Finding the perfect coffee machine for your particular requires can be like finding a needle in a haystack, there are such a huge number of options!
If you’re on the hunt for your wonderful coffee makeking equipment, if you’re not already finding yourself overwhelmed and confused, that probably indicates you’ve only just started looking, so actually be prepared. It’s probably not as straightforward as you thought it was going to be.
But fear not, I’ve broken everything down into an easy to learn guide so that anyone can simply read this guide and easily identify the perfect coffee makeking tool for their budget and lifestyle.
Before I get into the different options, let’s first address the question:
Why buy a coffee machine?
In short, the reason you’d buy a coffee machine is to allow you to enjoy better quality, freshly brewed coffee, at home.
There may be certain factors that would determine what type of machine you’d go for, but the overall reason you’d want to invest in a coffee brewing device is to improve the quality of your coffee at home.
The UK has largely been a nation of instant coffee drinkers since the 1950s, at least when it comes to coffee at home – however there has been a gradual movement away from instant and towards freshly crafted coffee over the past few years. This movement has been sped up enormously lately, one of the lots of side-effects of the current situation.
For numerous people, coffee at home has changed from being just a habitual quick caffeine fix on the way out of the door to a replacement for their normal visits to their favourite coffee shop, as something to actually savour and love.
If this describes you, then you may be in for a real surprise when it comes to basically how great coffee at home can extremely be.
Maybe I’m preaching to the converted, you’ve already left instant coffee behind, and you’re already enjoying freshly crafted coffee at home via a coffee brewing tool or manual coffee maker, nevertheless you’re just looking for an upgrade?
Wherever you are on your coffee journey I’ll help you know how to get the a lot of out of the money you have available to spend on a coffee machine. On that note let’s talk about the first important part of the coffee makeking tool buying technique.
Budget
Most of us would love to trot down to the Porsche showroom and point to a brand new 911 turbo and tell the salesman that you’ll take one for you and one for your partner. However then you either wake up, or realise you could barely afford a set of tyres for a Porsche 911 ;-).
It can be a similar situation when considering buying a coffee makeking tool.
Commercial coffee machines cost thousands, and if you wanted – I could point you in the direction of home coffee machines costing from four to five grand, or much more – not including the coffee mill! Believe it or not, there are people who have ten thousand pound (or more) coffee machine setups.
You may expect these people to likewise have a Bentley and/or Lamborghini on their (huge, gated) driveway, nevertheless you may be surprised. People who get serious about a hobby can end up increasing their budget over time, often a case of finding it easier to justify such expense, to themselves and probably more importantly to significant others…
The good news is that you don’t have to go to these extremes to up your home coffee game. Generally speaking, you’d expect the quality potential to enhance along with the price of the coffee makeking tool, but this doesn’t always hold true.
You can easily pay £1000 for a coffee makeking tool that doesn’t produce coffee any better than one that costs £500, and you can get a machine that produces excellent coffee for way less than that too.
I think the the majority of practical approach is to decide first how much you’re prepared to spend, and then you can immediately rule out any that don’t fit with the budget you’ve allocated. Don’t forget, you can always upgrade over time, and a lot of coffee machines at least retain some value – so if you buy a lower cost machine now and decide to upgrade in a year, you’ll be able to sell your machine and buy another one.
It’s likewise important to know that the type of coffee you’re wanting to make with your coffee brewing device likewise steeps an impact on how much you’re going to have to fork out, however keep reading for more advice on budget, as I’ll discuss rough price ranges for each sort of coffee machine shortly.
By the way, if you’re looking at producing freshly brewed coffee at home, however you don’t really want to invest in a “machine” – you don’t have to. Extremely grab a manual grinder, and an Aeropress, and hey presto, you have cracking quality freshly crafted coffee from home. Or if you prefer filter, just get an low-cost Hario V60.
Hario V60 Review Aeropress Review Best Manual Coffee Grinders
Basically, if you already have a cafetiere lurking in a kitchen cupboard somewhere, this is another way to brew brilliant quality coffee – get yourself a mill, and look up some of the more modern cafetiere techniques, and you’ll be amazed by what the modest cafetiere can produce. Check out this procedure below from world barista champion James Hoffman.
So no issue what your budget is, you’ll find something you’ll be able to afford in order to take your home coffee game up by several notches.
Before you scroll down although just have a read of the next really important thing to take into consideration before you spend your hard-earned cash.
Forms of coffee drinkers
There’s one hugely important thing that I think most people don’t find out, which can lead to poor decisions when buying coffee machines, and that is that there are in reality two distinctly different kinds of coffee drinkers, when it comes to coffee at home.
There are regular coffee drinkers, and there are home baristas.
These in fact are entirely different kinds of people, when it comes to their attitude towards coffee and how much time and effort they’re willing to invest on creating coffee.
The thing is, there are coffee machines which are brewed for home baristas, and there are coffee machines which definitely aren’t, and it’s extremely common for people to misunderstand this, and end up with completely the wrong sort of coffee brewing equipment for them. Don’t worry though, you won’t make that mistake as you’re reading this article 🙂
A home barista (and I definitely put myself in this category) is someone who is willing to invest time, energy and money into creating coffee. It’s not simply means to an end, it’s a hobby. They’re constantly upgrading their gear and their skills, and they commit a lot of time to creating coffee.
Normal coffee drinkers see coffee machines as suggests to an end, and coffee simply as a drink they like to consume.
While a home barista will get out the scales, and do everything meticulously to get the perfect coffee, truly enjoying the experience – a typical everyday coffee drinker basically wants coffee.
If you’re looking for a hobby, and you can see yourself in truth enjoying the learning curve & continually improving your coffee brewing abilities, then when it comes to coffee machines I’d be looking at an espresso machine, and a separate grinder. This is what I’d refer to as a home barista espresso setup.
There are also integrated coffee mill espresso coffee machines such as the Sage Barista Express and Barista Pro, which I’ll get to shortly – however actually keep in mind that a lot of other espressos machines with integrated grinders are bean to cup machines, and you’ll probably want to steer clear of bean to cup machines if you’re going down the home barista hobby route.
If you’re more into drip coffee, then there only basically a couple of options for true home barista filter coffee machines, so it’s an easier decision, but most home baristas are primarily into espresso creating.
If you’re definitely a more typical coffee drinker, and you think anyone who weighs their coffee or spends an hour making their coffee in the morning is nuts, then I’d steer you towards either a bean to cup coffee brewing equipment, a pod coffee brewing device or a drip coffee brewing device, just depending on the type of coffee you want to beverage at home.
Again, when it comes to bean to cup machines, just make sure you’re literally looking at a true bean to cup coffee makeking tool and not a classic espresso machine with an integrated mill, as these kinds of espresso coffee machines are often categorized as bean to cup machines just due to the integrated coffee grinder.
Bean to cup coffee machines do a lot of of the work for you, beans go in the top, coffee comes out of the bottom, and everything in between is done by the machine. If you go into a restaurant or hotel and use a self serve coffee makeking tool for example, these are bean to cup coffee machines (basically commercial versions).
