What Type of Coffee Is Used In a Coffee-Maker?

Question

I come from a land of tea-drinkers and have only recently taken a fancy to coffee. I just ordered this coffee-maker for myself, which is the first that I'll ever own.

I am a bit perplexed as to what type of coffee is used in a coffee-maker. It gets all the more confusing since I couldn't get my hands on all the types on the internet.

Until now, I had been making coffee with the help of this Nescafe.

Is this instant or ground coffee? What is the difference between the two? Can they be used in my coffee-maker?

Along with the coffee-maker, I also ordered myself a bottle of Grandos Espresso Instant Coffee. Would I be able to make it with the help of my coffee-maker?

Answer 1

Ground coffee is just the roasted coffee beans ground up to a fine powder. In order to make the beverage coffee, you need to combine this with hot water to extract the flavour (there are many different ways to do this). Typically, there is a filter that makes sure that the water can pass through the ground coffee but none of the ground ends up in your drink.

Instant coffee is dried brewed coffee - they grind up the coffee beans, brew the coffee and then remove the water.

A coffee machine or coffee maker is used for brewing coffee from ground coffee, not instant coffee. Instant coffee powder just needs to be rehydrated, so adding hot water is enough. It will completely dissolve in the water, which the ground in a coffee maker will not.

The machine you bought seems to be an espresso machine (it puts the water with high pressure through the ground coffee). This requires a relatively fine ground. Preground espresso will probably work, or you can also buy a grinder and grind the beans yourself. It also seems to have a pressurized filter basket, which means it will be quite forgiving and therefore easy to use.

Answer 2

You have bought a wonderful coffee machine which produces espresso (concentrated coffee) which can be consumed whole or mixed with milk/water to create amazing drinks such as latte's or cappuccinos but not limited to these.

To make it simple for you, I will make a short list of what you need to produce coffee on that machine.

1. Coffee Beans - I would suggest to step into Starbucks/Costa/Coffee Day or any similar retailer and ask for espresso blend/beans/roast. If you can find the manager, explain the situation and ask for tasting.

2. Coffee Bean Grinder - You need something like this http://www.amazon.in/dp/B003U2V5GS or similar, but do make sure that the grinder you buy is capable of producing a fine grind, as we want the coffee powder to produce espresso, this is crucial.

The coffee you produce with this method will be divine, the aroma will fill up your spaces for sure. What is critical is that you store the beans in their original form and grind only what you need, that will produce the freshest and tastiest coffee.

Answer 3

That is instant coffee(you only need hot water to make it). Like Niko said ground coffee are coffee beans ground to small bits.

Looks like you've bought a good espresso coffee maker. You need to find espresso coffee for that machine. My favorites are Lavazza http://www.lavazza.com/ and http://shop.meinl.com/default . I usualy buy whole grain coffee and grind it at my home. You can also make espresso coffee using espresso coffee pods (E.S.E. easy serving espresso). Pods are basicaly grounded espresso coffee put in small pods, so you don't have to ground it at home.

If you want to make good coffee with that machine buy some good quality espresso coffee. Read the manual for your machine to make good coffee.

Edit: Don't make espresso with Grandos Espresso Instant Coffee(don't ever make espresso with that machine if you don't have espresso coffee!), until you buy real espresso coffee you can make instant (put one or two tea spoons in your mug and sip boiled or near boiled water over it)/

Answer 4

Coffee maker usually only process ground coffee. If you put instant coffee in it, it's gonna get messy inside-out.

So, ground coffee can only be processed with coffee maker to produce coffee that is really concentrated, unlike the taste of 3-in-1 and instant coffee.

While 3-in-1 or instant coffee, only need a cup with hot water to produce coffee.

If you are serious about coffee drinking, you should invest to learn more about ground coffee. Instant coffee is just for casual coffee drinker