OT: coffee machine recommendations please

The single-use plastic squad will be gunning for them, plus they work out pretty expensive

there was an eBay seller that refurbed the returns of DeLonghi bean-to-cup machines for under £100, but they seem to have stopped.

Andy is right. You need to check the price of these capsules! They are a really expensive way to make coffee.

Have a look here

I use an Aeropress, but it's probably too much faff for you Chris.

I've been round the houses on this, and ended up with a metal (because glass is easily broken) cafetiere and decent ground coffee. Makes a pretty good americano - much better than the capsule things IMHO.

I fully agree with you about the cafetiere - and I settled on a metal one too. It is double-walled so stays hot for quite a while. Not much different from making a pot of proper tea.

Forget the plastic sachets and get a bean-to-cup one.

I have a nice Bosch one - they do several.

IME all break withuin a m inth or so.

My stainless steel cafetietres go on forever.

Takes about 30 seconds longer (time to grind beans and fill cafetiere) than instant.

If you buy ground coffee, or have some ready prepared, it's about 7 seconds longer.

same here. Tucking into my fog-cutter right now. Except I only have 1 cup a day (blood pressure) so grind my own.

Ah the sream of the coffee grinder as a murky dawn breaks over the rolling hills...

There really is no need to use plastic in that sort of system, I suspect its only done for economic reasons. Brian

Chris Hogg has brought this to us :

That is a very expensive way to have a coffee at home and you are tied to a particular brand of capsule.

I paid £10 in Tesco three years ago, for a filter coffee machine. You put the water in a tank, put the ground coffee in a rinsable/reusable filter. Switch on and the coffee floods into a jug, via the filter, where it is kept hot for a maximum of 20minutes before it switches off.

It makes great coffee, as good as the best I can buy in coffee shops and I get to be able to use a massive range of coffee quite cheaply. My regular ground coffee comes from Aldi or Lidl. The hotplate is beginning to rot, so its demise is imminent, but not a problem -I bought a complete spare.

Nespresso is low fuss and a good step up from instant, but only does espresso shots (which you are free of course to dilute). Volume of usable coffee is quite low (but you can quickly put a second capsule through). Cost per shot - around 30p

I've gone the other way and got a manual pump La Pavaroni which is serviceable by me (packet of rings and gaskets - about as much effort as a quick carb rebuild) and has zero electronics. And a good grinder. And a decent source of beans (we have a local roaster, but Union from Waitrose are very good too, better than most).

I can turn a proper espesso out from that with 2 minutes of effort and

If you want fully auto, the Heston bean to cup machines have good reviews at the expense of, well expense - and complexity.

It's not too bad really - Nespresso, when I had one was around 30p ish a capsule. Don't know about the other format...

How can a hotplate rot? I've got a Braun filter coffee maker I bought with Green Shield stamps.

Thanks for all the replies. I like the idea of as filter machine (thanks HB), and I see they do one-cup versions, which would suit me. Either this one

De Longhi Corsa (beans to cup machine).

Literally the best christmas present I have ever had.

Only does two small or one large cup at a time, but that's all that we need.

Has a frother for those who like them (we do).

I know it's not exactly what you asked but we got one of these about 18 months ago,

I was put off by the low price but it's a decent machine and we've since bought 2 more for work.

I don't think I'd want to be woken-up by a coffee grinder!

I also have a Delonghi (Magnifica) and it makes fine coffee. Or at least it does when it works.

It is the most staggeringly unreliable machine I have ever come across (and I include several Alfa Romeos, a Phillips TV, a Triumph 2000 and Chinese capacitors in the list).

It has been apart so many times I can now get it into pieces in about

The control board was replaced when it was destroyed by the infuser drive motor shorting out as it had water dripping on it from the top of the pump (placed exactly so that water dripping from the most highly stressed join in the machine would indeed drip right into the expensive motor.

The little spring fuckit clips which hold all the high pressure PTFE pipes in place cost £2.50 plus £4 postage for each one.

It leaks permanently, the milk container has three silicone rubber O rings where the steam pipe fits in which last about a month . Those are also £2.50 plus £4 postage EACH (or 50p a bag of 100 inc postage from AliExpress in China).

Problem is it does produce fine coffee quite quickly and if SWMBO doesn't get her coffee in the morning there will be terrible crimes committed.

I've had mine (cafe corso, but the difference between many models seems to be how much chrome or plastic they have) nearly 4 years ... I rinse out the brew unit, descale it, and grease it, other than that it makes coffee.

Max Demian explained :

It has become heavily pitted with rust, it appeared quite recently. No problem, it doesn't owe me anything after three years :-)