There is one exception to this, which is the Sage Oracle range. These are bean to cup machines in the sense that they have integrated grinders and they do nearly everything for you, but they also allow the user to take more of an active role, so you get to look and feel like a home barista, nevertheless all of the skilled stuff (dosing, tamping, perfectly steaming the milk) is taken care of by the very clever machines.
Sage Oracle & Oracle Touch Review
Kind of coffee makeking device
When it comes to coffee machines, meaning electric machines and excluding manual coffee makers, there are in reality only three forms of coffee machine: Bean to cup coffee machines, espresso coffee machines, American coffee machines and pod or disk coffee machines.
Bean to cup coffee machines
These are currently the fastest growing sector of the coffee brewing equipment market as more and more people are looking to recreate a coffee shop experience at home particularly since the COVID pandemic where everyone was robbed of their latte’s and cappuccinos and these machines allow you to enjoy these at home without having to become a barista.
Nearly all bean to cup coffee machines are espresso machines, with the exception of a couple of machines on the market which are bean to cup filter coffee machines.
This is where things can get a little bit confusing, due to the fact that not everyone buying a bean to cup machine understands that they’re simply (usually) buying an espresso machine, and some people buying more traditional espresso coffee machines (to be referred to shortly) think they’re buying bean to cup coffee machines.
It doesn’t help when websites wrongly categorize coffee machines, which happens rather often.
So simply keep in mind, a lot of bean to cup coffee machines are espresso coffee machines, and they’re for creating espresso coffee and espresso based coffees such as Americano, lungo, flat white, cappuccino, latte & so on.
As I explained a little earlier, bean to cup coffee machines are truly the domain of the more “normal” coffee drinker, someone who wants ideal coffee nevertheless doesn’t want the hobby side of things.
A bean to cup coffee brewing equipment has the potential of totally transforming your home coffee experience, and the main reason for that : freshly ground coffee.
Coffee always, always tastes (and smells) better when it’s freshly ground – and with bean to cup coffee machines, your coffee is ground just before the shot is pulled and your Americano, cappuccino or Latte is brewed.
You just drop the whole coffee beans to the hopper (the technical name for the container on the top that holds the beans), then when you press the button to tell the machine to make your coffee, it grinds it and then steeps it – you can’t get much fresher than that.
Yes it’s fair to say that there’s a little more to it than that, even with a bean to cup machine, if you want the best quality coffee. The many important thing here is the quality of the coffee. No matter how fantastic your machine, if you put muck in, you’ll get muck out.
If you buy coffee beans from the supermarket, especially if it’s one of the better known household names, most this coffee is what’s known as commodity coffee. It’s priced not based on quality, however by the stock market just like any other commodity such as sugar or salt. The best quality coffee beans don’t sell via this same channel, and isn’t priced in the same way.
The better quality coffee is grown by specialist coffee farmers, usually at much higher altitudes, in specific areas under extremely specific conditions, and is likewise processed with the same type of focus on quality. There’s no way someone growing quality coffee would be able to sell their coffee as commodity coffee. Even the producers of commodity coffee, with lower production costs, often make losses due to the market price dropping.
Instead, high quality coffee which we usually refer to as speciality coffee, is purchased based on quality, by specialists. It likewise ends up being roasted by specialists, usually in small batches.
So every single method beginning from planting the seedlings all the way through to roasting, is done with only one purpose in mind, to get the extremely perfect quality cup of joe at the end.
This is such a different sort of coffee to the “normal” coffee most people are familiar with. There’s extremely no suitable analogy I can think of to separate the two, even cheap plonk vs fine wines isn’t a close enough comparison.
So, buy fantastic quality coffee beans, that’s the first step – whether you’re using a bean to cup coffee machine, traditional espresso machine, American coffee brewing device or a manual brew process.
Perfect Coffee Beans
The other thing to mention is grind size. While bean to cup users don’t tend to focus on grind size to the same extent as home baristas do with traditional espresso coffee machines, you’ll still be able to adjust the grind size to enhance the extraction and therefore the taste of your coffee.
This isn’t the place for a tutorial ;-), however in a nutshell – if your coffee aromas sharp or sour, it’s probably under extracting, so try making the grind finer.
If your coffee is tasting bitter and astringent, watery, and you’re finding it dries out your tongue, these are signs of over extraction, which means you need to make the grind more coarse.
With home barista espresso machines you’d usually focus on flow time in order to gauge whether you’re in the sweet spot of extraction, but it’s not quite as easy to do that with bean to cup machines, so I’d suggest adjusting things based on taste.
Several “normal” coffee drinkers will be more than happy with the impacts of their machine with a little bit bit of grind adjustment, however if you wanted to try to get a little closer to perfection, you can likewise play around with brew ratio – which just means coffee in vs the espresso coffee out.
With most bean to cup machines it’s possible to learn how much coffee is being ground depending on the setting you choose, and you can measure the coffee output using brew scales or a measured cup or glass. For instance, with the Gaggia Brera, the 2 bean setting is 9 grams so if you pull a double shot at the 2 bean setting that’s 18 grams (I’m wonderful at maths).
So 36ml of espresso coffee out from 18 in, is a 1:2 ratio. 45ml out from 18 in is 1:2.5, and 54 out from 18 in is a 1:3 ratio. Wow, is there no limit to my mathematical genius? ;-). As long as you can figure out how much your machine is grinding, and have some way to measure the shot, you can experiment with ratios.
Some of the higher cost bean to cup machines will allow you to troubleshoot the brew temperature too, which offers you an additional element of control if you want it.
You’ll see that some of the bean to cup machines on the market will have a steam wand, while some have a milk carafe or a little gizmo called a cappuccinatore, and these machines deal with the milk steaming and pouring for you too, these types of machines are likewise known as cappuccino makers or “one touch” bean to cup coffee machines.
If this sounds like the great sort of coffee makeking tool for you, this article is all about bean to cup machines:
Perfect Bean To Cup Coffee Machine
Espresso coffee Machines
Aside from bean to cup coffee machines, there are essentially two main types of espresso machines, domestic espresso machines and home barista espresso coffee machines, also discussed as prosumer espresso machines.
Starting with home barista or prosumer machines, these are smaller, home versions of commercial espresso coffee machines.
These machines are based on professional machines you’d find in a coffee shop, but they’re made in a way which makes them more suitable for home work with – smaller, usually tank fed rather than plumbed in, and usually (however not always) cheaper than commercial machines.
As with commercial machines, these forms of coffee machines require barista skills, which is why I’m referring to them as “home barista” espresso coffee machines. They pull shots at the preferred 9 bars of pressure & they work with basic espresso coffee filter baskets and need to be paired with coffee grinders capable of grinding for espresso.
These forms of espresso machines start at around £400 at RRP, however remember this is just the espresso coffee machine, you’ll need a capable espresso grinding machine too, with the entry extent being the likes of the Sage Dosage Control Pro and Smart Grinder Pro.
