coffee maker advice needed - warning utter novice wrote this!

littlejaffa

Let me start by saying I hate coffee, loathe the foul stuff, so you can imagine my knowledge levels on coffee makers - that's my excuse for the ignorant ramblings your about to read!

I need one of those coffee machines where you put the coffee in the little holder then lift it up and turn to lock into the machine, most coffee shops have the same style - any idea what it's called, strangley putting that sentence in google isn't getting me many good results!?
Now, can i make 'normal' coffee with that system, as well as espresso, and assuming i get a milk frother the latte's etc
And if i get a bean grinder can i use that in the little holder or does it need to be filter or powdered or something wierd?

Also, i'd like it to be a small one or two cupper and cheap (bout £50 ish so any sugestions make/model etc apprecaited.


I did warn you!

thanks
xx

msflowerfairy

What you need to buy is a simple coffee percolator. I bought a really cheap one from Argos, and it is still going 7 years later!

You can buy single jugs or double jugs.

The coffee can be bought ground in packets in your local supermarket, and comes in 3 different strengths.

You will also need to buy filters. You place the coffee in the filter, and the hot water passes through the filter into the jug below.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-filter-coffee

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4223876/Trail/searchtext%3EFILTER+COFFEE+MACHINE.htm

I hope this helps?

rev229

I think you mean an expresso coffee maker. They have a little thingy, bit like a very small saucepan that you put the ground coffee in. If you buy beans you will have to ground them yourself, but you can buy ground coffee suitable for these coffee makers in a supermarket or from starbucks etc.Argos have a basic one for 18.00 or a combination one ie makes expresso and filter coffee for 50.00. If you spend over 50.00 in argos at the moment you get a 5.00 giftcard. I normally buy batteries to make the total up to 50.00. Hope that helps.

littlejaffa

msflowerfairy wrote: »

What you need to buy is a simple coffee percolator.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-filter-coffee...

thanks msflowerfairy but these are def not what i'm after, it's the little saucepan idea where you lift it up and lock it into the machine that rev229 mentioned i'm looking for. (bit like this one)
rev229 i don't see the one in argoat at £50 that does expresso and filter coffee..can you give me a link or it's name if you don't mind.

thanks folks, hopefully with your help i'll get there!

msflowerfairy

Maybe one of these?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4200930/Trail/searchtext%3ECOFFEE+MACHINE.htm

littlejaffa

msflowerfairy wrote: »

Maybe one of these?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4200930/Trail/searchtext%3ECOFFEE+MACHINE.htm

you seem really keen to help and i apprecaite it but that's 2x the price i'd said i'm looking for.
if anyone knows what the little lift & click mechanism is called it'd help.

xx

annie-c

I think you need both an espresso maker and a cafetiere if you want to make good quality coffee at home.

I have this espresso maker (don't know what the little holder thing is called but 'espresso maker' is the generic name you need):

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4223852/Trail/searchtext%3EESPRESSO+MAKER.htm

It does the little cups of espresso under pressure and has a frother so you can add frothed or steamed milk to make either latte or cappucino. You need a machine like this with at least '15 bar' pressure to make good espresso. You can get them cheaper in Tesco I think, but this is good quality, mine has lasted over 5 years.

For ordinary filter coffee or 'americano', a cafetiere is best as there are no pipes etc to get furred up. What you see is what you get. £3.49 in Argos (so you can get both of these plus buy batteries to make up the £50!!)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8405047/Trail/searchtext%3ECAFETIERE.htm

I would avoid the all singing all dancing machines that do both espresso and americano unless you have quite a bit more than £50 to spend or find a very good offer. The domestic versions of the proper commercial style machines take up a lot of counter space and often are gimmicky machines that don't have 15 bar pressure and so don't make good espresso.

You can either grind your own coffee or buy it - just check the packets carefully - different grounds are used for each machine.

Annie

rev229

the argos one is cat no 422/9588 page 698 hope that helps

jackieb

It isn't the Krups Nescafe Dulce Gusto you're looking for, is it? You have to lift and click the pod holder on that one. The cheapest i've seen it for is £69.99 in our local Co-op. That was after i'd bought it for £74.99 from the Co-op website.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nescaf%C3%A9-Dolce-Gusto-Coffee-Machine/dp/B000HAILYA

Essex-girl_2

There was a recent thread about coffee on here - sorry cant do links.

Basically I love coffee, I have now got a stove top expresso maker which some people advised makes better expresso coffee than the expensive machines.

I buy beans - grind them myself (bought a cheap grinder but want a dearer one which has fine and course settings).

You use fine ground coffee for the expresso maker - which I then use to make lattes and mocha.

If I want a 'normal' cup of coffee I grind the beans courser and use a cafetire (sp).

I bought all my stuff from Whittards - they have an online shop and you can go through quidco.

I have had a tassimo machine which although is much easier and quicker - the pods are more expensive and I really prefer and enjoy the process of making coffee - also the house smells lovely.

Aldeney

I think the little device you are talking about is called a portafilter & is used to make espresso. If it's just espresso coffee you want to make there are several different machines on Amazon ranging from about £20 upwards. I also saw this one which makes espresso & filter coffee (although it is a little higher than you wanted to pay) -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-BCO120-Steam-combi-coffee/dp/B000B7Q8US/ref=sr_1_1/202-3988882-2915866?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1194865666&sr=1-1