as above, preferably powder, maybe frother as well?

<edit for spelling….oops>

Whats your budget? STW folk like Gaggia Classic..

200 sheckles or there abouts

Espresso not expresso. 🙂

its espresso, grrr 👿

I've got a Dualit Espressivo, works very well, if a little noisy – about £170.

[/pedant on] it's eSpresso, not eXpresso BTW! [/pedant off]

for the love of god how helpful..the man asked a question, go align your bloody tyres with the valves

look at getting a 2nd hand or refurbished gaggia..

go align your bloody tyres with the valves

Already have thanks. 🙂

I've got a gaggia cubika – its agricultural and noisy but works very well.

This one:
http://www.cookware-online.co.uk/shop/coffee-makers-espresso-cappuccino-machines/gaggia-coffee-machines/gaggia-cubika-298376.html?shopping

They're a good manufacturer to deal with – mine went wrong 3 years into owning it. I rang to ask their advice and they said send it back and we'll have a look. It came back 10 days later fully working at no charge.

i got a baby gaggia off their uk site and i'm well pleased with it

Gaggia Classic is excellent, but now got Gaggia Baby Class and is even better. Looks nicer, has better water filling and drip tray and seems to have a bit more useable pressure although both rated the same

Best?? None of the above mentioned machines would I call best. La Marzocco GS3 . Now this… well this maybe.

I bought a Nespresso machine because I'm lazy.

<gets coat>

Just read this thread, and then went and made an espresso with my nespresso.

Am also lazy and will get my coat…

Best?? None of the above mentioned machines would I call best. La Marzocco GS3 . Now this… well this maybe.

if you can find me one for £200 then let me know

😀

If I can find one for 200£ then I keeping it myself :p

Sorry missed completely the second post of the OP about the budget.

I like them but I find the espresso a bit harsher than even one coming from a low end (200£ budget) espresso maker.

BTW just to answer seriously to the OP, first question you should be asking yourself is do you have a decent grinder (ie no 10£ blade Tesco grinder) but a good proper burr grinder. If you don't up your budget by at least another 100£ and look for something like this Iberital MC2

Then any of the above mentioned machines will give you a decent espresso once you get the hang of them.

Also the grinder is a good investment for any type of coffee you want to make. Properly ground coffee is the second most important thing for making a good cup of coffee. The first of course is freshly roasted whole beans.

I got a La Pavoni Europiccola De Luxe off Ebay for £80 – similar to the Gaggia Classic. Makes fab coffee – andI've just bought a burr grinder off the classifieds today! The La Pav ones seem to go for slightly less as the Gaggia is the big name which everyone knows.

I agree that a grinder and fresh beans makes better coffee. It also means that the extra faff will result in me making fewer cups.

I use packets of ground black lavazza in a gaggia classic most times.

I guess the Nespresso (or any capsule jobbies) might be as good (although at a slightly higher cost per cup

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-cult-of-nespresso-could-it-really-be-the-best-cup-of-coffee-money-can-buy-395944.html

This link tells you a little more about the nespresso option.

This link tells you a little more about the nespresso option.

well kind of….its not right to compare Nespresso machines to POD machines though, a POD is a tea-bag filled with coffee, thus impossible to seal. A Capsule is sealed therefore the possibility to gaurd the flavour & freshness.

It also has nothing to do with Nescafé…

Gaggia Classic +1.

Personally, and also the opinion of a friend of mine who's family business is coffee, Is that unless you've got 500 quid plus for a machine, and get it plumbed in directly you're better off with a stovetop. the pressure on home machines is terrible, and as they're all single boilers by the time the milks ready to go the coffee is getting cold.

I've never found a home espresso machine that produces anything other than weak, watery espresso.

