* COFFEE: how we finally found our bargain *

Hern

Hopefully, this post is in the right forum; apologies if it isn't. Anyway. Here's some background first; skip it if you want and go to the conclusion.

Background: For some time now Mrs H and I have been discontented with our amateurish attempts at coffee making. We might just as well stick to instant. We've got a filter machine which is discernibly better than instant; a cafetiere slightly better than the filter machine; and we've also had a stove-top Bialetti Moka that produced the best taste but lasted 12 months before the aluminum looked awful and the seal failed. (And this despite it sitting on a reducer ring on the stove.)

And still we've not replicated the coffee we get in a restaurant or cafe (no, we've never been in a Starbucks or Costa or anything like it: can't afford the dubious cost. . .)

Fed up of instant coffee (regardless of the brand or price: it's all freeze-dried dust, after all) and a filter machine which doesn't produce decent coffee because it can't (all restaurant coffee is espresso based, then topped up: a filter machine doesn't have any bar pressure at all) and also weary of the mess of cafetieres and washing up etc etc we decided to look into coffee machines.

Apparently, in excess of £500 would've got us what we wanted. I thought that was shares in Starbucks but no. Just a machine that operates a high pressure and foams milk and Gawd knows what else -- a bit redundant for our simple needs, seeing as we have a battery-powered Aerolatte hand whisk bought for three quid on eBay which makes hot milk (40 seconds in the microwave) foam up beautifully.

So we looked at the 'pod' coffees around. Friends had bought a Krups machine to run Nescafe Dolce Gusta. They showed it to us before re-packing it and taking it back to Argos for a refund of their £89. It was in red plastic, looked like a 1950s bubble gum machine, could just about manage 2 small cups of coffee on its half litre tank, couldn't accommodate a tall glass or mug under its spout, required the user to figure out just how much water to put in because Krups couldn't be bothered to calibrate the tank or even provide a measuring jug, wobbled about on the worktop and had instructions that were almost incomprehensible. Apparently it's a 'Design Icon'. Yeah. Right.

Then off to Comet to look at actual machines, none of which inspired apart from one from Bosch. We have a Bosch washer/dryer that's six years old and works flawlessly and other Bosch small appliances that have proved to be worth their premium price. But Comet wanted, and still wants, £120 for its Bosch Tassimo machine. And that was a shame, because friends in Germany have a Bosch Tassimo machine, and the drinks we enjoyed while staying with them last year were wonderful.

Online we checked out reviews of other machines using different pods but De Longhi still seems to have horrendous customer service (still, because it was just as bad eight years ago when we had a faulty room heater: De Longhi couldn't have cared less) and every Philips domestic product we've ever had -- TV, radio, and something else I can't remember -- has gone bust just outside the warranty period anyway. So. . .

Conclusion: we decided we'd go with Bosch. Last week, we scoured the Net for prices. Comet still wants £120. On eBay, and proving yet again that eBay is no bargain basement, some sellers want even more. Amazon and Argos, however, in what is presumably price-matching, wanted, and still do, £88.19p -- a bargain £34 off what they claim is their usual selling price.

But then we discovered Dixons. Dixons, so often laughed at and criticised. Dixons online had the Bosch we wanted -- the TAS4011GB -- at £64.99p. And still does. With some hesitancy, we ordered it, and expected Dixons to c0ck everything up and deliver at Easter 2012. But Dixons didn't. The order was instantly processed and we were emailed the DHL tracking number. The order was placed at 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon last week and arrived on Wednesday afternoon. (No delivery charge.)

We registered online with Bosch by providing our machine's serial number and Bosch immediately upgraded the parts & labour warranty to 2 years. We also went online and registered with Tassimo UK and promptly received a £20 coupon code off our first online order. As delivery is free for orders over £30, we ordered 9 packs of coffees, teas, chocolates, and speciality drinks, a total of 112 drinks. The cost was £11.93p.

We also went to Amazon and ordered 5 packs of Kenco Columbian at 16 coffees per pack for £15 (free delivery). So that's 80 coffees.

So. . .

Bosch Tassimo Coffee Machine: £65 from Dixons.

112 different drinks from Tassimo: £11.93p.

80 coffees from Amazon: £15.

