Coffee maker

[Bart]

Lately the Mrs has Been bending my ear's more & more that she would like a coffee machine ( for the house, with the option of maybe taking it in the MH )
Coffee machine must be able to make cappuccino coffee
Any suggestions ?? So I can keep my ears straight

 

[Langtoftlad]

How much do you want to spend?
Do you want a real cappuccino or will a pseudo one suffice?

 

[Chris]

We have a Dolce Gusto. Nice coffee but the pods are expensive in the shops but much cheaper on Amazon.

I just buy the latte coffee pods, heat some milk in the microwave and froth it with a frother and then pour the coffee .

Just bought 50 pods for £9.50.

 

[iandsm]

Look on eBay, there is a company selling refurbed Tassimo machines. I have bought two and they both look totally unused. They are good machines. We have a smaller one on the camper but they both make great coffe inc cappuccino and they also do Cadbury’s chocolate. The smaller one is the Vivvy ideal for the camper and can be new bought now for £22 but there are loads to choose from

 

[andyman]

We have recently bought a Sage bean to cup. Expensive but well made and makes excellent coffees. Had Gaggia previous, very good value and sell well used.

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[Gerby]

we have a delonghi (magnifica s) bean to cup machine for home which is good as we can set the strength we prefer and it has a good milk frother, we use the Nespresso mini in the van, not quite as good but a massive saving on space.

 

[Bailey58]

Yep, still on the Dolce Gusto, Amazon Subscribe n Save for the best price. Got an electric milk frother for Christmas, £24 or so from that Coopers catalogue that always falls out of the weekend papers. The Aerolatte whisk does a good job as well until you bend it.

 

[JeanLuc]

As said, how much are you prepared to spend and how much time are you willing to put in to learn barista skills? Machines can cost from below £100 to c £2000 for a prosumer machine. Also, if you want to go for a prosumer machine (around £800 up) be prepared to pay over £300 for a grinder.

 

[GJH]

I have been using Aldi Easy Days ground coffee, in a filter machine, for years because it suits my palate.
A few months ago I decide I would like a machine that is easier to use, overall, to make a single (large) mug at a time than filter machines are.
After a good look round I settled on a DeLonghi Dedica, which was a good choice. It makes Americanos as I like them and that's good enough for me
Whatever you choose in the end it's worth shopping round as prices can vary widely between retailers - and even by colour of the model.

 

[WillH]

For the house a Delonghi all singing and dancing machine, for the van a stove top Mocha style, both make really good coffee.

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[robnchris]

Gaggia makes fantastic coffee, Lavazza or Sainsburys French Chichory keeps my wifey happy, a tad too large machine for the motorhome though.

 

[Solwaybuggier]

Currently have a Gaggia Classic (modified) at home, and Nespresso Pixie in the van, with an Aldi frother for cappuccinos. Latter is great for convenience and lack of mess.

 

[Bart]

How much do you want to spend?
Do you want a real cappuccino or will a pseudo one suffice?

As said, how much are you prepared to spend and how much time are you willing to put in to learn barista skills? Machines can cost from below £100 to c £2000 for a prosumer machine. Also, if you want to go for a prosumer machine (around £800 up) be prepared to pay over £300 for a grinder.

Budget would be £150 , far from the 2k

 

[pappajohn]

Mines in a kitchen cupboard.... Too much faffing around.
My other coffee maker is in the lounge watching TV.

 

[JeanLuc]

Sorry cannot really help as the lowest cost machine I have direct experience of is the Gaggia Classic which normally costs around £300 but can be bought for just over £200 if you shop around. It’s a good workmanlike machine, capable of good results provided you have a decent grinder to go with it. I had one for several years.
In the van I use a Bialetti Moka pot; cheap and effective, particularly if you buy one in Italy where many supermarkets stock them.

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[Bart]

How much do you want to spend?
Do you want a real cappuccino or will a pseudo one suffice?

If £150 would get me that then yes

 

[Bart]

Are any of these any good?
Broken Link Removed

Or

Broken Link Removed

 

[Lenny HB]

We use stainless steel versions of the Moka pot both at home and in the van.
Never had a decent cup of coffee from a pod machine yet & the price of the pods is silly rather spend money on coffee than aluminium.

 

[Chris]

I would honestly go for this

Amazon product ASIN B00MHKYRXM
I paid £28 for my last one so shop around.

The coffee is good and better than any other machine I have tasted.

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

Don't waste the money, get a stovetop percolator/cafetiere type thing for a tenner and spend the other 140 quid on something nice!

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[Bart]

So to make a nice cappuccino like the cafes do I really ideally need to buy a machine that does coffee beans, then it grinds them?

 

[Chris]

So to make a nice cappuccino like the cafes do I really ideally need to buy a machine that does coffee beans, then it grinds them?

Nope. I don’t think so anyway.

 

[JeanLuc]

Cannot comment on the two machines you have linked but you may be hard-pressed to get something that approximates to a good coffee bar experience (If you live near a good coffee bar you can buy many cups for £150). They are almost certainly monoblock machines. Have a look through this guide for more information on types of machine and their pros and cons
Also be aware that using pre-ground coffee from a supermarket will work against getting a really good cup. Ideally you need to buy freshly roasted beans and grind them just before brewing. Having said that, I use Lavazza pre-ground in the van with my moka pot (at home I have fresh beans delivered weekly).

 

[Chris]

You get so many coffee snobs on this type of thread so you need to make your own mind up I think or learn from your mistakes.

 

[JeanLuc]

So to make a nice cappuccino like the cafes do I really ideally need to buy a machine that does coffee beans, then it grinds them?

No, to get something like the cafes produce you need to have a decent coffee machine, buy fresh beans then grind them with a decent grinder. Many people do not realise that a reasonable coffee machine paired with a good burr grinder will produce better coffee than an expensive machine with a poor grinder. If I was really trying to pair down the cost I would spend as much or more on the grinder as the coffee machine.
By comparison, you might consider that a cafe will spend at least £500 on a grinder and more than that if they are a high volume outlet.

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[glenn2926]

I have a Gaggia classic at home.
In the van I use an aero press. They’re about £25 it makes very good coffee. I use lavazza rosso in both and the aero press is almost as good as the Gaggia. It takes up next to no room, doesn’t use any power and is very easy to clean.

 

[The Wino]

Of course another consideratin is whether you are often off grid as the electric machines will need a decent inverter extra batteries solar etc

 

[JeanLuc]

Aeropress is a good recommendation, particularly for the van. The only thing I have against them is the need to use filter papers and I am trying to cut out unnecessary waste recycling. But they produce a decent cup of coffee at a very low cost.

 

[glenn2926]

Aeropress is a good recommendation, particularly for the van. The only thing I have against them is the need to use filter papers and I am trying to cut out unnecessary waste recycling. But they produce a decent cup of coffee at a very low cost.

You can buy what I think is called a camping filter. It is a stainless filter which is used instead of the paper ones. I don’t have one yet as still loads of paper ones but will be buying one soon.

 

[Crazylegs]

We spent some time at John Lewis on Saturday talking to a guy about coffee machines.
His opinion was that Sage machines had a better grinder than the more expensive DeLongi products, he then took the different grinders out of the two machines and demonstrated his point.
Looking at your planned budget you might want to consider the Nespresso Latissimo machine, which is around £139, you can make cappuccino from the pods of coffee and the attached steamer.

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