Buying a Coffee Machine

daveyjp

Nespresso hot water buttons can be programmed to deliver a mug full of coffee if that is what you want.

missile

daveyjp wrote: »

Nespresso hot water buttons can be programmed to deliver a mug full of coffee if that is what you want.

Just press the button as many times as you want to dilute the coffee to whatever volume you choose.

Credit-Crunched

I am going to sound very controversial but here goes..

Do not get one of those pod machines, I did, and regretted it very quickly. Cost and quality of coffee were a major factor of it going onto ebay within a month.

Then I researched and ended up with a Delonghi Magnifica bean to cup coffee machine. Around £300 spent.

http://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/products/coffee/coffee-makers/automatic-coffee-makers/magnifica-esam-4200s-0132212091

3 Years on and it is arguably my best 'kitchen' purchase ever. The quality of coffee is second to none, reliability is incredible and cost is non comparable.

A kilo of coffee beans is around £10 - £20 and this will last you an age.

Plus, you are able to sample new different blends of coffee with the range of online bean sellers.

Honestly, I very rarely say justify luxuries like this, but it is so worth it.

davetrousers

Do any of these pod machines have refillable pods available so that you can fill with the coffee of your own choice?

jon81uk

missile wrote: »

Just press the button as many times as you want to dilute the coffee to whatever volume you choose.

If you are an Espresso purist you can end up with burnt tasting coffee if it is used for too long. Better to make an Espresso and add boiling water (same way an Americano is made in a shop).

*~Zephyr~*

davetrousers wrote: »

Do any of these pod machines have refillable pods available so that you can fill with the coffee of your own choice?

Yes, for the Senseo machine you can get a "coffee duck" which you can fill with whatever ground coffee you prefer. This is why the machine works so well for my OH - because when he fancies a change he can buy beans or ready-ground coffee and still use his machine rather than a cafetiere.

We've had this one now for 6 or 7 years:
http://www.eibmarkt.com/gb/products/Philips-Hausgeraete-Coffee-maker-HD-7863-60-sw.html?utm_source=Portalexport&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=Produktaktion&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping_GB&userLocale=GB&gclid=CjwKEAjw6Z2pBRCmvaXq6d7FjUoSJAAc5LriGmDUiXnL8jLJx4EZRbaibWrDSHkY79_OoP6762xYAxoCVT_w_wcB

pogofish

Just get yourself a proper espresso machine and burr grinder - OK, it will cost you a bit more to begin with for a quality machine but not that much if you shop around. Then you can use any coffee, in any roast or grind and make it any way you want it. With no wastage/bother with pods at all.

And you will soon get-up to barrista standard - which is a useful skill to have if you ever need to earn a bit of extra cash!

ariba10

We have a DeLonghi Perfecta. (Bean to cup) Bought a few years ago, don't remember how much we paid but it has been faultless.

Just checked the statistics and we have had 6,135 cups of coffee from it to date.

chancesare_2

I'm with credit, bean to cup is the way to go. We have a Siemens inbuilt machine, it was £1k 10 years ago but still looks and performs like new. Yes, expensive but we are serious coffee drinkers. Buy beans, the best you can afford and not in bulk, 250g a time if you take coffee more than once a day, that should last two of you a week or so. Buy in bulk and the coffee isn't fresh.

rainygreyhound

Yes, I'd suggest little and often if buying coffee beans. Buying it in bulk might be cheaper but you're just going to be making coffee with stale beans. Beans from supermarkets, CostCo etc have probably been sitting on the shelf for months after they've been roasted.