Earlier today when I went out to get some lunch, the sandwich shop I went to had a pretty cool looking contraption on the counter. Chrome on the bottom and with a big perspex bowl on the top full of lovely looking dark roast coffee beans, it got me thinking about these new-fangled bean to cup coffee machines and how you’re seeing more and more of them about these days.
So, in the spirit of yesterday’s post, where I answered a bunch of questions about esspresso coffee, today I’m going to do a FAQ on bean to cup coffee machines. Well somebody might find it interesting….
What exactly is a bean to cup coffee machine?
The title is a bit of giveaway. Basically it’s a machine which allows you to insert coffee beans in one end and pour a lovely fresh cup of Joe out of the other end. Simple really.
How does a bean to cup coffee machine work?
It’s all quite clever. A technological marvel! The machine contains an integrated coffee grinder which the beans pass through. Once they’re all ground up, the hot water is filtered through and the coffee is brewed. It’s an ingenious design and it produces a great cup of coffee.
Why would I want to make coffee straight from the beans?
For one reason and one reason only. Taste. Coffee made from freshly ground beans always tastes better than any other type. Good coffee is like good wine. You develop a taste for it and after you’ve been drinking it for a while you really don’t want to go back to anything else.
Does it really taste so different?
Oh yes. Ask a wine buff if a 2007 Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon tastes the same as a 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. They’re both red wines but are they the same quality? No. Does one taste better than the other? Yes. Would everyone be able to tell the difference? Probably not.
But to those of us who appreciate a good coffee, yes, fresh ground beans make all the difference.
Where can I buy such a machine and how much will it cost?
The best place to look for a bean to cup coffee machine is probably online. There are plenty of Internet retailers who sell them and you can use the resources on this site to find a few. In terms of how much they cost, you’re looking at a minimum of $500 for a decent quality one. Anything industrial strength is going to set you back at least a thousand dollars.
One possible option, if you want a machine for your shop for example, is to lease rather than buy. The advantage to leasing is that the rental payments includes regular servicing and a replacement machine if anything goes seriously wrong. Definitely worth considering if you’re on a budget.
Where do I get the beans?
Again, you can buy coffee wholesale from various online outlets, or you can go to a specialist supplier. Actually visiting a supplier in person is probably the best option, because then you’ll be able to sample the coffee for yourself. If you find a coffee bean supplier with knowledgeable salespeople who can offer good advice and help you choose, that’s invaluable.
Are there any particular types of bean that work best with a bean to cup coffee machine?
Yes, you want a variety of dark roast arabica. Stay away from robusta, which is poor quality in comparison. Also, stay away from “flavoured coffee beans”, they’re complete crap. To go back to the wine analogy, would you want to buy artificially flavoured wine? No? Thought not.
Can the machine make different types of coffee, like espresso, cappuccino, latte, etc?
It depends on the machine. Some machines (generally the more expensive ones) have attachments for heating and frothing milk for lattes & cappuccinos, or for forcing steam through the ground coffee for making espressos. It’s definitely worth going for the espresso option. As for the hot milk option, that’s not so essential because you can always get separate devices for heating & frothing your milk.
Finally, what kind of maintenance does the machine require?
It’s really important to clean out your machine on a regular basis. If you don’t, your coffee will start to taste stale, which would defeat the whole object of having a bean to cup coffee machine in the first place. Other than regular cleaning, there’s not much else you have to do by way of maintenance really.
So, I hope you now know a bit more about bean to cup coffee machines than you did when you first started reading this article. Hopefully it’s been of some use to you.