Bean to Cup - £200 any good

Psycho Sonny · 23 Aug 2015 at 12:31

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/melitta-caffeo-solo-bean-cup-coffee-machine-200-40-amazon-2268778

down from £300+

I'm not one of those guys who is going to spend hours obsessing about grinds, temperature, etc, etc.

What I do want is a quality machine than can make quality coffee with the press of a button which also doesn't take an hour to clean up afterwards, etc.

The reason why I use a Nutri Ninja Auto IQ, no crap to clean apart from the blade after making a smoothie.

Is this as good as it gets for £200 or is there something better for around that price that is a bean to cup machine.

CHokKA · 24 Aug 2015 at 16:33

More money than sense springs to mind. I'm more than happy with my Dualit burr grinder and my AeroPress for my fresh coffee. I know it's not quite espresso but it's damn close and it's the easiest out of all my coffee gear to use and clean up.

To clarify, I have the following:

A Dualit 84205 espresso machine - this never gets used. In fact it's now in the under stairs cupboard.
A Bialetti stovetop espresso maker - again, this never gets used, it just sits in the cupboard.
A Bodum French Press cafetiere - never gets used.
An Aerobie AeroPress - This gets used almost every day. It is by far the easiest and nicest cup of coffee for the hassle.

Psycho Sonny · 24 Aug 2015 at 16:42

CHokKA said:
More money than sense springs to mind. I'm more than happy with my Dualit burr grinder and my AeroPress for my fresh coffee. I know it's not quite espresso but it's damn close and it's the easiest out of all my coffee gear to use and clean up.

To clarify, I have the following:

A Dualit 84205 espresso machine - this never gets used. In fact it's now in the under stairs cupboard.
A Bialetti stovetop espresso maker - again, this never gets used, it just sits in the cupboard.
A Bodum French Press cafetiere - never gets used.
An Aerobie AeroPress - This gets used almost every day. It is by far the easiest and nicest cup of coffee for the hassle.

so how would you for instance make 6 coffees (have guests over) with that?

i could use a £15 blender to make smoothies but a £60-120 nutri ninja does it a lot better and more conveniently that it's worth the extra.

I've got about £150 in amazon vouchers (gift) so i personally would only be putting in £50 for the machine, regardless £200 for something that will be used everyday for years isn't a lot of money.

CHokKA · 24 Aug 2015 at 16:44

Psycho Sonny said:
so how would you for instance make 6 coffees (have guests over) with that?

i could use a £15 blender to make smoothies but a £120 nutri ninja does it a lot better that it's worth the extra.

I've got about £150 in amazon vouchers (gift) so i personally would only be putting in £50 for the machine, regardless £200 for something that will be used everyday for years isn't a lot of money.

Ah well you didn't mention that in your post, I thought you were looking at something for yourself. You can make a few cups at a time with the AeroPress, but granted, it isn't the easiest in the world for that, because you've got to get the grind and consistency just right. If that's what you're after then the machine you posted would be ok, but you need to weigh up just how often you'll be making that much coffee. If it's mainly for yourself, there are far cheaper solutions around

If this is for an office or you're genuinely making 6 cups at a time a few times per day, then it's a no brainer that you need something like what you posted, but that one will probably die after a year because I'm sure that's probably just too much use for something costing £200.

Psycho Sonny · 24 Aug 2015 at 19:13

CHokKA said:
Ah well you didn't mention that in your post, I thought you were looking at something for yourself. You can make a few cups at a time with the AeroPress, but granted, it isn't the easiest in the world for that, because you've got to get the grind and consistency just right. If that's what you're after then the machine you posted would be ok, but you need to weigh up just how often you'll be making that much coffee. If it's mainly for yourself, there are far cheaper solutions around If this is for an office or you're genuinely making 6 cups at a time a few times per day, then it's a no brainer that you need something like what you posted, but that one will probably die after a year because I'm sure that's probably just too much use for something costing £200.

it's german made and retails for a lot more it's on sale. check camelcamelcamel

Scottland · 24 Aug 2015 at 21:49

If you specifically want an espresso based machine, it should do the job fine for you. I've had (just replaced) a delonghi unit for the last few years and it is very easy with minimal cleaning required. There's no milk steamer as far as I can see, so you'll be sticking to Americanos and Espressos yeah?

An alternative would be a grinder and a decent large drip/pour over brewer. Drip does taste different to an espresso based coffee , so you may prefer one over the other.

Grimley · 24 Aug 2015 at 22:26

Cheap for a Bean to Cup machine (Less than a new Gaggia Classic too) No milk steamer means I wouldn't buy one, doesn't mean to say it makes bad coffee though.