Online coffee resources

rockbeer

Some links to online coffee equipment suppliers:

http://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/
Great range, very good prices and reasonable shipping rates to Ireland. Shipping free on orders over €300. Also guarantees to match any item available at a lower price elsewhere.

http://www.myespresso.co.uk/shop/
A decent range of equipment at excellent prices. V helpful, and ship to Ireland at reasonable rates.

http://www.ristrettocoffee.com/
Northern Ireland based coffee & equipment supplier - distributor for Rancilio.

http://www.italy-outlet.co.uk/
Great range of Italian equipment and supplies at decent prices. Has a base in Cork.

http://www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk/
Despite what it says on their site they do ship to Ireland at reasonable rates.

http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/
Machines, spares and accessories

https://www.drury.uk.com/mail-order/uk-index.htm
Another UK based supplier who will ship to Ireland



Many of the above do beans/ground coffee as well as equipment, but here are some other coffee ingredient suppliers:

http://www.ariosacoffee.com/index1.htm

http://www.greenbeanroasters.com/shop/index.php

http://www.hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk/

http://www.javarepublic.com/iopen24/

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/
They do roasted & green beans as well as some equipment



Other coffee resources:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.coffee/topics

http://www.coffeegeek.com/
Doesn't sell anything but has a huge database of equipment reviews

http://www.home-barista.com/
Another site full of equipment reviews and how-tos


Hopefully this will get stickied, and people can add their own links to build up a decent resource. Also if anyone has anything to say, good or bad, about any of the companies I've listed here I'd be glad to hear it as despite my horrendous coffee habit I haven't got around to trying them all yet

Gran Hermano

Just a quick review on http://www.happydonkey.co.uk

I ordered a new Iberital MC2 grinder last Friday and it arrived
perfectly today (Tuesday). The grinder was GBP99, much cheaper
than other UK shops with prices up to GBP165. Shipping was a tad
steep at GBP30 but the total cost was still cheaper than buying
locally in Ireland or from another Irish/UK online shop. In fairness
the owner, Scott, gave me the option of sourcing another courier
myself to arrange pick-up and shipping - nice option. All correspondence
by email was promptly replied to. In summary I'm very pleased with
the service and price. (They get great feedback on toomuchcoffee.com).

As for the MC2, it's a great grinder. Took a while (and half a bag of beans!)
to get the grind right but it's giving me perfect shots and great crema.
It'll grind as fine as you need. As Rockbeer mentioned in an earlier post
post it's best suited for sticking to the one grind - switching from espresso
to say French press would take a while.
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/shop/product.php?productid=2619&cat=451&page=1

If anyone is looking for a good grinder go for it (by comparison the Gaggia
MDF was retailing for €230 in Dublin and I'm happier with the Iberital).

Gran Hermano

Few more links:

http://www.wholelattelove.com/tips.cfm
Provides tips on using/cleaning/servicing most coffee machines.
Good reviews too.

http://www.gaggia.uk.com/
Official site for Gaggia UK & Ireland. All manuals available for download.
Also sell accessories and machines (both new & reconditioned).
Will ship to Ireland and delivery is normally less than 1 week.

http://www.cubascoffee.com/
Based in Dublin with an on-line shop, just need to phone to confirm payment.
For my all-time favourite Cubita beans - great espresso, tastes even better in Havana

http://www.coffeereview.com/reference.cfm
UK Centric site but good reference articles on coffee culture, history and health.

www.anothercoffee.co.uk/
Will NOT ship to Ireland.. so no point looking or asking!

And lastly:
http://www.toomuchcoffee.com/ good forum with a UK slant.

Mr Magnolia

Gran Hermano wrote:

Just a quick review on http://www.happydonkey.co.uk

I ordered a new Iberital MC2 grinder last Friday and it arrived
perfectly today (Tuesday). The grinder was GBP99, much cheaper
than other UK shops with prices up to GBP165. Shipping was a tad
steep at GBP30 but the total cost was still cheaper than buying
locally in Ireland or from another Irish/UK online shop. In fairness
the owner, Scott, gave me the option of sourcing another courier
myself to arrange pick-up and shipping - nice option. All correspondence
by email was promptly replied to. In summary I'm very pleased with
the service and price. (They get great feedback on toomuchcoffee.com).

