Reply With Quoteget an aeropress ( 25 quid) and a dualit milk frother ( 50 quid )
Needs to be under £100
To make filter and cappuccino coffee.
We have a Tassimo pod thing and the wife thinks we could do better.
I was looking at this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Stoneho...coffee+machine
Thanks.
get an aeropress ( 25 quid) and a dualit milk frother ( 50 quid )
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
That one looks OK for what it is - it has a pump they did used to be pressurised and rubbish at this sort of price. If it were me I would be looking at Nespresso even if costs 150 for one with a milk frother.
Reason being it is quite a faff to make a coffee with one of these machines, get out the coffee, tamp it down, sweep up the spilt coffee, make the espresso, tap out the puck, clean it all up so unless you would be making a lot of coffees a day I would look at Nespresso. The capsule cost is similar to buying ground coffee.
Aeropress.
I have one at home and one at work. Absolutely superb, very little to no mess and easy to clean.
So simple an idiot like me can use it.
Regards,
Ben
Totally agree for the reasons above, I have been using Nespresso for about 3 years now and would not go back to the do it yourself method...........Originally Posted by MB2
You might consider a Severin SM 9688 as an alternative to the Dualit frother. It seems to be cheaper if you buy it from Europe: link1, link2 as opposed to the UKAmazon price.
I'm a big filter coffee fan and the best method I've found for brewing is a simple plastic Hario V60 filter cone (you will also need to use their special papers.) Better than anything I've ever tasted when combined with a good quality freshly ground coffee from somewhere like ravecoffee.co.uk
I find the V60 works best with a slightly finer grind than other filter methods so normally order my coffee ground for Aeropress or Stovetop.
The only downside is the papers are more expensive than ordinary filter cone papers. They cost about £4.50 for a hundred. The cone itself will cost around a fiver.
I have a Nesspresso machine. Very easy to use and makes fantastic coffee once you have set it up correctly (You can adjust to amount of coffee according to the size of the container). Costs about 22 pence per capsual. I have an Aerocinno as well but it's a bit of a faff to use.
The waste from Nespresso is inexcusable, seriously environmentally unfriendly, I have a Gaggia Classica, it's an awesome piece of kit and looks great on your worktop. It does require a certain knack but once you have it, it makes drinking a good cup of coffee or the more pleasurable!
Apart from only ´similar´ cost if not looked at too accurately, capsules do not buy you coffee but a chemical mix tasting like it.
For this budget the most taste comes from French press and stove top Moka pot.
New that is. Used I bought a gréat Arin and with frother is still júst under incl. shipping.
It will work with espresso grade preground.
I would say to stay away from the el cheapo machinery and go score yourself something nice and good quality vintage on ebay.
Now that I am alcohol free I love my coffee and about 4 years ago I switched to fresh coffee, and now have the following relatively cheap products that make me a great cup:
• http://www.productreview.com.au/p/su...afe-crema.html
• https://www.sunbeam.com.au/Coffee-an...e-Grinder.aspx
If I had the money I would get a commercial grade machine for home, which cost about £1000. Too much for now.
Also, check out this clever new engineered coffee maker on Kickstarter:
• http://inhabitat.com/ditch-the-pods-...coffee-makers/
I have used that one and it's pretty good for an "Entry level" coffee maker to just get used to it it's not a bad option just make sure you get your measurements right so you don't end up with weak coffee.
Good vfm set Stix!
I have a ´74 Europiccola with a Mazzer in the kitchen on the farm.
Way above the mentioned budget, so...
Within that budget I would go for a Moka, Hario Skerton hand grinder and a hand frother.
Is that definitely the case?
I've gone off Nespresso as I prefer filter coffee, but I used their recycling service for all my capsules.
https://www.nespresso.com/uk/en/page...ecycling_Exact
http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/uk
http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaborati...recycling.html
Last edited by simonrah; 20th August 2015 at 17:06.
got rid of my Gaggia after 8 years- sick of the faff. Bought an Nespresso and not looked back. Recycle the capsules. Drink more and better quality coffee now. To get the best out of a Gaggia you need to spend a serious amount on a grinder. Seriously life is too short
Back, forward, sideways but do realise that Nespresso is not just coffee extract. It is rather an artificial concoction.
Yes, to get the best of my regurbished espresso machine I needed a high quality grinder. So I sourced a refubished commercial Mazzer for 150 Euros (incl. shipping).
Gréat coffee from recycled equipment (which can be refurbished agaín) and I recycle the crud I produce as organic compost in the flower beds and veggy plot.
Life is too short to drink and produce crap.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 20th August 2015 at 17:10.
Another recommendation for Aeropress from me. You're not restricted to any particular brand of coffee, it's ready to go by the time the kettle is boiled and it takes 20 seconds to clean up.
source?
When you've decided on coffee machine - also get a bean grinder (needn't cost the earth) and (IMO) get some of this:
http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/red-brick
and some this:
http://charliemillscoffee.com/shop/m...-king-espresso
I LOVE red brick :)
Nespresso.... Would not go back to the faff about now..
