Recommendations for a coffee machine

surrey_commuter

Veronese68 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

Coffee Beans/Bean Grinder/Kettle/Cafetiere/Mini Whisk (for frothy milk).
Still in search of the perfect cup of coffee.

Milk?


FFS.....

Kettle and cafetière and you focus on the milk...... :roll:

Exactly, first 2 steps were fine then it all went horribly wrong. But each to their own, some people like coffee flavoured milk shake.

In fairness he does say he still searching for the perfect cup of coffee so the advice to lose the kettle, cafetiere and milk can only aid the process

ryan_w-2

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

Waiting to pull the trigger on one of these:

shortfall

Had a DeLonghi Magnifica bean to cup with milk frother and currently own DeLonghi Prima Donna. Both excellent. I find mokka pots make the brew a bit strong for my liking. Cafe tier's are cheap as anything and make a good brew if you use good coffee. I use a second one to manually froth the warm milk for cappuccinos - cost about 20 quid plus beans and almost as good as my bean to cup machine.

pblakeney

pan280 wrote:

So i managed to crash during the sprint in the last lap (4th cat problems!).
I need a new helmet and rebuild my front wheel, not sure about the frame either.
So coffee budget has been adjusted!

These bialetti espresso makers look interesting.
I am thinking of getting the one that makes 6 cups.
Any recomendations for coffee beans that taste good with this sort of process?
I have a grinder, do you use a fine or a coarse blend?

Even though i don't like milk or sugar in my coffee, this site seems to suggest that milk is ok, but sugar+cream is not.

http://www.healthyfellow.com/607/coffee-milk-controversy/

I'd beware the number of cups sizing. I use a 3 cup moka pot to make one large espresso.
And yes, Lavazza from Costco. Taste suits me, and cheap.

pan280

Ryan_W wrote:

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

Waiting to pull the trigger on one of these:

I came across the Sage machine, but the fact that it is promoted by Heston Blumenthal put me off.
It also looks quite a lot cheaper than other machines and has a build in grinder etc, so i am not sure if it is just great value for money or they've taken some shortcuts?

keef66

When we got a new hob it was induction so my trusty old aluminium Bialetti didn't work unless I stuck it on the barbecue.

I briefly considered a pod machine or a more expensive all-singing job, but it's only me that drinks the stuff and then only at weekends so I couldn't really justify it. And then for Christmas I got a shiny new Bialetti with a steel base and alu top bit. Genius! On the induction hob it boils in about a minute.

Having tried all kinds of coffe, some pleasant and a lot of it not, I've settled on the ready ground Illy coffee which appears to be consistently delicious.

Matthewfalle

pan280 wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

?

Seriously?

I was stranded in Melbourne for months once - lived in Blessington Street, 6 feet from the famous Auckland Street in St Kilda that everyone ranted and raved about. Was pretty average really to tell the truth.

I shared a crib with some prostitutes. They were evicted in the end and we made a bonfire out of all the beds and anything they could possibly have touched.

Naturally we then smashed the embers with hammers and threw it into next door's property.

ryan_w-2

Matthewfalle wrote:

pan280 wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

?

Seriously?

I was stranded in Melbourne for months once - lived in Blessington Street, 6 feet from the famous Auckland Street in St Kilda that everyone ranted and raved about. Was pretty average really to tell the truth.

I shared a crib with some prostitutes. They were evicted in the end and we made a bonfire out of all the beds and anything they could possibly have touched.

Naturally we then smashed the embers with hammers and threw it into next door's property.

We're based in Strathmore / Essendon and the coffee is amazing. Quite a few sweet beans round them parts...

Yet to have any s*it coffee over there. All personal preferences though.

Matthewfalle

The prostitutes were actually alright to tell the truth. They used to have a huge stash of grot mags so that waiting punters would get themselves too excited and not take up much of their time, if you know what I mean.

cooldad

I use a Bialetti - a stainless steel as I don't like aluminium. Have a 2 cup - perfect for one decent sized expresso, and a 6 cup, which makes a mug (enough to give me the jitters) or enough for a couple of friends.