Perfect Coffee Grinder
You’ll notice the name “Sage” cropping up numerous times during this post. Sage are one of the the majority of prolific manufacturers when it comes to prosumer or home barista espresso coffee machines, and they make traditional espresso coffee machines, and bean to cup coffee machines. For more on Sage, see:
Perfect Sage Espresso Machine
Domestic espresso coffee machines on the other hand, are brewed more for the basic domestic user. They’re made to require minimum barista skills, they’re made to use pre-ground coffee or with cheaper coffee grinders, and they’re brewed in a way which steeps them more affordable.
If you imagine a bean to cup coffee makeking tool without the coffee grinder, this is – primarily speaking – a fairly good description of this sort of espresso coffee machine.
As with many bean to cup coffee machines, they usually pull shots at 15 bars of pressure vs the preferred 9 bars, and they do so via pressurized baskets, and not the basic espresso filter baskets.
The filter basket is the metal cup with holes in the bottom which holds the ground coffee. Fundamental baskets are full of uniform sized holes, while pressurized baskets force the coffee through a single hole.
These kinds of baskets were initially introduced by Gaggia, as “perfect crema” baskets, and that name brews many sense, as pressurised baskets are more about visuals than anything else. They give the espresso coffee a more detailed look, as they produce a foam which looks like the crema we associate with a ideal shot of espresso.
The problem is, these baskets don’t do as good a job when it comes to taste as they do when it comes to looks. They can produce a shot which looks the part, without the expense and the skills, however they don’t rather do the same job where taste is concerned.
Having said that, once again it comes down to whether you’re a “normal” coffee drinker or a home Barista, because it depends on whether you have the palate to detect much of a difference. Home baristas tend to develop their coffee palate along with their home barista skill, which spoils them over time.
It likewise depends on what you’re doing with your shots of espresso, once you’ve pulled them. If you’re making caramel lattes or cappuccino with a boat load of sugar, for example, it’s less likely that you’d be able to discriminate between a shot pulled via a pressurized basket vs a shot pulled via a basic basket.
I don’t have an issue with domestic espresso coffee machines, or pressurized baskets. As long as you’re utilizing ideal quality coffee, I still think you’re going to experience wonderful tasting coffee even with a £100 – £200 domestic espresso machine with pressurized baskets, and if you do reach a stage where your palate develops beyond the capabilities of that machine, and you start to catch the home barista bug, you can then look at upgrading.
I’m going to introduce a couple of what I think are the perfect choices one of the lower cost domestic espresso machines below, but if you think this kind of machine is for you, then hopefully this article will help:
Perfect Cheap Espresso coffee Machine
Pod or capsule coffee machines
These are pretty much the opposite of espresso coffee machines in terms of the effort required.
If you want something (much) better than instant coffee however you constantly have 100 things on your to-do list and none of them are to do with making coffee then this sort of machine will be right up your street.
My main problem with pod machines is that the business model of pod machine manufacturers is to sell you a cheap machine (usually sold at their cost or close) in order to then lock you into paying over the odds for their pods for as long as you own the coffee machine.
The majority of people will be familiar with this business model when it comes to printers. Many people buy a printer that costs £30-£60 and think that it’s a good deal only to find that the ink cartridges contain hardly any ink and cost £20 each so no wonder they were happy to sell you the printer for such a low price in the first place!
It’s not rather as bad with pod coffee machines but with the likes of Dolce Gusto and Tassimo you can expect to pay about 80p for a cappuccino or latte and you need to bear in mind that the milk in the capsule is either powdered milk (Dolce Gusto) or liquid milk creamer (Tassimo) which is never going to be as good as using fresh milk from a taste perspective.
But, if time is of the essence then you can’t get quicker than a pod machine. Open the lid, add the pod, press one button and you’re done.
If you like milk-based drinks such as cappuccino or latte and you choose to froth your own milk for the perfect taste then Nespresso is the way to go as some of their machines have built-in steam wands so you can froth your own milk or even milk carafes that work with fresh milk to automatically froth and heat your milk so you don’t have to.
Also, thanks to Dualit taking Nespresso to court in a David vs Goliath type affair, and winning, there is a huge range of Nespresso compatible pods available, so you’re no longer locked in to utilizing genuine Nespresso pods.
If you do decide to go down the Dolce Gusto or Tassimo route I would advise that you work with their espresso capsules and then buy a separate milk frother so that you give yourself the best chance of a decent tasting coffee by avoiding the powdered milk pods.
For more on milk frothers see:
Perfect Milk Frother
And this post goes into detail on Nespresso pod machines specifically:
Perfect Nespresso Coffee Machine
Drip coffee machines
This kind of coffee machine, while very popular in the US, isn’t particularly popular in the UK, probably because it is incorrectly related to only creating big pots of coffee, sitting on a hot plate getting bitter.
However I think this is an incredibly underrated way of creating good coffee easily especially if you are on a budget and you are not interested in spending hundreds of pounds on a coffee makeking equipment as you can pick up a decent one for around £50-£70
You can likewise make as little as a couple of cups of coffee if it’s simply for you or several if you have people over or you want to do an all-nighter!
Here’s a more detailed article on American coffee machines:
Best Drip coffee Machine
So, hopefully you have a little more of an grasp now of the various forms of machines, and a better knowledge of which type of coffee brewing device might be perfect for you. Here are what I believe to be the best coffee machines to consider, within each category:
Bean to Cup Coffee Machines
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The De’Longhi Magnifica S is a hugely popular coffee makeking device from De’Longhi, and it’s no surprise to me to be honest, for such a low priced machine.
This is an auto machine, vs fully auto. To explain, there are super automatic or fully automatic machines, AKA “one touch” or “cappuccino maker” bean to cup machines which handle everything for you at the touch of a button, including the milk side of things.
Then, there are the fundamental bean to cup machines which come with a steam wand for you to steam the milk yourself.
Except for the Sage Oracle range, and the Gaggia Magenta (both of which feature below) many fundamental bean to cup machines with a steam wand, have what are called panarello wands.
These are a sheath of metal or plastic around a steam pipe, and they introduce the air into the milk via a hole on the side, which means anyone can foam milk without developing any home barista skills.
The emphasis here, although, is on the word “foam”, as nearly all panarello wands are only capable of thick, spoonable foam for old school cappuccino.
There’s nothing wrong with this of course if this is how you like your milkies, but if like me you want velvety microfoam for flat white and third wave cappuccino and latte, you won’t get on well with panarello wands. It’s not a huge deal although, you can literally pull the panarello off with the majority of machines, and use the pipe below as a pro steam wand.
Nevertheless if you’re all about milkies, really have a look at the Gaggia Magenta and the oracle coffee machines below.
Getting back to the Magnifica S, I’ve not used this model, nevertheless I have used the slightly older and slightly cheaper model (which features below) – and given that this appears to be a slight improvement on that machine (which I was impressed with) and is often available for only mildly more, I have an exceptionally positive opinion of this machine.
In terms of the main features, it has a handy front-loading water reservoir which will take 1.8 Litres, so not a bad capacity at all for such a low priced machine.
It has an adjustable group, meaning you can troubleshoot the height for different cups, and it has 13 grind settings, which is in truth fairly impressive for a bean to cup machine.
