# Definitive guide on coffee



## Niall (Jul 2, 2016)

Am relatively new to the world of coffee and am looking for an article/previous post that gives a good overview of different beans/blends/roasts. Would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

Also, opinions on the best place to buy good coffee would also be appreciated.


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

Start here http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1656 you won't go far wrong


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## Niall (Jul 2, 2016)

Great, thanks. Any particular one's you would recommend?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Recommending a particular bean or origin is tricky, because they are seasonal & constantly changing. If you're looking for something very consistent then you're looking at mass market brands, which I guess a lot folk will skip here.

Maybe start with Union Coffee's 85 plus subscription, you will get a range of single origins & blends at various roast levels.

Ultimately, it's best to look for flavours you like the sound of in tasting notes, buy that coffee, then adjust grind (will vary from one coffee to the next) to brew it optimally.

Alternatively, the Has Bean 'In My Mug' subscription is popular & you will have folk around the country brewing the same coffee, so you can compare notes. Not all the coffees in this subscription (or the Union one mentioned) are always great for espresso though, so will you be using manual brewed methods too?


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

These are some of my tried and tested, all have turned out good beans.

Coffee Compass

Has Bean

Neighbourhood Coffee

Rave Coffee

Stewarts of Trent Bridge (not yet on the list? Perhaps should add them)

Good luck ?


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## Niall (Jul 2, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Recommending a particular bean or origin is tricky, because they are seasonal & constantly changing. If you're looking for something very consistent then you're looking at mass market brands, which I guess a lot folk will skip here.
> 
> Maybe start with Union Coffee's 85 plus subscription, you will get a range of single origins & blends at various roast levels.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response.

Ive just got an Elektra Semiautomatica machine so would be mainly using for espresso.

I've been reading up a bit about different beans and methods of drying/roasting. For example, I've seen beans that are 'washed' versus 'naturally dried', im assuming the only difference is where the beans actually come from and the ability to profess them based on country specific environment?

I'm probably getting way too technical and my question was probably geared toward the technical side and the buying side.

Thanks for the response.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Niall said:


> I've been reading up a bit about different beans and methods of drying/roasting. For example, I've seen beans that are 'washed' versus 'naturally dried', im assuming the only difference is where the beans actually come from and the ability to profess them based on country specific environment?.


Some farms offer various processes for the same bean.

Some naturals are hard to identify as natural by taste, others may have flavours of blueberry, or strawberry & more rustic, farmyard notes AKA 'funk'. Some folk are more sensitive to funk/naturals & can find some musty, or less clean tasting.

In other cases you won't have a choice in process.


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## kevin (Sep 21, 2014)

The "Coffee on the brain" series of videos from Seattle Coffee Gear are actually quite good at giving this kind of information in bite-sized chunks -





 is a list of them.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/books/products/the-world-atlas-of-coffee

is a good read


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