# Gift advice needed (grinder/beans)



## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

Hello everyone!

I am hoping that at lest some of you will have a few spare minutes and will be kind enough to offer some help.

Basically I know very very little about coffee as I don't drink it - but my boyfriend started getting into coffee more and more recently. He has a filter coffee machine, a Kenwood one as far as I can recall. I would like to but him some beans and a grinder as part of his Christmas present.

I'd appreciate any advice on grinders and best places to buy beans (online, UK) as I know so little - I've started reading about it all and my head is spinning.

My budget is relatively small (below 60 pounds for grinder and some different types of beans would be great) - while I understand that spending more would get a better quality grinder I want to first see if this is something my boyfriend might be interested in getting into. I understand burr is better than blades and that if I want a cheap burr grinder that would mean going manual. Can you recommend anything? Is this Hario Ceramic Mill decent? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hario-Coffee-Mill-Ceramic-Slim/dp/B001804CLY/ref=pd_cp_kh_0 Or maybe electric/blades are fine for filter coffee?

As for beans, I understand that I want them to be "freshly roasted" and preferably lightly-medium roasted. If there are any retailers that you can recommend it would be great. Since I don't drink coffee I have no clue where to look - I noticed that Whittard does beans, but it's not strictly coffee centered, so not sure whether that's a good choice.

Any tips appreciated!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

You are clearly the best girlfriend ever, a keeper ; )

Forget blade grinders (great for spices tho).

Under £60 I dont think there is much better than a Porlex. It has its faults such as producing fines at coarser settings, however it will do the job and come in well under budget and leave cash for some brilliant beans. http://www.coffeehit.co.uk/porlex-mini-grinder

If you wanted to splash out and have enough brownie points to never need do the washing up ever again, then seek something like an Orphan Espresso Lido hand grinder - its grind quality is awesome. The Lido mk2 should be available soon , keep an eye out here http://www.orphanespresso.com/Orphan-Espresso-Hand-Built-Coffee-Grinders_c_392.html

As for beans. Does he add milk and sugar to his coffee?

There are a myriad of UK roasters who sell online . For brewed / filter coffee check out Squaremile, Has Bean , Rave, Union, Hands-On, James Gourmay...etc etc


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Hi and welcome Myth you are certainly in the right place for coffee information.

With reference to your question with your budget you will be in manual grinder teritory and there are some good ones.I do not use a manual grinder but I am sure someone on the for um will give you all the infor mation you need.

As for beans and suppliers there are several recomended on the forum,One that is very popular is "RAVE" near Cirencester, you can Google them and see their wide selection.If you contact them and explain your requirements they will recomend the most suitable beans for your purpose Tel 01285 651884

am sure other members will also give their advice/ suggestions


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## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

Thank you both for the warm welcome and tips - I'm definitely going to check out those suppliers of beans.

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/member.php?2166-garydyke1

garydyke1 - no, no milk or sugar in coffee.

Thank you for recommending Porlex, I had a look around and it does get good reviews and looks decent. As much as I would love to never wash up again ;] I simply can't afford much more at the moment. It pains me, I'm one of those people who would rather get "the right gear" for everything straight away if only possible and skip the budget range, but I've got 4 birthdays + Christmas to buy presents for in December, so things need to be budgeted or the rent doesn't get paid ;] If he gets into it I'm sure we can get a better grinder in the future. The OE stuff does look good I must say!


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## Java Jive (Sep 21, 2013)

Steer clear of blade grinders for any type of brewed coffee. Buying freshly ground from one of the UK roasters will get you a much nicer coffee than buying beans and grinding with one of those. I persevered with mine for a couple of months and tried different brew methods and techniques to see if I could ever get something reasonable but without success.

Having spent days trawling the internet to discover the 'best' sub-£40 hand grinder available today, I decided it's seems pretty much-of-a-muchness between the 4 main contenders when it comes to grind quality, i.e. Porlex Tall, Porlex Mini, Hario Skerton and Hario Mini. I went with the Porlex Tall in the end. Cheapest I could find it was on Amazon but supplied by CoffeeHit, £33 incl. delivery.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Myth said:


> Thank you both for the warm welcome and tips - I'm definitely going to check out those suppliers of beans.
> 
> https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/member.php?2166-garydyke1
> 
> ...


I only asked about milk and sugar as that would tell us whether the specialty coffee roasters I mentioned would be appropriate.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

+1 for the Porlex and that you ARE the best girlfriend ever.

If he hasn't an Aeropress already then it could be an ideal paired gift from another family member. I don't have one but I do know lots of people that really rate them as a great combo.

Lots of good roasters that do a post service. Rave are a favourite of mine at the moment. They do 1kg bags that start from about £10 which works out quite cost effective.


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## HDAV (Dec 28, 2012)

If you are ever near cirencester or the cotswolds i suggest a trip into Rave (its off the high street on a small trade park) but does have a cafe where you can smaple the coffee and see the roasters at work! Also an artisan ice cream maker 2 doors down well worth a visit!


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## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

Thanks guys, not sure about the best girlfriend, but one can try right?

Yes, I figured that milk/sugar is linked to the type of bean/coffee one would enjoy :]

Seems like Rave is popular here, so will definitely get some beans from them. I will probably go with Porlex too. He does have an aeropress, but thanks for the suggestion nevertheless.

I used to live in Cheltenham, but now we're in S Yorkshire and I don't drive (yet!), so I think if I want it to be a surprise it'd need to be delivered to me. I'll keep Cirencester in mind though, in case I go to visit some friends. Especially if there is ice cream nearby ;]

Thanks again for help, I can imagine newbies can be annoying, so it's really great to come across such nice people.

EDIT: Just looking at Rave, would you go with single origin instead of blends to start with? I've never heard about green coffee - is it practical to roast your own beans? I thought you always buy them already roasted.


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## Dave.wilton (Dec 24, 2012)

Myth, I don't think anyone has said this yet but if you are looking for a Christmas present hold off buying the beans until much closer to the time. The best coffee comes from freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee. As a rule of thumb most try to consume beans within a month of roast date (from rave that will be close to when you buy them).

Ps don't buy the green beans. There is a lot of knowledge required for roasting and some form of equipment.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

How does he drink the coffee? With milk or not?

Whichever way it may be worth giving the roaster a call / dropping an email to see what bean they recommend for his way of brewing and how he drinks it.

Good point on not buying the beans nearer the time.


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## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

No milk, no sugar, just black.

I'll contact some roasters :] I've ordered the Porlex Tall - glad I started looking now as the delivery is going to take a loooong time! Would it be wise to get some air tight containers for the beans too?


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## The Jazzyman (Oct 15, 2013)

Hi

Has Bean does a very good and well priced Starter pack which should fit you Budget.

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/starter-packs/products/the-new-espresso-starter-pack

You get a nice mix of popular blends plus a single origin in it.

You could just about squeeze in an Aeropress from them as well without going to much over budget, making someone really happy.

Sort of a complete package.

Good luck, but wait a bit before ordering the beans.


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## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

Thanks, will check that out.

He has an aeropress and coffee machine already, grinder is ordered now, so just need to decide on some beans and order them a bit closer to the time :]


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## Myth (Oct 15, 2013)

The grinder is here (looks sturdy, but I can't tell much more than that!) and the Rave Coffee suggested some beans too, so just waiting a bit to make sure they will be fresh :]


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

Can agree on hasbean starter pack I ordered one for a change as hadnt tasted the blends recently. They are definitely worth a buy.


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