It’s a tad quieter, it would seem than its mildly older sibling (which is known for being a little on the noisy side), and the controls just appear to be a bit more well thought. This was my only real criticism of the earlier model, I didn’t think the strength and volume settings rather crafted sense.
If you’re wanting a low-cost however reliable machine which will do everything for you except to steam and pour the milk, I don’t think this is a bad preference at all.
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This is the aforementioned older and usually lower cost sibling of the DeLonghi Magnifica S, above.
DeLonghi sent this to me a while back, to review, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to be overly impressed given the price of this machine, but I was shown wrong.
It’s a wonderful little machine for the money, and if I necessary a bean to cup machine on an exceptionally tight budget, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this machine.
It’s not fantastic, you can’t expect perfection for this price – but it’ll make just as good quality espresso coffee and espresso-based coffees as most machines costing up to around five times the cost.
The only niggles I had truly was that it’s a little bit on the loud side (the pump on the Magnifica S appears to be mildly quieter), and I thought the settings necessary a little of a re-think, but once you’re set up to make your coffee how you like it, you don’t really need to mess with these anyway.
It has a smaller 1.2L water tank, but it’s the same front-loading style tank so extremely easy to re-fill. It has the same 13 grind settings, which offers you more adjustment than most bean to cup machines costing up to around 5-6 times the price.
If you’re wondering which you ought to go for, Magnifica S Vs Magnifica ESAM 4200, I’d say that depends.
Personally, I’d probably go for the Magnifica S if the price difference wasn’t an matter.
I always think when there’s a version of a newer machine, you’re benefiting from the experience of the users of that machine and the manufacturer’s response to what they’ve learned from feedback and science.
This is among the benefits of buying a machine from a firm like DeLonghi, they’re enormous, they sell more espresso coffee machines than any other manufacturer, and they spend over 40 million Euros per year in product development – so this is a company who has the resources to improve their machines over time.
But if budget is of supreme importance, and around £80 steeps a big difference – then the ESAM is fine. I understand plenty of people who’ve had this machine for years, and it’s rare to find anyone with anything especially negative to say.
If you catch the home Barista bug, and you want to start working on perfecting your espresso, then no bean to cup machines are going to cut the mustard (weird saying…). But if you really want “decent” espresso coffee and espresso-based coffees at the touch of a button, and you’re on a tight budget, the ESAM 4200 is really much a valid choice.
If you want to read about this machine in a little bit more detail then this post will help:
My full review of the Delonghi ESAM4200
Check Price – Gaggia Direct
Another extremely well known brand in coffee machines (Gaggia invented espresso coffee machines as we understand them) Gaggia make decent, reliable espresso machines, and I’d feel I was doing readers a disservice by not including the Brera in this article.
The Brera is a notch up in price vs the DeLonghi machines above, and in my opinion you’re generally getting a little more refinement for the extra cash.
The Brera is a delightful looking little machine, in my humble opinion, it’s truly easy to utilize, the controls I found to be in truth well thought out, and I in fact couldn’t find much wrong with this coffee machine.
I used the Brera for a while as my main coffee machine (which is what I do when manufacturers send me machines to review), and I enjoyed using it. I was impressed with the quality of the coffee, the steam power, and how humble it is to utilize.
I found it a bit quieter than the Delonghi ESAM 4200, a bit more straightforward to control the volume and strength, and overall to look and feel higher quality, nevertheless it’s a little bit more money, don’t forget.
It has a 1.2L water tank (same as the DeLonghi ESAM 4200, but 600ml smaller than the Magnifica S water tank), and it has a low degree drip tray which is cleverly rather a little bigger than it looks, as its capacity goes all the way under the machine.
If you’re asking the question Gaggia Brera Vs DeLonghi Magnifica S – I don’t think there’s a massive amount in it, when it comes to coffee quality.
The Brera features more stainless steel in the build than plastic, so it feels and looks a little bit better quality. The Brera controls with the LCD display are a little bit nicer.
The DeLonghi coffee machines (both the Magnifica S and the cheaper ESAM 4200) have the edge when it comes to grind settings.
The Brera has 5 grind settings, while the DeLonghi coffee machines have 7 settings with half step increments, offering them more fine-tuning ability than the Brera and most other bean to cup coffee machines until you get into the much more expensive machines.
So the option is yours, but either way I don’t think you’re creating a bad option.
Check Price – Amazon UK
Another huge seller from DeLonghi (there’s a reason they’re the world’s the majority of significant coffee brewing device manufacturer) the Eletta range, which features two one-touch options, and a steam wand version.
The currently available versions of the Eletta are the Eletta plus, Eletta Cappuccino & Eletta Cappuccino Top.
The Eletta Cappuccino (ECAM 44.660.B) is the version above, and it’s the base extent of the one touch Eletta coffee machines.
It produces one-touch espresso, ristretto, lungo, cafe macchiato, latte machiatto, cappuccino & latte. It likewise produces Americano & flat white, nevertheless not via the one-touch selection.
Eletta Cappuccino TOP (ECAM 45.760.W) is the benchmark version of the Eletta, It’s a higher quality looking machine with more metal than plastic.
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The difference is generally esthetics, other than the fact that the “Top” has a one touch flat white button too, although some would argue that one touch machines can’t literally do flat whites anyway.
I’d agree to be perfectly honest, nevertheless to be fair the same can probably be said of many coffee shops. That’s a discussion for another post ;-).
The Eletta Plus (ECAM 44.620.S) is practically the same machine as the 44.660 cappuccino above, except it has a steam wand, so it’s not a one-touch or “cappuccino maker” machine.
The Eletta plus features the same an incredible panarello steam wand as the DeLonghi Dedica.
Panarello wands are a sheath over a steam pipe which delivers steam into the milk via a hole on the side, nearly all domestic espresso coffee machines have these types of wands.
They ensure anyone can create milk foam, but no one can create excellent milk texture with them – except, that is, with the clever panarello which features on the DeLonghi Dedica and the Eletta Plus. This panarello has two settings, which makes it possible to create ideal micro foam.
In my modest opinion, most one-touch bean to cup machines produce a similar type of milk texture as with standard panarello wands.
I’ve not come across a one touch machine so far which produces the same type of velvety micro foam texture that you can achieve with a pro steam wand – but you can achieve the same sort of quality texture with the steam wand on the Eletta plus.
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If you want the practicality of bean to cup, but milkies (cappuccino, latte, cortado etc., and flat white in particular) are of prime importance to you, and if you don’t have the budget for the Oracle range I’ll talk about shortly, I’d be looking at either the DeLonghi Eletta Plus, above, or the Gaggia Magenta Plus.
Personally, due to the truth that I much prefer utilizing proper pro steam wands to panarello wands (though as I pointed out above, the Eletta Plus panarello is capable of wonderful texture) my option would probably be the Magenta plus.
So the Gaggia Magenta Plus is impressive as a bean to cup coffee machine, featuring automatic preinfusion, full-colour LCD controls, entirely button-free, fully customized drinks, adjustable brew head hight, stainless steel boiler, 1.8L water tank & 250g hopper capacity.
