Thinking about buying a coffee machine, any opinions or recommendations gratefully received

[TeapotCollection]

Just that really 😊

Are you glad you bought one?

I guess it depends what you want and how much you’re willing to spend. Do you want a pod machine? Bean to cup? Etc

We have a Miele one and I love it as it’s so easy to use, you can programme profiles for different people so the coffee strength is correct for your taste and most importantly to me, each piece including the brew unit can be taken apart and cleaned. There are lots on the market where the brew unit is a sealed unit that inaccessible which grosses me out a little! 🥰

I have a Nespresso machine, and I know they are bad (as pods not easily recycled) but you can take it from my cold dead hands.
Convenient, delicious, addictive, virtually no cleaning.

Nespresso pods can be recycled. I sent back a huge bag yesterday free with Collect +. I also know of someone who uses them to make jewellery. I got my machine and frother free by paying £25 a month which is used to purchase coffee pods.

To my shame I have to admit I’ve done precisely zero research 😃 so I don’t know what pod or bean to cup means, although it looks fairly self explanatory 😊

I’ve no idea how much they cost either, I’m guessing bean to cup would cost more, and take longer to make the drink?

Both of those sound like they’re worth a look

I've had a Nespresso which I liked, the coffee was nice enough, but these days I prefer making coffee with a cafetiere or my aeropress - it's cheaper, the coffee is just as nice and you have more choice of coffees.
My parents had a pod machine that made hot chocolate, tea etc as well as milky coffees - I didn't rate that at all, the milk pods had a very weird taste and the hot chocolate and tea you could make with a kettle for a fraction of the cost.

I'm a stove-top Mokka pot lady. Super easy espresso. Cheap. You just buy grounds the right size, or grind your own.

My bean to cup has got me through lockdown
We've got a delonghi magnifica, easy to use and clean, single or double shot, option to add more water as shot come through for basis for Cappuccino etc and milk frother.
Ours was free from BIL when he upgraded, it just needed a new pump which was about £20 and took us 10 minutes to replace watching a video tutorial on YouTube! We were veeeeeeery greatful. If it broke beyond repair I'd definetly replace it. We use it each at least twice daily now we're working from home

Watching this with interest as I want to treat myself to a decent bean to cup machine. So sorry OP, no help!

No problem MissFitton 😊

Bloody hell! Just looked at Argos and they start at not-very-much and go up to £800!! 😮

We have the all singing all dancing Sage and i can honestly say i would save it before my other half if the house was on fire 🤣

Fyi our Sage was £450 but i would say worth every penny and always in the amazon black friday sales for £300-350

How much are the pod things CountryGirl? Are they easy to find?

I love my Nespresso machine, and now that I'm working from home all the time I get to use it daily. It is my favourite part of home working!

@ohidoliketobe

My bean to cup has got me through lockdown We've got a delonghi magnifica, easy to use and clean, single or double shot, option to add more water as shot come through for basis for Cappuccino etc and milk frother. Ours was free from BIL when he upgraded, it just needed a new pump which was about £20 and took us 10 minutes to replace watching a video tutorial on YouTube! We were veeeeeeery greatful. If it broke beyond repair I'd definetly replace it. We use it each at least twice daily now we're working from home

We have the a De Longhi bean to cup, and it’s great. At about the 10 year mark it had to make a trip back to the factory to be mended (something had gone on a circuit board) but De Longhi made it super easy, and it’s worked fine ever since. They even cleaned it much more thoroughly than I ever do...

I like how quick it is (can grab a cup between meetings) and that it can do different lengths and strengths of coffee with a turn of a dial, as DH and I like our coffee quite differently.

This is an interesting article about the environmental impact of various ways of making coffee. www.wired.co.uk/article/coffee-pods-nespresso-recycling. Lifecycle analysis by some chemical engineers amongst others (not me).

I have a dulco gusto pod machine

I love it .. and just recently starbacks and costa started producing pods for these machines

Its usally about £3.50 for 16 pods (8 drinks) so less than 50p a time

My dad has a bean to cup machine .. bigger outlay but beans make price per cup cheaper carn. He doesnt get the range of flavours I do .. eg caramel latte but he wouldnt want such a thing !! He just wants a properly roasted coffee

I bought my Nespresso machine at the start of lockdown and I love it! I even took it on holiday with me.

The pods can be recycled easily, if you order your capsules from the website, they'll collect them when they deliver your order.

I have a bog standard filter coffee machine, really cheap from Asda. And honestly, I love it. If it breaks I'll probably upgrade to a fancier one, but for now it does the job of providing me with decent coffee when i need it!

@TeapotCollectionni pods! Bean to cup so just buy whatever delicious beans you want and away to go. I then spread the grounds on the garden so 0 waste!

@TeapotCollection Sage BES875UK The Barista Express with Temp Control Milk Jug, Brushed Stainless Steel www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077YZXR1W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VWWNFbJ22MYK8?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We have an ECM coffee machine and a separate grinder. It all depends on what you want to spend and the level of involvement you want when it comes to making a coffee. For years I had a stove top pot which was great with a separate milk frother both of which made good coffee and quality frothy milk but at very little cost.

There’s no way I’d buy a nespresso due to all the waste pods (even if they can be recycled!). A bean to cup is an investment but worth it

Sage barista here too.. currently on holiday and I miss it!!

@ohidoliketobe

My bean to cup has got me through lockdown We've got a delonghi magnifica, easy to use and clean, single or double shot, option to add more water as shot come through for basis for Cappuccino etc and milk frother. Ours was free from BIL when he upgraded, it just needed a new pump which was about £20 and took us 10 minutes to replace watching a video tutorial on YouTube! We were veeeeeeery greatful. If it broke beyond repair I'd definetly replace it. We use it each at least twice daily now we're working from home

Yes, we've got this one too. It's very good and reasonably priced. We had it for about 7 years and it finally gave up the ghost a couple of months ago after v v v heavy use, esp since March. Could have got delonghi to repair it but I DH was twitching about being without good coffee for any length of time so we just got a new one on next day delivery . We get coffee beans delivered from a place online. This is our main luxury to be fair well, that and the odd case of wine and it is so much nicer than a cafetiere imo.

I'm not keen on the pod ones personally, and the waste makes me feel guilty... yes, they can be recycled, but they still need to be made, transported, used, transported back for recycling and then energy used in the recycling itself. I know coffee is hardly the greenest thing in the world, but that just seems a bit crazy to me for minimal benefit.

I have tried over the years to like pod machines because they are convenient and relatively cheap but I find the coffee they make bitter and not enjoyable at all.

I use an aeropress and used to use ground coffee from supermarkets but it still didn't taste anything like as good as coffee shop coffee.

I had a birthday in lockdown and DH bought me a coffee mill. I now have coffee beans delivered on subscription which are a million times nicer than supermarket coffee beans and with the help of a 99p Ikea milk frother I can now get pretty close to the flavour of a coffee shop flat white for around 50p per cup. So all of the above items would be my recommendation

I'd love a bean to cup machine but it's too expensive and I have no space for one.