Coffee machine

[V12man]

@Tevez - This will give you an idea - http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/recipes/ please buy a decent grinder, not a krups or a bodum.

 

@Lloydkayak - that delonghi will be fine as super auto's go - its a reasonable machine for what it is (given my somewhat biased view) - My wife would shoot me if I took the super auto at home away - although she knows how to use the real machine that sits there, it's just too much of a hassle for her, and she prefers pressing buttons - the siemens we have at home has done nearly 1900 cups in the year and 4 months it has been there - the previous one did about 7000 cups before it broke. Lately she has been using the ground coffee options to brew rooibos tea in it from redespresso - which she likes, and I hate.

 

Compared to buying coffee from a coffeeshop - the super auto makes good economics at less than half the cost of a nespresso machine per cup.

[Greg29]

I'm looking to buy a coffee making machine but don't know much about them.Could anyone please give me some advice on brands and what I should look out for in terms of their offering.

Ideally I want a "foamer" included and obviously one that can change the strength of the coffee.

My budget would be around R2500.

 

Take a look at this website, they have quite a few machine reviews: http://www.coffeegeek.com/

[Tumbleweed]

Interesting read about coffee: http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Chock-Full-o-Lactones-Coffee-s-Delicious-Little-3590662.php

[lloydkayak]

So I went and bought that cheapo russell hobbs machine eldron mentioned...

Super Stoked, got my hands on some decent beans and, for my totally unrefined tastes, its AWESOME!

What a bargain

 

Seriously grafts well for the price I think!

 

Milk frothing is a bit of a nightmare but eh, thats my domestic managers problem

[CAAD4]

Why not try a Tevo Frother from Dion Wired for R300. Seems to have similar specs to the Krups going for a Grand?

[Lukep]

What about this machine?

http://www.home.co.za/Brands/4/breville.aspx

[Polo]

Just buy a machine on Gumtree - there's loads available at a fraction of the price. Espresso machines are one of those items that people buy and end up never using.

 

That being said, Lavazza coffee is pretty good, but factor the pod prices into your purchase price decision.

[jannosmit]

What about this machine?

http://www.home.co.z...4/breville.aspx

 

That one catch my eye everytime I walk past @home

[walkerr]

What about this machine?

http://www.home.co.z...4/breville.aspx

 

I was in market for a machine and also considered that one - but I read a few poor reviews on it, forget exactly where but vaguely recall it being an Aussie site. Also the Krups that DIon sell, and DeLonghi at Boardmans (I think) around the same price didn't get great reviews on Amazon

 

I ended up with Saeco which Dion sell (picture and link earlier in this thread). Similar price to the above, but had more favourable reviews on Amazon. Been pretty good so far for me.

[Bigbatman]

Best thing to get is a stovetop / moka pot. Here is a really good quality one: http://www.kupacoffee.co.za/pREG002/Stovetop-Coffee-Pot.aspx

 

There are cheaper options - but this one makes great espresso.

[tunariaan]

the Seaco Odea work well too , very nice machine

[kingalton]

Buy a JURA, cost is about R10k for entry level ones, but it will be the last one you ever have to buy...

agree with that, JURA are great, got one a few years back... but they arent going at entry level prices..

[Frosty]

This is the Bialetti I want… that's the one I have

 

Good to know. No taste of burnt coffee or milk then? As long as you don't leave it on the stove for too long, which leaves the drink a little too cold because the milk doesn't get heated up. I still prefer frothing milk and adding an espresso manually - gives me a better taste.

[Frosty]

Seems I have 7 pages to get through... will post comments as I get through them...

[Frosty]

At the end of the day... would you rather have a machine that brews from a bean that YOU can grind or only be able to brew from a prepacked pod? Options or no options? Would you buy a car that could run on a fuel of your choice or one that only runs on fossil fuel... (I sound like a Santam ad)

Both!!

 

Two different tastes, excluding the various options available for each style.

[Frosty]

We have had a Delonghi all in one machine for the last 5 years. We use the machine for home and small office and on average we make 3 to 8 cups a day. It has been one of the best investments ever and I would buy one again any day. A couple of comments on our experience.

1. The milk frother is a waste of time. It`s a pain to keep clean and i.m.o. none of the small machines can generate enough steam to froth the milk properly. You will stop using this function quickly due to the pain of having to clean up.If you can, get a simple stand alone milk frother that is easy to clean. There's a technique to frothing milk, and once you know how... voila!!
   
2. Its important to use filtered water to get the best out of your coffee flavour and to protect your machine against scale buildup etc.
   
3. As said before the quality of the grind is critical if you want to get a proper crema and unfortunately this is where some of the domestic machines fail.
   
4. Most importantly are the beans. There are some great local suppliers. `Bean there` is a good one.
   
5. Use only full cream milk for frothing, low fat doesn`t cut it. Both work, and give you a different taste - cold milk works best.
   
6. The grinds make excellent compost. Try that with yours sissy nespresso machine pod
   
7. The sound of that machine firing up and then the grinding followed by steam pump and then the the aroma is damn fine. From bean to cup- lovely.
   
8. It looks great in the Kitchen. For once a truly useful gadget.