The Amazon order arrived yesterday. The Tassimo delivery is expected tomorrow. We christened the Bosch yesterday. The Kenco Colombian coffee was the best we've ever made and as good as anything we've had in a restaurant. The Bosch made the drinks in 30 seconds each. No wasted electricity, no mess to clean up afterwards (the T-Disks are recyclable plastics.)

There'll probably be many who were like us and thought the notion of coffee machines was a bit daft and pods 'n stuff, unjustifiably expensive. We now realise, on the basis of what we've just paid, that actually, it's a small price to get decent coffee without fuss or waste (and oh boy, how we've wasted coffee in the past.)

And finally: kudos to the oft-reviled Dixons -- their online price, and their online service, has been absolutely unbeatable. We now have a beautifully made 2-litre capacity Bosch TAS4011GB with 2-year warranty and almost 200 coffees, teas, chocolates and speciality drinks for *less* than the alleged bargain price being charged by Amazon and Argos for the machine alone. As for Comet, no point in even bothering.

Hope this post may be of use to any bargain hunting coffee drinkers out there.

glowgirl_2

Thank you for a very informative and interesting post:) I too am searching for the perfect cup of coffee from a machine at home but the coffee never seems to come out hot enough, we were told by Curry's that the temperature is limited on all machines so it was back to horrendously expensive individual filters, I like the sound of your buy though but is the coffee piping hot?

LittleMissAspie

Coffee should be brewed at around 97 degrees otherwise it scalds the beans and ruins the taste. This is as opposed to tea which needs boiling water to bring out the taste.

glowgirl_2

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Coffee should be brewed at around 97 degrees otherwise it scalds the beans and ruins the taste. This is as opposed to tea which needs boiling water to bring out the taste.

So I've been told but I like it hot, there dosnt seem a lot of point in a machine if I have to reheat the coffee soon after its made, I do go to costa etc and I've never had a warm coffee from them its always hot and I have black coffee so its not the milk:)

Hern

glowgirl wrote: »

Thank you for a very informative and interesting post:) I too am searching for the perfect cup of coffee from a machine at home but the coffee never seems to come out hot enough, we were told by Curry's that the temperature is limited on all machines so it was back to horrendously expensive individual filters, I like the sound of your buy though but is the coffee piping hot?

Thanks, glowgirl. The coffees we've so far had from the Bosch have certainly seemed to be hot -- but as noted, we haven't yet received the big Tassimo delivery, only the Kenco Columbian from Amazon, so haven't had anything yet without hot frothy milk added to it.

Neither of us drink black coffee apart from espresso (though never at home.) Instead, it's always been our practice to pour semi-skimmed longlife milk into our 1 pint Pyrex glass jug and microwave for 40 seconds on full power (850w, in the case of our microwave.) Pyrex glass jugs are all calibrated and so we fill the jug to the quarter-pint level.

We bought two Aerolatte 'whisks' after seeing them demonstrated at an Ideal Homes show some years back; we paid £3 apiece for them at that time on eBay and purchased two because we figured that when one broke down, at least we'd have a replacement. Four years or so later, the first Aerolatte still works perfectly (a single AA battery) and the second Aerolatte is still in its box.

Reason for buyiong the Aerolatte was because of memories of a coffee machine we had years ago with a steamer nozzle for frothing milk: a more or less total disaster. It blocked up easily, was a faff to clean, and sometimes 'spurted' steam so that the coffee erupted because of the erratic force of the jet. As a result we said, never again to machines with milk-frothers. . .

So. . . the combination we're currently enjoying of the Kenco Columbian Tassimo (check the user reviews on Amazon: our experience has turned out to be the same as those users) is of a lovely long coffee topped with hot frothy milk.

As to the heating, Bosch has a Q&A section on its UK website relating to its Tassimo range and that explains much about the technology Bosch is using for heating and bar-code reading and, um, everything else (basically, the machine reads the bar code on each T-Disc; the bar code contains specific instructions for that particular drink -- no user involvement is required -- and each variety of Tassimo disk has a different set of machine instructions. We like the unit's ability to self-clean instantly between drinks, so that a coffee can be served followed immediately by a chocolate with neither tainting the taste of the other. . . or so Bosch informs us.)

