Coffee machines...

[Lee_M]

To answer the original question I have a de longhi magnifica and its excellent once you've set it to your own preference (i have the water down low and the coffee voulme up high).

Why anyone would want the hassle of using a stove top is beyond me - the difference in taste isn't worth the hassle or the wait compared with pressing a single button first thing in the morning. YOMV

 

[Tin Pot]

Coincidentally I arose this morning to find Id bought beans by mistake and had to hand grind my coffee. Dumped it in the cafetière to produce a very weak coffee.

In fairness my hand grinder is my dads from before he died in 2001 and hasn’t been used since - is there a trick to it, or do you simply need an expensive grinder?

Produces very course grounds.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I’ve also had a Delonghi Magnifica for a number of years which has been excellent.

Mine is the most basic model with the manual steam/frothing option which is not often used as I drink my coffee unpoluted by milk.

I would say that this machine, along with my Kindle are the only two items I own that would be replaced immediately should they ever go wrong.

I think if the op drinks milky coffee, then the machine they linked to earlier would be a better option.

Graham

 

[vickster]

Coincidentally I arose this morning to find Id bought beans by mistake and had to hand grind my coffee. Dumped it in the cafetière to produce a very weak coffee.

In fairness my hand grinder is my dads from before he died in 2001 and hasn’t been used since - is there a trick to it, or do you simply need an expensive grinder?

Produces very course grounds.

Maybe it's knackered?
Doesn't a cafetière need a much finer ground so it can leave all that minging sludge in the bottom?

 

[Nibor]

[QUOTE 5094092, member: 45"]I have two coffee machines sitting unused in a cupboard, and have been since I got my Aeropress a couple of years ago. Not found anything to beat it yet.[/QUOTE]
Got and Aeropress for Christmas best coffee I have ever tasted all in for £25

 

[Wobbly John]

I've got a Melitta Caffeo Barrista bean to cup machine, and I love it more than any of my bikes...

Did I really say that?

 

[Will Spin]

Go on, I'll bite before someone else does. Decent Hario grinder (skerton or similar), stovetop by Bialetti, a frother from Hario if you must and a sh*tload of money left over for coffee beans. You'll get much nicer coffee, and will be set up for life with lo-fi gear to last.

This..and use the money saved to go towards a decent set of wheels.

 

[Mark Grant]

I bought one of these a few weeks ago

less than £200 in the Black Friday deals. We previously had one which had a milk tank but it was a pain to keep it in the fridge when you didn't use all the milk.
The separate frother froths the milk much better and you can get the milk nice & hot. No. 2 daughter likes to use it for hot chocolate.

 

[Andrew_P]

ESAM4200 I have this De Longhi and its fine, I would swerve the ones that have a milk container for Latte as all the reviews I read the milk was never hot enough and a faff keeping it clean.

On offer on "Amazon" at £263

Not sure this always works but if you sign up to "Argos" add something to your basket leave it there then delete it, 50% of the time I will get a discount email within 24hours for that product. I got £150 off mine by doing this

 

[stephec]

I bought one of these a few weeks ago
View attachment 388772
less than £200 in the Black Friday deals. We previously had one which had a milk tank but it was a pain to keep it in the fridge when you didn't use all the milk.
The separate frother froths the milk much better and you can get the milk nice & hot. No. 2 daughter likes to use it for hot chocolate.

I've got the older version of this, brilliant for espresso making.

It can take a while to steam enough milk for a large cappuccino though, luckily Mrs Stephec doesn't want one that often.

Mine was £199 from Tesco as they were selling them off over Christmas a few years ago.

 

[Cp40Carl]

Bialetti all the way. The Italians use them and they’re obsessed with decent coffee. You can also buy a tutocreme from the same maker to make cappuccino (I would advise buying thermometer so you know when milk correct temperature for frothing).

I’ve used one if these for years and it will never become redundant as no pod system. Millions of Italians can’t be wrong...(and no, I don’t work for the company!).

 

[Domus]

First item on our new kitchen 7 years ago was a built in coffee machine. We chose Neff appliances all through. It was in the region of £1,000 but has produced over 8000 coffees up to now. Love it

 

[sight-pin]

We use a Sage barista express BES870UK. https://sageappliances.co.uk/collections/espresso/products/barista-express?variant=40400693188
Makes great coffee but it takes a bit of getting used to at first till you get the grind correct for a particular coffee etc.
Price is down now, but if your not the type who likes to faff about i'd go for a fully automatic rather than a manual.

 

[huwsparky]

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated. To be honest, the less faff it'll be to use as a daily thing will be a priority. Thinking an automatic machine would probably suit us the best.

I'd say the majority of the time it'll be used for milk based coffees but it's quite important for me that it'll be able to make espresso too. Plenty of options here for me to take a look at anyway!

And, yes, it was bloody cold out there this morning!!

 

[huwsparky]

To update the thread, in the end I went along to Currys and bought the one I initially thought of after considering the options from yourselves.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/house...~Skimlinks~Editorial Content~78888&awid=78888

I'm pretty impressed, after playing about with the grind settings a bit. So nice having proper coffee at hand. No chance I'll regret this purchase. To top it off Delonghi are offering free pack worth £100 including free service and a few other bits, but that deal ends new year's Eve to anyone who may be interested.