Coffee machine for an occasional user?

[Zak33]

if you want to use it for tea as well

you need one that sits IN the cup

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wetrys-Stai...70_&dpSrc=srch

I have two of these.. they rock and actually do coffee q well

and are cheap

and dishwash.

and rock

[Smudger]

What about ESE pods? They're like Nespresso pods but made of a similar material to teabags, so recyclable. You can use them in a lot of normal Espresso machines, so you have the choice to do all the grinding etc if you want the faff, or just whack in an ESE pod if you don't. We get 50 ESE pods at a time for about £14.

[Butcher]

A "real" machine will always be better but every time I consider "upgrading" I am put off by the cleaning/maintenance/hassle when I can press a button and get a very acceptable espresso without any effort

My manual espresso machine takes seconds to clean there's very little to it. You rinse the basket and wipe down the water outlet when you've finished making coffee and give the water tank a wipe out every week. If you empty your grounds straight into the bin that is literally the only maintenance.

[kalniel]

My manual espresso machine takes seconds to clean there's very little to it. You rinse the basket and wipe down the water outlet when you've finished making coffee and give the water tank a wipe out every week. If you empty your grounds straight into the bin that is literally the only maintenance.

Same as french press though (used grounds in compost, rinse flask), which OP said was too much faff.

[Millennium]

I bought a Nespresso compatible late last year and though I'm not using it as much as I wanted for the quality of coffee it's a bargain. It's up there with Costa and the big chains really, the machine (as it wasn't an original and doesn't have a frother) was around £25, the pods are 3rd party too and work out about 14p each for pretty decent ones. Also it doesn't go off in 2-3 weeks like ground coffee.
However I was recently informed that Cafeteria coffee is superior so I tried it and - sure enough it's much better. I was shocked actually. Only thing is having
to have ground coffee in the fridge and cleaning, obviously. I have used it twice lol.

Just not drinking as much coffee as I thought I would. 2 cups a day is ideal btw.

[scaryjim]

I'm going to go leftfield on you.

Electric coffee percolator

In my experience percolators are much easier to clean than caffetieres, you get a more espresso-like coffee, and the electric ones seem dead easy to use. The link above isn't a specific recommendation, just an idea of what is available. They seem to come up to 12 cup, which is a good old size, but the 3 cup one should be perfect for a proper mug of coffee. And £35 would leave you money left over for a coffee grinder

EDIT: just noticed they even have one with a programmable timer for £40 Espresso wake up call!

[rborge]

I love drinking filtered coffee so I decided to get a DELONGHI ICM15210. It easy to operate and really makes great coffee.

[DanceswithUnix]

I bought the Delonghi ESAM 2600 from AO, where it's still £180, just over a month ago to replace a faulty 5 year old Delonghi EC850 (which uses ground coffee) and I have to say I'm very happy with it.

Update: I have ordered one of these, from there Should turn up on Wednesday, so I had better get some coffee beans in.
Amazon were expensive enough that I am better off saving the vouchers for something else.

[DDY]

My go-to source of roasted beans is Tesco's 1kg bag of espresso beans for £10 if the branded stuff isn't on offer, makes good Americanos.

[Zak33]

Waitrose Essentials Mountain Blend is this weeks choice

£2.30 per bag. Course ground. Smells of chocoloate and ...er... coffee.

Smooth as

[DanceswithUnix]

Just to say thanks to everyone for helping me decide what to get. Very happy with the machine, the coffee is excellent and the cleanup/maintenance is pretty trivial. I'm sure left to my own devices I would have gotten something else and maybe that would have worked out OK, but am very happy with this one.

So far I have only tried the one type of beans available in the Co-Op near work. They won't last long at this rate though, so I have a bag of beans from Sainsburys on standby

[DanceswithUnix]

Shame the machine doesn't have a "cups made" counter, am about to start my third bag of coffee beans and would love to know.

I noticed when you buy the beans the bag says that once opened the beans should be used within 2 weeks. I figured I would ignore that and just store unused beans in the re-sealed bag in the fridge and they should be OK for a month or two, but in reality I haven't had a bag last 2 weeks yet so not an issue

[DDY]

Occasional user, huh?

Just imagine the alternate reality.

[DanceswithUnix]

Occasional user, huh?

Just imagine the alternate reality.

lol, that was a thought when buying. The problem is that I knew *I* would be an occasional user, but with three occasional users in the house it rather stacks up. Not sure my son is all that occasional either, judging by how the caramel syrup has been going down and he is the only one that uses it

[scaryjim]

... I had better get some coffee beans in. ...

... Amazon were expensive enough that I am better off saving the vouchers for something else. ...

A bit late to the party, but how about https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lavazza-Qua...dp/B002PM23YC/

I currently get two bags a month through subscribe and save...

[DanceswithUnix]

We used to use those in a previous job, and I'm sure I've seen them in one of the supermarkets.

Quite enjoying trying out different beans each time atm

The last beans were Taylors, a bit bitter for my taste. There is a Whittards shop in town with a big selection of beans so might try them next. I notice the packets tend to say to use within two weeks, which is about how long a small packet lasts so that works out well.