I've never really had any coffee that comes close to the brew I get with my Aeropress and Hario Skerton coffee grinder. Thinking of getting a good electrical grinder, like a Baratza Encore or Iberital MC2, but that's more for practical reasons than taste. Of course, it does take a bit more manual work than pressing a button, but it doesn't take more than about 2 minutes to get an incredibly clean and tasty cup of coffee.
I received my Aeropress a week ago and love it. Great value and clean up is a quick rinse in the sink.
The Dutch coffee geeks. They did a chemical analysis of the aromatics and found that the Nespresso extract contained foul play ingredients.
Found the article through the forum on thuisbarista.nl http://www.thuisbarista.nl/forum/ and do not have the link guarded. The article is, very thoughtful of them, written in english.
You can find it through the Nestlé patent too btw. It mentions taste, color and preserving additives. Defined as ´trace elements´ very significantly not quantified!! they are excempt from mentioning it as contents.
That alone is tricky enough for me to shún this artifical and wasteful consumer trap product.
problem is once you go electric you start caning the grains big style fatty
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I drank too much not all that good coffee and my love reintroduced me to a romantic coffee ritual using a simple stove top Moka she bought specially for that. Got me hooked and a surprisingly affordable route to an espresso one does not drink but savours.
It takes me about 7 minutes from bean to cappuccino starting with a cold machine in the morning. Effectively about 3 only because I feed the cats at the same time.
The Europiccola theoretically pulls 6 cups but I make doubles and flush amply to clean the shower/portafilter and heat head/portafilter/cup and 2 is all I drink in the morning or in succession at any other time anyway.
When making espresso for guests, so in succession, I pull three doubles.
I am ever so pleased to drink wáy less even way more better coffee.
Using beans and not needing filters it is even cheaper and the machines use less electricity to boot.
There is a taste optimum in that so that drawback is limited.
Reduce, re-use, recycle ;0)
Totally agree that in this budget I'd go for a Moka stove top for a decent espresso and a separate milk frother. A french press/cafetiere is also welcome if you need a few 'long' coffees one after the other...!
Get some good quality ready ground coffee and I think you'll be fine. I think that unless you're a serious coffee drinker you'll struggle to tell the difference between pre ground and self ground. I have a subscription with Pact coffee (there are lots of others) and I highly recommend them over what you buy off the shelf at Tesco for example.
It's a bit like buying hifi equipment - it's easy to spend a LOT of money to get the best, but relatively few people will be able to tell the difference at the high end (many of those 'relatively few' are on this forum though..! :)
I get the convenience of Nespresso but having tried a few of their machines and pods etc. - it's really not the same as a 'proper' coffee in my view. And whilst I have a decent espresso machine (Europiccola as well - not sure what year though!) - I'm not a coffee geek and usually use my John Lewis french press of a Saturday morning.
Last edited by Jack83; 20th August 2015 at 21:52. Reason: used the word 'decent' too much, sounded like a tw@
Did find another nice one for you:
http://kostverlorenvaart.blogspot.nl...xperiment.html
Meanwhile I will brew another cup from freshly ground bio-diversity friendly produced beans and filtered mountain spring water in my durable machinery.
??
Which magazine calculated it out as ~4x as expensive.
Not that it's all about cost.What's the cheapest type of coffee to use?
We've calculated the cost per shot of espresso for each coffee type and have found that ground coffee is the cheapest option.
Using ground coffee costs from around 7p per espresso and using coffee beans cost from 10p. While the cost of using coffee capsules can vary widely, this is typically the most expensive option.
When we checked, Dolce Gusto espresso capsules cost 23p per coffee, Nespresso capsules cost 29p (from the normal range), and Illy was one of the most expensive, working out at 36p per capsule.
All prices quoted are correct as of 21 November 2013, and assume standard espresso capsules/ranges. These prices don't include the cost of buying a coffee machine or any capsule postage costs.
I use a bean-to-cup machine at home and a cafetiere at work (I will not drink the muck that comes out of the machines there). I'm on hols right now and enjoying a cup of filter coffee right now. I'll happily use a Nespresso machine if I find one in a hotel room when I'm away with work.
Our (DeLonghi) bean-to-cup machine has worked flawlessly for years and we quickly found the settings to give us the coffee we liked but... I won't recommend it as, when I have done so before, a lot of people have replied with tales of woe about the reliability of the same machine.
Last edited by MakeColdplayHistory; 21st August 2015 at 07:40.
I'm with you on that the chief problem with the nespresso is you need to use pod coffee..... I pretty much drink lavazza Nero and as far as I know they only come in ground or beans.. it's a faff but part of fun of it....in mornings when I have less time I use a simple stainless steel cafetiere.... (Fed up of glass ones breaking)
I can't get my head round nespresso - seems expensive and a pain to order refills.
Aeropress I can thoroughly recommend though. Just pumps out good quality coffee, no messing.
Ofcourse it is expensive, léss vfm; it is about max Nestlé profit,never mind the envirnmnet or your health and the rest is marketing.
All in all one of the clearest desirability marketing of a léss desirable product and the consumer buying it all.
Right, time to pull a second double from my lever steam machine.
