Using the best coffee for cafetiere is the simplest way to get the most delicious freshest cup of coffee. By using the right ground coffee and the correct method you can drink coffee that tastes better than a coffee shop for a fraction of the price.
There is a huge choice when it comes to cafetières but there is an even bigger and wider choice when it comes to choosing the best coffee for cafetière.
The first thing you need to decide is whether to buy coffee beans or pre-ground coffee.
When you make coffee with a cafetiere it’s not something you can do in a rush. You are going to need about 10 minutes from start to finish so you might as well spend a small amount of extra time preparing your coffee to get the best out of it and that’s done by grinding fresh coffee beans yourself.
If it’s not something that you want to do then using pre-ground coffee is fine but it won’t taste as good as grinding fresh coffee beans yourself just before adding it to the cafetière.
You should never use instant coffee in a cafetiere because it’s low quality coffee and its made to be added straight to a cup and a cafetiere is designed to be used to brew ground coffee.
Let’s take a look at the two most popular ways to buy coffee that is suitable for a cafetiere and the pros and cons of each.
Using fresh coffee beans for cafetiere
Because ground coffee gets added to the cafetiere it’s easy to think that you need to buy it that way but there is a better way that doesn’t take long and will make your coffee taste better.
If you don’t have a coffee machine and you prefer using a cafetiere then it may sound like a pain to have to grind coffee beans yourself but it’s a process that will take you no more than 30 seconds from start to finish and there are significant benefits to be had,
The main benefit is freshness because coffee stays fresher for longer when it’s in whole bean form and it also tastes better when it’s just been freshly ground.
Pre-ground coffee packets may have been vacuum-sealed to retain the freshness but once it’s been opened and exposed to oxygen the quality will deteriorate quickly and it will start to lose its flavour quickly.
After a few days ground coffee will start to lose its best flavour and after 5 days or so it will start to go stale so if you are buying coffee pre-ground then you should try and drink it as quickly as possible.
Storing it correctly can also help to keep it fresher for a bit longer. This article explains more:
How to store coffee beans and keep them fresh
Using the correct level of grind fineness is important to release all of the oils and flavours in the coffee during the brewing process.
With espresso, water gets forced very quickly through the coffee at high pressure and that makes coffee for espresso and cappuccino and latte more suited to a very fine grind.
Because coffee brewed in a cafetière mixes with the water for 4 minutes before being poured you need a medium grind fineness to get the most out of it.
If you grind the coffee yourself then you can control that process and experiment a little until you get it just right.
Coffee grinders range in price from as little as £10 and go well into the hundreds of pounds.
If you are just starting out grinding you own beans for cafetière something in the £10 to £20 range will be fine and will produce a better cup of coffee than if you buy pre-ground coffee.
For that kind of price you get a blade coffee grinder that chops up the beans by spinning at high speed.
If you want to control the consistency of the grind even more then you can opt for a burr coffee grinder but they do cost a little more.
This article explains in detail how to choose a coffee grinder if you want to consider grinding beans yourself:
Once everything is taken into account and you look at the small effort and small cost compared to the flavour difference it’s well worth considering grinding your own beans for the best tasting cafetière coffee.
Using fresh ground coffee for cafetiere
If you really don’t want to go down the road of grinding your own beans and you just want to get the coffee into the cafetière as quickly as possible then the biggest benefit you will get from pre-ground coffee is the convenience.
It’s a bit like using a pod coffee machine. It’s super easy to just insert a pod into the machine and press a button but it won’t quite taste as good as the coffee you will get from using a bean to cup coffee machine but its easier.
The same goes for pre-ground coffee. It won’t taste quite as good but it’s easier and less hassle.
This is the best coffee for cafetière in the UK:
Spiller & Tait Signature Blend Coffee Beans
This is very much a proven winner over time and one of my personal favourites. It’s a medium roast coffee perfectly suited for use in a cafetiere.
These coffee beans are roasted in small batches by a small roastery in England that have a real passion for great coffee and care deeply about producing freshly roasted and high quality yet affordable coffee.
Blended from beans sourced from Columbia, Brazil, Kenya, Ethiopia and India, This is better than a lot of supermarket coffee beans that cost more than these do.
See the full review of the Spiller & Tait signature blend coffee beans
Organic Arabica Coffee Beans
If the environment and fairness are as important to you as the coffee itself then these Organic coffee beans will fit the bill.
No pesticides were used in the production of this coffee and its also fairtrade certified meaning the farmers get a fair deal on the beans they produce.
These are a light roast single-origin bean from Columbia, ideal for cafetieres.
See the full review of the Organic arabica coffee beans
Good Life Single Origin Coffee Beans
If you fancy pushing the boat out and treating yourself then you will pay more for these beans than the others but you’ll notice the difference in every cup.
You are guaranteed the freshest possible coffee because they are hand roasted to order. You’ll see the roasting date on the packet and whenever I have ordered them they have never been roasted longer than 5 days before which is impressive.
A medium roast bean from Costa Rica, you can expect a delicious taste with every mouthful and fruity and fragrant aromas.
See the full review of the Good Life single origin coffee beans
Coffee Bean Tasting Bag
This is a brilliant way to sample a range of different coffees from lots of different countries to see if you can find yourself a new favourite.
10 different packets of coffee are contained within the coffee sack that it comes in from all the best coffee producing nations in the world.
It also works brilliantly as a gift for any coffee lover.
See the full review of the coffee bean tasting bag
Spiller & Tait Signature Blend Ground Coffee
This is the ground coffee version of the highly-rated signature blend above so if you are not quite ready to grind your own beans then you can try it pre-ground in a smaller packet size.
See the full review of the Spiller & Tait Signature blend ground coffee
Saula Premium Organic Ground Coffee
Food and drink has its own unique personality in Spain and this ground coffee is no different. Roasted and ground in Spain by a family business that is passionate about coffee it comes in 2 x 250 gram tubs in order to maintain freshness.
See the full review of the Saula premium organic ground coffee
All of our ground coffee recommendations are in this article:
You can find some more great coffee bean selections in this article:
How to choose and buy the best coffee beans in the UK
How to choose a cafetière for your coffee
Expensive bean to cup coffee machines are very popular because a lot of people want to have similar machines to the ones you see in a coffee shop that makes cappuccino’s and latte’s but using a cafetière to make coffee is a very underrated and very cheap way to make great quality coffee.
For between £15 to £35 you can buy a cafetière that will last you for years because there are no mechanical parts and nothing on it that can really break unless you get a glass one and have butterfingers.
If you are thinking about getting a new cafetiere or buying one for the first time it may be tempting to go for one that is super cheap around the £10 mark but it’s not really worth it for the amount of time that you will have it for.
At £10 and below you will be getting something where the corners have been cut in the manufacturing process and it will almost certainly be coming out of China and will end up being a false economy because you’ll find that something will break inside 12 months and you’ll need a new one.
Spending just a little more on your cafetiere will add years of life and get you something that has a good filter to make sure that none of the coffee grounds make their way to the cup and it will look and feel good to use.
There are hundreds of different cafetières to choose from and these are the best that we could find:
Once you have a decent cafetière, using the correct method to make your coffee is important.
These articles explain how to get the best out of your cafetière and your coffee:
How to make coffee in a cafetiere
Here is a short video showing how to get the best out of brewing coffee in a cafetiere:
