I want to get an espresso machine. Any recommendations?

[Yorkiegirl]

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With the Nespresso, am I right in thinking you use the nespresso pods to actually make the coffee? Are these available in all supermarkets?

i have a nespresso, it is fantastic.
the pods you have to buy online or there is a shop in knightsbridge. The pods are expensive though, about 24p each i think.

i would recommend just getting the basic one as the milk frothers aren't great. it is far easier and quicker to heat milk in a jug in the microwave and give it a quick swizz with one of those aerator things if you want to be very snazzy.

we have this one krups

Another Gaggia Classic owner here-fab!!!!

Couldn't live without it, have yet to taste better coffee than that which dp makes with it. It's very simple and easy to use ,the frother is great too. It's taken a battering but still not a whimper. I read reviews on Amazon re the cubika saying it was a bit flimsy which is why we went for the sturdier Classic which weighs a ton. The brushed metal is cheaper than the chrome I think or it was when we got ours.

Don't understand why anybody would want a Nespresso as you have absolutely no choice regards which coffee you buy, you'd be forever tied in with Nestle and what if they discontinue said pods.

Illy coffee in a Gaggia machine is heaven but when we're not feeling that flush with the cash Lavazza is fine. Just about to try their Fairtrade rainforest friendly one. I love trying out different esspresso coffees would hate to be tied in with one brand especially Nestle.

I have a Nespresso M300 - had it more than 5 years and they are still making that model (but with a higher number) so very much doubt they will discontinue pods. No maintenance in that time apart from I run the cleaning product (they sell the kit online where you get the pods for £3.95) through the machine every six months.

I ordered new pods on Saturday online and they came today, I only order every six months - because they are in pods the coffee stays fresh. Really efficient delivery too - never waited longer than a couple of days.

They were £350 when they first came out but I bought mine in Belgium when on a mini break for £180 - that's five years of great coffee - can't imagine what I've saved in takeaway coffees.

the quickest easiest cheapest nicest espresso imo comes from these

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YG- you'll need to get a smaller one if you'll be using it for one or two people usually.
You have to fill the coffee thingy up for it to work,so it would be a wste if you bought a big 6 cuo one and only wanted to use it to make one cup iyswim

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MilaMae - do you have to measure out fresh coffee for your one? Is it messy?

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Yes you do but dp seems to manage it all mess free, the kids like helping him now. It comes with a litlle thing to press the coffee down.

No those stove tops are not a patch on the real thing with you 15 bar pressure etc.. I used to have a stove top and I thought it was OK but then I woke up and smelled the coffee steaming through my Gaggia. Phnar!

Another Gaggia vote here too, with a 15 bar pressure. I bought dp a gaggia baby for his 30th in oct and we love it

We've got a Morphy Richards one. Think it was half price at £50. It's good but do use good coffee - Illy or Lavazza - keep it in the freezer/fridge once opened. I found teh stove top things too temperamental, too difficult to get right.

Would love a Gaggia though...

IMO unless you are prepared to spend a bomb buy the stovetop.

We have a Elektra commercial coffee machine, DH buys green coffee beans, roasts them himself in a drum roaster and then grinds them in a Mazzer grinder, fantastic coffee but what a faff. Then there is a skill to using the coffee machine to get really good results.

I'm being showy offy but... i have a beautiful kitchenaid machine. Guiltily bought for me by DH a couple of years ago after his abysmal attempts at Christmas presents to me were a footspa (what am I, 80?) and a....pizza knife.

We began calculating cost per cup with the aim of getting the cups down to cheaper than Starbucks. Long since passed that point as we use it at least twice a day. So, in my mind at least, we have justified the criminal expense of it.

And I expect it to last until I'm old enough to actually want to use the footspa.

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cod an espresso with same amt of water is so much nicer than cafetiere coffee .

I have been sadly and laboriously testing different ways of making my morning coffee and so far the stove top method wins.

Best all singing and dancing is teh gaggia titanium. Bean to cup at the press of a button, so no faffing about with tamping down and emptying out wet grounds. I have to empty the dregdrawer about once a day, but we do get through about 20 cups a day. I've had it for a year now and still love it. And it can steam milk through a cappucinatore - so instead of putting milk into a jug and frothing you put the tube into the bottles and it sucks up cold milk and pumps it outhot and frothy.

They are ridiculously expensive, about £650 in John Lewis, but of you kelkoo you can et a brand new one imported from Italy for about £350. And no problem with servicing - mine had a problem and I called gaggia, who sent round dhl next day, and sent back fixed machine a week later., all free of charge.

Twenty cups a day prufrock?! How many each?

Bean to cup though. Mmmmmmm!