Actually mefty you've made me realise I'm talking complete @rse. Mine isn't the Europiccola – that's what I wanted but they don't come up for much less than £150 secondhand. Mine's a Eurobar De Luxe – still seems to make nice coffee though – but what do I know.

I think there is quite a lot of truth in claims that home espresso machines, generally, can't cut it.

Moka pots (stove tops) make harsh bitter coffee in my experience, ok if that's what you want, but it aint espresso.

I had an Europiccola, made an incredible cup of coffee, one in 5 times you used it, the rest of the time it was crap, pain in the arse to use. Still I managed to flog it ebay for what I paid for it.

So, french press (cafetiere) for me for day to day coffee, cheap, easy to use and makes (imo) the next best coffee to a good espresso(although it ain't espresso of course).

I've had various machines that make coffee.

In my experience the stove top pot makes strong coffee but it's not espresso.

I had a Gaggia Classic. Good espresso. But, as it only has one boiler, making cappuccino is time consuming and fiddly.

I now have a Gaggia Titanium bean to cup. Excellent espresso and cappuccino. The most used gadget in the kitchen. It cost over £500 but worth every penny. So far it has made 4994 cups at a cost of about 11p per cup.

edit – link to pic not working

These days I use a Gaggia Factory G105, hand pump jobby simular to the pavoni, off fleebay.
Really enjoy making the coffee as much as drinking it. But you need a god bur grinder to get all the benefit.
But once all set up you can really enjoy making & drinking.

Use it every day, descale once every month & it just keeps on going.

I get pretty good results with a Rancilio Silva and a rocky grinder. The Silvas haven't changed much for years so might get one s/h.

It holds its temp great during a shot and makes fine milk for a flat white or cappucino but it is a bit variable in between unless you start getting silly and upgrading the thermocouple or adding a PID kit.

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.

Completely disagree with that – I make the espresso, pop the pre-heated cup on the warmer and wait for the milk frother to get to heat, which is about 30 seconds (Gaggia Classic). Never had a problem with it being too cold.

But, I CAN see how a single heater model is a pain when making multiple cappuccinos as waiting for it to cool back down takes much longer. If I ever need to make a second cup, I just switch the pump on with the filter removed and run some water through into the tray – it soon cools back down. Fortunately I am the only person in our house that drinks coffee so it isn't a problem unless we are entertaining. If we both drank coffee regularly I would look into a dual heater unit.

I also like my stove-top, but it makes very different coffee.

+1 for Gaggia Cubika.

if you can stretch to a classic or baby class machine they have the same group head as the bigger machines (chromed brass quite weighty and hold the heat well)
if you have a good supply of properly ground coffee near to you (or mail order) you can get away without a grinder. i use Monmouth house esspresso blend or whatever square mile coffee is being sold by Flat White or Milk bar.
i buy the small bags so the grind is very fresh. the square mile stuff has the roasting date stamped on it.
much better than anything from a supermarket or the illy stuff which is often months old by the time you get to drink it

much better than anything from a supermarket or the illy stuff which is often months old by the time you get to drink it

I know I will be flamed as I have been before, but the Tesco own brand coffee beans are pretty good and produce a good crema (which means they have retained most of the natural oils). Granted they aren't as good as pricier 'gourmet' beans, but easily the equal of Illy and about 1/4 the cost (£1.49 a bag I believe).

i have one of these

make's good coffee for my f**Ked taste bud's thanks , i've had Gaggia's befor but they never last long with me for some reason.

Thanks for the advice guys particulary on the spelling :roll:. I have just ordered a Gaggia baby twin, so watch out i'm gonna be buzzing on them trails now!!