Spec me: A coffee machine

boxman2000 said:
This - if your tipple is espresso or latte particularly.

Best coffee I've had. I have a 2 cup and a 6 cup and they are great, although I prefer the capacity from a 2 cup which is ideal for a large latte.

I've tried all sorts of pod machines and to my taste buds nothing comes close to good quality coffee and a Bialetti.
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I've always been wary of those after witnessing one explode and scald one of my friends, whilst also painting most of the kitchen pale brown!
 
I've not bought into the expensive coffee machine idea.I think making good coffee can be quite simple so I either use a Bialetti which is more for Expresso but I find I can use the Expresso to form the base of other drinks if I don't want it as strong, or use a Caffeterre. Buying decent beans or pre-ground coffee is best. Both use coarse ground coffee.

The Bialetti has a safety release valve these days which just has to be pushed occasionally to ensure it's not stuck, so will work in the case of high pressure. As long as the right coffee is used (coarse) they should never explode.
 
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I'd say a Moka was one of the least forgiving ways of brewing a good, consistent, hassle-free coffee.

I think an aeropress beats it out in every day. Plus it's a lot easier to clean.
 
Jolteh said:
I'd say a Moka was one of the least forgiving ways of brewing a good, consistent, hassle-free coffee.

I think an aeropress beats it out in every day. Plus it's a lot easier to clean.
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Agreed. You can get nice coffee out of one but I'd go for an aeropress if I was looking for a small portable/low-hassle coffee making device.
 
Jolteh said:
I'd say a Moka was one of the least forgiving ways of brewing a good, consistent, hassle-free coffee.

I think an aeropress beats it out in every day. Plus it's a lot easier to clean.
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The smell from a Moka pot is amazing. I tend to be pretty acurate with measurements so find I can brew a good coffee consistently with the Bialetti Moka pot. As for cleaning it, it's not supposed to be spotless. So the base gets a quick rinse out, the coffee emptied from the metal filter and then both the filter and pot rinsed out with hot water from both sides (through funnel and through top) - quick and easy I'd say.

If I bought a machine it'd probably be one which takes full beans like a Berg (see below). I've used one before in an office and was pretty good. THis one is £400+ but would have to be really into your coffee to spend that much to just make coffee :)

Berg coffee maker
 
Check out the Siliconslave's Espresso thread - many of us are into our coffee enough to spend that :)

You can of course get good results from a Moka pot but it's absolutely both more hassle and less forgiving than an aeropress.
 
Kenai said:
Prepare to be told that £70 will not get you a decent coffee machine, in fact that will barely get you a burr grinder worth having, followed by recommendations for Tassimo machines on sale and then a big argument about real coffee vs pod coffee before you give up and just revert to Nescafe Gold Blend of a morning and your regular trips to the coffee shops again.
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Yeah.. you need some old school then :D (just drinking a coffee made by it)

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The priority of good coffee:
1. Good fresh beans
2. Good consistent grinder (flat burrs rather than conical or shredder blade)
3. Good extraction

The minimum - fresh beans, good flat burr grinder (even manual if you have time), caffietere.

However as said - it's a long slippery slope.
 
Kenai said:
I've always been wary of those after witnessing one explode and scald one of my friends, whilst also painting most of the kitchen pale brown!
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That would be due to them overfilling I'd guess (I've done it before myself). Only way to go for espresso (for the money) that I've tried, although aeropress is something I'll probably look into later this year for work (they're too tight to get a good machine).

Saying that, I've been given a brand new Nescafe Dolce Gusto Melody 3 (Krups) so quite fancy giving it a go as to be honest if I'm in a rush of a morning, the Bialetti isn't possible.

Any recommendations for a good espresso pod please?
 
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It's not actually espresso and in terms of making a strong coffee an aeropress is easier to get good results with. I'm not knocking them but they're definitely not the only way to go.
 
Delonghi dedica is worth a look. Just got mine and I love it, obviously need to give it time to really suss it out and so far it's doing a good job with the cheap aldi beans I'm using up.

You can use ese pods with it along with the regular ground in the portafilter, though I find the pods lack decent crema, wether that's down to the coffee or using pods I'm not sure.

Either way I love it, got me a cheap ceramic hand burr grinder until I plump for a decent burr grinder.
 
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