# What do you love more?



## tAClue (Jul 6, 2017)

Coming at this from a total newcomer's point of view, what do coffee enthusiasts love more? Their machines or the actual coffee.

I started liking coffee whilst on holiday as I have mentioned before, then I started looking at machines. Some of them including the grinders are just works of art. I haven't even tasted coffee made from my own machine yet but I am already enjoying my new interest by just researching the machines.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Coffee. Definitely the coffee.


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

I enjoy making coffee more than the drink I think. Although I still really love coffee there's just something therapeutic about making one.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Coffee...making it as filter can be quite a calming experience, at the right time , but it's all about what's in the cup, as opposed to how many bits of gear you can own.


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## Tiny tamper (May 23, 2014)

The way I see it you have to love the bean over machine as it's the most important one out of the 2.


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## Thecatlinux (Mar 10, 2014)

The machine is just a tool


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

When I spotted the title for this thread I thought, 'that's easy - Ian'!

With regard to which I love more, the coffee or the machine, is a different matter, it isn't so easy to define. I love the whole process, using superbly designed and engineered equipment, everything working as it should, producing shot after shot of deliciousness. Sitting down, taking that first slurp . . .

I love my machine (in a different way to how I love Ian!!) AND my coffee in the cup. Equally (but Ian the most)


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

It is a combination of both for me I guess, the better and deeper understanding of the processes involved helps to get better coffee


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

The beans are like a lover - fickle, exciting, constantly changing their allegiances and offering variety. Seldom reliable but an enjoyable challenge.

I love my machine, as a constant, loyal and supportive husband. It's the epitome, best there is.

The beans are the paramour, sometimes they work for you and at times they don't. But ultimately, the equipment lasts longer and forges a true relationship.

There


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Well explained by Mildred there, my view is this:

The machine is the sports car, fantastic, fast, brilliant.

The beans are the road, sometimes bumpy pot holes and the whole experience is just dismal.

Then, in your right car you hit THAT road and then it all just works.

The car is still great to look at, without the right road it's just an expensive piece of art.


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Then of course you convince yourself that having a faster car or one with a better gear ratio will make those roads even better...

Or you try it with a different machine like a motorbike to change the experience...and another WOW


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Oh dear I'm off now. I know I'm taking this too far.

The grinders are the speed limits, if it's low no matter how good the car or the road are it's not going to be enjoyable.

It's better to have a high speed limit on a good road in an average car.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

For me its the coffee.

BUT, the equipment has to look nice because it is on constant display in the kitchen so no hideous crime to the eyes ex commercial grinder thank you very much.

And some may say its all about the beans not machines,,well,they may well have been on a long expensive journey upgrading continually spending huge obscene ammounts of money on the way to have reached that point. But each to their own


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Coffee for me too - appreciating it more each passing week.

I love my machine too though - it's a beautiful thing.

And together they're more than the sum of their parts


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I admit I was pretty excited about getting my R58 when I'd never imagined going beyond my Classic. Likewise with my grinder, chasing ever-improving flavours with bigger burrs and on-demand fafflessness. I still smile when I see them in the kitchen looking ace. But ultimately it's a means to an end - it helps me get the best out of my beans, which is the whole point. I love trying out different beans, searching for the one that really hits the spot. That's why I'm always trying different roasters, and am on the DSOL or LSOL etc. I also enjoy the ritual of making my coffee. It's fun to do with this kit, and mostly I'm rewarded with good results. The latte art is s bit of fun on the side (just as well I don't take it too seriously ha!).

I kind of agree with @igm45 and the motorbike analogy. I love my pretty little Triumph bike too, but not for the ownership, it's for the fun it brings in spadefuls going from A to B (often via Z), making even a mundane ride to work enjoyable. My R58 is like the bike, and the beans are the road.


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## Tiny tamper (May 23, 2014)

I was coming from the angle that if you only had beans and no machine you could with a little ingenuity still make a brew of some description if you only have a machine no matter what you do it's only giving you hot water.

Making the bean king in the most basic form of the question Imo.


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## PatBateman (Mar 6, 2017)

I like my machine becaus of the process of making coffee. I like my coffee because of the result of the making and the process of consuming.

So, coffee, I guess.


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## lake_m (Feb 4, 2017)

I think as a newcomer to the whole subject it's easy to get sucked into the 'shiny machine' syndrome as the be-all and end-all to great coffee. It's only when you start really learning that you realise it's just a tool that passes hot water through coffee at pressure, and the real trick is selecting the best coffee and getting it to the point where passing hot water through it will produce a great drink. "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" as they say.


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

I love the process of making coffee just as much if not more than drinking it.

I'm not particularly attached to a brew method and I don't have espresso equipment so I'd say I love the beans over the equipment with the exception of my grinder. That is like a third arm to me.


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## 4515 (Jan 30, 2013)

The engineer in me appreciates the design and build quality of my machine but if I could get the same results from a jar of instant then I would exchange the machine for a tea spoon tomorrow.

Its all about the coffee for me


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## Dappertime (Jul 22, 2017)

Everything about the coffee itself..the smell the taste, the texture, the type, the recipes etc


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## Tiny tamper (May 23, 2014)

Dappertime said:


> the recipes etc


Yeah there are some fantastic recipes out there that include coffee I enjoy using it in cooking


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

Elcee said:


> I love the process of making coffee just as much if not more than drinking it.
> 
> I'm not particularly attached to a brew method and I don't have espresso equipment so I'd say I love the beans over the equipment with the exception of my grinder. That is like a third arm to me.


What grinder do you have @Elcee?


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## Elcee (Feb 16, 2017)

salty said:


> What grinder do you have @Elcee?


I use a Feldgrind. I love it







The portability means I can make coffee at work, home and on holiday


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

Elcee said:


> I use a Feldgrind. I love it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 @Elcee that all makes sense then. My feldgrind arrived recently and I'm loving it, both for the ground coffee that it produces but also for how good it looks and feels. I actually feel like I'm cheating on my Wilfa Svart which I also love but since the feldgrind arrived hasn't had a look in. It sits there on the worktop making me feel guilty when I reach for the shiny one...


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## filthynines (May 2, 2016)

I have to say that for me it's the coffee. As I get older I become more and more mindful of the fact that the "Ooh, a shiny new car/coffee machine/shirt" feeling never lasts.

But I like my machine for one other reason. It was the treat I allowed myself out of winning a rather nice cheque from a rather prestigious Magic Circle law firm around this time last year in one of their recruitment competitions. (And it was a competition in the genuine sense of the word.) For as long as I have it the machine will remind me of the fact that for that short period of time - and never before and never since - there was a firm at the pinnacle of my profession that chose me above 400 others. And I turned them down flat with no regrets.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Each aspect has its attraction.

The machine and the grinder, I don't feel an affinity until its been in pieces on the workbench and made to work as new with a full understanding of its parts and the quality of its construction, knowing that every part is working as its designed to gives me faith in its ability. Learning how to use the machine researching and trying techniques, working to perfect that method based on taste and results. The aesthetics, real engineering and metal not plastic fantastic and circuit boards. If it works well and is designed to last then it looks good, there is something monumental about commercial grinders with cast bodies, and the durability of thick stainless steel wrapped into coffee machines.

The beans - well its always a chase, a seasonal hunt for the range flavours promised and satisfaction when you get the best out of that particular crop.


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## donblacc (Jul 23, 2017)

Always about the coffee! The machine is just a path the coffee will take


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