Which coffee machine?

[lauracobden]

It's my birthday soon and I want to buy myself a coffee machine. There are so many available, can anyone suggest a good one? I'd like to make lattes, cappuccinos etc.

Thanks

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the recommendations might be out of date. If you’re looking for up-to-date advice on the best coffee machine money can buy, take a look at our round-up of Mumsnetters’ favourites. MNHQ.

[SoupDragon]

I went for one that takes ordinary ground coffee rather than pods. It's a Delonghi espresso maker with a milk steamer to froth the milk.

[SoupDragon]

I have this one

[McBassyPants]

The best one I've had for quality is by far Nespresso. The pods are also much better priced than the others. It doesn't do cappuccino or latte on its own but they do also do an aerocino machine that warms and froths milk (or chills and froths for milkshake ). Also when you have a machine you join the Nespresso 'club' and can go in for free coffee etc

[BlueCowWonders]

I have a basic Tassimo and I think although it smells lovely the coffee is lousy. DH doesn't mind it.
Great for the DC hot chocolate though.
I think you need to try out the different pods (any friend have one?) unless you're going for an expensive non-pod one.

[Reindeerlily]

I have a dolce gusto. The hot chocolate and the mocha are gorgeous and I don't drink coffee!

[SoupDragon]

unless you're going for an expensive non-pod one.

Non pod ones aren't necessarily more expensive. Especially if you want a steam milk frother.

[IfTheCapFitsWearIt]

Agree with soup get a coffee machine that doesn't take pods, it's cheaper per cup of coffee and the coffee is fresher.

The pods are expensive. Also with tassimo pods, if you buy capachino or latte ones the milk pods if fucking awful.

Normal coffee machine, and a milk frother is definitely the way to go.

Dh bought me a tassimo, great novelty to begin with. But I'm now stuck with it.

[StepfauxWife]

I've recently upgraded to a bean to cup one - just pour the coffee beans in and it grinds the perfect amount and then self cleans! No mess. I've got a De Longhi Magnifica.

[uggmum]

It all depends on your budget and whether you want a Barista style machine or a pod style one.
We have a bean to cup machine by Sage, we have the Barista Express, which cost around £550 but it makes really good coffee.

[regularbutpanickingabit]

Nespresso machines are fab. If you like lattes and cappuccinos then the Citiz range are great. Amazon have them on offer sometimes and nesters so have good promos. So much choice for coffee so everyone in the family will find their favourites. By far the best decaffs too. Taste of coffee!
You can go to any store or concession and get free cup or free tasters. Regularly have limited editions to try. Really really good and zero mess to clean compared to bean ones. Tried lots of those too!

[mateysmum]

First decision is do you want pods or loose coffee. Depends on how much time you have and do you like milk coffees. If you do and speed of preparation is not an issue, definitely go for a machine that takes loose coffee.

I have a Gaggia Classic which makes superb coffee and frothy milk. Full price, they cost a lot, but we bought ours on ebay for just under 100 quid and it had hardly been used. If you treat them well , gaggias should last for years.

[IfTheCapFitsWearIt]

This the one i want.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00PY6NGZQ?pc_redir=T1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

The pod machines, are wasteful with the little plastic pods. You can only buy there particular brand of pods as they are not universal to other pod machines.

[andadietcoke]

I've had a tassimo, a built in IKEA espresso machine and now a nespresso (I have the KitchenAid one, but they're all the same - it's just whichever you like best aesthetically or can afford). I also have an Inissia at the caravan (that's how much I love nespresso now - couldn't live without it when we were there).

They're still doing the £60 credit when you buy one with an aeroccino - that would keep you in pods for a while. The Inissia wasn't much more than that so quite cost effective. They sometimes do £75 offers. Amazon have good deals, the last one I got from Lakeland though.

The only caveat is that we live about 20 mins from the Trafford Centre where there's a 'boutique' so getting pods is hassle free for me. I'm not sure I'd be so enamoured if I had to remember to order them.

