Help me choose coffee machine!

I have an illy machine. You just use paper type pods. I love it

I'm very happy with my de Longhi bean to cup, though it is an older model. I see in the Janusry Which report they make 4 of the Best Buys but I have not been through your model numbers yet.

I've adjust my fineness and strength to the max as I like a strong one.

Which best buys in order (best first) are

DeLonghi
Magnifica Plus ECAM320.60.B
£599

DeLonghi
Eletta Explore ECAM450.86.T
£854

Melitta
Purista F230-102
£275

DeLonghi
Nespresso Citiz & Milk Platinum EN330.M
£229

DeLonghi
Magnifica Start ECAM220.60.B
£393.94

Get a bean to cup one they are so much better than the pod ones . We have a melitta one this one it’s 50% off now and best coffee better than Costa ones

www.argos.co.uk/product/9474479

If he is really keen on hogged, then it’s only fair to let him choose what kind of machine and accessories himself.

id give him a voucher for “the coffee machine of your choice” , show him your research and ask him if he has a preference. There are so.many.option, it would be amazing if what you picked really suited him and it’s an expensive mistake to make.

https://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/p/la-specialista-arte-la-specialista-arte-evo-manual-espresso-maker-ec9255.m/EC9255.M.html?pid=0132126078

I have this one (or more specifically, the 2025 version of it), and I bloody love it. Prior to this, I had a Nespresso Creatista Plus and whilst it did the job, and my elderly Mum found it easy to use for her daily latte, I found the pods were just too weak for me. So when my dear Mum departed this life, so did the coffee machine.

I drink A LOT of coffee, I stick to decaf so I can have my 6+ cups a day without ending up on the ceiling. Try as I might, I couldn't find any decaf pods that were strong enough for my taste.

This machine is fab, I have managed to find a lovely decaf bean and can now have my coffee as strong as I want. I have only used the milk frother/steamer a couple of times for visitors, I drink my coffee black, but it works just fine and is quick to heat the milk up. It also has a cold press function and makes a delicious iced coffee.

Ive got a coffee machine but its not bean to cup

If I was buying a bean to cup then id get a ninja, heard very very good things about them https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-luxe-cafe-premier-espresso-machine-black-es601ukbk-zidES601UKBK

if you're not worried about bean to cup, then id get a casabrew for £100 as they are 20 bar, there are now 3 of us friends that have them as they don't take up much space and get really good espresso

I’ve got the De Longhi one. It’s very good! However, it is likely to be cheaper on eBay. De Longbi sell direct on eBay with a shop called ‘DeLonghi Refurbished’. They are brand new items that have been returned or have a minor cosmetic defect.

I always find youtube video reviews of products really helpful OP so if you look those machines up someone might have done a review of them so you can see how they operate and what people like about them

I'm a filter coffee person, but my husband has a Sage (oracle touch) and honestly, whenever he gets a coffee out, or we're travelling, he complains about how inferior it is to what he makes at home.

The one thing I will say, OP, is that bean to cup machines seem to take a fair amount of fiddling at first for preferred grinds and pressure and if you change to a different bean or roast, it might require re-fiddling. Or so I hear anyway.

Nespresso here with lavazza pods always on offer from amazon!

The mess and faff with the other kinds of machine - did it for years and now just cannot be arsed. And they were all so tempermental.

ETA - i would buy a bean to cup if I had the £££

De' Longhi Rivelia here too. Very happy with it. Can't be fussed with the barista type of machines. At 6am I just want to press a button for a strong black coffee

Fun fact: we still have a Braun coffee grinder that my father bought in 1980 meaning it’s 45 years old and going strong. I don’t use it to grind coffee any more though.

I have the 2nd Phillips one from your links. I love it, its so easy, self cleaning and you can save your preferences for different people.

Until recently we always had big Gaggias or Sages. Then I got fed up with all the faff and now we just have a Lavazza pod machine. The coffee is excellent. I don’t like Nespresso coffee at all.

I have a handheld milk frother which I use a lot and and also a milk heater and frother which I don’t use at all.

We have a stove top in case the gaggia needs de-limescaling and aeropress for work and hotel trips.

Neither of those makes coffee anywhere near as good as the gaggia.

We get our beans from pact and I use decaf ground from pact, in the espresso grind. (DH keeps the grinder for his full caff beans)

I have one that I bought second hand for £20 ten years ago, it is twenty five years old now but still makes superb coffee

DP likes coffee but doesn't want "faff" and doesn't care enough to be an expert on coffee. So hes got a Nespresso pod with a separate milk frother- which is amazing when using organic milk - total game changer.

He's had it for over 10yrs and uses it about 3 times a day.

I know it isn't actually what you are asking, on account of it not being a machine but I have never tasted anything that improves on this & it is a gorgeous classic

Moka Express - Bialetti

Would recommend Sage too. We have the Express Impress, we make a lot of flat whites. If that's bigger than you'd like there are smaller versions as have been recommended/mentioned above

We've had this one from Lakeland for about 18 months and are happy enough with it, you can use beans or ground coffee and it's pretty easy to clean. You'd need a separate milk frother if that's your kind of thing though.

https://ebay.us/m/QYtQR0

I love Latte, I bought the milk frother jug which I put 100ml of milk and add to the standard cup. Perfect! I’ll be honest I use the machine so much I just rinse the jug and do a proper wash every few days so I don’t see the long cleaning thing people have mentioned..
husband makes an Americano - get decent beans (personally I really like Lavazza)

I started a thread a while ago on this then joined a coffee group on Facebook.

I now have a sage bambino which is great, I think the gaggia is also a good choice

The most important part is the grinder, I ended up getting the wrong one but am looking at a niche zero or a eureka model as mentioned upthread.

Then you need to get fresh roasted beans but this is very easy to buy online.

I don’t have a coffee machine but I’ve seen so many good reviews on the Ninja , on here and on other sites.

I'd also suggest making sure you choose one that either has two slots for beans or the option of beans and ground coffee..

The reason is so that you can easily switch between decaf and regular. We keep regular beans in the machine and decsf ground coffee.