best coffee maker for under £100?

[mosaica]

Hi, Im thinking of buying a coffee makes for my dh as a Christmas present. Which one shall i go for? My instinct is to avoid pod-based ones as the pods are so expensive, but Im open to suggestions.

Are Gaggias still the best around? I realise they are expensive, but i might Im over my £100 budget if it's def worth it.

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the recommendations might be out of date.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

We have this one, it is a pod based one but you can use without pods. I paid full price from John Lewis... it's on Wowcher today....

www.wowcher.co.uk/deals/manchester/deal-25215-detail/72-99-instead-117-79-elc-direct-delonghi-ec330s/deal.html

We have this DeLonghi one, which is a bargain and IME better than Gaggia ones (we have four or five different machines at work that got sent in for review and I still think this one is best)

www.amazon.co.uk/Delonghi-EC152-Espresso-Coffee-Machine/dp/B003U2SLI8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354349449&sr=8-3

Scroll down the link and you get a deal on the milk jug and milk thermometer, all in for 66 quid. Bargain!

We bought a Tassimo T20 which does use pods but also makes great coffee with no fuss or mess. Cost £59.99 from John Lewis. Coffee snob dh loves it too.

I just bought a DeLonghi combi link which was a few quid over £100 and produces really good espresso and filter. Takes 'ESE' pods or grounds.

I'd say go for an aeropress - seriously smooth coffee for about 30 quid, and having got addicted you can take it on holiday so you don't miss out :-) gaggia aren't brilliant unless you've more than 300ish, krups are good. But avoid pods - so much waste and you miss the joy of browsing in the coffee shop and picking up different types to try.

Far too cheap for you, (just under £20) but we adore our stove top bialetti 6 cup. It makes two mugs of gorgeous coffee, it can't break, and has been designed the sane way since 1920.

I was going to suggest the stove top espresso maker/moka pot thing. Mine was a few francs a long long long long time ago from France and only recently replaced with ?6 ish one from Italy, they are both bialetti I think. I don't get two mugs though, unless someone is having milk in theirs, but you can really pack extra coffee in and make it even stronger. Mmmm. Reasons to be cheerful.

Second the bialetti stove top, I use it everyday.

The 6 person one does us two proper mugs, would do 6 teeny expresso mugs. I put the mugs in the micro with some milk to warm them up. Presume the 9 cup would do 3 mugs and so on.

We've just bought the Tassimo T20 (Reduced from £99.99 to £30.00, with £20 on line credit), simple to use, lovely coffee and no mess.

It's already had more use in a few days than our DeLonghi had in several years.

I'd suggest an Aeropress, and you might be able to find a burr grinder than can manage a passable grind and still be close to your budget. Actual machines I don't think would be worth it.

Also recommend the Aeropress for the best tasting coffee. We have a Nespresso for dh in the morning the coffee is just about ok.