As for the MC2, it's a great grinder. Took a while (and half a bag of beans!)
to get the grind right but it's giving me perfect shots and great crema.
It'll grind as fine as you need. As Rockbeer mentioned in an earlier post
post it's best suited for sticking to the one grind - switching from espresso
to say French press would take a while.
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/shop/product.php?productid=2619&cat=451&page=1

If anyone is looking for a good grinder go for it (by comparison the Gaggia
MDF was retailing for €230 in Dublin and I'm happier with the Iberital).

Same as above ordered mine on friday and it arrived today so ++ for happydonkey, got some nice beans too, as above perfect shots and great crema

Mr Magnolia

Just in case anyone wants a sig for the forum.


[noparse][/noparse]

Gives you:

Thanks to Ruu

eclectichoney

Another good site for buying beans - http://www.coffeebeans.ie

Excellent service, came really quickly and tasted lovely.

hshortt

Guys the Italy Outlet people are the ones who let me down with the Titanium Plus, never answer their phones or answer any help requests via email. Not recommended.
Cheerio
Howard

Mr Magnolia

M&D Coffee & Tea.

Email mandd.coffeeandtea@gmail.com for a full product list. They will ship coffee, tea and equipment.

Mr Magnolia

Ariosa Coffee.

Email for an order or a list of coffees.


info@ariosacoffee.com

real_484

http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/en/haushalt/kleingeraete/espressomaschinen/page.html

another site for espresso machines,

adamc

They're springing up all over the place nowdays....I've used willards and an irish site called peaberrys. Both have good ranges but willards are a bit pricier as you're shipping from the UK. The peaberrys site (www.peaberrys.ie) has a single shipping price so it's good value if you're buying a couple of bags of beans.

eclectichoney wrote: »

Another good site for buying beans - http://www.coffeebeans.ie

Excellent service, came really quickly and tasted lovely.

krady

I just bought a Mazzer Mini Electronic and an Isomac Relax Automatica from http://www.bellabarista.com. They were a lot cheaper than elsewhere, very prompt in dispatching it (I got it yesterday despite ordering it on Sunday the 30th). They provide and excellent manual to replace the rubbish one with the machine (full of pictures and explanations of setup steps). I would highly recommend them to anyone. Ignore the typos on the website (and, oddly, on the order confirmation email).

Gran Hermano

krady wrote: »

I just bought a Mazzer Mini Electronic and an Isomac Relax Automatica from http://www.bellabarista.com. They were a lot cheaper than elsewhere, very prompt in dispatching it (I got it yesterday despite ordering it on Sunday the 30th). They provide and excellent manual to replace the rubbish one with the machine (full of pictures and explanations of setup steps). I would highly recommend them to anyone. Ignore the typos on the website (and, oddly, on the order confirmation email).

Krady, is the site http://www.bellabarista.co.uk/ ?

krady

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Krady, is the site http://www.bellabarista.co.uk/ ?

Yup, sorry. Kind of wired from setting up and testing the new kit.

eclectichoney

Just wanted to post a quick review of hasbean - great service. I ordered some old brown java and some cuba turquino lavarda. it worked out at around €13.20-ish including postage for two 250g bags. they even come with a label that says what day your coffee was born (roasted) on!

The java is a lovely earthy, or as they describe it perfectly, musty coffee. Great for a nice big mug on a sunday morning. have yet to try the cuban.

Would definitely recommend hasbean though

Khannie

Found another place in the UK that ship to Ireland. Much cheaper than other places I've seen. Here's a link to their green coffee section.

L31mr0d

Just a note. I ordered from coffeebeans.ie and received my beans in under 2 days. They come in silver sealed bags with a valve to let out the CO2, much like the ones Fallon and Byrne use.

Their prices are pretty good, better than what I was paying getting my beans from M&D's and Ariosa in Dublin.

ednwireland

see as this is a coffe and tea forum

can i add nothing but tea http://nbtea.co.uk

for any tea fans out there

rgunson

http://LondiniumEspresso.com

Bespoke mail order coffee.