I've never found a home espresso machine that produces anything other than weak, watery espresso.

thats quite a claim! you must've tested a heck of alot of machines then…

as I said my mates family business is coffee, and he sells them, so yeah I have tried quite a few. and before you say I wasn't doing it right, he's a top barista, and he pulled them. every single one was disgustng

Disgusting? Lol! There's as much bs spouted about coffee on here as about bike frames. 🙄

I'd tend to agree with the comment about the milk – I don't use the frother on mine – I wack the milk in the microwave and then use a Bodum squisher.

Each to his own ref the other comment though 😆

Disgusting? Lol! There's as much bs spouted about coffee on here as about bike frames

Just saying what I think, and you obviously know more than a man who has been involved with coffee daily for all his working life, and his family for 100 or so years! and yeah the coffee produced from those 200 quid machines is pretty rank I'm afraid

I'm sure he knows way more than me. However to suggest that anything other than the very best is disgusting is just silly. No question that coffee made with good beans and a top of the range machine is fantastic and better than you can easily make at home without similar equipment but that's not the same thing. Just as riding a top of the range bike doesn't make every other cheaper bike rubbish.

The temperature and pressure have to be perfect to make a good espresso, home machines do not produce that temp or pressure. also the majority of home machines won't be properly cleaned, and I bet most of them have water sitting in them for days on end, all in all making for a pretty nasty coffee. sorry but its just what I think and have experienced.

I'm not saying anything other than the very best is disgusting, as a top of the range espresso machine is many thousands of pounds and I mentioned a figure of 500 quid…

I think thats a bit silly saying gaggia are crap they are clearly not, I doubt I have the palette to tell between a £200 machine and a £500 machine, in fact I reckon less than 1% of the worlds population could. I use a stove top mainly as it is small, convenient and cheap although there is as much chance of the seals on those degrading as there is on a gaggia. Besides whats a coffee expert putting milk in his cup.

Are you a wine snob too? 😉 I have a wine expert friend (the kind that actually does know about wine – sounds like the wine equivalent of your friend actually) that says any wine costing less than around £30 a bottle is disgusting. I reckon I'm justified in telling him that he's talking b******s…

I've been lucky enough to have fantastic coffee in various places around the world and yet somehow still don't find coffee from £200ish machines to be disgusting and strangely neither do most others. Less good but perfectly palateable.

I think thats a bit silly saying gaggia are crap they are clearly not

When did I say that?

Personally I use a stove top too, quick and less hassle than a machine…

This is mine 😉

"That's a pretty ****' good coffee." is Pulp Fiction style.

Stick to Tea, none of these lairy looking machines needed, just a pot and cosy to keep the brew warm

My missus drank coffee until she had to stop for health reasons.
Had a Gaggia bean to cup machine and she reckoned it was a decent enough
drink

Maybe give Bovril a go too, damn fine stuff and just right for the forecasted weather this coming week

Every cup I have had from a Jura was pretty bad from undrinkable to very very very average. Twice I bought coffee in pubs – yes what was I thinking – with Juras and I left the coffee right after one sip. Of course it could be stale bad beans as well but I doubt it is coincidence.

I think you can have very drinkable coffee with any method when you grind well and have fresh well roasted beans but not espresso. Espresso is a trickier business I think. Took me well over 3 months of tinkering with a Cubika to get thick crema and lack of bitterness or watered down coffee. It all became much easier and a good deal better with my current machine (only coincidentally closer to the 500£ mark :p ).

BTW Does anyone want a Cubika ? Mine is in good condition just needs a new Gasket.

De Longhi EC330 (I think). Makes very good espresso once you've got the hang of getting the grind, temp & tamping right. 1.5 oz shot in 30 secs. To say that you can't get good espresso from home user machines is just hillocks.

I agree with tails, bialetti every time… less faff and a hell of a lot less expensive

Pavonis are simple but very expensive new for what they are. If you can get one on ebay for £80 like Hamishthecat then go for it. They have not changed the design much so it is always possible to get repaired and once you have got the grind and tamp right, they make great coffee – but not multiple cups in a row as they need to cool between pulls to get the best out of them.

I also have bialetti when making for many.