Coffee machine or grinder and cafetière?

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in AIBU for traffic.

are we better off getting a coffee machine (if so, what’s a good freestanding one?) or getting an electric grinder and cafetiere?

we have a nespresso with milk thingy but haven’t used it for years so will probably flog on (if it still works) but thinkingfresh beans is way to go?

Cafetière. We have a grinder, so can grind our own beans, but grinding is always a bit messy and I can't say it tastes any better than pre-ground. I like a good strong coffee, and I'm quite fanickety. But a decent roasted bean pre ground or freshly ground doesn't make a huge difference. I don't like the coffee in pods, it's just not strong enough. When I lived in the US the percolator was always on the go, and I'll be honest it was nice getting up to a freshly brewed coffee (machine had a timer!) but I still prefer a cafetière.

I have the Sage Barista Touch, love it. Not cheap but has saved me a fortune on shop bought coffees.

We have a burr grinder & cafetiere. It makes fantastic coffee & we've never felt the need to upgrade.

I just use a filter holder and filter papers with fresh ground coffee.

We have a Delonghi Eletta Explore and it has been worth every penny.

We have a Wilfa grinder and an Aeropress. DH got us a nesspresso milk frother for Xmas which works pretty well.

Good whole beans make all the difference. We get ours from a local coffee merchants (Atkinsons in Lancaster, available online thecoffeehopper.com). It's expensive but we usually only have one or two cups a day, and unless we're a long way from home would generally prefer to come back for homemade rather than spend loads on coffee out.

We have a Philips bean to cup and we love it. Uses beans or ground coffee. It's easy to use and clean.
Saved us a fortune in takeaway coffee. Can recommend Asda, Costa and M n S beans but we didn't date Aldi ones

Delonghi Magnigica here. Brilliant and reasonably priced (for a bean to cup)

We have a Bialetti stove top. No need for a machine.

I have a grinder and a couple of different sizes of cafetiere ( depending on how many I'm making coffee for) . I think a coffee machine might take up a lot of space.

We have an old fashioned drip machine. It makes a whole jug at a time, you can put in as much or as little as you want, and you can set a timer before bed so it comes on and wakes you up. Jug stays warm while you drink your way through it. It doesn't taste any different to making it in a cafetiere. Fully recommend!

We have a Delonghi Autentica and love it. Wasn’t too badly priced either. It’s also bean to cup.

We have a (reconditioned, so cheaper) Sage express impress which grinds the beans fresh for each cup, and is absolutely worth every one of the many pennies it cost. You can use the hot water nozzle to make an espresso into an Americano if you want a longer coffee. Ideally, it does need recently roasted beans, rather than off the shelf supermarket beans, but I like supporting our local roasters and I've saved a fair bit on not buying coffee 'out' these days, because it's never as nice as the coffee I can make at home.

On the other hand, until I broke the jug, we got daily use out of a Russell Hobbs old school drip filter machine which was just fine with any old ground coffee.

Cuisinart bean to cup machine. It has a hopper for the beans and a water reservoir. Fill it up and press the button ... voila, grind, filter and nice filter coffee. You can turn off grind and just filter, it meeps it hot in a vacuum jug. We have the big 20 cup machine.

I'm with BugaLug555.
A stovetop percolator makes the best coffee and is cheap and faff-free.

I have an AeroPress and cafetière, the AeroPress makes amazing coffee. Machines are nice but if you want good coffee you’re better off putting the effort into sourcing quality coffee beans instead.

We have a sage machine and it's like nice coffee-shop coffee, even using ground coffee. It's a completely different ball game to a cafetière. Definitely go for the machine and buy a cheap grinder at a later date if you want one.

Hand grinder and:

Stove top
Pour over cone
Aeropress

Unless you want to spend a proper wedge on the machine

Definitely go for the machine and buy a cheap grinder at a later date if you want one.

Having had cheap grinders in the past, get a good one!

Grinder and cafetière, I recommend a double walled stainless steel one. For speed we often buy ready ground, but you need to clip the bag as tight as possible, and use within a short time, 2-3 weeks ideally

I have a grinder and an espresso machine (it's a De'Longhi one). That works for me, and is smaller and probably cheaper than a bean to cup machine would be.

Areopress. We also take it on holiday to get on the safe side.

We also have a Bialetti. Lasts forever, easy to replace bits, takes up minimal space.

Cafetière. These fancy coffee machines never provide coffee which is hot enough

I have a grinder, a filter machine and an Italian coffee machine that goes in the hob