But what literally makes it stand out, for me, is the pro steam wand. This is a low to mid range bean to cup coffee brewing device in terms of price, and it’s the only bean to cup coffee machine within this kind of range I’m aware of which has a pro steam wand.
There are two other Magenta versions, the “Magenta Milk” which is a one-touch coffee brewing device via a cappuccinatore and the “Magenta Prestige” which has a milk carafe, which makes it a more standard one-touch bean to cup coffee makeking equipment.
A cappuccinatore is a equipment which is fed with milk via a tube which you put into your milk jug or bottle, it froths the milk and dispenses it into your cup. Several of the Gaggia bean to cup coffee machines have a mildly cheaper “milk” choice which froth via a cappuccinatore vs a milk carafe.
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The Sage Oracle range are the mutts nuts of bean to cup coffee machines, in my simple opinion.
You may say they should be, for the price – and yes OK they’re not cheap, nevertheless they’re not the most expensive bean to cup machines either, and they are – at the time of writing, in my opinion, the perfect.
The Sage Oracle was the first espresso coffee machine I ever used! Years back when I first started coffee blog, Sage sent me the Oracle on loan for a few weeks so I could review it. I didn’t discover anything about espresso machines, or much about coffee machines in general at that point to be honest, however the impression the Oracle mad on me will last forever.
Sage (or Breville, in many other countries, they can’t work with the Breville name over here as it was sold in the 80s) are very clever manufacturers, who have a habit of reinventing things, and that’s literally what they did with the Oracle range, they reinvented the bean to cup coffee machine.
They solved among the main issues manufacturers are faced with when making coffee machines like this, while simultaneously solving another problem I’m unsure they were even aware existed, but the popularity of the machines have suggested that it does.
Bean to cup machines need to be able to dump the waste coffee grounds internally, without the moisture coming from the dumped grounds causing issues internally, and without the waste grounds container being able to overflow.
Sage overcame this question in a completely unique way, by building the Oracle machines with a portafilter (filter holder) as with a representative espresso machine, meaning that the user is therefore responsible for moving the coffee around.
Not only does this solve that question, but it also solves the other issue I’ve alluded to, which perhaps wasn’t as obvious an matter, which is that some would-be bean to cup coffee brewing device users are put off by the lack of authentic espresso-making experience offered by bean to cup coffee machines.
Not everyone who wants home espresso wants the home barista hobby related to using a representative espresso coffee machine, but not all of these people want to just press a button.
Lots of coffee aficionados would prefer to have some of the same theatre of espresso-making, without the same barista skills needed to utilize a classic machine, and this is what the Oracle range uniquely offer.
The user handles the portafilter as a barista would, putting it into the grinding area for the “Barista Inside” to grind, dosage and tamp. The user then locks the portafilter into the group, and once the shot is pulled, unlocks the portafilter and nocks the puck of coffee out into the knock box.
It’s a similar handle the milk side of things.
The “Barista Inside” auto steams the milk, but the user has control over the milk texture and temperature, and it’s done via a (technologically advanced) steam wand, with a milk jug.
This gets rid of the learning curve needed for producing great quality textured milk with a fundamental steam wand, and I can tell you, there in reality is a learning curve – I’ve been learning for years, and I’m still an amateur!
Nevertheless unlike most the one touch machines, the oracle machines produce barista quality microfoam, which as well as enabling you to produce true third wave milkies, also enables you to work on your latte art skills, if this is something you’d like to be able to do.
So with little in terms of learning, an owner of one of the Oracle machines can look and feel like a true home barista, even making coffees with latte art. There is a genuine learning curve involved there too although, don’t expect to be pouring tulips straight out of the gate.
These aren’t gimmicky coffee machines even though, in any way shape or form, they’re in reality serious bits of kit.
They’re dual boiler machines, meaning that you can steam milk and pull shots at the same time. Only the a lot of expensive home barista or “prosumer” espresso machines, and commercial espresso machines are usually dual boiler.
Not only do they have a PID (digital temperature control) however it’s an adjustable PID, meaning you can control the brew temperature.
They feature heated groups for exceptional temperature stability, preinfusion, auto on and off settings, they’re in reality high-end espresso machines – they just feature some additional features that reduce the home barista skill essential.
The Oracle Touch is the newest Oracle machine which is, obviously, the touch screen version.
While
the original oracle is practically the same machine, without the touch screen selection – and the lack of this feature is reflected in the lower price.
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Espresso machines
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OK, so we’re now moving on to traditional espresso machines, so let’s begin at the entry level, with the Swan Retro espresso machine.
So these are semi-automatic traditional espresso coffee machines. The “semi automatic” bit, implies that they have a pump to create the pressure to pull the shot, vs fully manual espresso coffee machines such as the La Pavoni Europiccola, which create the pressure via a lever.
And at this end of the price range, we’re specifically talking about “domestic” espresso machines.
As I explained earlier, these forms of machines have 15 bar pumps, which are often boasted about in marketing blurb – offering the impression that more pressure is better. This is a myth, although. 15 bars of pressure just works better when building a cheaper machine like this. For more see:
Why 15 Bars of Pressure Isn’t Best.
The other thing specific to domestic espresso coffee machines is the utilize of pressurized filter baskets. Along with 15 bars of pressure, pressurized baskets are something you’re only going to find in the lower cost espresso machines.
As I discussed earlier, pressurized baskets make home espresso more accessible, nevertheless they’re more about creating the espresso coffee look the part, than taste the part.
For more see:
Pressurised Baskets Vs. Basic Baskets
So the Swan Retro is a 15 bar pressurized basket machine, it’s among the cheapest espresso machines on the market, however from my experience, it’s not that bad at all.
This machine sells all over the world under different brand names, including Aldi Ambiano, K Mart Anko, Cookworks espresso coffee machine & Klarstein Espressionata Gusto.
It’s a extremely popular machine at this price point, and I suspect this is largely down to the thermometre, which is something this machine has which is really rare in an espresso coffee machine.
While I found that, as with all these types of domestic espresso coffee machines, there’s a tendency for overheating – and some work necessary to combat it, what’s excellent with the Swan Retro is that you discover what the temperature is (there or thereabouts) and that’s half the battle won.
Moving on from the thermometre, overall it’s a fairly impressive machine for the money. The steam is fairly powerful, it’s truly humble to use, and I simply don’t think you can go far wrong with this machine, taking the cost into account.
For more see:
Swan Retro Espresso coffee Machine Review
DeLonghi Dedica Style EC685M
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The DeLonghi Dedica is one of the best ever selling home espresso machines.
It’s towards the top of the price range for these kind of machines, but I have to say that I think it’s worth every penny.
OK, it’s not quite a home barista machine – primarily because there’s nothing you can do to reduce the pressure down to 9 bar, however it’s about as close as you’ll get without spending another one to two hundred pounds.
It’s quite a high quality build for the price, it has auto pre-infusion, and the only domestic espresso coffee machine I’m aware of which does, it’s likewise the only machine of its kind I find out of which features adjustable brew temperature.