Mr Magnolia

Square Mile Roasters London based roastery, involving Stephen Morrissey, 2008 World Barista Champion. I'm waiting on a delivery at the minute...

eclectichoney

Clive mcCabe
http://www.clivemccabes.com/

Minimum order 6kg though! But a decent price at around €17 per kilo. He does the beans you can buy in the Butler's pantry stores as well.

RE*AC*TOR

Coffee Angel Webshop

http://www.coffeeangel.com/index_shop.php

IpreDictDeatH

http://www.palaisdesthes.com/en/index.htm

IsThatSo?

avoid coffeeitalia.ie

newbies, search this forum for various issues with them.

Gran Hermano

Coffee blogs/podcasts

http://www.hasblog.co.uk/ or www.inmymug.com

http://www.commongrind.co.uk/

http://www.portafilter.net/

stimpson

Just got grinder burrs and a couple of other grinder parts from http://www.espressoparts.co.uk

Had issues with processing my credit card online, but a quick call sorted it. Cheapest burrs I could find too.

Draupnir

Not really an online resource but a coffee one none the less, I have just launched my own Coffee based iPhone Application: http://itunes.com/app/whereiscoffee?

Basically it's a iPhone/iPod Touch coffee shop locator and reviewer. Most of our data is US based at the moment and I would love to see some Boardsie getting involved and adding Irish coffee shops, I myself shall be adding 3FE to the database tomorrow

Cheers guys

plutoh

www.a1coffee.co.uk ship free to Ireland since last week

eclectichoney

Guys, has anyone used http://www.discountcoffee.ie/coffee-beans ???

kayleeabc

thanks for ur useful info. i like coffee and always buy it in the supermarket.

kayleeabc

thank your for so much coffee sources. i much keen on Kona Coffee.

Berty

Try these Blogs - Links courtesy of Espresso Warehouse and Matthew Algie

http://www.espressowarehouse.com/home/links.html

Espresso Warehouse wrote:

James Hoffmann www.jimseven.com
Current WBC champion, friend and all round good egg. He also photographed our latest catalogue.

Chris Baca www.chrisbaca.wordpress.com
Not prolific in terms of blogging but he did win our throw down in Milan 07.

Stephen Morrissey www.flyingthud.wordpress.com
Irish Barista who has done some mighty fine photography for us in the past.

Ryan Wilbur http://ghostbarista.wordpress.com/
Prolific poster on Coffeed Ryan Wilbur - young and enthusiastic barista never short of an opinion.

Deaton Pigot http://deaton.wordpress.com/
Originally part of the Irish barista mafia - now plying his trade worldwide while not writing for barista magazine.

Tim Wendelboe http://timwendelboe.blogspot.com/
2004 WBC champion now roasting some great coffee - read down the page - some of it is in English.

Klaus Thomsen http://coffeecollective.blogspot.com/
2006 WBC champion - Friend & master roaster at Kontra Coffee.

Barista Magazine http://baristamagazine.com/blog/
New (ish) blog of our favourite coffee craft magazine.

zagmund

FYI - it looks like Happy Donkey have had enough of troublesome people living in hills, caves, under bridges or otherwise beyond the pale - http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/uk-mainland-only.html

I wonder what it is about the parts of the UK that he won't deliver to - presumably if it has a postcode there should be a similar standard of delivery, whether it's in the far end of Scotland, Newry or London EC1. Hey ho.

z

Please note that as from today 26/01/2010 we now ONLY ship to the UK Mainland.

We no longer ship to southern or northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey,Isle of man, Scottish Highlands and Islands or anywhere outside of mainland UK.

This is due to the fact that shipping to these destinations has proved difficult and time consuming.

Please note that there are NO EXCEPTIONS to the rule, please do not E-mail us asking us about this as these mails will not be replied to.

sebphoto

Where can I get coffee in a can e.g. 500g ground 80% arabica 20% robusta (except online) in Dublin?

Sinfonia

sebphoto wrote: »

Where can I get coffee in a can e.g. 500g ground 80% arabica 20% robusta (except online) in Dublin?

Nick's do really nice coffee that they roast themselves twice a week.
Go in and grab a bag of beans, ask them to grind it for you if you don't have a grinder yourself! Also ask about their blends of Arabica and Robusta and see if it suits what you need.

