Best Bean to Cup Coffee Machine?

[chris1012]

Hi Guys,

I currently have an equivalent of the Nespresso Latissima+ (bought from Robert Dyas which takes nespresso pods) and although the quality of coffee is better than our last tassimo, we are thinking due to the price of pods and limited availability within local shops to buy a pod, we would like to change to a bean to cup coffee machine.

We have been looking at the following machines, especially with lattes and cappuccinos in mind -

Krups EA9010 Full Barista coffee
KRUPS EA850B40 Espresseria
Krups EA 8441
De'Longhi ECAM44.660.B Eletta
De'Longhi ECAM44.620 Eletta
De’Longhi ECAM28.465.M Prima Donna S
De'Longhi Prima Donna ESAM6600
Melitta Caffeo Bistro Fully Automatic Bean to Cup Coffee Maker


We like the simplicity of the Nespresso latissima+ in terms of not having to ground/press the coffee, change arms and use a wand while holding a cup up to it when frothing/heating the milk.
Cleaning up afterwards is minimal with the Nespresso, which is a bonus (especially when you have 3 kids seeking your attention every few mins...).

As you have probably gathered from the above, we are not really experienced in knowing too much about coffee machines or coffee itself for that matter but we know that we love good medium/strong latte's/cappuccinos every morning and if it wasn't for the coffee machine we would be at a costa coffee shop every morning and evening.

Any advise or suggestions to point us in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[D.P.]

I think the first question is whether you really, really want a bean2cup. My understanding is you get a poor bringer with a mediocre espresso machine with lower reliability and typically other issues, e.g. Grinder other grinds and you get a lot of of stale grinds used. Some machines are better than others most likely but the general issues are always going to be the same.


Having a separate grinder really doesn't add much work or clean up. Shove the espresso head under the grinder chute, hold down a button for 10 seconds, tamp and click into the espresso machine. You get a bit of stray grind that should get caught in a tray which you just tip out now and then.

 

[chris1012]

According to many new bean to cups, they can be closely compared to an expresso machine.
I appreciate it might not be as good but if it beats a nespresso and the quality of coffee is better and the long terms savings will be better, than we would ideally still like to go for a bean to cup....

 

[D.P.]

I'm not sure it would beat nespresso though, nesresso are pretty good, for starters the grind is optimized for the bean and nespresso machines and are then vacume sealed (well actually I think the capsules are filled with CO2 so there is zero oxidization).

 

[NickK]

I'm not sure it would beat nespresso though, nesresso are pretty good, for starters the grind is optimized for the bean and nespresso machines and are then vacume sealed (well actually I think the capsules are filled with CO2 so there is zero oxidization).

That makes the coffee in the capsules even worse.. at least they could have blamed it on the oxidation before..

 

[Siliconslave]

That makes the coffee in the capsules even worse.. at least they could have blamed it on the oxidation before..

had a great argument with someone who worked for a coffee pod maker about deterioration which essentially ended in such a standoff - apparently its 'top quality coffee' sealed in a way that it has a shelf life of 'about a year with no deterioration'

 

[D.P.]

That makes the coffee in the capsules even worse.. at least they could have blamed it on the oxidation before..

Oxidization is what chemically change the aromatics int he presence of Oxygen. If you replace the oxygen with an inert gas then the coffee will be preserved much longer, pretty much indefinitely.

 

[Shimmyhill]

Bean to cup machines are better than Nespresso even if you used the cheapest beans you could find and left them open for a month - there is no comparison, Nespresso is better than instant and thats about it.

As an owner of far to many coffee machines from Tassimo - Gaggia with grinders and Aeropress etc etc I certainly would not discount a bean to cup machine.

In my experience the b2c don't get stuck up with grinds, less so than my grinder and they seem to run cleaner than my Gaggia - it needs far more day to day cleaning and maintenance but it does edge it when you spend the time to make a good espresso.

One thing I would say is that a b2c machine much like a Gaggia et al isn't going to suddenly save you lots of money - unless you are paying full RRP for pods now and buy the cheapest beans for the b2c. You do get a much bigger choice and control of the coffee and it will be better but cheaper is debatable!

 

[CJonny]

I get why you would want one; for the convenience. I have heard good things about the Sage machines with Heston Blumenthal's name on.

 

[chris1012]

Bean to cup machines are better than Nespresso even if you used the cheapest beans you could find and left them open for a month - there is no comparison, Nespresso is better than instant and thats about it.

As an owner of far to many coffee machines from Tassimo - Gaggia with grinders and Aeropress etc etc I certainly would not discount a bean to cup machine.

In my experience the b2c don't get stuck up with grinds, less so than my grinder and they seem to run cleaner than my Gaggia - it needs far more day to day cleaning and maintenance but it does edge it when you spend the time to make a good espresso.

One thing I would say is that a b2c machine much like a Gaggia et al isn't going to suddenly save you lots of money - unless you are paying full RRP for pods now and buy the cheapest beans for the b2c. You do get a much bigger choice and control of the coffee and it will be better but cheaper is debatable!

Thank you for the responses.

Any specific recommendations to what B2C machines I should be aiming towards?

 

[Shimmyhill]

Thank you for the responses.

Any specific recommendations to what B2C machines I should be aiming towards?

I don't have enough experience to outright recommend one, have used both a Gaggia and Delonghi bean to cup and both seemed good - I should be getting a cheaper Delonghi one this week with a bit of luck (stupidly cheap if it comes off) but not used this model before so could let you know what its like.