Help me choose coffee machine!

[RealReginaPhalange]

Shamelessly here for traffic.

i narrowed it down to four below. Its for my husband’s 40th bday. Never had a coffee machine before. We usually drink instant nescafe, although he is much more coffee lover than me

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4335575?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:19:19:2

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2254562?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:1:19:1

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1123759?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:3:19:1

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9474479?clickSR=slp:term:coffee%20machine:8:19:1

Hi - such a great present idea. Out of the 4 you've listed I would go for the De Longhi. However I do think asking your husband his preference may be worth it as it's so personal. I have a Sage Bambino as I really wanted to tamp the coffee and froth the milk! .

Did you send it to the old Kenwood factory? In Havant?

DH was given a small pod machine for Christmas. He loves it. I bought the stands for the pods because the boxes are so bulky. He's happy.

I have a ninja and it’s bloody amazing. I use beans from Grind, I like the house blend but they have a few others too depending on what you like.

Havant may ring a bell...I went through the official delonghi thing for out of warranty repairs and they picked it up and sent it back as good as new after 15+ years of faithful service. Our delonghi coffee machines are practically family members at this point!

Forgot to add - doing the maths on my previous 15ish year old delonghi producing 5 cups most days, more than 4 on average gives a figure of <2p per cup of coffee. As I said above it's now churning out the same for my son at uni. Amazing value for money. Never had a "pod" machine but doubt they're anywhere near as cost effective not to mention environmentally friendly. Hope our current Evo can live up to the predecessor.

Delonghi has a good name, but I’d get the Melitta as it has two bean hoppers (not sure if any of the others do)

I had a gaggia classic and it was fab but then I wanted a bean to cup, and then I got fed up of having to froth my milk and got a fancy siemens dual hopper one 😂 both the others are still going strong, we gave them away.

My mother had a Gaggia. It always sounded like it was about to explode.

De Longhi Magnifica - mine brings me great joy every day.
I have said before, on similar Mumsnet threads, if the house was burning down I would be saving the coffee machine and the cat and letting DH fend for himself! ( almost lighthearted).

Lavazza pods are biodegradable.

Absolutely don't get the one with the rubber tube from the milk to machine. It will be impossible to clean. It'll go yellow and gross. We used to have that on our built in machine and it was the bane of my life. I'd discount the other two on your list that don't have a frother wand as well tbh because they'll no doubt have some sort of internal tube that will also be gross but you just won't see it.

I know it's not on your list but we have a Sage Barista - I've got the impress model. I love it. It feels so solid and looks good- I saw the delonghi ones in person and they are so clumpy and plasticy. But, most importantly, it makes excellent coffee. It has a proper frother wand that's really not hard to get the hang off. Easy to clean and really straightforward to use.

Meant to quote @Alunas post above but didn't work!
Off topic, but on this; it's great that more is being done to make these type of products more environmentally friendly, but think it's important to highlight that it's not as simple as chucking them in your composter. Pods such as this need industrial composting, they don't just break down like organic waste does, and not every area has the infrastructure to do this. I was at a bbq in the summer where the hosts had biodegradable cups for drinks, and this came up then. They thought they could compost them at home, but couldn't. Even if going into recycling waste though, it's not a given that they'll have the facilities to break these down at local plants. Where I live biodegradable packaging isn't recycled, it goes in the main rubbish bin.

Ninja Luxe Premier Espresso, Cold Brew & Filter Coffee Machine https://share.google/yyuBtTboTONW07h61

Highly recommend a Ninja, I love mine. Has everything in the kne machine. Even tells you what level to grind the beans.

Thank you ladies! I think i am leaning towards phillips (found some on ao) or delonghi. Main reason is counter space and it really bothers me when i have things out on the counter, if i could i would hide everything in the cabinets🫣 so as much as i would love ninja one, its about 10 cm wider than the other ones😭

Yes thats why an aeropress and a milk frother are ideal.

so far one of those

https://ao.com/product/ep334790-philips-series-3300-bean-to-cup-coffee-machine-black-106691-65.aspx

https://ao.com/product/ecam44660b-delonghi-eletta-cappuccino-bean-to-cup-coffee-machine-black-41972-65.aspx

Hah, the number if times I've thought about spending proper money on a coffee machine, then realised that my Aeropress is pretty much perfection.

And it's not like I even need a frother. I prefer just a splash of cold milk.

De longhi fan here too

We have the 701 Ninja Luxe and really like it. It is the same price on Argos as Nonja website - but also a code for 10% off there.

100% for ease of use the Nespresso machine. Can buy capsules from any supermarket, different brands. Version With milk frother. Use it all day long.

I've got an aeropress, but bought an old Delonghi bean to cup for £30 on my local Olio sales page, and it's amazing!! I need to get it serviced but it's another level with making lovely coffee (I only drink black coffee). So, I'm team Delonghi (though that is the only machine I've ever used!)...

We have this & like a pp we get homesick for our own ciffee when we're away!

Amazing little machine!

I bought a gaggia bean to cup for work but its def not as good as the Sage imo

Another Aeropress fan here - seriously makes the best coffee with minimum waste/faff. And doesn’t take up any space.

I have a Sage Barista Express Impress, bought refurbished.
I had a pod coffee machine previously, but worked out that the saving on coffee pods would pay for the machine in a year. I’m still very pleased with it nearly two years on.

We love our Sage Barista Express Impress.