Bald Barista sell Fixx coffee, they'll grind it for you too.

Bewley's should be able to help too.

Otherwise there are supermarkets, although I'm not sure about the 80/20 ratio (but then I haven't been looking for it)

sebphoto

Sinfonia wrote: »

Nick's do really nice coffee that they roast themselves twice a week.
Go in and grab a bag of beans, ask them to grind it for you if you don't have a grinder yourself! Also ask about their blends of Arabica and Robusta and see if it suits what you need.

Bald Barista sell Fixx coffee, they'll grind it for you too.

Bewley's should be able to help too.

Otherwise there are supermarkets, although I'm not sure about the 80/20 ratio (but then I haven't been looking for it)

Thanks a million! I know I need to get good grinder first and second thing would be coffee machine as my old one died recently

sebphoto

Have anyone bought something from them www.fastshopping.eu ?

sebphoto

sebphoto wrote: »

Have anyone bought something from them www.fastshopping.eu ?

No one? They have good price for Gaggia Classic and i'm still hesitating.

mandarin

No idea about that fastshopping.eu site, apart from noting a 99% rating for their shop on Ebay. Is a vg price for the Gaggia alright, although Amazon also have it on offer at the moment (£175).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaggia-Classic-Machine-Professional-Stainless/dp/tech-data/B0000C72XS/ref=de_a_smtd

sebphoto

mandarin wrote: »

No idea about that fastshopping.eu site, apart from noting a 99% rating for their shop on Ebay. Is a vg price for the Gaggia alright, although Amazon also have it on offer at the moment (£175).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaggia-Classic-Machine-Professional-Stainless/dp/tech-data/B0000C72XS/ref=de_a_smtd

hey, i'd go for amazon rather than any other 3rd party website located in the middle of nowhere
i didn't saw that offer on amazon recently. thanks!

Gotham Knight

sebphoto wrote: »

Thanks a million! I know I need to get good grinder first and second thing would be coffee machine as my old one died recently

Don't know whether you've got yourself a grinder yet. I recently got into grinding after years of using pre-ground coffee and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I needed a grinder that would go fine enough for espresso and I looked at lots of online reviews and decided on Baratza.

I bought a Virtuoso Preciso from Karl at Coffee Angel. Not cheap at €300, but I wanted something that would give a decent, consistent grind, and the reviews were very positive. And you get what you pay for with these things. I had some problems with the machine but the service from Karl and also the importers (Marco Beverages in Sandyford) was excellent. I got a replacement with no fuss, and even got input from the Baratza company president!

So I'm a fan. And I've realised that having a grinder is as important (maybe more so) than having a good coffee machine.

sebphoto

Gotham Knight wrote: »

Don't know whether you've got yourself a grinder yet. I recently got into grinding after years of using pre-ground coffee and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I needed a grinder that would go fine enough for espresso and I looked at lots of online reviews and decided on Baratza.

I bought a Virtuoso Preciso from Karl at Coffee Angel. Not cheap at €300, but I wanted something that would give a decent, consistent grind, and the reviews were very positive. And you get what you pay for with these things. I had some problems with the machine but the service from Karl and also the importers (Marco Beverages in Sandyford) was excellent. I got a replacement with no fuss, and even got input from the Baratza company president!

So I'm a fan. And I've realised that having a grinder is as important (maybe more so) than having a good coffee machine.

No I didn't get grinder yet. Baratza stuff seems to be really good recommendation, however I'd rather get something less expensive and i'd go for Iberital MC2. Firstly though I need to find out a way to get it from UK somehow
I have same feeling that grinder is very important factor, but you know - budget is tight, so i have to keep that in mind or else i'll end up with nice Mazzler

Gotham Knight

sebphoto wrote: »

No I didn't get grinder yet. Baratza stuff seems to be really good recommendation, however I'd rather get something less expensive and i'd go for Iberital MC2. Firstly though I need to find out a way to get it from UK somehow
I have same feeling that grinder is very important factor, but you know - budget is tight, so i have to keep that in mind or else i'll end up with nice Mazzler

Completely understand that one. I scoured sites as well to see who would ship to Ireland. I just fell for the Baratza reviews and, tbh, spent more than I originally planned. Have ended up happy though. Let's face it, I don't really need to eat every day do I?

