Hi all ,
I have never tried coffee but have decided to give it a go so looking for some advice please I have quite a sweet tooth so something really bitter is a no no .
For a beginner what would you recommend I try?
Thanks

Do you mean ground coffee? How are you going to be making it, in a cafetiere for example (it's a cheap option for a beginner)? Are you going to be buying ready ground or do you plan to go the whole hog and grind the beans yourself?

I'd say buy a cafetiere for a start and you can get a good quality one with BS heat resistant glass cheaply and easily from Wilkinsons, single mug size about £3, 3-5 mug size about five or six quid, or a single mug one without the certified glass from a 99p store.

I think that the permanent plastic framed filters on the 99p ones are better than the all metal ones that you have to take apart in the expensive ones (and they're the same size) so look out for this type of filter. You'll need to rinse out the filter in cold water after every brew so the easier it is to do the better.

If you've got a B&M store near you then they frequently have expensive and unusual ground coffee blends going cheap, and these will give you the opportunity to taste good coffee for a small outlay whilst you get aquainted with the different flavours. The packets will say on a panel somewhere the origin of the beans, what the characteristics of the coffee are and the flavours they produce. The book below will guide you much better than me.

In both B&M and Home Bargains they continuously stock small bags of Lyons ground coffee for cafetieres for 59p I think. I should explain that different methods of brewing the coffee use different grinds of the beans, some more coarse than others. There's a rich, dark, and strong after dinner type with a red label and a milder all day coffee with a green label. Try one of each and take it from there.

Coffees are measured in strengths, 1 through to 5, getting stronger and more intense on the way up. People tend to call the strength 5 ones 'after dinner' and a strength 3-4 as a morning coffee and a strength 2 or 3 an all-day coffee. Different countries produce different types of beans with distinct individual flavours and aromas, the more highly prized of which will cost (relatively) a lot of money to buy...and it must be fresh, that's important.

When I first started buying ground coffee way back in 1990 I bought a lighthearted and informative book that was a great help and I was fortunate to live near to a an old family firm specialist coffee grinder who taught me a lot about the beans. There's some delicious coffees that you can buy online now, if there isn't a good grinder handy for you, as far removed from instant coffee as the earth is from the sun.

The book I mentioned is Coffee by Claudia Roden. You can buy a good used one from Amazon for £2.81: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coffee-Claud...a+roden+coffee

Assuming you mean proper coffee. When it comes to fresh coffee i like Ethiopian Mocha Djimmah. Its not very strong(more like an all day coffee than a strong wake up) its very smooth. The taste varies a bit dependent on the roast and where exactly it comes from but its a big favorite among coffee drinkers.

http://www.coffee-direct.co.uk/coffee/origin/mocha

If you really do have a sweet tooth though, i've gone back to a lot of the flavored coffees lately and these guys are great for price and quality. Although i would recommend buying it ground because some grinders get clogged up with whatever they flavor it with.

http://www.beaniesflavourco.co.uk/in...e-premium.html

If you like your coffee with sugar and it sounds like you do (I do too), then drop the nasty white refined sugar and buy Billington's Demerera natural unrefined cane sugar instead. It's over £2 for a 1k bag in Asda but worth every penny with ground coffee. You can economise with 750g bags of Barbados Golden Granulated sugar, naturally milled, for 99p in B&M. I buy this all the time and don't have white refined sugar with any drinks at home.

You should really drink it with single cream as well, rather than milk, although I use Elmlea red label as a lower fat and longer lasting alternative and it very nearly tastes the same.

I reckon the best of the widely available supermarket ground coffees is Tesco's French......rated 5 for strength

I make it in a cafetierre

Taylor's 'lazy Sunday' is a lovely blend if using a cafetiere/machine. If not Millicano is lovely and my firm favourite. I do like whitener with my coffee as opposed to milk tho'.