Coffee machine

[empitness]

Hi all, posting here for traffic. Me and DH are occasional coffee drinkers and like the idea of having a coffee machine. I want to buy a coffee machine, within a reasonable budget upto £170. My problem is that there is so much variety and I don't know what to pick. Some of them are very reasonable but the replacement pods costs a lot, some are filtered and so on. Please help me select a machine , which is not expensive to run in longer term ( like buying pods and all).
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the recommendations might be out of date.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.

Just get a cafetière. Domestic pressure machines are shit.

I vote for cafetière, and a bean grinder if you're serious. Shouldn't cost you more than £50 altogether.

We have a machine (grounds - not pods). But if I was buying again I would get an Aeropress and milk frother.

Another vote for a cafetière. Pods will come & go, but ground coffee beans, a cafetière and freshly boiled water will always be available (I hope!)

I have a Delonghi Primadonna S, the coffee it makes is amazing, high street coffee shops don't come close. You should be able to get a Delonghi Magnifica for not much more than your budget and you will not look back, promise.

We've got a Nespresso, it's great.

I got a Delonghi Magnifica about six months ago.

Best thing ever!

I watched amazon for the prices and got it when it was pretty cheap.

We I have a cafetière & bean grinder, a coffee pot & a tassimo as dh fancied one & was only £30 on the local fb for sale site & had a good £20 of pods included. We also have a milk frother. I've become rather fond of the tassimo as I'm pregnant (so can't have too much of my normal jugged coffee) & the Costa Americano pods aren't bad. I agree with pps start with cafetière & frother, see how it goes, then go from there.

I bought a nesspresso a couple of years ago and I used to love it, it does make very nice coffee, but the pods are expensive and not that environmentally friendly and I haven't bought any for ages. I use an aeropress now, easy to use an coffee tastes great.

We've got a 2nd hand Gaggia machine. I don't like all of the plastic associated with pod machines and actually enjoy the ritual of making a coffee and frothing the milk etc

I have a Nespresso but I honestly think I use my cafetière as much. I do use both of them daily though so not really an 'occasional' coffee drinker

Aeropress or cafetière and burr grinder.

It's grinding the beans that makes the difference. The coffee in pods can be incredibly stale, as well as the fact that disposing of them is an environmental nightmare.

Nespresso pods are designed to be hostile to the environment; there is no other explanation, since the coffee they produce is thin and bitter.

Definitely Nespresso. Bloody good coffee... even better than the well known chain coffee shops. And their after sales service is fantastic. We got a 2 year guarantee on our machine. It was leaking slightly after 18 months so I called them. They arranged to collect it, fixed it for free and then returned it as well as loaning us a machine in the interim so we didn't miss out on our daily java!

I work in a coffee shop and agree it's the pressure that makes espresso nice. we've tried a couple of home ones and I can't make coffee with them like I do at work so just settle for cafetiere as the rest arn't worth kitchen space

Bellossom have you tried an aeropress?

i mostly use a cafetiere....I keep breaking them though so I just got an insulated one...coffee made at eight is still piping hot at 10!!

when not using that i have a Bodum Pebo (used to be called Santos) vacuum coffee maker...and that's great fun to watch...have a google.
I have also been through about four of those. I am clumsy.

I have a very retro pyrex vacuum coffee doodah too, but the filter on that is a bit iffy...although now I have my burr grinder I could probably sort that with a coarser gind!

We've had quite a few machines over the years and the Aeropress makes the best coffee of all. We have a milk frother as well.

Nespresso pods can be recycled- just ask for a recycling bag with your next delivery & when full, take to nearest Nespresso bar/shop or ask them to pick up when you get your next delivery. Can also use Doddle or Collect+

My vote goes to Bean-to-Cup machines though - you can get reasonably priced ones from Amazon (check prices with camelcamelcamel)

This is £180 on Amazon Warehouse Deals

I have a Tassimo which I love but as others have said, pod machines are not good for the environment and it costs about 50p a cup. To save both money and the environment I'd get an aeropress. Makes really good coffee, much better than a cafetiere and much easier to clean. :)

I think the Nespresso pods work out at around 35pence per cup. Can end up being an expensive habit!

Thing is Nespresso is easy if you only have the odd coffee as you are not having any mess from grinding etc, it's dead easy to use.

We worked it out as 30p a cup which is a lot cheaper than the coffee shop!

I have the ninja coffee maker, it uses ground coffee and has a frother thingy that you put the milk in and heat it in the microwave. It's the best gadget I've ever bought ! I'm a bit of a coffee snob and have had the tassimo and the dolce gusto and the ninja is way way better. It has a timer on as well, so coffee made when we wake up. It also has a cup/ travel mug/ half carafe and full carafe function so you can make just the right amount.