I suppose we need to know what type of coffee you prefer to drink? Espresso or filter? with milk or without? then into flavours aka notes; nutty, chocolate, fruity, floral....etc then a wide range of price will be available!! to get an idea of price and a wide variety of beans check out www.beanshipper.com

A good value for money beans is to enjoy every sip of the coffee without feeling "eeeewwwwww"  

Welcome to the caffeine club!! i tend to overdose me self but who can resist good coffee!!   

Coffee puck is good for the garden i usually have a plastic over my container and once its full wrap it up and smash it before laying it down on the plants. then viola the plants are so awake it tend to bloom with flowers!! 

Affordability is subjective as others have said. If you're just starting out, go cheap and work your way up. Some ppl are happy with Charbucks, some are happy with more commercial roasters like Coffex, some are happy with online websites like beanshipper.com, blaqcoffee.com etc, some also get from homeroasters like ymeng85. If you already have a favorite coffee place, try their beans too.

A few pages before this wshazi shared a list of coffee suppliers so that should help.

Here it is:

Hmm.... well if you can accept sbuck beans, i don't think you have problem with many carried in the supermarket. SAM or Cold storage or Giant. They have those 1KG bags beans which cost RM110+. Tesco finest or BON cafe.

Maybe you need to try out fresh roast beans vs supermarket type.

For long run, home roast will be cheaper and cheaper"ER" if you get cheap grade beans but taste 

Its all about personal preference anyway... Happy Coffee...

Bye, for areopress, did u get the metal filter?

I too started with Starbucks beans. I guess we tend to start off with things that we are familiar with.
But like what others pointed out, do try Freshly roasted beans (roasted within the week) as compared to off the shelf beans with Expiry date.
An advise given to me back then when i purchase beans was --> look for beans packed with "Roasted on" dates, rather than "Expire by" dates, the difference in the quality of beans/espresso pretty much speaks for itself.

Personally I get my beans from Beanshipper, their cheaper but good beans - Shipper blend goes for RM39 (500gm). Else you can check out the cheaper Malaysia Liberica beans (haven't tried them before though).

Shipper blend is their blend which they work with local roasters to come out with it. I'm currently brewing that. don't worry on their packaging & service as they are coffee lovers and know what they are doing!! they do offer free delivery but only above RM100. i usually buy once a month

Yes only buy beans with roasted date on them!! not expiry which you can find in supermarkets.

Btw its not RM39 for 500g but 250g. @castreal

P/s: im not affiliate or work for them but i do find they have wide variety of beans and blends and price!!

Yes they state the roasted date on the packaging. The rest you'll have to find out on your own

I personally don't like shipper blend, but then again my taste tends toward light/medium type roasts.

BackToBasics; check out Mister Coffee. They don't have Roasted On dates but from my experience the beans are very freshly roasted. Their upside is their blends go for RM 40-ish to RM60-ish for 500gm and ship anything more than RM 60 for free.

Not quite subscription quality but substantially better than supermarket yet at supermarket prices.

At some point you should experiment with roasting your own. At your consumption rate it won't be much cheaper, but the freshness is incomparable.

This is my el-cheapo home made knock box.  All the parts are purchased from Daiso. I've been using it for more than 2 years.  The used puck I put in toilets as air freshener and some I gave to friends.  They used it as a scrub.

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Hand brew is best done with fresh bean.

Where are u located.  I got my fresh bean supply from my espresso (KF chan) RM33/250 gram.  His cafe very near to my home.

I've too subscribed to auresso/blaq/beanshipper before. Beans arrived on time. I'm spoilt for choices. 😂

My favorite Starbuck beans is the blonde roast so I think you'll see where I'm heading

Poke around beanshipper, I like the stuff from Beam and sprezzatura particularly the Ethiopian single origin ones. The specific availability changes seasonally. I've also tried mistercoffee (fresh, ships quickly, but too dark for my taste), le bistro (fresh, nice blends, inconsistent shipping) and antipodean (very fresh but I got bored of Sumatran beans). Will have to try ymeng85's blend next round

My humble 2 cents:

Most people who hand brew will prefer beans that are roasted for filter coffee, meaning not for espresso.

Since you're hand brewing, try some beans that are roasted for filter coffee. Trying is never cheap, you'll spend lots of money if you're searching for what you like. And what you like changes as your coffee appreciation improves.

Beanshipper.com has a drip pack, with 8 packs from 4 different kinds of  coffee beans roasted for filtered coffee, 2 packs each. It's RM30, not cheap, but refer to paragraph above.

How about you tell us where you're at most of the time,  ie stay / work / study / hangout.  Maybe there are good cafes near you. The best baristas and roasters are very helpful with newbies. Some run classes on coffee appreciation.

Another reason to visit good cafes is to know what some of the best baristas in Malaysia are capable of brewing with what kind of beans. Try different cafes, different origins, different brewing methods, and watch them do it, chat with them. Then practise practise practise.

After that you'll be throwing away that Starbucks card for life

(P/S: I still keep my Starbucks card...but that's another story altogether)

(P/P/S: Ah you're in PJ. Not sure about DU, but The Roast Things is not that far away. Beam in Sri Damansara is 20 mins away. Pulp in Bangsar if you feel like a hipster for the day...Three Little Birds are decent.  Just to name a few)

I have only been roasting for the past few months, so can only speak from my experience so far. I find roasting to my level of appreciation to be relatively easy. Totally agree with wshazi that the challenge for home roasting is to achieve consistency; however I am not so picky to only accept one level of roast. After all, I still enjoy switching different beans & blends almost every batch anyways.

Still, in your case it is definitely true that your first upgrade path should be to grind your own, just before brewing. No single change in your routine will improve your coffee experience as much as this. There is no substitute to freshly ground beans for ANY brew method.

Last I checked a Hario Skerton costs less than RM 200 and is easily available at any AEON Jusco, Isetan or most Parkson or online.

Haha... seems like we can start group buy for CREAM and PURVEYOR already 
Buy 1 KG of each then split

I'm good for 250 to 500g. Lemme know if u order

Coming from a beginner just like you. I started off just like u not long ago too.

I attended classes and all.... and few mths back i proudly got myself a breville barista express and was very happy with it........... For 2 mths

Now i regret not getting a better machine...

Firstly, and FAR more importantly....have you got your grinder sorted out? Espresso is totally unforgiving in terms of grinder quality... consistency, fineness, and adjustability.

I think after much research you will find all budget espresso machines sorely lacking in many aspects. Things begin to get acceptable at the RM3k level with Breville machines, but there are still compromises. Of course secondhand units are good deals but it takes time and patience to come across the one that fits your requirements and budget.

If you are open to considering another option, the Flair espresso maker will meet your sub-RM1k budget. If you research the forums you will find nearly unanimous agreement the device pulls fantastic espresso.

Breville's barista express is a good start at 3k.

many wld frown if i say this, maybe u can consider capsule coffee like nespresso?

@BacktoBasics,

The unit jaga is selling above is one of the better brands IMHO, and 3.5K for both the Macap & Rocket would be a steal (if he is selling as a package), also IMHO.
Of course this is under the assumption if the machines are still working well  Prices for brand new units of these combo is easily more than RM 10k.
Personally, I'm using Breville DB, and it has been serving me well for the past 3 years.