Let's Talk About Coffee Machines ....

[Alee Enn]

So, I want to buy a coffee machine. I'm thinking of something like a barista style machine that makes espressos, but has a steam nozzle for making frothy milk (for lattes or cappuccinos) and I have a budget of about £100 (112 Euro at time of writing).

I don't want something that uses pods to make a single coffee.

Does anyone have any recommendations?
Will it be easy to use?
Will it be easy to clean?
Will it use ground coffee?
etc

I've never had one before and am unsure how to use one, but if students in CostaStarCoffeeBucks can do it, it can't be that hard ... right?

[Rice]

~112€ for a "automatic" coffe machine sounds not enough. as i'm aware the price ranges from 200 (plastic version, soso, to okay) up to 2k€
friend of mine has a "DeLonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.110.B" but thats total plastic but does it job without a "fancy display", and no Bachelor in Engineering is needed to get it cleaned, and grounds the Coffee as needed asfar i understood him.

personally i own a frenchpress(20€) and a seperated manual coffee grinder(60€), but i just drink Coffee with milk and sugar

[clakclak]

~112€ for a "automatic" coffe machine sounds not enough. as i'm aware the price ranges from 200 (plastic version, soso, to okay) up to 2k€
friend of mine has a "DeLonghi Magnifica S ECAM 22.110.B" but thats total plastic but does it job without a "fancy display", and no Bachelor in Engineering is needed to get it cleaned, and grounds the Coffee as needed asfar i understood him.
[...]

While I don't have the model I know many people that do. Probably a solid choice but it is around 250€ if I am not wrong, so way over budget.

[CBJ]

Most people these days seem to buy "pod"-based coffee machines. I don't know a lot about these, but they would almost certainly meet your criteria of being easy to use and clean. The up-front cost for them also tends to be lower because, as with printers, the manufacturers often sell the equipment cheaply and make their money on the consumables.

The more old-fashioned machines, like the old Gaggia one I have, are more expensive to buy, and frankly a bit of a pain to maintain, but the quality of the coffee they produce is pretty much limited only by the quality of what you put in them. Unlike the pod-based machines, you can choose whatever coffee you like, choose whether to buy it ground or grind it yourself just before you use it, and so on.

Then again, I don't drink coffee any more, so maybe you shouldn't take advice from me.

[Rice]

Touche, if it just has to be espresso and "creative variants", cbj has recommended a great brand. but i can't tell anything about the products in the given price segment
. but the" Gran Gaggia Style" fits gently in the searched price segment as it can use groundcoffee or coffepods and has a noozle for the milk.

guess i had the wrong "coffeemaker" system in my mind

[birdtable]

Tried a few coffee machines, even with Blue Mountain Jamaican beans which in my opinion were very expensive and overrated ....
In the end settled for pods,, quick, easily maintained and delivered an enjoyable coffee... and no faff.
All a matter of taste and convenience... which like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... or should I say taste buds.

[Rug]

If you want to pick up a second-hand bargain, I hear that CJB has a machine, but doesn't drink coffee any more

Rug

[fiksal]

Am I not to late? I'd like to add

So, I want to buy a coffee machine. I'm thinking of something like a barista style machine that makes espressos, but has a steam nozzle for making frothy milk (for lattes or cappuccinos) and I have a budget of about £100 (112 Euro at time of writing).

Solid choice, go for it.

I don't want something that uses pods to make a single coffee.

Does anyone have any recommendations?
Will it be easy to use?
Will it be easy to clean?
Will it use ground coffee?
etc

Dont use pods. They are several times more expensive than coffee beans. I mean from 2x to 10x.

Also it's a lot of waste.


I have a $100 espresso machine. It's low end, for sure.

1. It is easy to use. You take a thing, load it with ground coffee, put it in, got coffee. Wash it, wash the steam nozzle. Working the nozzle takes work and practice, but results are good.

