Coffee Machine - bean to cup vs. full manual

[kingston12]

I've had a bean to cup coffee machine for about seven years now. It's a Panasonic machine from their brief foray into the market, full price was about £800 and I paid less than half that as they were selling them off. It's this one:

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/home-applian...

It's been excellent, but has just broken down and looks uneconomical to repair given its age.

My immediate choice would be to go for the new equivalent bean to cup machine from someone like Jura, but I quite like the look of the fully manual machines. I had an Espresso made in a Sage manual machine and it tasted better than what I get from my Panasonic, but I couldn't really tell if that was more down to the machine or better coffee beans.

For those who've had both - is the extra prep time and hassle associated with a manual machine likely to give a much better result than a bean to cup machine at the same price?

[blindspot]

I moved from auto to manual, and would again in a heartbeat. You need a separate grinder, and it takes a bit of test & adjust to get it all just right - but the results are so much better. Just as important for me is the cleaning. The manual machine is much easier to keep clean, much less likely to have mould and gunk build up inside. Gaggia classic & a sage grinder has done the job for me at what I'd consider sensible money (about £500 all in). Quite fancy a spanky double boiler effort, but have no real need to spend £2k on a marginal improvement.

[mikef]

I've had both - a series of Baby Gaggias starting with the cast iron one from the early 80's and an indestructible Gaggia grinder of the same vintage.

For the past year, have been using a Jura bean-to-cup machine - much less messy, better use of counter space and equally good coffee; although the spares (filter cartridges and cleaning tabs) are a bit pricey

[Mr Pointy]

Here you go OP, have a read through this thread:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

You'll probably need a couple of cups to get through it.

[Ynox]

I ended up getting a Sage Barista Express. Pretty happy with my choice. Essentially it's a manual machine with a built in grinder.

[RobbieTheTruth]

kingston12 said:

I've had a bean to cup coffee machine for about seven years now. It's a Panasonic machine from their brief foray into the market, full price was about £800 and I paid less than half that as they were selling them off. It's this one:

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/home-applian...

It's been excellent, but has just broken down and looks uneconomical to repair given its age.

My immediate choice would be to go for the new equivalent bean to cup machine from someone like Jura, but I quite like the look of the fully manual machines. I had an Espresso made in a Sage manual machine and it tasted better than what I get from my Panasonic, but I couldn't really tell if that was more down to the machine or better coffee beans.

For those who've had both - is the extra prep time and hassle associated with a manual machine likely to give a much better result than a bean to cup machine at the same price?

Seconded on reading through the other thread - loads of good info there!

You'll only ever get average, convenient, quick coffee out of a Bean to Cup.

You can get brilliant coffee out of a manual, but it takes some time and investment to get brilliant results,

Once mastered (and it's not hard), it's a quick process .

My recommendation is if you're a coffee lover, go manual.

If you're after a decent, quick coffee that's better than instant, go Bean to Cup.

[kingston12]

Thanks all, great advice. Looks like I’ve got some reading to do on the other thread.