I'd just make two follow-up points. If or when anything goes wrong with the grinder it's handy to be able to return it locally rather than shipping back overseas. I think that's worth a small premium over overseas web prices. Certainly I would check out what cost, if any, you might bear on returns. Secondly, when you're making a final decision I'd suggest using the price of the Virtuoso (not the Preciso), which is available at €200 from coffeeangel, as a useful cost benchmark.

The Iberital gets good write-ups though. Looks like a good choice.

Happy hunting!

PPC

I had an MC2 for about 4 weeks before I sold it
It was ok but I really wasn't happy with the coffee produced from it. I upgraded to a Mahlkonig/Baratza Vario and regret having wasted 4 weeks with the MC2.

sebphoto

PPC wrote: »

I had an MC2 for about 4 weeks before I sold it
It was ok but I really wasn't happy with the coffee produced from it. I upgraded to a Mahlkonig/Baratza Vario and regret having wasted 4 weeks with the MC2.

That's first bad opinion about MC2, but good to know that.
Anyways I've received Gaggia Classic from amazon, but they didn't send tiny plastic thing which is called 'frothing jet device'.

Can I get such thing somewhere in Dublin?

Sinfonia

sebphoto wrote: »

That's first bad opinion about MC2, but good to know that.
Anyways I've received Gaggia Classic from amazon, but they didn't send tiny plastic thing which is called 'frothing jet device'.

Can I get such thing somewhere in Dublin?

It looks like the little widget for a pressurised filter basket, is that what it is?
If so, you'd be better off just getting a normal double basket, or better yet, a VST basket from Square Mile Coffee (excellent delivery service)

sebphoto

Sinfonia wrote: »

It looks like the little widget for a pressurised filter basket, is that what it is?
If so, you'd be better off just getting a normal double basket, or better yet, a VST basket from Square Mile Coffee (excellent delivery service)

VST looks good, however I'm not professional barista to pay few times more for something what I'll use twice per day. Maybe I'm not on right side of the force, but you know - coffeehit asks Ł5 for double basket
Anyways your recommendation is really good.
By the way who on earth is responsible for such crap as pressurized filter basket or that stupid tiny plastic thing.. damn.

Sinfonia

sebphoto wrote: »

VST looks good, however I'm not professional barista to pay few times more for something what I'll use twice per day. Maybe I'm not on right side of the force, but you know - coffeehit asks Ł5 for double basket
Anyways your recommendation is really good.
By the way who on earth is responsible for such crap as pressurized filter basket or that stupid tiny plastic thing.. damn.

Someone else on this forum also bought a Classic from amazon and they sent it with the pressurised basket with no widget, dunno what they're playing at!
Fair enough about the VST, I decided to get one straight off because the technique used with it is different from the standard and I figured I might as well learn on the better equipment, figuring I'd eventually want it anyway.
But yeah, I'd say at the very least get a standard double instead of the pressurised one.

sebphoto

Sinfonia wrote: »

Someone else on this forum also bought a Classic from amazon and they sent it with the pressurised basket with no widget, dunno what they're playing at!
Fair enough about the VST, I decided to get one straight off because the technique used with it is different from the standard and I figured I might as well learn on the better equipment, figuring I'd eventually want it anyway.
But yeah, I'd say at the very least get a standard double instead of the pressurised one.

That's really weird. I bought so many items on amazon and I never had such issues. I hope once I'll get rid of that pressurised basket I won't have to buy new portafilter. Maybe Watermark in Citywest will have in stock these baskets, any ideas?

PPC

+1 on the VST as well.
I use my machine once a day, and its because I use it so little that I want to make sure I'm creating the best quality product that I can.
It may seem like a bit of an initial payout, but in the long run its worth it.
The cheap baskets will do the job, but I'm a lot happier since upgrading.

Gotham Knight

Sinfonia wrote: »

...you'd be better off just getting a normal double basket, or better yet, a VST basket from Square Mile Coffee (excellent delivery service)

Hadn't come across the VST before. But once I read this review I was hooked and I've just ordered one.

Thanks for the tip guys.