You can easily get fooled into thinking that you should always buy dark coffee beans in order to make a great espresso because when you go to any of the high street chains that is what they use because dark roast coffee beans are the cheapest way to get consistency at a low cost.
The best way to learn how to choose and buy coffee beans is to experiment with different types of bean. We are creatures of habit so when we find something we think is ok we stick to it. With coffee beans change is good.
At the end of the day Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero are in it to make money so they have to use cheap beans otherwise they would not be profitable but by understanding how to choose and buy coffee beans in the UK you will be able to buy your own coffee and enjoy a drink that you never imagined possible.
Once you get used to something you think that it is the norm and it would be reasonable to expect a high-quality coffee bean to be used when you are paying upwards of £3 a cup.
You can expect to make around 50 double espressos from 1 kg of coffee beans based on an average of 20 grams of ground coffee beans per coffee. You can then add milk to create the drink of your choice such as a cappuccino or latte.
If you choose to pay £20 for a 1kg bag of coffee beans then you are paying £0.40p for a cup of coffee. £20 per kilo will get you coffee beans that are significantly better than the beans used in the high street coffee chains and you are paying a fraction of the price.
The good news is that coffee taste is a very personal thing. It is very possible that you could prefer a coffee that costs £12-£15 a kilo over coffee beans that cost twice that amount or more. The best advice is to try a range of different types of beans at a range of different prices and eventually you will come across a couple that you absolutely love.
There are many hundreds of different beans from dozens of countries with different roast types so you will have to navigate your way through the maze of all the different options.
Here are some of the most popular coffee beans in the UK that are tried and tested by ourselves and many thousands of happy customers. They are proven winners and worth experimenting with to see if they suit your palette.
1. Spiller & Tait signature blend coffee beans 1kg
This is a very well priced coffee that has won awards for the taste within its category in blind tastings. The company is privately owned by people that have worked in the coffee industry for decades.
The owners are British and they understand the kind of coffee that suits the UK palette which might sound a bit weird but different cultures and different parts of the world like their coffee in different ways so these beans have been blended with British coffee drinkers specifically in mind.
They are roasted in small batches at regular intervals so you will always be getting coffee beans that have been freshly roasted recently which is very important to get the best possible flavour.
This blend consists of beans from 5 different countries and is medium roasted to create their unique flavour. Suitable for all types of coffee machine.
See the full review of the Spiller & Taite signature coffee beans
2. Good Life single origin Costa Rican coffee beans 500g
This is the most expensive of our recommendations and is great to try out and do a comparison against some of the others. Its a single origin bean meaning they only come from Costa Rica and they are organic which means they are grown without any chemical fertilisers or pesticides which makes a big difference to flavour when it comes to coffee beans.
They are 100% Arabica beans that are medium roasted in the UK to order. The fact they only get roasted when the order is received means you get the absolute freshest beans possible, probably within a few days of the date you ordered them.
When you combine freshness with organic and a good quality bean that tends to be a good recipe for success. Not cheap but definitely worth a go but be careful, you might like them so much you may not be able to go back to the cheaper stuff!
For more information check out the full review of the Good Life single origin Costa Rican coffee beans
3. Organic coffee beans 1kg
100% Arabica beans but not as expensive as the good life beans above but that does not necessarily mean that you will like them any less, you might even like them more because it just depends on what suits you the most.
Grown as nature intended them to, these coffee plants are free from any artificial pesticides used on some of the mass-produced coffee beans by the largest manufacturers because without them they would not be able to produce the volume they need to satisfy the demand. If you have not tried organic coffee beans they are well worth a try and you will notice a difference in the taste.
These particular beans are a light roast single-origin from Columbia that produce a full flavoured medium intensity coffee.
Here is the full review of the Coffee Masters organic coffee beans.
4. Coffee bean tasting bag, 10 packs, 10 countries
If you are not sure what you like then why not sample 10 different types of coffee beans from 10 different countries? Different countries have different characteristics and different flavour profiles for their coffee beans.