[BeautifulRedBoots]

I have the de'longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 bean to cup machine. It (obviously) grinds the beans, but you can choose to use ground coffee. It can only make a single cup using ground coffee, and a double cup from beans. It has a dial for cup size (ie, how much liquid is dispensed) and another for strength (how many beans are ground for a single cup).

I have had it for about six months, and am very pleased with it. Adjusting to suit your own taste is incredibly easy. It has a milk frother, which works quickly and effectively (I use soya milk and it never curdles).

There are a few negatives, but I would still choose this machine again. It is quite noisy, but it does not wake my son, whose bed is right above it. If you want to use ground coffee exclusively this is not the machine for you (I use ground for the occasional cup of decaf). And the bean hopper is not airtight, so you won't want to have any beans in there for a long time.

But overall I am very happy with it...

[SoupDragon]

Depends on how much time you have

does it take significantly longer to put a scoop of coffee in the holder and press it down than it does to take the lid off a plastic pot?

[wowfudge]

We have a Nespresso machine. It's convenient and there's no mess, no faffing around. I stick milk in a mug in the microwave while the machine wakes up for lattes, etc.

I used to live twenty minutes from the TC, but am now further away - I order online and have them delivered to me at work. However we moved recently and I didn't get my backside in gear for a good few weeks - there are some really good compatible pods around. The Co-op sells a mixed pack which is good and I think it's Whittards which has a range available in several supermarkets which is very good. They aren't cheaper though. I also bought some PG Tips compatible peppermint tea pods in Waitrose recently and I am impressed by those. It's only a matter of time before the number of compatible products increases even more. I think the patent for the pod must have run out a couple of years ago or so.

[wowfudge]

There's no lid on Nespresso pods. It really is super easy.

[Dungandbother]

I have a Siemens but don't think they make it anymore. Bean to cup, with frother on side.

I don't use the frother though, I take it black but guests love it.

I also have a pod - magi mix Nespresso pixie next to my bed. The pod coffee is nowhere near as nice and as I like it tall and black, there are hardly any pods to make a long coffee. They are all short espresso and flavoured. Yuk. But I use it on weekends etc when I don't want to get up. I use the green lungo but I wish it were stronger.

So depends on your coffee habit! Mine is strong long and black. I can better achieve that with my bean to cup machine.

[Redglitter]

I've got a Tassimo and love it. You get a great variety of pods and the Costa lattes are lovely

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

We like our Nespresso because we like to use a lot of different types of coffee (smooth and mild for me, strong and smoky for DH, somewhere in between for guests, decaff for DD). Saves having to have several packs of coffee open at once. We order 200 at a time, free next day delivery and I drop the used pods off at a Collect+ point near my work for recycling.

[gillyweed]

I 4th the Delonghi magnifica - its a little noisy but that's what grinding beans sounds like! So fresh and easily adjusted to taste, we rarely use the frother but the option is there I'd you want it, also takes ground coffee if needed. Expensive but looks good and worth every penny.

My brother owns a restaurant and has a very fancy and crazy expensive Italian Coffee machine, he reckons the magnifica is better!

[girlandboy]

We have a Dolce Gusto pod machine. Partly because it makes great hot chocolate which the kids (and DH) love. I'm not a keen coffee drinker but I love the Mocha and the Latte Macchiato. It makes lovely lemon tea, iced cappuccino's, espressos etc. Ours is used every day.
And there are compatible pods around that are a bit cheaper. Sainsburys sell them.

[IfTheCapFitsWearIt]

£4-£5 for eight latte pods for a tassimo. And they taste like they are made with carnation evaporated milk you get in tins.
Because basically that is what it's made with.

[mateysmum]

Soupdragon. I agree that the pod V putting the coffee in the holder is little different, but I think there's more steps to using and cleaning a gaggia ground coffee machine, than a pod one. Certainly that's my impression when I see my friend using her pod machine. However I much prefer my Gaggia for the flexibility of both brewing and preparing milk to taste.

In the end it's all down to personal preference.