Coffee machines ?

[uncinqsix]

jackal said:

cramorra said:

jackal said:

Colonial said:

But most home coffee machines are abysmal, burn the beans

This seems to be true.

Now the honeymoon is over i'm finding the gaggia classic to be very compromised and hit or miss.

Firstly i've learnt that the grinder is everything and you should put 70% of your budget here.

After that, really there is two low end machines, the Classic or the Rancillo silvia but both need nerdy mods, finicky temp surfing techniques etc.. to get half decent and consistent results. What you really need is a heat exchanger machine with PID or better still a dual boiler. Espresso machines in coffee shops are big and expensive for a reason and to be fair you can't just make a small budget one for home use and charge people 300 quid.

Edited by jackal on Saturday 2nd January 09:48

If you are looking into a different machine with a HX the from a value fot money point of view the LA Scala Butterfly (and to a lesser extent ISOMAC Tea and Rituale) represent the best value for money
with a bit of searching you should find them new fot around 800 quid and they are worth every penn - OK need maintenace but apart from that
i have my Butterfly for 5 years now and never looked back, in fact I stoopped pretty much drinking coffee when not at home or in Italy

Another good machine with HX is the Nouva Simonnely Oscar http://www.nuovasimonelli.co.uk/home.htm
which with a bit of luck you could get for around 600 pounds - slightly less attractive to look at but great quality...
Good Luck

thanks, yes they look good machines (although I gather the TEA has never been the most reliable performrer)

If i upgrade then i will do it once and once only and just go straight to twin boiler and miss out HX altogether. Nothing wrong with HX of course but if budget is unconstrained then the twins make sense. The rotary pumps are worth having as is the extra steam power and the idiotproof ease of use (no need for cooling flushes).

Vivaldi Mini , Alex Duetto or an Expobar leva will be the front runners.

I had a good play with my father in law's Silvia while I was staying with them over xmas, and although it's much nicer than my old (sightly modified) FrancisFrancis X1, I'm beginning to think it isn't enough of a step up to be a worthwhile upgrade. The Francis can pull a decent shot, but I think that's largely down to having a kick arse grinder and good beans.

So, it looks like to get a decent step-up, I'll need an HX machine or better. Which I really can't afford.

[poprock]

I have one of these (an Elektra T1) at the office, but feel it would be complete overkill for the home!



I just don’t bother drinking coffee at home. Much simpler and easier on the wallet.

[jackal]

poprock said:

I have one of these (an Elektra T1) at the office, but feel it would be complete overkill for the home!



I just don’t bother drinking coffee at home. Much simpler and easier on the wallet.

fabulous !

huge boiler

but got for it

coffeeitalia are doing them for almost half price .. 1700 quid IIRC which is a steal for an elektra

[escargot]

£1700 for a coffee machine!!

[BliarOut]

How many hookers could you send to Starbucks for that?

[Stig]

I'm a massive Nespresso fan and went to buy a capsule machine last week.

However, because I'm a lazy sod I ended up buying the Nescafe Dolce Gusto. It uses capsules, but, has milk capsules as well as coffee (as well as moccachino, chocachino etc.etc.etc.). Almost no cleaning required - just load with water, insert capsule, make drink (with capsules according to your preference from a rich espresso to the mocca's mentioned earlier), bin capsule - job done.



Just finished the sampler pack that came with it and every capsule flavour was excellent.

£97 from Debenhams and (I believe) Argos - or order direct from the website www.dolce-gusto.co.uk

I'm a complete convert - can't think how it could be improved really (unless you're a complete fresh ground conoisseur).

[tvrforever]

Agree re Nespresso - just purchased this http://www.johnlewis.com/230841717/Product.aspx



and very very impressed with the espresso, cappuccino & latte macchiato

[ad551]

We've got one of these in the office



Apparently it makes very good coffee, and is certainly an impressive piece of kit. Prefer tea myself though.

[poprock]

For a bean-to-cup ‘all in one’ type machine, Juras are usually a good shout.

[f13ldy]

I've got the Magimix M190 CitiZ Nespresso thingimawotsit.



Nothing short of superb for espresso in a rush in the mornings. Plus the Mrs likes a weak latte so is perfect for her too.

[MarsellusWallace]

f13ldy said:

I've got the Magimix M190 CitiZ Nespresso thingimawotsit.



Nothing short of superb for espresso in a rush in the mornings. Plus the Mrs likes a weak latte so is perfect for her too.

Thats the one ive got-im very pleased with it.

[Stablelad]

We have this one and it's nobody's fool



Can be had for anywhere between £45 and £65.

Buy some illy ground coffee and you're away!

[jamiebae]

Stablelad said:

We have this one and it's nobody's fool



Can be had for anywhere between £45 and £65.

Buy some illy ground coffee and you're away!

I used to have one of them, I think it's still in the shed somewhere actually! It's not bad but doesn't really have enough power to froth a small jug of milk to make a normal sized cappuccino so I got sick of it quite fast and bought a Gaggia instead. It seems to make pretty good espresso though, but was a lot more dependent on grind and tamp pressure than the Gaggia to get similar results.

[f13ldy]

Stablelad said:

We have this one and it's nobody's fool



Can be had for anywhere between £45 and £65.

Buy some illy ground coffee and you're away!

I had that one, it was great but too fussy for me first thing in the morning.

[escargot]

That's ours. Nothing extravagant about it compared to some of those posted on here.

[Stablelad]

f13ldy said:

Stablelad said:

We have this one and it's nobody's fool



Can be had for anywhere between £45 and £65.

Buy some illy ground coffee and you're away!

I had that one, it was great but too fussy for me first thing in the morning.

Know what you mean about the fuss factor but I quite like the process in a strange way I feel like I've actually made it as opposed to the cartridge thingy! (bit like driving an old manual-gearstick car vs. a paddleshift).

Middle-age makes you weird you know!

[RobDickinson]

I have one of these : http://www.breville.com.au/products_detail.asp?pro...



And a starbucks burr grinder.

Machine works OK but the basket filter gets clogged and it cant deal with super fine grinds, it'll get replaced at some point for something more competent, but that wont be a bean to cup machine, way too much hastle, cleaning and reliability issues.

Oh and as for nespresso it isnt real pure ground coffee is it, its more like an instant in a pod isnt it?

[drivin_me_nuts]

In all seriousness are these machines actually any better than buying the beans you like and using a cafetiere?

[sherman]

drivin_me_nuts said:

In all seriousness are these machines actually any better than buying the beans you like and using a cafetiere?

Not really.
Its a bit like is a 5l V8 engine worth it when a 1.6 4 pot will do the same job.

[uncinqsix]

drivin_me_nuts said:

In all seriousness are these machines actually any better than buying the beans you like and using a cafetiere?

They will produce an entirely different drink. Whether it's better or not is a matter of personal taste. I like espresso, so a cafetiere is no good to me.