Favourite coffee beans for home grind/brew

[Moscow Mule]

Argh, we've run out of beans!

Previously, we've always had Whittards - whatever we liked the smell of in the shop, but I've been recommended Monmouth as being a good blend to try.

Anybody got any other recommendations/favourites?

[vetran]

Lidl do a rather fine gold blend strangely cheap.

[chef]

Zapitista Coffee

fair trade and a great coffee

[OwlHoot]

Someone I know used to get bad piles on occasion. After a while, he worked out this only happened when he visited customer sites, and then narrowed it down to a day or two after a long motorway drive.

Eventually, he figured out the problem - Filter coffee in motorway cafes, the stuff that comes in the large beaker with a plunger. Once he stopped drinking that, the piles never returned.

[Moscow Mule]

Lovely story

Interesting! I don't suffer myself, but what was causing it? The cofffee or the filthy cups? Did he get the same drinking coffee anywhere else?

[stillooking]

To be slightly more specific, they do say that Jamaican Blue Mountain beans are one of the best.

Currently I'm using a Colombian blend from Waitrose, can't remember what beans they are.

er..Old bean

[cojak]

Someone I know used to get bad piles on occasion. After a while, he worked out this only happened when he visited customer sites, and then narrowed it down to a day or two after a long motorway drive.

Eventually, he figured out the problem - Filter coffee in motorway cafes, the stuff that comes in the large beaker with a plunger. Once he stopped drinking that, the piles never returned.

Forgive my probing this area, but I thought that once you've got piles, you've got piles and that the only way to remove them was surgery?

Or am I wrong on this?

(Carte Noire, btw...)

[DaveB]

Forgive my probing this area, but I thought that once you've got piles, you've got piles and that the only way to remove them was surgery?

Or am I wrong on this?

(Carte Noire, btw...)

To a degree, yes, once you have them, you have them for life but severity can vary.

Strong coffee can have a laxative effect and excessive bowel movements can aggravate piles if you already have them. That combined with long periods sat on your arse in the same place ( like a long motorway drive ) would cause them to flare up for a few days before calming down again.

-

I've tried loads of different beans, but to be honsest unless you have a *really* good machine it can be hard to tell the differance as a mediocre machine will make mediocre coffee regardless of the beans you use.

[OwlHoot]

Interesting! I don't suffer myself, but what was causing it? The cofffee or the filthy cups? Did he get the same drinking coffee anywhere else?

I'd guess it was the small grains inflaming his colon. After all, emptying one of those pots leaves a gritty residue. So presumably the finer grains end up suspended in the coffee (which also leaves a finer residue).

Also, I think he said that instant coffee never had the same effect, which I suppose tends to support the grain theory.

[cojak]

I'd guess it was the small grains inflaming his colon. After all, emptying one of those pots leaves a gritty residue. So presumably the finer grains end up suspended in the coffee (which also leaves a finer residue).

Also, I think he said that instant coffee never had the same effect, which I suppose tends to support the grain theory.

He's be better off with filter coffee.

I know that everybody is supposed to hate Starbuck's coffee, but I've always found their filter coffee to be very good (and cheaper than their Americano).