# "Starter beans" - is there such a thing?



## Drc (Jan 21, 2014)

As my plans come together around getting a decent grinder and gaggia classic, one thing I thought I'd enquire about is if there is such a thing as a good starter bean?

i guess what I mean by this is that for the moment, my skills are very limited and even my ability to taste and recognise decent coffee is in its infancy. Once the kit arrives there will then be a whole bunch of new variables and mistakes to make as I get used to everything.

in those formative days, is it a good idea to find a single variety ( or couple) of good, fresh and reasonably priced beans and stick to them while I learn all the basics, or should I jut fling myself into the deep end in terms of getting a subscription or buying a regular variety of things from the word go?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Not all beans are equal. Some are more forgiving to work with than others.

There is no such thing as a starter bean.

However, you might want to start with an easy to detect taste (milk chocolate, caramel, toffee etc) before moving to fruity beans (strawberry, blueberry, apricot etc)


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## Drc (Jan 21, 2014)

Thanks Glenn. Are there any particular you'd think to recommend?

Rave seems to be supplier I see most positive comments on here and I'm also going to check out a local roaster in Woodbridge that someone here tipped me to.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I can be exceptionally lazy when I wake up in the morning and have to rush off to work, this means my prep and precision when I'm grinding and tamping in the morning is pretty bad.

I have yet to find a better bean than Rave Signature in terms of being forgiving to my laziness, so in terms of a 'stater bean' I would say you couldn't do much better. Its also a huge bonus that buying by the KG is significantly cheaper, when you are dialling in or end up with a sink shot it stings a whole lot less


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## omegabri (Jan 7, 2014)

Hi..

I've gone for Rave's 'Signature Blend' as my starter bean. It's quite forgiving apparently, and I'm loving it !

I drink milk based (flat whites) and it must be said it makes a gorgeous drink.

As suggested, i let the beans rest for 10 days from roast date, and after a couple of minor tweaks to the grind I'm dosing 18 grams of coffee and pulling 2 oz's in about 30 seconds. Amazing tastes !!

Hope that's of use...

Kind rgds

Bri..


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## Drc (Jan 21, 2014)

Wonderful, thanks for the recommendation all, raves signature blend seems to get mentioned a lot so given its widespread support I'll start with a kilo of that. Thanks!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

They sell on both Amazon and on their website, but its always better to buy direct as more money goes to the roaster, also I think delivery is cheaper.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Rave Italian is even more forgiving and cheap


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Expobarista said:


> Rave Italian is even more forgiving and cheap


Not if you put it in a filter


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

In my experience I would say that the Rave Signature or Italian Job is a great choice, until you have more experience I would most certainly avoid the espresso starter pack from Has Bean as that can be a little more "challenging" taste wise for a beginner, that's not to say they don't do some very good coffee.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

,Some of the Brazilians from Hasbean are very forgiving and toffee choc tasty tho. Extract blend is also forgiving , caveat all as espresso though ...don't Blank Box do mixtures of stuff too?


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

I'm going to be controversial here and say that I don't really like Rave.

For me, they appear to be pretty dark, I think my favourite bean and the bean I have been able to get the most out of was the Has Bean ETHIOPIA YIRGACHEFFE KOCHERE DEBO NATURAL

**Caps and bold for no other reason that I copy pasted and changing the formatting is a pain.**

That's for brewed coffee though.

For espresso, I have always found Artisan Roast easy to work with....

Saying that, I have only had a few kg of Rave, so if I experimented more, I might be able to get more into them.


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> ,Some of the Brazilians from Hasbean are very forgiving and toffee choc tasty tho. Extract blend is also forgiving , caveat all as espresso though ...don't Blank Box do mixtures of stuff too?


While HB tend to do coffee which has magical tastes and soaring acids, their Brazilians (particularly the Carmo estate) tastes like coffee.

I mean, when you think of what coffee tastes like, you think of that.

In a way, the first time I tired it, it was a little frustrating, as the bright notes never come. It's just a smooth, creamy, coffee taste. Almost like if Balies started doing artisan coffee liqueurs.

Not really my favourite, but I don't think I brewed it wrong once, so it's pretty forgiving.


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## Olliehulla (Feb 26, 2013)

D_Evans said:


> They sell on both Amazon and on their website, but its always better to buy direct as more money goes to the roaster, also I think delivery is cheaper.


Also, the last KG I had from Amazon was past it's best, arrived on the 20/12, roast date of 02/12 ! Suspect that they may have bought a job lot from Rave and stock piled it in the Amazon warehouse.

The KG i just got direct from Rave arrived today with a roast date of the 21/01.


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

We do a taster pack at The Coffee Bean - Celtic Blend, Blue Mountain Blend, Costa Rican and Brazilian Mogiana for £8 + £3.99 P&P. why not give them a whirl?!http://www.thecoffeebean-vanandroaster.co.uk/Fresh-Coffee.html


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## Ian H (Dec 2, 2013)

One of the stated objectives of Jailbreak from Hasbean is that you can get some of the fundamentals (grind, temperature, tamp, dose) a bit wrong and still produce an acceptable cup. Obviously, you would need to try to get it right, but it is not so fussy of inaccurate methods.

In my experience, that does seem to be the case, being new to espresso making myself.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Ian H said:


> One of the stated objectives of Jailbreak from Hasbean is that you can get some of the fundamentals (grind, temperature, tamp, dose) a bit wrong and still produce an acceptable cup. Obviously, you would need to try to get it right, but it is not so fussy of inaccurate methods.
> 
> In my experience, that does seem to be the case, being new to espresso making myself.


It may be the case that Jailbreak is to your taste I found all of the Has Bean espresso pack vile and have never touched any of those blends again.


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

It's all down to personal taste at the end of the day!

I find my Brazilian Mogiana quite a forgiving bean - i prefer beans that are not too dark though to be honest!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I think some of the HB single estate Brazils or Bolivians are more forgiving than any of their current blends. The Bolivians are a little more varied ,lively and thus interesting.


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## NeilR (Oct 1, 2013)

I ordered the Hasbean starter pack after I bought my Iberital MC2 and Gaggia Classic. I found the lighter roasts too sour and acidic and struggled to achieve a cup of coffee to my liking. I moved onto Rave's Italian Job and Signature blends and immediately achieved better results.


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