The only time we drink coffee black is espresso. . . and then only on holiday, because we've failed miserably (our fault!) to make anything remotely resembling an espresso with its crema head at home. We've never got the 'tamping' right or whatever other arcane mysteries need to be penetrated and a lot of money has been wasted on Lavazzo -- obviously, a superb coffee, but wasted in the hands of incompetents like us.

Staying with friends in Boppard, Germany, last year, we actually drank little else except hot espressos: their Bosch Tassima produced it to perfection, head and all. (Reason for us not immediately rushing back to the UK and buying one like theirs was because (a) we thought we'd never afford it and (b) at that time, it didn't seem that model was available in the UK anyway.)

We're looking forward to receiving the espresso pack from Tassimo, along with the rest of the 112-drinks / £11.93p order, including Twinings Teas, Suchard hot chocolate, some kind of triple-tier coffee drink whose name escapes me, decaff coffees and a 'speciality' which I couldn't resist but may well turn out to be awful (it has a tiramasu base. . .)

The only 'pack' we haven't bought is for the relatively expensive Capuccinos, because there seems no point when our little Aerolatte with its AA battery can do the same job and provide a cappucino just as quickly and at considerably less cost. (Though yes, there is the jug to wash out afterwards, so that may be a down-side to some even if it's nothing like the time and mess involved in having to clean a cafetiere. . .)

I suppose that if the coffee isn't hot enough -- though we've no reason to think Bosch has got this wrong: the Amazon user reviews for the actual unit reflect our own so far! -- then I guess we'd just pop the cup in the microwave for 10 seconds, not something that should be necssary, really, but I think we'd be pragmatic enough to settle on such a quick compromise.

Hope this helps?

PS: I don't normally write in praise of, well, anything much (must be age and cynicism) so re-reading my post it does occur to me that I look like an employee of Bosch or Dixons or, possibly, both. I'm not! We've had various Bosch products over the past 20 years and never been let down by any of 'em; Dixons, who I thought would be awful -- based upon the many Internet complaints about DSG (pixmania etc) -- has turned out to be anything but.

Oh: and if you go through Top Cashback as my wife did, then Dixons give you a couple of quid back in cash, something I forgot to mention, so the Bosch TAS4011GB actually costs £63.

Which does seem to be something of a bargain, especially when factoring in the £20 discount you then qualify for when placing your first order with Tassimo. I'm beginning to think that at these prices, we ought to buy another one.

organic_wanabe

Hern, thanks for the wonderful reviews - I must say that I am tempted. At preset I use a Bialetti Stovetop using Illy coffee and a Nespresso electric milk whizzer (which I really like). However my son, who will be home from University next week, has developed a coffee habit and couldn't be faffed with my method, even although it is relatively simple. I had been thinking of getting a machine and then (possibly) letting him take it back to University with him. However, it has to be something that requires little cleaning. Oh blast, I have just gone onto the Dixons website and it seems to have gone back up in price to £88.19 so I think on balance, if I decide to go ahead, I will buy from Amazon because they will refund/replace without any difficulty.

Thanks again.

Hern

organic_wanabe wrote: »

Hern, thanks for the wonderful reviews - I must say that I am tempted. . .

Oh blast, I have just gone onto the Dixons website and it seems to have gone back up in price to £88.19 so I think on balance, if I decide to go ahead, I will buy from Amazon because they will refund/replace without any difficulty.

Thanks again.

Oh s0ddit!!!!!!! The darn thing was still at £64.99p this morning!! Which is why I thought I'd post here with the news. (If you put Bosch TAS4011 GB into Google, the 7th entry in the search results list is for Dixons; click on 'cache', and there it is at £64.99.) Aaaaaaaargh. . .

Many, many apologies, organic -- and to everyone else who may have alighted on this thread: I had no idea the coffee maker was actually going up by £23 even as I posted.

The only thing I can think of is that unless Dixons messed up with its pricing, then the £64.99p might well crop up at another supplier??? It does seem that electronic household items have prices that yo-yo according to supplier, with Argos seeming to discount heavily one month, then Amazon doing the same discount the next. So perhaps £65 is a price to watch out for?? (Not much consolation, I know, to anyone who was thinking of getting a machine now.)