Lots of people utilize the Dedica as their first home barista espresso machine.
It’s possible to do this because you can fairly easily make this a fundamental basket machine, and you can also mod the steam wand with a pro Rancilio silvia steam wand if you wish.
Although as I speak about in my video below, the panarello wand (specifically with the newer version, the EC685) is capable of excellent milk texture, or you can remove the wand and work with the steam pipe below as a steam wand, as long as you secure it with a tie wrap.
It’s quite straight forward to utilize the Dedica as a home barista espresso machine, you can just get hold of a bottomless portafilter, like this one, and a capable espresso coffee mill. For more on utilizing the Dedica as a home barista espresso coffee machine, see my second video in the series on the DeLonghi Dedica below.
For more on the DeLonghi Dedica, see:
DeLonghi Dedica Espresso coffee Machine Review
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OK so we’re moving on from the domestic espresso coffee machines now and onto what I consider to be the entry extent home barista or prosumer espresso machines.
There’s no way I could discuss espresso coffee machines, and not mention the Sage Bambino Plus. What a best little espresso machine this is!
I could go on and on about this machine, so I’ll try to hold back – nevertheless in a nutshell:
This is a relatively affordable espresso coffee machine, at the very entry degree for home barista machines, and it features:
- PID temperature control (factory pre-set, not user adjustable).
- 9 bars of pressure
- Low pressure pre-infusion, auto or manual.
- 3 second warm up time.
- Pro steam wand, which can be used manually, or fully automatic.
- 1.9 L water tank
To me, this is remarkable set of features for the price.
OK this PID (temperature control) isn’t adjustable, nevertheless the reality that there’s a PID which is factory pre-set suggests that the temperature isn’t flying all over the place, which is a common matter with entry degree espresso coffee machines even at a higher cost than this, such as the Rancilio Silvia, which is over a hundred quid more, and callsfor a PID mod (for about another hundred quid or so) to overcome this known issue.
This is a excellent machine to find out to steam milk with, nevertheless if you can’t be bothered with that, the auto milk steaming feature is really good.
For more on the Sage Bambino Plus see:
Sage Bambino Plus Review
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Probably the joint many popular entry level home barista machine at present along side the Sage Bambino Plus, is the Gaggia Classic Pro.
The Gaggia Classic has been around for a long time (30 years at the time of writing), and it’s developed a fantastic reputation over the years, even developing somewhat of a cult following.
They were built like tanks, good old fashioned engineering, extremely little to go wrong, and extremely humble and inexpensive to maintain. In fact, if you look for used Classics, you’ll find several still going concentrated, and holding their value very well too, from the 90s & 00s.
The first home barista espresso machine I bought was the Gaggia classic – and I still have it now, it’s a 2003 model, and it’s still absolutely fine.
For more on the original “old model” classics, see:
Gaggia Classic Old Model Review
Philips bought Gaggia in 2009, and the classic gradually fell out of favour with the majority of of the more hardcore Gaggia Classic fanbase, lacking some of the things this community had come to expect from the Classic, including the 3 way solenoid valve, and the adjustable over pressure valve.
However then came the Gaggia Classic Pro came along and turned heads.
The 3 way solenoid valve is back. The adjustable OPV isn’t there nevertheless it’s extremely easy to mod the pressure, for anyone who wants to do that. It’s back to the original configuration with the small, high powered aluminium boiler, nevertheless what’s more, the new classic pro features a pro steam wand!
The original classic featured a panarello, which numerous people modded with a Rancilio Silvia steam wand, and while that was fine – I think it’s best that the new classic comes with a pro wand, so no need to faff around trying to make another wand fit.
For more, see:
Gaggia Classic Pro Review
If you like the sound of both the Gaggia Classic Pro and the Sage Bambino plus, and you can’t decide between the two (which is really common) see:
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The last suggestion here for semi auto traditional espresso coffee machines is the Barista range of espresso coffee range from Sage.
Not to be confused with bean to cup coffee machines, the Sage Barista range which started out with the Barista Express above, are integrated grinding machine espresso machines, but that’s where the similarity with bean to cup coffee machines end.
Utilizing the Barista express is exactly the same as utilizing any other espresso machine, other than the reality that the mill is integrated, so you don’t need a separate coffee grinder.
I first reviewed the Barista Express a while back, and I was very impressed with it in lots of ways.
The only adverse for me vs using a separate espresso machine was the relatively few grind settings on the Barista Express, at 18 grind settings, which made it tricky for precisely dialling in, meaning to finely fix the grind size to enhance the extraction.
The newer Barista Pro, even though, is much better in that regard with 30 grind settings. The pro likewise features the newer “ThermoJet” system for faster heat up time and steam ready time.
I think the Barista Express is extremely good for the money, particularly when you can find a deal. I do prefer the Barista Pro, even though.
It’s about a hundred quid more at RRP, but that ability to finely tune the grind I do think is necessary if you’re wanting to get the perfect possible results with each bean. The Barista pro is only a hundred quid more at RRP, and you will sometimes find it on offer if you shop around.
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Pod coffee machines
Beginning off with Tassimo machines – these are one of the the majority of popular coffee capsule machine options in the UK.
They’re inexpensive machines with some crowd-pleasing disk options including flavoured lattes (caramel, vanilla etc.), iced lattes, chai latte, hot chocolates & so on, and the inclusion brands such as Costa, L’or, Jacobs, Bailey’s, Orio & Cadbury I reckon is a pretty big selling point, too.
Being totally honest, if I were a “normal” coffee drinker, I’d buy a Tassimo machine. I can say that quite confidently because I was, and I did.
By “normal”, I mean you generally consume instant coffee, freshly crafted only on a special occasion or when at a coffee shop. If this is you, you’ll probably be more than happy with the quality of most of the pods available from any of the pod or disk coffee machines.
This was me, completely, just a few years ago before I caught the speciality coffee bug. I thought the best quality coffee would come from a pod or disk machine, and being pragmatic about it, given that “best” is an exceptionally subjective thing, I was probably right.
This is truly a subject for a article all of its own, however in a nutshell – my palate right now is really different than it was back in the early to mid-00s when I bought a Tassimo machine.
Back then I was as happy as a pig in muck with the quality of the pod based coffees I was consuming, these days I’d probably prefer to ingest pig muck.
If you’d have given me a glass of Hardys Crest Cab Sav Merlot when I was 20, I’d have winced and told you I’ll stick to my £4 bottle of fruity red whatever from the corner shop. Now, the Hardys is my favourite day to day (from wine o’clock onwards, obviously), and I wouldn’t dream of guzzling the rubbish I would have enjoyed back then.
How times and tastebuds alter!
As I pointed out earlier, if I was going to work with a Tassimo these days, I’d definitely basically buy the espresso coffee pods and steam my own milk using a milk frother, however if you do decide to buy a Tassimo machine, try the milk pods for yourself and see what you think, you might enjoy them – I prefer fresh milk.
If you’re thinking of going for a Tassimo machine, have a look at this:
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The Bosch Sunny is the no1 best-selling capsule coffee brewing tool on Amazon UK at the time of writing, and I’m not surprised given the price.
