Seeking some experiences and recommendations of the above.
For many years I used a variety of Bialetti mocha pots on the gas hob to make a coffee.
When we switched to an induction hob I had to get a new, steel, pot to work on it. In short summary, it’s just not the same.
I then switched to a Dualit espresso machine which is OK rather than super.
I like an espresso, my wife a latte and while I don’t mind (in fct rather enjoy) a bit of manual labour in its creation, my wife can’t be arsed.
So, I’d like a bean to cup machine, as good for espresso as for her making a latte at the touch of just one or two buttons. Relatively diminutive dimensions would work in its favour.
Any suggestions would be very welcome please. Costwise, a few hundred quid fine but preferably well below 4 figures!
As a fellow coffee snob I am sorry to hear about your dilemma. I’ve heard good things about delonghi automatic machines but I wouldn’t be without my Silvia.
The smallest Jura model from about 10 years ago. Ena? Looking at the website there is no direct equivalent now. It was compact, simple to use and did make a very decent coffee. I found the milk frother to be a bit poor (it sucked up milk via a tube from your jug) so tended to use a seperate device. Criticisms, the water container was very small, and the switch on/off self-clean routines used a fair bit each time-filing the tray rapidly too. My main issue (in light of what I have now ) was that it was actually hard to really clean even following all the advice and after a while it all seemed pretty clogged and unpleasant inside. probably should have taken it for a professional service? Anyway after lots of use it died and the company advised that replacement parts/service etc made it uneconomic to repair. Jura are expensive machines.
Last 2 years had a Gaggia Anima, I think the most basic model, it retails around £450-£500 I believe, Really pleased with this. Very simple to use, enough settings to tweak if you need but basically does the job well. The best thing is that the whole mechanism actually slides out the side and can be properly cleaned under the tap, also lubricated according to the instructions. This seems a really good system. The milk wand is OK. The water container isn’t big but it is easy to fill from the top, the Jura had it mounted at the back. There is a ground coffee bypass function (say for a decaff) and that works OK too. It has been reliable so far, unlike a manual Gaggia I had many years ago that basically exploded. Fingers crossed!
There are lots of very fancy machines out there at some pretty serious prices but for me this has been great. in the end the quality of the coffee you buy is probably the most crucial bit anyway!
Agree with the quality and type of roast but it is also the grind and consistency of pressure that gives the coffee its flavour and crema. And not too hot water. Of course this is another source of debate! It took me a year or two to understand how my setup worked depending upon time of day and season. I have it just right for me, most of the time.
I have had a Melitta Caffeo Bistro for approx 10 years, nearest current model is the CI. Both of my daughters have the Melitta Solo machines. All available for sensible money and make great tasting coffee. The CI has the extra features for Lattes etc although there are different versions of the Solo, one of which has a frother. Other than running routine cleaning programs on them have been fault free and easy to use with minimal cleaning required.
We have a DeLonghi Eletta which is good for “everyday” quick cups. It is loaded with my wife’s choice for beans from Tesco. I use an Aeropress for my morning coffee.
For my birthday last month the daughters bought me a Bodum “vacuum” job. Looks like something from the lab of Dr. Frankenstein….”More coffee, Igor, I need more coffee!”.
It’s not quick (allow 10 minutes), but it make some of the finest coffee I’ve ever had (OTOH, that could be due to the fine selection of beans from Cardews of Oxford that they bought me the previous week for Father’s Day )
I have been using one of these for some years now.
Simple and easy to use. And good results.
Good for one button press coffees and also for setting up specialist selections as a favourite.
We had bean-to-cup machines in the canteen at work…was not at all impressed. The beans were not kept airtight in the hopper and the resulting coffee was very poor (and I suspect fairly low quality beans were used in the first place). I wonder how b-t-c machines of better quality get round the airtight issue?
(I keep my beans in a coffee-vac canister at home).
There are (I think) various different levels of Sage bean to cup machine that have good write ups. My nephew has one from the lower end and a friend a higher one and they are both pleased with them. I think both weigh the beans each brew rather than leaving them in the hopper to go stale
I too moved from a Jura ENA to the Gaggia - The Gaggia is very good and easy to clean
I changed the steam wand for a Saeco Pannarello which works very well and is also easy to clean -
for me the issue with auto-prep milky drinks is that the frothing systems require a lot of cleaning.
Standalone milk frothers like Nespresso also work well and clean easily (Until they burn out)
I guess a lot depends on budget. Like many thing I guess you can spend anywhere between £500 and £5000+ depending on what you want.
I bought a Miele CM6550 btc machine during lock down (sudden wfh meant I was getting through far too many nespresso capsules!). I’m very impressed with it. Does a lovely espresso and will also automatically do various milk based coffees by putting the pipe into the supplied milk holder, if that’s of interest. I previously had a gaggia btc, which was fine, but fewer bells and whistles.
Delonghi B2C are good, bought mine for a few hundred £ from eBay and made about 8000 coffees and still going strong. You can tailor it to your exact needs the beans are stored with a rubber inner lid and I keep about a weeks supply.
Parts are easily available, good enough for me but I’m not a connoisseur coffee drinker.
Exactly the same experience. Only ours was an automatic Siemens. I am under impression now, that semi-automatic type machines make much better coffee compared to fully automatic.
All useful info., thnak you everyone so far. I will be sharing this and think perhaps suggesting we go for the Gaggia/Silvia espresso machine options or a Sage like semi!
)