These guys are worth a try

http://www.pactcoffee.com

I subscribed last year. Not cheap but they've sent me some lovely coffee. Easy enough to delay or suspend orders when the stock builds up.

Matthewfalle

Matthewfalle wrote:

pan280 wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

?

Seriously?

I was stranded in Melbourne for months once - lived in Blessington Street, 6 feet from the famous Auckland Street in St Kilda that everyone ranted and raved about. Was pretty average really to tell the truth.

I shared a crib with some prostitutes. They were evicted in the end and we made a bonfire out of all the beds and anything they could possibly have touched.

Naturally we then smashed the embers with hammers and threw it into next door's property.

Acland Street, not Auckland Street. Stupid spell check.

Only good thing was it was fairly guido/bogan free and you could get brilliant Turkish Delight 20 hours a day.

I used to work in the women and children's hospital and skateboard through the wards. Getting caned and drinking coldies in our car park in the sun before toddling down to Jackie Os on the corner and looking at Sheilas. Johnny Rockets on a Saturday morning.

Aahhh, they were the days. Halcyonic I tell ya, halcyonic.

rick_chasey

Matthewfalle wrote:

I shared a crib with some prostitutes.

Yeah yeah.

We've all heard that excuse before..

Matthewfalle

New Zealand. Now New Zealand rocks.

TDV and I once lost our car with everything in it in New Zealand. And by everything I mean tickets, passports, clothes, cameras, everything. I think I had about $35 dollars in a pocket, TDV even less.

Best thing was that car wasn't in our name or the person we bought it from, it wasn't insured, we didn't know what kind of car it was (it was a red one) and we didn't (obviously) know where we had left it, so we couldn't even report it to the 5-0.

Oh, halcyonic days .......

mr_goo

Rick Chasey wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

Coffee Beans/Bean Grinder/Kettle/Cafetiere/Mini Whisk (for frothy milk).
Still in search of the perfect cup of coffee.

Milk?


FFS.....

There are certainly different tribes of coffee snob - different generation if you will.

I come from a snob group where anything that isn't like italian coffee is sh!te, so anyone who thinks a cappucino is a litre of milk with some coffee is a moron, and anyone who likes what acrid, acidic, nasty coffee the Aussie/Kiwi "baristas" sell as "real coffee" doesn't get it.

Doubly so if they put chocolate powder on it.

So I'd be arguing to make a coffee without milk in the morning is to not get it :P.

(though therefore, I wouldn't get a machine where I can't steam the milk).

Didn't know that there were coffee plantations in Tuscany and Umbria. Must be the world's biggest and best kept secret.

fat daddy

Ah but it's burnt to death in Italy ... none of this roasting the bean to get the best balance of acidity and sweetness .... in Italy its all about how black you can burn them beans

Matthewfalle

What always makes me chuckle is when people go out for dinner, have aperitifs, starters, wine with starters, main course, wine with main course, dessert, wine with main course, then maybe a liquor afterwards then ask for a cappuccino. A sweet freakin' milky children's coffee.

Just what you need to settle the tummy.

secretsam

Veronese68 wrote:

some people like coffee flavoured milk shake.

Macchiato. Good enough for the Velominati, much loved by me. Make it a Doppio.

mr_goo

I can Trump the sickly sweetness of Cappucino. Try Cafe Bombon. Don't think I've seen it in the usual high street branded coffee shops. Tried it when in Murcia a few years ago.

Matthewfalle

SecretSam wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

some people like coffee flavoured milk shake.

Macchiato. Good enough for the Velominati, much loved by me. Make it a Doppio.

So a milky white coffee liked by a bunch of clubbie blokes who write (patronisingly badly) about how you should wear your arm warmers and what colours pants you can have.

Err - no thanks.