You can pay more for a Tassimo machine if you want to:
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Personally although, I can’t figure out what you’re simply getting for the extra investment. As far as I’m worried the essence of Tassimo is the disks, and the bar coding system which tells the machines what to do.
I can’t literally see any clear benefits to be had other than aesthetics, from stumping up the extra cash. I may be missing something!
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Another pod coffee makeking equipment that doesn’t require much introduction, is the Dolce Gusto machines from Nescafé.
Again, this isn’t a machine I’d be buying these days, but back when I was a standard coffee drinker, no doubt I’d have been as happy as Larry (my father-in-law) with a machine like this.
One of the good things about Dolce Gusto vs Bosch Tassimo, is that there are compatible pods available for the Dolce Gusto coffee machines, meaning you’re not forced to buy Nescafé pods, so you have more option.
This particular model the Piccolo XS is the best-selling Dolce Gusto machine and the second best selling pod machine on Amazon at the time of writing.
The Piccolo XS is a compact machine, w:25 d:32 h:25 cm, and has an 800ml water tank – and this is a manual machine, which suggests you manually set the machine to the bars displayed on the pods you’re utilizing.
Unlike with the Tassimo machines above, I can see some benefits from going for the slightly higher priced Dolce Gusto machines. The more expensive machines are automatic vs manual, and there are other features that you may decide are worth investing a little extra in.
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The Infinissima is similar to the Piccolo XS, it has a bigger 1.2L water tank, and is 10cm wider at 33 d:32 h:27 cm. It’s a manual machine as the Piccolo XS, and it features a rising drip tray to adjust the cup height vs taking the drip tray off on the Piccolo XS and clipping it on higher.
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The Genio S Plus is currently the perfect seller on Amazon in the bean to cup coffee machines category, which is slightly odd, as a bean to cup coffee brewing equipment it ain’t ;-), it’s a pod machine of course.
Moving on from that, this is an automatic machine, so you basically slap the pod in and the machine knows how much water to pass through the pod, although that’s adjustable, so if you want a bigger (weaker) coffee, you can.
As with the Piccolo XS, there’s an 800ml water tank, and in terms of size, this is really slim at w:12 d:32 h:27 cm. In terms of more impressive features, the Genio S has the “Espresso Boost” technology for stronger espressos, and temperature control.
Now let’s move on to Nespresso Machines.
While I’ve said that if I were going to buy a pod machine back when I was a “normal” coffee drinker, these days if I was going to buy a pod machine, it would be a Nespresso machine. I can prove this by the fact that I do in truth own one ;-).
At home, I appreciate taste over practicality, so I have no need to utilize a pod machine.
When this ease of work with does come in really advantageous though, for me, is when I’m rehearsing with my band. We have a rehearsal room in an old coffee mill, and if I (or anyone else) wants a coffee during a break, there’s no time for anything but a pod machine.
The reason I utilize a Nespresso machine as my ultra-convenient coffee delivery method when necessary, well there are a few:
To start with, in my simple opinion, Nespresso machines are the pod machines capable of the best-tasting coffee. Basically, I think first prize here would need to be shared with the Lavazza a Modo Mio machines.
By the way, did you know these two machines (what’s known as the Lavazza machine, and Nespresso) were invented by the same guy?
It’s a basically cool story simply, I’m surprised it hasn’t been turned into a movie. He played the long game, got himself a job in packaging at Nescafe literally to find out the workings of the company, and to ultimately get the chance to pitch his invention.
Nespresso vs Lavazza A Modo Mio
Actually to quickly talk about the Lavazza A Modo Mio machines, I’ve used them side by side, and I found the Lavazza machines to produce slightly hotter coffee, and slightly stronger, so from that perspective I preferred Lavazza.
But, there isn’t the same variety of machines, and more importantly, there isn’t the variety of compatible pods. There are compatible pods, but there are more for Nespresso machines.
That said, if the slightly hotter and slightly stronger Lavazza sounds more up your street, check this out:
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It’s a fairly nice looking little machine, similar in looks to the Nespresso Inissia.
It has a quick heat up time, around 25 seconds, a capsules bin which will take 4 of 5 pods, an adjustable cup height with two settings, and – well, there’s not much more to say about it in reality.
Nevertheless if you’re looking for a small, cheap pod machine – as I said, from my experience the pods will be slightly stronger and mildly hotter than with the original Nespresso machines.
I say original because there are the newer Vurtuo Nespresso machines, too, which are quite a bit different to the original Nespresso machines, and feature a bigger range of pod sizes and strengths.
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This is the Nespresso machine I have, and I think it’s a fairly impressive machine, for the cost. Not that it does anything that any of the other machines won’t do, I was actually struck by how good quality it looks and feels, when I got it, compared to some of the mildly cheaper machines.
It has a 1L removable water tank, fairly big for a pod machine. It has a folding trip tray, which means you can work with a bigger cup on the drip tray or a smaller cup on the fold-down tray.
Max cup height, if you were wondering, is truly over 15cm, and it’ll fit up to 12 capsules in the pods bin.
The only quirk I’ve noticed with this machine is that the pump is quite aggressive, so if you’re using a small espresso glass on the fold-out tray, you have to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t vibrate it right off the edge.
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This is a one-touch Nespresso machine, meaning that you just press the cappuccino, latte, or latte macchiato button & the machine does it all for you.
You can even troubleshoot the milk texture settings, and personalise the coffees to your liking.
The only thing that would put me off with this machine, though, is it looks a bit fiddly when it comes to cleaning. You have to press and hold the clean button for around 16 seconds after every milk consume to rinse it, and this is simply the cleaning in between drinks.
Cleaning the milk carafe, which is recommended every couple of days, involves dismantling the carafe, which does seem like a bit of a faff.
It does have an impressive overall review score on Amazon, there are some negs however it’s mainly positive – the negatives are mainly about cleaning and low milk temperature.
It has mainly positive reviews on Amazon though, there are a few complaints about cleaning,
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If you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you’ll discover that I speak about Sage Coffee machines quite a bit, just because they produce some of the a lot of innovative, user friendly espresso coffee machines available.
They don’t tend to approach manufacturing machines in the same way as the majority of other manufacturers.
They like to take a step back and look at how things must work quite than simply following the norm, which often leads to quite perfect innovations, such as the Bambino Plus espresso coffee machine with its 3 second heat up time, and rather an incredible abilities for such a low cost espresso machine.
Sage Bambino Plus Review
And the Creatista Nespresso machines from Sage are based on the Bambino plus.
The creatista uno has the same new thermoset heating system as with the Bambino plus, which indicates it heats up almost instantly, and likewise indicates that the steam is ready almost instantly.
If you’re set on Nespresso, nevertheless milkies are in reality important to you – personally, I’d be thinking about among the Sage Creatista machines vs a one touch nespresso machine or a nespresso machine with an aeroccino, just due to the truth that you’re going to have so much more control over milk texture and milk temperature.
