Another cofee maker question

carly

I love cappuchino and am partial to the odd espresso at the end of a meal, but during the day I drink mostly bog standard filtered coffee with a little cold milk added. I particularly like the gaggia style machines but I dont know if these can produce a normal size mug of plain ordinary coffee.
Can anyone please advise me if this is possible. Thanks

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I dont want to waste a lot of money on something I wont use much.

Debt_Free_Chick

Generally, no - they produce continental style espresso (to which you add milk for cappucino/latte).

And they're useless if you need to make 6 coffees e.g. for guests, after dinner. By the time you make the 6th one, the first one is cold!

I have a Gaggia - but I also have a cafetiere when I want plain filtered coffee or if I need a decent quantity.

You could, of course, produce an Americano - which is an espresso, weakened by adding hot water

benjus

The nearest thing you'll be able to produce with an espesso maker is what coffee shops in the UK call an "Americano" - i.e. an espresso watered down to make a larger quantity (or, as my local coffee shop put it, "espresso with steamed water"). I don't drink this so I'm not sure how well it compares with filter coffee. You can buy some combined filter/espresso machines, but these seem to be mainly at the cheaper end of the market and I wouldn't bother.

Personally I love espresso. I used to have a beautiful espresso maker which sadly died and I'm still pining for it. Some day I'll get myself a new one. In the meantime, my favourite way of preparing coffee is a cafetiere - simple and cheap, but better than filter machines in my opinion.

Don't forget that if you're buying a traditional espresso machine (i.e. not one of these pod based things) you will need a good grinder - using pre-ground coffee just does not do the machine justice.