Coffee. Grinder and Cafetiere or Pods in a machine

[NewUsername]

So, i'm drinking more coffee at home. I like decent coffee but i'm not up for spending £1500 plus on a decent machine that you tip beans in the top and get coffee out of the bottom, especially as I like coffee with milk of some sort so you then get the complication of dispensing the milk and cleaning it out etc.

I see I have two choices, a machine that takes pods or a grinder and cafetiere.

What do you guys do?

[Shaw Tarse]

Spent way less on a B2C machine

[cqueen]

Get a £200 espresso machine and £300 grinder. Job Jobbed.

[MiseryStreak]

Aeropress. Inverted method with a fine mesh filter. Nicest coffee and super easy to clean up.

https://www.aeropress.co.uk/

£30.

I haven’t got a decent grinder yet but I’ve been told to get a Porlex one:

https://www.porlexgrinders.com/

£75.

The best thing about this (apart from being £100 rather than £1,500) is they’re portable. Take them to work and home for the weekend.

[esuuv]

https://www.very.co.uk/delonghi-ecam-44660b-eletta...

I have one of these - paid about 300 / 350 on a black Friday deal a few years ago - beans in the top - milk in the front, coffee at the bottom.

[hiccy18]

Don't like cafetieres, too much like hard work to clean. Hob boiler for me: cheap, little mess or fuss and great results. Something like:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Moka-Express-Esp...

[Raymond Reddington]

Shaw Tarse said:

Spent way less on a B2C machine

This.

My delonghi B2C machine is excellent and cost around 250 quid.

[NewUsername]

hiccy18 said:

Don't like cafetieres, too much like hard work to clean. Hob boiler for me: cheap, little mess or fuss and great results. Something like:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Moka-Express-Esp...

I'd forgotten about these. Good shout, so if I wanted a white coffee, i'd need some hot milk or some hot water and a dash of milk?

[zedx19]

MiseryStreak said:

Aeropress. Inverted method with a fine mesh filter. Nicest coffee and super easy to clean up.

https://www.aeropress.co.uk/

£30.

I haven’t got a decent grinder yet but I’ve been told to get a Porlex one:

https://www.porlexgrinders.com/

£75.

The best thing about this (apart from being £100 rather than £1,500) is they’re portable. Take them to work and home for the weekend.

This! Tried all sorts, including a very expensive machine in the office at work and I still believe Aeropress produces the best tasting coffee. I've had one for about 5 years, still going strong, still tastes great. Inverted method works for me, only good for making one coffee though, becomes a faff if you try and make a round of coffees when friends are round (probably not an issue in the current climate!).

I've only got a cheap electric grinder, use Rave coffee beans, lovely.

[bonerp]

Delonghi bean to cup - does beans and ground. Comes with a frother. Had one with a milk tank before but had to be cleaned straight after use else gets pongie.

[hiccy18]

NewUsername said:

I'd forgotten about these. Good shout, so if I wanted a white coffee, i'd need some hot milk or some hot water and a dash of milk?

Put a little milk in the micro?

[RobbieTheTruth]

cqueen said:

Get a £200 espresso machine and £300 grinder. Job Jobbed.

This is the correct answer really - if you're a real fan of the 'third wave' coffee movement - which basically means you like quality beans, lightly roasted to bring out that beans unique characteristic.

And if you want to make Espresso rather than pourover/filter etc.

But - it's time consuming and expensive.

Bean to Cup machines are convenience machines - fine for offices and better than pod machines. Basically, it's good for home, but you'd be appalled if a good coffee shop made you a coffee with one.

The general consensus for entry level espresso that is top tier quality is as follows:

Niche Zero Grinder (£500)
Gaggia Classic (second hand and modified, about £250)

The Grinder is much more important than the machine. The Niche is a major disrupter in the Grinder market at that price up - the alternative single dose grinders at that level are about £1300.

The Gaggia Classic is a great machine, but needs some adjustments out of the box. It's set at 15 bar pressure, you'll want to adjust that to 9 bar (it's set at 15 bar on the assumption you'll be using pre-ground or poorly ground coffee). You'll also want to add a PID to fix the temperature at 92-94 degrees.

[RobbieTheTruth]

MiseryStreak said:

Aeropress. Inverted method with a fine mesh filter. Nicest coffee and super easy to clean up.

https://www.aeropress.co.uk/

£30.

I haven’t got a decent grinder yet but I’ve been told to get a Porlex one:

https://www.porlexgrinders.com/

£75.

The best thing about this (apart from being £100 rather than £1,500) is they’re portable. Take them to work and home for the weekend.

Aeropress are very good too - if you want a nice mug of filter style coffee rather than espresso, or espresso based drinks (latte, cappuccino etc)

[Scrump]

Filter coffee machine for me.
Ground coffee in the top, get a jug of hot coffee kept warm and only the filter paper to lift out for disposal.

[RSTurboPaul]

I went with pre-ground coffee and one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zyliss-Hot-Mug-Cafetiere-...

Less to wash up and the filter thing works pretty well if you let the coffee settle and then push the filter thing down slooowwwwllly.

[cavey76]

esuuv said:

https://www.very.co.uk/delonghi-ecam-44660b-eletta...

I have one of these - paid about 300 / 350 on a black Friday deal a few years ago - beans in the top - milk in the front, coffee at the bottom.

You got a bargain. I got mine at the start of lock down for ~£450 and was pleased. I have just ticked pass a thousand coffees. Does a decent Flat White and perfect Americanos. I was a convert from cafetiere and grinder. An extra bonus is the Mill function allows me to create very nice hot chocolates for the kids.

[s2kjock]

NewUsername said:

I'd forgotten about these. Good shout, so if I wanted a white coffee, i'd need some hot milk or some hot water and a dash of milk?

I put my coffee mug in the microwave with c third fill of milk while the Moka pot is doing it's stuff. Use a cordless whisker/frother, pour in coffee when done. Works ok most of the time.

Much prefer Moka to cafietere, but never really got in with Aeropress the few times I have tried it.

[butch_]

This thread is expensive.

RobbieTheTruth said:

Niche Zero Grinder (£500)

Ordered. Now have to wait until Dec for delivery.

RobbieTheTruth said:

Gaggia Classic (second hand and modified, about £250)

The Gaggia Classic is a great machine, but needs some adjustments out of the box. It's set at 15 bar pressure, you'll want to adjust that to 9 bar (it's set at 15 bar on the assumption you'll be using pre-ground or poorly ground coffee). You'll also want to add a PID to fix the temperature at 92-94 degrees.

Have a Gaggia Classic, it's 5-6 years old. Now the tuning must commence.

Thanks for the heads up!

[otherman]

hiccy18 said:

Don't like cafetieres, too much like hard work to clean. Hob boiler for me: cheap, little mess or fuss and great results. Something like:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Moka-Express-Esp...

OP says there are two choices, pods or cafetiere.

My issue with pods is that once ground, you should brew within a few hours. With pods, it's ground and brewed weeks maybe months later. Just not fresh.And expensive.
Cafetiere, just doesn't give the grounds enough time and heat to brew fully.

On the other hand, a mocha pot on the stove does it all right for about £30, plus buy a grinder. Then you can buy beans, and grind them when you need them: minutes before brewing.

[RobbieTheTruth]

butch_ said:

Have a Gaggia Classic, it's 5-6 years old. Now the tuning must commence.

Thanks for the heads up!

You'll love the Niche.