I agree with the Aeropress recommendations. On a budget, I don't think it's possible to beat one paired with a half-decent burr grinder as a setup. In fact, I'd say that an Aeropress can give the best brew quality of any technique, regardless of cost.
If you really want a noticeable improvement in your coffee quality, getting good beans and grinding them immediately before brewing will have by far the biggest effect, no matter which extraction method is used. The difference compared to using industrial-grade pre-ground beans is vast. It's a revelation to many that coffee can have flavours other than "burned", "stale" and "bitter".
PS: It's disappointing to see Nespresso being recommended; the coffee is mediocre at best.
What's the difference between the Aeropress and a cafetière?
Are they essentially the same thing?
´Coffee´
I'd say that's true up to a fairly significant budget. I must admit with shame that it took me a long time to come round to buying an Aeropress, because of the price point. It seemed nowhere near expensive enough to be in the same league as espresso machines, yet too pricey to buy on a whim. Twenty quid for a couple of bits of plastic? Do me a favour, mate.
I was wrong about that, and the day I first drank Aeropress I threw all my other coffee kit away (except for the burr grinder, naturally). I've never missed it.
It can take a bit of practice to produce a brew that's perfectly to your taste, because there are several variables: bean roast, grind size, amount of grounds, amount of water, temperature of water, steep time. But the Aeropress, unlike almost any other coffee maker, lets you tune all these settings to your heart's desire. And if you just want a quick, tasty of cup of coffee without faffing around, it does that too.
Not at all. There's a good piece about it here: The Invention of the Perfect Cup of Coffee.
As they're both full-immersion processes, they're far more similar than different.
The advantages of an Aeropress over a French press are fewer fines in the cup, more convenient cleanup (the grounds get cleanly ejected as a solid puck directly into the compost bin), increased pressure during the pressing with separated brew and grounds at the end, and a shatterproof material with better insulation properties.
The only drawbacks I can think of are that it only does one cup at a time and that the paper filters need periodic replacement (though certainly not after every brew) and absorb some of the coffee's oils. Many companies now offer permanent mesh filters for Aeropress, however.
Illy X7.1 - tasted this coffee this summer - amazing... So much better than nespresso!
Because of this and the exprience with the glass disaster of my gf at the time I have to my shame till recently discarded the Aero as the same.
Not going into the drink quality discussion because I wánt the ´faff´. I líke operating the steam punk machinery. It has an added satisfying value for me.
Indeed, it almost seems too simple to take seriously.
Espresso uses a much different extraction process so it isn't directly comparable, but I'd still take the Aeropress method over it if I had to choose only one. I find that the less concentrated brew is a better way to appreciate top-quality beans. I also generally prefer lighter filter roasts to the necessarily darker espresso roasts.
I have a fancy espresso setup in the house (as well as most of the other brew methods illustrated here) and I wouldn't say it produces a superior result on the great beans available here in Norway, just a different one. Although I enjoy a proper ristretto once in a while and it's nice for having guests over, I certainly wouldn't miss all the maintenance, mess and bulk the espresso machine involves if I were to get rid of it. I'd keep the Mazzer grinder, though.
[...typical not reading the last 10 or so entries and just posting a reply for the OP...]
you can't go wrong with a sub £100 15-18 bar espresso machine for home use
Get a coffee grinder (Burr not blade), buy beans, Get a french press if you want filter like coffee, get a frother if you want capuccino and can't work out how to use the steam/milk wand
soon you'll be buying something more expensive once you learn the ropes on the above
then you can start saving up for the "V10 espresso veloce"
I so need one of those in my life....I can hear her saying it won't match the rest of the kitchen but who cares!![...typical not reading the last 10 or so entries and just posting a reply for the OP...]
you can't go wrong with a sub £100 15-18 bar espresso machine for home use
Get a coffee grinder (Burr not blade), buy beans, Get a french press if you want filter like coffee, get a frother if you want capuccino and can't work out how to use the steam/milk wand
soon you'll be buying something more expensive once you learn the ropes on the above
then you can start saving up for the "V10 espresso veloce"
toy...
Just put a sheet of glass on it and you have a great coffee table.
Aeropress, burr grinder, and Monmouth coffee and you are good to go sir.
Thanks to everyone for their advice and input.
It looks like we are going the Aeropress, Dualit Milk Frother and grinder route to better coffee as this is the least expensive option (best bang for the buck) although the idea of a vintage refurbished machine is a tempting idea for the future.
First step taken.....
Dualit 84145 Milk Frother
Tassimo great coffee maker
The thing about the pod makers is that there is no need for some ten-minute ceremony of quasi-religious significance before you can sit down with your mug of coffee. Even cafetieres or filter machines take longer. Pods: one minute from urge to sitting down again with your coffee. Easy.
Mug.
Not cup. Who drinks from cups these days? It's like eating one Malteser. I have cups in the house: they came with my Denby set. They're nice. I don't think they've ever been used.
Of course, as I noted in another, similar thread, the pods don't make enough coffee for a mug unless you like it watered down a bit. I tolerate a slightly weaker drink for the quantity. I'd buy better pods if they were sold over here.
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