two (Rave and Coffee Compass) if you have no local roaster and than a read of the various threads on beans and roasters would help you on your way.

It will be really hard for anyone to recommend you a bean to try as your tastes will be completely different to mine etc etc and as you not given us an idea as to your tastes i.e. chocolatey / nutty or fruity, hard to point you in the direction of something that will make you smile rather than "pucker up".

If you can also let us know how you will be drinking it i.e. straight espresso, Americano, milk based etc and what you have had in the past at a coffee shop ore even the coffee shop you prefer whilst out and about, will assist in offering up some pointers if nothing else.

Hope of help

John


----------



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

Thanks John.

I tend to enjoy either Americano's or milk based (latte most commonly). I'm a particular fan of costa but that's more due to ease as well. I've tried to have a quick look and I don't think there are any roasters locally to me which is a shame. It would seem a lot of people purchase online but I'm not sure I would buy enough to make it worthwhile with the delivery costs as well!!

Appreciate all the help.


----------



## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Hi Jason

Where are you based as unless you in the outer Hebrides, chances are there is a local roaster to you just may not have hit your radar yet or are selling at markets, farm shops etc.

Postage is a killer for sure but a fact of life if you have no local options. However to put a spin on this, if you were to use 14g of ground coffee to make a comparable coffee as you would get at C*stabucks then you would get approx. 16 to 17 servings from you bag of bean (not factoring in cost of cup, milk, water etc etc) which if you were to take a 250g bag from Rave such as their chatswood blend @£4.50 plus approx. £3 2nd class post (needs time to rest so why not do it in the post) and assumes you not buying another bag or two which will bring cost per bag down, then total cost approx. £7.50 /16 portions (conservative) = 47p per cup.

If you buy more then the cost of postage per portion comes right down and a bit of reading on here of previous threads might assist you in buying effectively.

It is highly unlikely you will ever get a bean price down to the cheapest you can buy from a supermarket however have to remember you are comparing something potentially of a much higher quality produced in much smaller quantities with care / enthusiasm, often ensuring the producer / farmer is getting a fairer share of the proceeds.

Let us know where you are, you may be pleasantly surprised.

John


----------



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

Thanks again John, that's really helpful.

If I was to buy let's say two bags at a time, how long can these be kept for? Opened or unopened? This is my concern.

I'm based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire so anything relatively local would be great. I do sometime frequent London but would much prefer something closer to home if possible.


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

If you want to mix and match, and are 'price sensitive' just be aware of the inevitable wastage that occurs when dialling in a new bean. Even if you're good at dialling in and can hit it in 3 goes (too coarse, oops too fine, yay just right) which is rare, you will still be throwing away 60-70g. I'd advise trying a number of coffees from someone like Rave, for the reason that their postage and overall prices are very good, and so is the coffee. They do some easy crowd pleasers like Signature or Fudge, and also plenty of light roasted single origin if you get curious, and Italian Job or Chatswood if you prefer the darker, more traditional Italian style. You get free postage on orders of £25+ which will get you almost 2kg. Now I get through easy a kilo a month just me and occasional visitors, so if I buy 1.7kg from Rave I get free shipping, and it lasts me about 2 months which is ok. If it will take you 6 months to drink £25 worth then you will have to get used to paying shipping. Supermarket beans? Life is too short. You've bought a good machine, why use it to make stale coffee? That's more of a 'waste' than paying too much postage!


----------



## mike57 (May 3, 2016)

The named roasters above all supply great beans (I've tried them) and it was the best way to start.

In the end I settled on a local to me roaster called 'Dusty Ape' for the personal advice I got on all sorts of coffee queries.

When I've been in I've seen coffee beans being roasted and had a discussion about the different profile whys and wherefores. But most of all it's the recommendations in choosing the 'best' beans for how *I* like coffee to taste - whether pour-over or espresso. Even to the extent on a quiet day to stopping his work and making three different espressos to help me see how it 'should' taste as I was lost in getting the best out of my Gaggia Classic.

Sorry I can't give you a name for the Aylesbury area but I'm sure someone on the forum local to you will come up with ideas soon.

(Plug for the forum - almost everything you want to know about coffee and equipment is here somewhere except how to pay for it!)


