Freshly roasted coffee?

and which kind? beans, ground beans, capsules?

Beans. I bought used (and fixed) DeLonghi for 100 chf a year ago. It serves me well. I usually have at least one cappuccino a day.

I have two coffee at home, one is the ā€œregularā€ on that I use for my morning espresso, usually Segafredo/Lavazza/Kimbo or what I find in offer, usually around 7-10ā‚¬/kg (if not here in switzerland, e.g. on offer at denner from time to time, I buy in amazon.de or somewhere around Basel -DE or FR)
and one is the ā€œtreatā€ coffee, high end Arabica from Italy that cost usually around 20-25ā‚¬/kg. This one is mainly used 2-3 times per week, so a kilo lasts for a long time. I am talking about beans.
I think in this way my consumption is very optimized for the price :smiley:

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Speaking of Italy, Iā€™m actually now on vacations in Lago Maggiore area and I keep thinking what kind of beans they are using, so that this cappuccino tastes so good.

Did you drive there (Lago Maggiore)? Or this is another option?

Yes, I went with car to Verbania. It was about 3-3.5h of drive.

Itā€™s the water probably.

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Water is horrible here. It tastes like chlorine.

You can ask the barkeeper, not everyone uses the same. I really like Illy and Vergnano, are relatively mild compared to the hardcore italian espresso (more nutty than letā€™s say Lavazza or Segafredo)

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Thanks for the info. I donā€™t like hardcore espressos neither, I like a mild-and-milky cappucinos, so Iā€™ll give Illy and Vergnano a try.

I am drinking coffee again, and enjoying it, and aiming to keep my consumption below 1kg/month so that beans are never a major expense.

I have started grinding my beans manually with a hand-grinder. That is real work! Much less risk of ā€œIā€™ll just have another since Iā€™m passing the kichenā€ or ā€œwhy not make this one a doubleā€¦ā€ Feels like a Mustachian solution.

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I ordered freshly roasted coffee beans for the first time in a while.

Cafe Noir for 31.20/kg is amazing coffee but a bit too expensive this time. Thatā€™s the cost for 2kg including shipping and taxes.

Chronic for 25/kg is what I am trying instead. 2kg for CHF50 and they waive the shipping fee. They say that they roast themselves weekly.

If the Chronic coffee tastes as good as Noir then Iā€™ll have this sorted out.

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Coffee is hard!

I have 2kg of freshly roasted coffee from Chronic and to me it tastes pretty meh. Itā€™s fine but I donā€™t rate it above supermarket coffee. Maybe the reason I like Noir coffee isnā€™t (just) the freshness but the beans, roast, etc.

Iā€™ll have to think about a new strategy to try in a couple of months when Iā€™ve consumed the current stock.

Iā€™ll share a tip. I found Cafe Trottet, roasted in Switzerland, to have the best quality/price ratio. They sell good origins coffee, and very often have 50% off coupons (eg now for newcomers and for black friday). Free shipping in all CH as well.
www.trottet.ch
Thereā€™s no referral link, all the promos are directly on their site!

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Hi Together,

Soooo glad to find this topic. Iā€™m also a coffee lover (maybe an enthusiast), and seeking my source in the region of Zurich for the best fresh roasted beans.
Cafe Noir (https://www.cafe-noir.ch/) is till now one of my favourite in Zurich city as well, but I think the beans are quite expensive (30 CHF / kg).

I made several tests with cheaper ā€œsupermarket beansā€ (like Chicco dā€™Oro, Gimoka, CafĆ© Royal, Boncampo, Caruso, Exquisito, M-Classic etc.), but the roastery beans were always better. From the taste and freshness definitely. Supermarket beans are roasted, stored, transported for several months, until the consumer buys them. Even I donā€™t really wait to buy fresh beans till they are in sale, and squirrel them into my pantry.

My frugal coffee set is simple:

Beans are always freshly grinded (not too fine), water is filtered and heated to 90-95 Celsius before the brewing. Put the cooker on half, or the lowest gas level. Fantastic moka (not espresso) experience! Even with foamed milk I could enjoy my coffee an almost perfect cappuccino style :slight_smile:

Iā€™m eager for many years to a professional espresso machine and grinder like in the link, but I think this is a super luxury for home.

I was researching other good roasteries around Zurich, and I found these:

Iā€™ll try and test their beans, and give you an update.

I think if you can focus on the quality, and not to the quantity of the coffee, and you can really enjoy the moment to drink it, I donā€™t really care, if I spend 20-25 CHF in a month for a really tasty and good coffee. (We consume around 500g in a month I think)

Secret tip: try MA ME in the Josefstrasse, Zurich :wink: It is definitely worth for a coffee/espresso/latte/cappuccino (I love their flat white, or a latte with an extra shot)

Cheers :coffee:

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In ZĆ¼rich thereā€™s also Stoll, and Miro.

(Though likely not cheap).

Sadly yes. Coffee and coffee beans could be up to 20-30% more expensive in Zurich city, than outside of Zurich. That is also the reason why I tried to look around for alternatives.

I want to make a visit at the KĆ¼ng roastery in Winterthur soon. They have several self roasted beans around 24-25 CHF/kg as well (look at their online shop)

I came back to Cafe Noir coffee. Itā€™s my favourite and I enjoy it much more than everything else I tried. I reduced my consumption to the point where I can live with the cost and now I just enjoy it.

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Dear coffee lover Mustachian,

I wanted to give an update on this topic. It is long time since we had activity here. I found my super fresh roasted, tasty coffee beans finally!
The roastery is not in Switzerland, but next to the Swiss border, in Gottmadingen.

If youā€™re up for a cozy, small roastery, with friendly atmosphere, this is your place! The place is called Better Days Coffee and you can connect your grocery shopping on a Saturday with a visit at the roastery.

Manfred the owner is an enthusiast about coffee, and roasting coffee beans, I got a lot of hints and tipps for brewing the best tasting coffee at home.

Other update: I made a huge improvement in my home coffee brewing setup, and maybe it is not the most frugal setup which I recently purchased, but this is such a quantum jump in the coffee quality, that is every single cent worth for me.

I looked on the European market for the best value/money options regarding:

  • grinder
  • dual-circle espresso machine

Iā€™ve chosen a complete set at a German dealer MoBa Coffee, and they offered also VAT refund. The set is this: Bezzera BZ10 & Eureka Magnifico

I could try and see the setup before purchase in Munich, and I was absolutely amazed!

I have to tell you, it takes time to get the perfect extracted espresso, and you have to practice. But once you keep on top of this, the difference is HUGE! I donā€™t want to hear anything about Starbucks, or an average coffee shop, Iā€™m mostly drinking my coffee at home.

If you have any questions on it, Iā€™m happy to discuss about this topic ā€œcoffeeā€ :heart:

Ciao
Mr.Paprika :hot_pepper:

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Every simple coffee machine at the tank stop taste delicious in Italy. Maybe it is the water, maybe the personal holiday mood driving through Italyā€¦

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