Coffee Machines - advice

paddyrg

Home roasting can be done in a cheapo hot air popcorn machine! But that's for a more determined drinker than most. As-is you'll get a nicer result with a cheapo filter and excellent coffee than a flashy machine and a cheapo blend.

Messa

I also have a Nespresso and many times I have a coffee while out and think the ones I make back home are better. They are great little devices.

S0litaire

I went with an "ad-hoc" approach for may "coffee maker"

Bosch Filtrino Fast Cup Hot Filtered Water Dispenser and a good quality French press.

Stick in the required coffee grounds under the spout, press the button and 300ml of hot water comes out and it's filled in under a min.
^_^

as it's just hot water dispenser no cleaning or expensive "pods" required. ^_^

Yolina

Best bang for your bucks IMHO is going to be a stove-top - Bialetti or similar quality brand (the cheap knock-offs are just that, cheap knock-offs ) or a decent French press. I am rather fussy about my coffee (I'm French, from a place close to Italy ) and I have a decent machine and grinder but I'd be happy to use either. Filter and pod stuff not for me.
Otherwise as far as machines go, the Rancilio Silvia is probably the best "budget" option but we're talking around £400-£500 for that, which I guess is probably not what you had in mind.

Good coffee to start with is essential (I order mine from HasBean, other people can probably recommend other places too I'm sure) They do starter packs and all their stuff is available as beans or ground.

boatman

Got the magimix m100 from john lewis for £60 then claim the £40 voucher which can be used for capsules.

Marty999

The cheapest/easiest way to a great cup of coffee is with a cafetiere and a bag of ready-ground coffee. The pod machines also produce great coffee but the pods are expensive.

skivenov

All depends what sort of coffee they drink, Espresso, filter, cappuccino, or something more fancy.

I personally drink filter, so any £10 machine will make that, though on a Sunday morning, I do bring the perculator out for a treat.

Tassimo's and Nespresso's limit them a bit to getting their stuff from one place, so it's a bit like buying someone a Gilette razor, they pay in the refills.

Have they got a bean grinder? If not, it's one of the best things you can buy a coffee fan.

woodworm001

I have one of those bean to cup machines mentioned above which cost around £400 at work and it's great, but at home I have a Nespresso machine, which for many years I was really snobby about (ie thought they would be rubbish) but now I wouldn't have anything else.

Next best thing is a cafetiere.

jimi_man

Hi

Coffee comes in many guises, from instant to Cafetiere, through to Espresso, Ristretto and Turkish. It depends what your definition of proper coffee is.

I like espresso based coffee personally, so that's what I invested in. If you are going to do that (for your friend), which seems to be the consensus for 'proper coffee' then you need to decide how you are going to do that. As others have said, you can go for the bean to cup machines. They tend to make reasonable coffee, and are easy to use but are very expensive, though not expensive to run as it's just the price of the beans.

Nespresso machines are also easy to use, though you are limited to whatever pods the maker provides. They are also expensive to buy the pods, and in all honesty they aren't that great and if your friend is really into decent coffee then he'll quickly outgrow them.

Or you can go for a proper pump action espresso machine. These vary from £100 ..... to many thousands. In my opinion, they make the best coffee however they need practice to get it right. Most importantly you also need a decent grinder. If you are spending about £200 on an espresso machine then you need to budget a similar amount for a grinder. The grind is the most important part of an espresso.

They are cheap to run, in terms of just buying the beans once the initial outlay has been made. It's also not difficult to get it right after a bit of practice and it's fun to do. A machine called the Gaggia Baby is an excellent starter machine, £180 or so. If that's outside of your budget then you could go for something like http://www.johnlewis.com/gaggia-gran-gaggia-ri8323-01-manual-espresso-coffee-machine-black/p231892341 . No idea what it's like but Gaggia make reasonable coffee machines. If you couldn't afford a grinder to start with then you can always get pre ground coffee. Try not to buy the supermarket pre ground stuff as it's not great, you're far better finding an independent shop and getting them to grind you stuff to your own selection.

When I bought mine I read up on a site called https://www.coffeegeek.com Its a US site but there is a good guide on buying espresso machines for the first time.

Just my 2p worth.

brewboy_2

I like coffee and was also thinking of getting a machine for a Christmas present for the house lol or me really. I like espresso also but it's nice to have a cappuccino at times too, can anyone recommend a good machine, I can't really justify spending more than say £200, or is that un realistic. We have some great local tea and coffee merchant shops in Belfast and they can supply whatever type of bean you can think of, only then just sell cafeteria's not machines.