Once you have narrowed it down to a couple of countries that you like you can then start to seek out those countries when you buy them in larger quantities for everyday use and then you can start to experiment with the different types of roast from light to medium to dark to get to exactly what you like the most.
Each packet of ten contains 60g of beans which is about enough for 3 double espressos or 6 singles. This is a brilliant way to sample multiple different coffee types in one purchase. They also come with a nice description of what you are getting on each packet and then they are beautifully packed in a mini coffee sack making this a great treat for yourself to try out some new coffee and also works brilliantly as a gift for any coffee lover.
Here is more information on the coffee bean tasting bag.
5. Aromistico Napoli dark roast coffee beans 200g
This is a great way to try out a good quality coffee bean without shelling out for a whole 1kg bag. Aromistico offer these in 200g bags and when you multiply the price by 5 to get the price per kg these work out to be pretty expensive coffee beans but you do get what you pay for and you get to try these out for a smallish layout before deciding if you love them and want to go down the road of buying them 1kg at a time.
Roasted in Italy in small batches by a small family owned business, true love and passion for coffee goes into every batch they roast. A nice dark roast suited well for espresso, this is something different that you definitely won’t find in supermarkets.
Here is the full review of the Aromistico dark roast coffee beans.
6. Lavazza Super Crema Coffee Beans 1kg
The list of recommendations would not be complete without the inclusion of what is probably the worlds most recognised coffee brand, Lavazza. In fact, we have 3 different types of Lavazza beans in our recommended list for you to give consideration to, all with different beans, roast types and flavours.
These particular beans are very well priced and are blended with 60% Arabica and 40% Robusta beans from 3 different countries. Extracted correctly through with an espresso machine these will as the name suggests, produce a lovely thick crema with a strong intense flavour.
Well worth putting on the list to give a try these have been around for years and enjoyed and recommended by many thousands of happy customers.
Here is the full review of the Lavazza super crema coffee beans
7. Spiller & Tait Pure Columbian Huila Coffee Beans 1kg
This is the second Spiller & Tate blend that has made it into our top recommendations and is in contrast to the signature blend described above. A much smoother medium roast that works perfectly at any time of the day these are single-origin beans sourced specifically from Columbia,
Roasted in small batches on a regular basis by coffee connoisseur’s you are guaranteed to get fresh well-priced coffee if you decide to give these a try.
Here is more information on the Spiller and Tate Columbian Huila coffee beans.
8. Lavazza caffe espresso coffee beans 1kg
As the name suggests these coffee beans from the worlds best known coffee brand are most suited for espresso and espresso-based drinks such as cappuccino and latte. Well priced beans that are 100% Arabica and medium roasted these are highly recommended by many happy customers that reorder them time and time again.
Don’t think that these beans won’t be very good because of the price as Lavazza are one of the largest producers of coffee beans in the world and have the economies of scale to be able to price their coffee beans very attractively and represent really good value for money.
See the full review of the Lavazza caffe espresso coffee beans
9. Lavazza Qualita Rossa coffee beans
These are Lavazza’s least expensive and most commercial coffee beans. You are even likely to find these in the supermarket in some of the larger stores.
They are one of the best selling coffee beans in the UK and at this price, there is little risk in giving them a go. They are extremely well priced and if you decide you like them you can buy them in a pack of 6 x 1kg that takes them down to a price that you would not expect from a premium coffee producer. Try a 1kg bag first to see if you like them.
Here is the full review of the Lavazza Qualita Rossa coffee beans.
How is coffee grown?
Coffee is grown on large plants and it grows in bunches like grapes that are called coffee cherries because they are harvested when they reach a cherry-like colour like in the image below and inside each coffee cherry are two beans that is the raw product that then gets roasted and turned into the coffee beans that we are all familiar will and come in different shades of brown
Why are coffee shop beans always dark brown in colour?
There is a very specific reason why the coffee chains serve you up dark roast – it masks the quality of the beans.
All coffee is roasted by taking the raw beans from inside the coffee cherries and heating them at around 175 degrees until they reach the desired colour.
The longer you roast them the darker they will become and the more bitter the flavour. Contrary to popular belief, lighter roast coffee beans tend to be better quality and have a sweet taste to them as opposed to a bitter taste in darker roast coffee.