Sincere apologies to everyone again -- I think I'll opt out of doing 'best buy tips' from now on!

organic_wanabe

Hern, please don't opt out of posting 'best buy tips'. It was really useful and I will keep an eye out for a price reduction. By the way, I have terrible space-awareness! Does it take up a lot of space on the work-surface?

glowgirl_2

Thanks Hern - I agree don't stop reviewing and I also agree with your comments on Bosch products, my friend has the best washing machine ever made by them and shes had it for years, reviews all over the web say the same sadly I don't have any Bosch products but as stuff needs replacing thats the brand I'll be going for , no doubt at all. Your also right about 10 seconds in a microwave isn't much to get you where you want to be but it just annoys me, maybe I'm old and cynical (and grumpy) too;) Thanks again:)

Hern

organic_wanabe wrote: »

Hern, please don't opt out of posting 'best buy tips'. It was really useful and I will keep an eye out for a price reduction. By the way, I have terrible space-awareness! Does it take up a lot of space on the work-surface?

Hi organic: hang on, I'll pop downstairs and measure it now -- it's sitting on the worktop, but in a corner, the machine pulls out easily in use because the power cord is in an internal, retractable housing so there's no cable clutter, the cord unwinds and winds back really well, something we didn't know about until we started using the machine. It's a neat idea of Bosch because the unit doesn't get in our way at all.

Right. Dimensions, as measured by me so they ain't going to be scientific, Mrs H does this sort of thing far better and she even understands millimetres, which I don't:

Height: 11 inches or maybe 12 inches but no more than that.

Depth: 13 and a half inches front to back, measuring from the front
'canopy' at its furthest sticking-out point to the back of the rear water tank.

Width: 8 inches measuring from the maximum sticking-out bits of the sort of bowed front sides, i.e. it's narrower at the top and bottom, the sides kind of flow out and in. If that makes sense.

The only other machine we inspected really closely was our friends' Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups at £89 from Argos (which they were in the process of taking back for a refund) and frankly, though it was smaller, it looked daft, nothing like as substantial as the Bosch and the Krups product images are *very* misleading. But as a retro gumball machine in bright red plastic, I suppose it was OK -- and the half a litre water tank helped to make it smaller (whereas the Bosch has a 2 litre, detachable acrylic glass tank, hence the overall front-to-back dimension quoted above)

Hope this helps. Sadly, it looks that my career as a salesman-on-commission for Dixons (well, I did think of writing to 'em) has ended before it even begun. Fingers crossed that this £65 price comes along again soon -- I can't believe Dixons is the only supplier in the entire UK able to offer the Bosch at this price. Maybe keep an eye out on Argos????

Hern

glowgirl wrote: »

Thanks Hern - I agree don't stop reviewing and I also agree with your comments on Bosch products, my friend has the best washing machine ever made by them and shes had it for years, reviews all over the web say the same sadly I don't have any Bosch products but as stuff needs replacing thats the brand I'll be going for , no doubt at all. Your also right about 10 seconds in a microwave isn't much to get you where you want to be but it just annoys me, maybe I'm old and cynical (and grumpy) too;) Thanks again:)

Well seeing as I've just lost any hope of tapping up Dixons for commission, I might as well have a go at Bosch then. You're right, glowgirl: our family's experience is that BHosch has been, well, wonderful. I once argued with Mrs H about the bloody Bosch washer/dryer but ye Gods, it now turns out that our machine isn't six years old as I said originally, but eight years old. I thought we were paying over the odds compared to, er, Hotpoint or Zanussi (yeah, wot do I know?) but eight years on, the Bosch carries on as darn near silently and smoothly as when it first arrived.

'Course, it's quite possible others may have had a rotten experience of Bosch and wouldn't recommend the firm, but we can only go on what we know (Mrs H reminds me that both her favourite manufacturers are German: Bosch, and, uh, Miele: apparently our Miele Cat 'n Dog vacuum cleaner is omg 11 years old this month. It may not look as fancy as a Dyson but by heck, it works and just keeps on going. I'm wondering if companies like Bosch and Miele feel they have a reputation to maintain irrespective of the product / price range they're producing?)

Oh, and you couldn't possibly be old and cynical and grumpy. Apparently, I have the monopoly on that. Maybe 43 years of being married to The Boss has something to do with it.

Right. Must write to Miele now, see if I can get some commission from them.