2. Nozzle when used needs to be wiped immediately, otherwise the burned in milk will be harder to clean. I didnt clean insides of the machine yet, but everything else is just - rince and repeat.

3. espresso machines only use ground coffee. You have a couple of attachments to use, but usually it's self explanatory - load it, press it down (it filters better when pressed down) and make coffee.



Other considerations:

I have this machine

I call it low end because it doesnt confirm to fancy mustache coffee maker's standards of constant pressure. It is probably good to have constant pressure, but I dont care. The cheap machines will have their quirks. Mine, eventually lost its seal and sprays hot water and coffee grains if I dont hold the handle when making coffee. So I just always hold it when I make coffee, no big deal (they do it at shops as well, so it's common sense anyways)

It makes good milk foam, I see no reason to complain.

I can clean it in a minute and have it ready for another cup.

Espresso that it makes is excellent; and from there you can take it to make a cappuccino or just an americano.

You have to grind coffee. There are fancy grinders that get you even grind, or the ones that dont and you have to use your eye. Start with your eye. You'll see that smell of ground coffee is so much better. Keep the beans in a fridge though. (as far as I know, this is better, and especially better if you want to save grounded beans)


Coffee choices. Oh you have so many then. From all the ground coffee bags to all the coffee bean bags. Including all the fancy coffee bean shops if you venture there. And it's worth it. Some of the coffee that I buy sometimes is amazing. I get my favorite hazelnut beans dark coffee, which when grounded smells and tastes amazing; then there's already grounded maple coffee which smell makes everyone at work jealous. In a fancy shop I can get a coffee that's bitter and smells like baked bread - odd, but man it's worth the money.



Parallel choices:

I call it that, because why not have such machine at home for nice coffee anyways, in addition to below.

Keurig machine with multi cup / multi use pod attachment. Same idea, you grind coffee and you load it. You dont use their KCups, unless you really want to. Keurig though will never make you an espresso. If you like americano style coffee, this will do it faster than the espresso machine + adding hot water. It's the only thing it makes. Keurig one tends to come out more filtered and less grainy. Which I consider a plus for americano.

A filter cup. Either just a filter on a cup of coffee, which can get you an espresso-like taste in 10 or so minutes of filtering. (I had this at work)
Or, an Aerospress sort of thing. Can do the same quality (and arguably better) but much faster. This is good when you dont have any machines nearby. (I use it at work; and cant recommend it highly enough)

I say no for French press. Make tea in it. That's all.

[silenced]

That's my coffee machine:



Easy to handle, cheap, easy to clean, no costs in the long run, and perfectly fine coffee. Sure, takes it's time, but it's always delicious.

[Morkonan]

This is my coffee-maker. There are many like it, but this one is mine: Mrcoffee - 12 cup coffee-maker

It makes coffee from some brown ground-up and powdered stuff that I buy at the grocery store.

From the previous thread discussion we had on this subject, I learned that an "automatic drip coffee maker" isn't too common in the UK and some other places. But, it works great and keeps my circulatory system from having too much blood in it. I live for caffeine. It is why I exist. Without it, I am nothing. Without me, it is nothing...

That doesn't have any fancy parts for espresso, cappuccino, cream/milk steaming, etc, but you can get models with those things. There are plenty of side-by-side combo models where you could brew either a traditional coffee or a cappuccino/espresso.

I wouldn't mind having a "French Press" sort of setup, either, but not for my usual cups in the morning. I'd just like it so I could look sophisticated, with a nice French Press and those tiny little 1-cup cups. (Who drinks out of a coffee-cup that is actually only 1-cup in volume?)

The above machines can't be simpler or easier to clean or operate. Mr. Coffee is all over the place, so either they or someone like them has a similar product where you are.

[pjknibbs]

From the previous thread discussion we had on this subject, I learned that an "automatic drip coffee maker" isn't too common in the UK and some other places.