----------



## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

London is your biggest choice (check out the roaster map on here) and far too many to list

locally and from a search on google, so cannot offer personal recommendation, retails sales of other roasters goods, Gyre & Gimble in Buckingham or the house of coffee in Leighton Buzzard advertise as roasting themselves.

Unopened bags, until you start chasing the freshest taste, a month (?) before start to become less best kept somewhere cool/dark like a cupboard

Opened but sealed back up (might look to buy a vac pot container such as those sold by coffee compass here) about a week (?)

Above comments are also hard to give a definitive answer to as environmental variables such as heat light temp come into play so again your house will be different to mine, just don't store nice quality beans even if still sealed in direct sunlight as fastest way to send them off.

Use the search function at the top of the forum page to locate some of the sticky articles that might answer all your questions, will save re asking what many have found before (noting, my comments are mine and therefore could be complete tosh







)

John


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

The Coffee Tree in Aylesbury sells retail bags of whole beans if you want a local source where you can pop in and stock up. (They don't roast though AFAIK). You can probably try before you buy if the bean you're interested in is one they serve. Retail bags from a shop are very often a similar price to "online plus postage" though, as the cafe has to cover overheads. So if you want convenient, try the local shop, and if you want good for little money, you'll have to buy 2kg at a time from Rave and freeze some if necessary.


----------



## jason21 (Dec 27, 2016)

hotmetal said:


> If you want to mix and match, and are 'price sensitive' just be aware of the inevitable wastage that occurs when dialling in a new bean. Even if you're good at dialling in and can hit it in 3 goes (too coarse, oops too fine, yay just right) which is rare, you will still be throwing away 60-70g. I'd advise trying a number of coffees from someone like Rave, for the reason that their postage and overall prices are very good, and so is the coffee. They do some easy crowd pleasers like Signature or Fudge, and also plenty of light roasted single origin if you get curious, and Italian Job or Chatswood if you prefer the darker, more traditional Italian style. You get free postage on orders of £25+ which will get you almost 2kg. Now I get through easy a kilo a month just me and occasional visitors, so if I buy 1.7kg from Rave I get free shipping, and it lasts me about 2 months which is ok. If it will take you 6 months to drink £25 worth then you will have to get used to paying shipping. Supermarket beans? Life is too short. You've bought a good machine, why use it to make stale coffee? That's more of a 'waste' than paying too much postage!


That makes sense thanks. How do you store such a large quantity of coffee when opened?



mike57 said:


> The named roasters above all supply great beans (I've tried them) and it was the best way to start.
> 
> In the end I settled on a local to me roaster called 'Dusty Ape' for the personal advice I got on all sorts of coffee queries.
> 
> ...


Thanks mate. I think I would prefer going to a roastery as the advice would also be very helpful for me.



johnealey said:


> London is your biggest choice (check out the roaster map on here) and far too many to list
> 
> locally and from a search on google, so cannot offer personal recommendation, retails sales of other roasters goods, Gyre & Gimble in Buckingham or the house of coffee in Leighton Buzzard advertise as roasting themselves.
> 
> ...


I will have a look into those two roasters that you have suggested. It's such a shame there isn't somewhere in town that roasts there own! So unopened perhaps a month before I need to start using and opened only a week potentially? That's not long at all but I will have a look into that pot you have suggested thanks











hotmetal said:


> The Coffee Tree in Aylesbury sells retail bags of whole beans if you want a local source where you can pop in and stock up. (They don't roast though AFAIK). You can probably try before you buy if the bean you're interested in is one they serve. Retail bags from a shop are very often a similar price to "online plus postage" though, as the cafe has to cover overheads. So if you want convenient, try the local shop, and if you want good for little money, you'll have to buy 2kg at a time from Rave and freeze some if necessary.


I will have a look at the Coffee Tree, think I know the place. Shame they don't roast their own beans! Is freezing coffee beans OK?

Thanks everyone for your help, it's really appreciated!


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Oxygen, moisture and light are bean enemies. Once opened, I reseal the bag and hoover the air out, and keep them in a tupperware in the cupboard. You can freeze them - seal up the valve with tape first. Defrosting before grinding is advisable!


----------