So why aren’t all beans just roasted lightly? Because coffee produced in massive quantities on coffee plantations for massive coffee companies tend to be of lower quality and you will not get a sweet and balanced flavour out of roasting them lightly.
To understand this properly we have to use an analogy with steak. Imagine you are in a restaurant and you order a fillet steak and the person you are with orders a rump steak.
You both ask for them to be cooked medium-rare. When they arrive they will both taste significantly different. The fillet steak will be soft and juicy and you will be able to cut through it like butter with an incredible explosion of taste with every bite. The rump steak will be ok but a bit tougher to cut into and certainly not as much flavour.
But now imagine you both order each steak very well done. All of a sudden it will be hard to taste the difference between the two and the fillet steak will taste very similar to the rump. If you cook the fillet too long the flavour is ruined but the rump doesn’t change that much.
The same thing applies to coffee. Mass market beans grow and mature very quickly and don’t get the necessary time to absorb the fruit of the coffee cherry that they come from and as a result lack the flavour of beans that are grown in the shade and take longer to mature and therefore have much more flavour.
There is absolutely no doubt about it, the old adage of “you get what you pay for” definitely applies to coffee.
Which coffee has the best flavour?
There are a number of things you should take into consideration to get the best possible flavour from your coffee
One of the most important factors which should not be underestimated is how long ago the coffee beans were roasted.
If you really want to experience a fantastic tasting cup of coffee then only buy coffee that has been roasted within the last 4 weeks. The difference is huge.
We have become accustomed to looking at the use-by date when buying all types of products for human consumption but this is simply not applicable when it comes to coffee.
Take a look at any packets of coffee beans the next time you are in the supermarket. You will always find the use-by date because it is required by law but it is extremely unlikely you will find any that have the “roasted on” on “produced on” date. All of the beans on the supermarket shelves could easily have been roasted six months ago – or more.
Remember, for the best flavour, you need to be drinking it within about 4 weeks of the roasting date. If you don’t know the roasting date don’t buy it.
Some of the premium supermarkets like Waitrose and M & S may have some that have the roasting date on them but if you live in or around a larger city then you should be able to get your coffee from a local coffee specialist that roasts their coffee themselves. You will pay more but it will be worth it and it will still cost much less than a coffee chain coffee but it will literally taste 10 times better.
How to enjoy coffee at its best
You absolutely do not have to spend a lot of money to enjoy coffee at its best. There are a huge array of different types of coffee machines to choose from and it can be a maze that is extremely hard to navigate through.
The most important rule regardless of the type of coffee machine that you use is to grind the beans yourself and then secondly buy them as freshly roasted as you possibly can and that puts you 70% of the way there before you even start brewing.
If you don’t have much money or you simply don’t want to spend much money but you love a good cup of coffee then you can start with a cafetière or stove top coffee machine and for a very low initial cost of £20 or less, you will be good to go.
If you go down this road you’ll also need a coffee grinder to grind your beans just before you brew. A burr grinder will do a better job but if you are on a budget then a blade grinder will be just fine.
Filter coffee machines are also a good way to enjoy coffee cheaply. They start from around £20 and can be used to make anything from 2 cups to 12 cups of coffee at any one time.
If you enjoy espresso-based drinks such as cappuccino or latte then you can go for a pod machine like a Nespresso or Dolce Gusto which is an extremely convenient way to make a coffee but bear in mind it’s not fresh and has been pre-ground before being vacuum-packed into a pod.
If you want to move more towards making your coffee in the same way as they do in the coffee shops then you can consider a pump espresso machine. You will need to put in a little work and it may take a few minutes to make your coffee but it’s worth it.
If you want the benefits of a pump espresso machine but you don’t want to go through the hassle of grinding your beans and emptying the coffee grounds from a portafilter and clearing up after every drink you make then a bean to cup coffee machine does it all for you.
As long as you choose your beans carefully then whatever method you choose to make your coffee will be a huge improvement and will certainly turn drinking coffee into an experience rather than something you just do each day as a habit.