Drip coffee machines
American coffee machines while hugely popular in the states, aren’t quite as mainstream in the UK as they once were, and they might not be all that exciting, however if you love American coffee, a filter coffee brewing equipment is an obvious preference.
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This is among the best selling American coffee machines in the UK at the moment, and I can see why – it’s very cheap, and seems to have some decent features for the cost.
It has a max brew volume of 1.5L, it comes with a reusable mesh filter (you can work with paper filters too of course), it has what is described as a durable glass carafe.
From what I can gather, as long as you’re unlucky & receive a faulty unit (and that’s one of the excellent things about buying from Amazon, it’s extremely easy to return a machine if it’s faulty), you should have a good filter machine here for such a low cost.
The Amazon listing is a little odd, though, it describes this as being capable of creating espresso coffee and macchiato, which of course it isn’t – this is a filter coffee machine…
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If you’re wanting a cheap drip coffee machine for making single cups, this machine from Morphy Richards is worth a look.
It comes with a travel cup, so if you’re looking for a machine to produce a travel cup full of coffee for when you’re heading out of the door, this is what this machine is aimed at, even though you can use it for normal cups, too. So you could have this on your desk, for example, to keep you caffeinated while working.
There’s no doubt it’s a cheap machine, don’t expect solid build quality and quirk-free brewing, any machine at this type of price is going to feel cheap, as it is, and is going to come with some imperfections as you’ll learn if you read the reviews, but you do need to take into account just what a low cost machine this is.
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The Buckingham American coffee machine from Russell Hobbs, has been one of the best selling drip coffee machines in the UK for a while. It’s an inexpensive machine, it’ll brew from 250ml to 1.25L of coffee in one go, and it has a timed brewing function for fresh coffee when you wake up, so it has everything a lot of people would be looking for in a drip coffee makeking equipment.
It comes with a reuseable mesh filter, nevertheless if you prefer paper filters as I do, that’s fine too.
Ignore how lots of cups of coffee the sales blurb says it’ll make – coffee brewing tool manufacturers all appear to use thimble-sized cups… It won’t make ten cups – well, it will, nevertheless only if those cups are 125ml, or just over 4 ounces, which is an incredibly small cup. It’ll make up to around four or maybe five “normal” sized cups of coffee.
My only worry about this machine is that there are most people saying you need to be careful with the glass carafe, as it’s rather brittle, and the replacement is about half the price of the machine.
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Sage (known as Breville outside of the UK) don’t just make coffee machines – they’re known for re-thinking the way things are done, and creating game changing coffee machines, and that’s what they’ve done with the Precision Brewer.
This is a large capacity drip coffee brewing equipment, while it’s listed as 1.7L, it’s really 60 ounce, so almost 1.8L.
It comes with both flat bottomed and conical filter baskets, it has single cup detection for allowing single cups to be made, and you can even switch out the filter basket for your favourite pourover device, such as Kalita Wave or Hario V60 (you have to buy a separate adapter for that, though).
Instead of a glass carafe and a warmer plate, the precision brewer uses a hefty insulated stainless steel carafe which will keep your coffee hot for a good few hours.
It has a PID for temperature regulation, and it has in truth easily selectable pre-set brewing options, and a completely customizable setting mentioned as “My Brew”, which you can fine-tune to your hearts desire, to end up with your excellent coffee.
The “My Brew” setting allows you to customize bloom time and volume, brewing temperature and flow rate, so actually clever stuff – but I wouldn’t expect anything else from Sage.
If you just want the perfect quality drip coffee possible without the faff, just select “Gold”. This uses a preset bloom time & volume, flow rate and brew temp as approved by the gold cup standards of the ECBC (European Coffee brewing Centre). Once you’ve found your perfect setting, you can program it (and it’s really modest to do) to be ready for you when you wake up, brewed to your specific settings, or to among the pre-sets.
This machine will even do cold brew for you!
I’ve been utilizing this machine lately as I’m in the method of reviewing it, and it’s an incredible machine. It’s versatile, it’s suitable for the seasoned home barista and for the complete novice and everyone in between, it’s actually simple to use, and it’s capable of making fantastic filter coffee.
My only criticism is that as the measurements on the water tank were converted from ounces to ml, there’s no measurement for 1L, the closest is 900ml, which I find a bit irritating. I’m going to keep this one, though, as I love it (I’m going to buy another one to give away to among my patreon supporters), so I’ll just pour 1L in and then mark it off myself.
Forgetting that little quirk, which to be fair in reality doesn’t question ;-), I think this is probably the most clever filter coffee brewing device ever brewed, such a wonderful machine.
Don’t take my word for it though, ex world Barista champion and coffee legend James Hoffman uses this as his day to day coffee maker, which speaks volumes!
Perfect Coffee machine – Conclusion.
I in truth hope you’ve found this article beneficial, and that by this stage you’ve at least figured out which kind of coffee machine may be perfect for you, even if you’ve not yet decided on which machine you’re going to go for.
Just remember, coffee is key, so no issue what decision you make on the coffee makeking equipment, go for wonderful quality coffee beans and you can’t go far wrong.
Now basically a few commonly asked questions before I sign off:
Are home coffee machines worth it?
In a word, yes. If you’re even asking the question, then you obviously want to love the coffee you drink at home, and you’re no longer regarding coffee as simply a quick caffeine fix.
If you want to truly love every caffeinated drink you ingest at home, then yes, I definitely believe it’s worth getting a home coffee machine. I’ll let you in on a secret, too. While there are some incredible indy coffee shops out there, there are also a lot of coffee shops producing coffee which you could easily rival with a home coffee makeking device.
There are cafe’s that have never dialled in their grinders after the initial install.
There are cafes where the steam wands are white due to the truth that they’re completely caked in old, rotting milk!
There are cafes where the staff just haven’t been properly trained, and it may as well be anyone else walking in off the street and operating their commercial espresso coffee machine.
And these cafe’s will all have one thing in common, they’ll have the look of a high quality coffee shop, and the prices of a high quality coffee shop, meaning you’re paying through the nose for coffee that you could easily beat at home for a fraction of the cost!
If you drink instant coffee and you have never owned a coffee machine and you are not sure if it’s for you then try spending £15-£30 on a cafetiere or an Aeropress so you are not risking more than the price of a couple of Pizzas to discover if you can make something you consume every day taste delicious (you will) every time.
Are expensive coffee makers worth it?
Buying an expensive coffee machine doesn’t guarantee that you will get excellent coffee that is proportionate to buying a cheap one.
What I mean by that is that if you spend £1000 on a coffee makeking tool it doesn’t mean you will get coffee that flavors 10 times better than one that costs £100.
You have to make sure that you choose one that is right for your callsfor and lifestyle and you may well be better off with a cheaper machine that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a more expensive one if you’ll never utilize the features that it provides.
However much you decide to spend and whichever brewing procedure you choose to utilize I hope this post has equipped you with everything you need in order to make an informed option.
If there is anything else you would like my help with drop me a comment below and I’ll come back to you as soon as I can.
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This post first of all appeared at Coffee Blog – The UK Specialty Coffee Blog – For Lovers of GENUINE Coffee!
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