Next thing you'll be telling me that Yanto Barker drinks Mellow Yello de-car imbetween patronising people over how to wear a rain cape and that's it designer on the club run to do the same......

rick_chasey

fat daddy wrote:

Ah but it's burnt to death in Italy ... none of this roasting the bean to get the best balance of acidity and sweetness .... in Italy its all about how black you can burn them beans

Matter of taste.

For me, any coffee with any noticeable acidity is disgusting i.e. any coffee shop with any pretension to not being sh!t in London. It's all acrid and acidic in London. Ugh.

It used to be, once upon a time, that although most people's idea of coffee was a mug full of boiling water and some coffee granules, at least when you did get an upmarket coffee it was Italian style.

Now it's all bloody antipodean style, and you can't drink a coffee without milk without your mouth filling with saliva because of the acidity - christ it's not white wine!!!

I heard from an Italian who's gone down this route that he does it because the acidity works well with the sourness of milk and 98% of customers order really milky coffees, so that goes some way to explaining it.

rick_chasey

And, tbh, modern coffee as we know it comes from there, and it's all basically an imitation of what they did, so it's not so much 'burnt to death' as everyone else 'doesn't roast them anywhere near as much'.

rjsterry

If you are on a budget, I've found the Ikea stainless Moka pot to compare favourably with a Bialetti. Favourite coffee (not that this means much) is Black Bear from the imaginatively titled Coffee Factory.

http://thecoffeefactory.co.uk/coffee/bl ... -espresso/

shortfall

Lucky I read this thread or I'd never realise that putting milk in coffee was an actual criminal offence. Good job the coffee police put me right ;0)

Matthewfalle

Shortfall wrote:

Lucky I read this thread or I'd never realise that putting milk in coffee was an actual criminal offence. Good job the coffee police put me right ;0)

Good job we've you getting time in the big house playing mother then, isn't it?

shortfall

Matthewfalle wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Lucky I read this thread or I'd never realise that putting milk in coffee was an actual criminal offence. Good job the coffee police put me right ;0)

Good job we've you getting time in the big house playing mother then, isn't it?

Er, yeah...........

Matthewfalle

Pleasure to be of help. Have an espresso for us.

bobmcstuff

I use a combination of grinder with aeropress, cafetiere or moka pot at home depending on time and faff. To be honest the aeropress is my go to in the mornings as it's quick to make and easy to clean.

I'll probably get flamed for saying this but my go to in coffee shops these days is a flat white, because it only comes in smaller (i.e., sensible) serving sizes and therefore has a good balance of milk to coffee. Cappuccinos are usually 90% froth and lattes are usually hot milk with a dash of coffee.

Matthewfalle wrote:

What always makes me chuckle is when people go out for dinner, have aperitifs, starters, wine with starters, main course, wine with main course, dessert, wine with main course, then maybe a liquor afterwards then ask for a cappuccino. A sweet freakin' milky children's coffee.

Just what you need to settle the tummy.

Surely you're not supposed to drink cappuccinos after 11am anyway...

Matthewfalle

bobmcstuff wrote:

Surely you're not supposed to drink cappuccinos after 11am anyway...

This, however I would bring that time down to 9.

I'm now drinking Lavazza from a moka pot in a tin Castrol Oils mug. Now that's a crazy clash of cultures.

rick_chasey

Matthewfalle wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Surely you're not supposed to drink cappuccinos after 11am anyway...

This, however I would bring that time down to 9.

Not much use on holiday :P.

proto

Ryan_W wrote:

I've become a coffee snob since Mrs W is from Melbourne, as is the best coffee I've ever had...

Waiting to pull the trigger on one of these:

That's the one we have. Very pleased with it. Don't use the milk steamer, been cutting down on milk in general, but when we do we use a Nespresso Aeroccino.

Previously, we've used a series of Nespresso machines but became uncomfortable with the environmental impact of the millions of capsules that are thrown away each day.