My parents had one when I was growing up, but we call those "coffee percolators", which might be why they appear to be rare if you're calling them something different? As an example, here's a common UK store which has several of them:

http://www.argos.co.uk/search/percolator/

[korio]

I have almost stopped drinking "hot" brewed coffee, i only drink it at work when the one i bring from home is gone

I usually do a 5L bottle of cold brew coffee, and i drink 1L or more a day.

I like fancy coffees, but lately i just enjoy more the taste of cold brewed coffee.

Anyway, the machine recommended by morkonan should work great (we usually have the same kind of machines on Spain) and you have plenty of budget to seek for a steam milk attachment or something similar.

[CBJ]

From the previous thread discussion we had on this subject, I learned that an "automatic drip coffee maker" isn't too common in the UK and some other places.

They may not be so common now, since the rise of the pod machines, but they used to be all over the place. Most offices I went into used to have one, and lots of households had them to make "proper" coffee for visitors even if most of the inhabitants drank instant.

[Mightysword]

That's my coffee machine:



Easy to handle, cheap, easy to clean, no costs in the long run, and perfectly fine coffee. Sure, takes it's time, but it's always delicious.

Saw this thread early today at work and was waiting to get home to reply to it. But I was planning to post the same. I had gone through several machine and I don't think anything beat a slow-dripping french press. Kinda funny we keep trying to invent expensive machines to do something that an antiquated method can already do to almost perfection

[BigBANGtheory]

Pod based coffee is really about saving time and convenience. I'm not a great fan of these machines either but I understand why people use them if they are in a rush in the morning.

Personally I use a lever machine from La Pavoni but I'm afraid the budget you've set is going to limit your choices. If memory serves Krups used to do a decent little machine for the price, worth looking at and also 2nd hand machines from eBay.

[Alee Enn]

I wish I could give posts a thumbs up, there's some great advice here (which isn't surprising, I respect all of you).

My £100 budget is flexible, I'm thinking of getting a SMEG one for about £280 (they are also cheaper), so that gives you an idea of how flexible my budget is.

[CBJ]

As with most of their products, the SMEG machine looks great, and if that's a priority then go for it. Don't expect it to necessarily be the be the best, functionally, for the price though. I have a SMEG fridge which I've had for quite a few years, and it's starting to look like I might need to replace it soon. While I still love the look of it, and they still sell an almost identical model, I'm not sure I can justify spending that much again for a fridge that has performed only averagely over the years. I've also been told by a couple of people that their non-refrigeration appliances are usually worse than their fridges, but that's just hearsay.

[Chips]

I'll join Mork, I like filter coffee - it tastes great (and you can obviously grind your own or buy pre-ground of any variety).

Never got on with the frothy/milky coffee, and espresso can never slake a thirst either I may have pauper coffee tastes, but i likes what i likes.

If you struggle in your price range, may be worthwhile checking out second hand quality units. Depending upon where you are, you may be able to get all sorts of gadgets/gizmos second hand once people bought expensive, never use, and try to offload. They're definitely one of those things that had a spurt of people buying, but after a few months/a year many people ease up and give up.

[Alee Enn]

As with most of their products, the SMEG machine looks great, and if that's a priority then go for it. Don't expect it to necessarily be the be the best, functionally, for the price though. I have a SMEG fridge which I've had for quite a few years, and it's starting to look like I might need to replace it soon. While I still love the look of it, and they still sell an almost identical model, I'm not sure I can justify spending that much again for a fridge that has performed only averagely over the years. I've also been told by a couple of people that their non-refrigeration appliances are usually worse than their fridges, but that's just hearsay.

Interesting. I will re-look at my choices. Certainly looks are not important ... especially if someone has experience with a brand's products.
I did like how they looked though, I don't mind being honest.

[jlehtone]

Our version of a percolator
(But images model has larger window.)

Must be over 40 years old, but still as good as new (and spares still available).