Bean to cup coffee machines

Latest Articles

Bean to cup coffee machines
Page 1, 2 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Make Your Own/DIY

Author

Message

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:26 pm Post subject: Bean to cup coffee machines
Does anyone have one? Is yours one Snowball? Been looking at this type of thing.... https://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/saeco-odea-giro-plus-p-440.html Flipping expensive, so I want to make sure we get the right kind. Any tips?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28262
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:31 pm Post subject:
Ours is a cheapy expresso machine, £20 from comet But I was looking at Bean to Cup machines just last week, I really fancy one as I really like my coffee. Blinking hard to justify though

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:34 pm Post subject:
I know - but we drink a lot of coffee, and we do so little in the way of personal treats, that we felt me may just be able to justify a really good one that will last a very long time.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42223
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:39 pm Post subject:
I reckon you'd be better off with good separates rather than an 'all-in-one'. That may just be my innate bias against multi-function gadgetry though.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:47 pm Post subject:
That reminds me to dig my krups out

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 8:53 pm Post subject:
Home use, or work? Work? Lease one.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 08 9:35 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

I reckon you'd be better off with good separates rather than an 'all-in-one'. That may just be my innate bias against multi-function gadgetry though.

I tend to have a bit of a bias against multi-functionality all wrapped up in one impenetrable box.
It tends not to be a recipe for longevity.

But on the other hand, I know how much control/artistry is needed to get a reliably decent cup of espresso.
And espresso ground beans only stay fresh for hours after being ground. So forget grinding in quantity. And grinding in small quantities isn't really an option.
So the only way I found of getting domestic/personal quantities of decent espresso at a reasonable price was a machine that could take ESE pods. Not that its designed for them. Just that you can use them, when you don't want to roast and grind beans... And I bought pods in Calais. Barely used loose coffee afterwards.

If you don't want espresso (and rather a shaky trembly quantity of it) then don't spend lots of money on a bean-to-cup machine designed to do the hard stuff.

Oh, and unless you keep a coffee machine obsessively cleaned, the coffee tastes awful. Lord knows how you clean the robot's innards. But find out what's needed (and what's possible) before buying.
And they do use electricity if you leave them on all the time, like you really need to.

James

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2866
Location: York

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 9:08 am Post subject:
Why go for the single machine? I have a bean-to-cup two machine combo. First up is the De-longhi grinder then there's the stove top mocha pot Its as fast as any bean to cup fresh coffee machine, arguabley tastier and cost £28 (based on the above costs). I keep the beans in the freezer and grind enough for 3 days at a time, then keep this ground coffee in a kilner jar in the fridge.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28262
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 9:15 am Post subject:
We use that grinder and it is quite good, though our son manages to make it a messy exercise In conjunction with the cheap but 15psi expresso machine, I somehow doubt that we would get much better coffee from an all in one box. But they are still a rather desirable item

James

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2866
Location: York

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 9:15 am Post subject:

dougal wrote:

unless you keep a coffee machine obsessively cleaned, the coffee tastes awful.

you must not wash a mocha machine! the oils develop and enrichen the flavour (as the wiki that you, dougal, directed me to when we last had this conversation, stated).

Its like washing a skillet. You just dont do it.

I'd imagine if you've got a funny technical machine, then things may need cleaning

caveat: the machine needs daily use to keep the oils fresh. If you leave it, then the oils will go stale.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 10:10 am Post subject:

James wrote:

dougal wrote:

unless you keep a coffee machine obsessively cleaned, the coffee tastes awful.

you must not wash a mocha machine! the oils develop and enrichen the flavour ...

I'd imagine if you've got a funny technical machine, then things may need cleaning

caveat: the machine needs daily use to keep the oils fresh. If you leave it, then the oils will go stale.

Its about removing those stale oils.

This discussion is indeed about a "funny, technical machine".
A so-called "bean to cup" machine.
Internally *very* "technical".
You can get a fully warranted "factory refurb" from www.gaggia.co.uk for *only* about £300.
The machine Penny linked from the first post is £399.
We are not talking about a £10 stove-top mocha pot...

Espresso geeks may already know https://www.espressomyespresso.com/ on which the page on "backflushing" may indicate something about my use of the word "obsessive"!
Direct link: https://home.surewest.net/frcn/Coffee/HowToBackflush.html

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 10:41 am Post subject:

I’ve got a £2K BTC and we use excellent Lavazza beans , makes a very good cup of coffee that can only be bettered by someone using a trad espresso machine who kinows exactly what they are doing and with excellent beans. It needs cleaning every day and then decalcifying and a separate full 2hr clean about once a month. They need to be properly looked after. At home I use a stove-top, which is fine.

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 10:48 am Post subject:
..or you could just be sensible about things and drink, made with proper leaves in a tea-pot.

kevin.vinke

Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 1304
Location: Niedersachsen, Germany

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 10:56 am Post subject:

The biggest issue with all of these is the cleaning of them. 80% of issues I´ve delt with on commercial machines stem from the machines not being cleaned correctly. The hardness of your water can make a big difference to taste and longevity of the boiler. If youré in a hard water area and don´t have a softener there is a good chance the machine will scale up and won´t be covered under warranty.

Agree the Lavazza beans are really nice

Anders

Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 317

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 12:25 pm Post subject:
"Thanks to Sensitive Touch technology, with a simple touch you can electronically regulate the ideal height of the cup tray for every type of cup or glass." What the %$#$%% Though I like a good cup of mocha myself, I don't really get the attraction here.

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Make Your Own/DIY	All times are GMT Page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

View Latest Posts