im tired of using the little stove thingy mum bought me years ago. whats the best coffee machine that can do expressos and frothy milk, preferably under £400!

and hijack: are those "senseo" things any good or not? I use french press and stove tops and love them, but sometimes would love to just press a button to get a nice coffee. Local shop doing a senseo for £25.

Gaggia Classic.

senseo never seems to make it warm enough

i sold mine and reverted back to a french press, where you just press to get nice coffee………

but i'd like a machine that made a wee high octane espresso

Gaggia good IMHO

I stick with the french press as the hassle of washing the fiddly little machines became too much hassle.

Depends on how much effort you want to put in. I would never want a Senseo as they just seem a fancy way of making an instant. I LOVE my Gaggia Classic and it is part of my weekend routine to have a few well made coffees using freshly ground (using a burr grinder) beans and lots of frothy milk.

In fact it was my birthday at the weekend and all my presents revolved around either alcohol (a bottle of wine) or coffee (lots of beans, tokens to spend in my local coffee appliance shop) 🙂

Ohh, and I recently tried the Tesco own brand coffee beans – surprisingly good and a third of the price of the renowned Illy beans. Certainly represent very good value for money IMO.

But of course that might seem a faff to you so perhaps a Senseo would be more your thing (I hate the taste from them though – never been impressed when drinking them at friends' houses).

Gaggia Classic or Rancilio Silvia are the usual suspects for "serious beginner" espresso machines.

I picked up a second hand Gaggia for £100, ooh, 4 years ago. Used daily and it's been nigh on faultless.

I used to like the Gaggia classic but it malfunctioned (went live and nearly electrocuted my husband!) so we got a Pavoni instead. The Pavoni isn't just stunningly beautiful to look at but makes the most fantastic coffee, much better than the Gaggia! We are reluctant to go away because we miss the coffee at home too much! As said in other coffee threads, grinding the beans freshly before making the coffee makes all the difference! It is probably just a bit more than your budget but in my opinion worth every penny!

Ultimate home machine is

It will cost you over £4k though 😕

Gaggia Classic & duralit burr grinder here

Gaggia Coffee Deluxe here. Think it's the same internals as the Classic. We've had one for about 7 years which (apart from regular de-scaling) has been faultless with daily use. It came direct from Gaggia UK as a refurb so a bit cheaper than the shop price.

A few here: http://www.gaggia.uk.com/gaggshop2.htm

Check out
coffeegeek.com/consumerreviews

I got a Rancilio Silvia and love it. The major downside is that the wife doesnt get out of bed now until I make her a cappuccino !

Had several cheap espresso machines over the years (mostly morphy richards I think) none of which lasted more than 1 or 2 years. Finally got a Gaggia classic which is much better and seems much better built and more durable. The Coffee is better and hotter and the machine is more controlable with better steam production etc than any of the cheaper ones we had previously. It should also last long enough to be better value in the longer term. Short of a professional machine I don't think it could be bettered.

I've got a Jura Ena 5 it's very good but a bit over the budget shown. I did have a cheaper machine that broke down alot and this one touch wood so far has been excellent and produces consistantly good coffee

http://www.xpresscoffeeuk.co.uk/section.php/58/1/jura-coffee-machines

Gaggia Classic is great for espresso, I don't drink any other type of coffee though so if you need anything else I can't comment

Another vote for the Gaggia classic. Mine's been used daily for 5 years and still going strong. Be prepared to descale every six months and replace the seal yearly.

Friends I stayed with in Geneva recently had one of these. My gf loved it and is thinking of getting one.

Nespresso coffee machine

I have a Nespresso machine and its awesome. I got a basic one for £100 from John Lewis and got £30 cash-back!

They come with a selection of pods so you can decide what you like.

The only thing some might not like is that fact you can only get the pods directonline from Nespresso.com.

It's the best non-coffee shop coffee i've ever had too.

Another vote for the Gaggia Classic but I think the Rancilio Silvia is also a bit of a legend……

A good grinder is also very important.

thanks folks…oh if you get the chance and come across them….'Blue sumatra' beans amazing….

I have a Nescafe "Dolce Gusto" cheap but I love it.

Gaggia Classic here again. Good for what we need.

Nespresso magimix milk…..Makes the best frothy coffee you can imagine…
I know as i got one for my birthday last weekend.

They are top of the shop.Retails at £179.99
You can also buy all flavours as they come in a little pod.
Although you have to buy them online.But thats not a prob.

If you want the ease of a pod machine, but with 'proper' coffee, and your budget is £400, have you considered a bean to cup machine?

I went from a standard espresso and grinder setup, to an awesome seimens bean to cup thingy, partially cos I couldn't be bothered with the faff any more!

I tell thee – makes a lovely cup, and the lack of cleaning hastle puts it right up there as one of my all time favourite gadgets!

DrP

Nespresso here as well. Simple Krups machine and very small. Capsules bit pricey at 25p each plus but coffee superb and no mess. Internet service for capsules very fast but charge for delivery.

I've got a Nespresso got it of Amazon came with the free milk frother though that was nearly 2 ago. Gets used every day, I just like the no mess simplicity of it.

Gaggia Classic here as well, had mine for 8 years and it still turns out superb, also have a Gaggia burr grinder (discontinued now).

If you want a real deal gaggia UK do recon sales of returned units, see link below.

gaggia uk clicky

Hit on "shopping"

For superb coffee and an essential stuff such as a bottomless filter try here

happy donkey clicky

Above is a bottemless filter, THE best way to improve crema, that and fresh ground beans of course, oh and a decent tamper

Just a quick warning to avoid Tesco coffee beans – they'll have too much robusta beans to make proper espresso. If you can't be bothered with burr grinding (an inexact science with home machines), then Illy pre-ground is yer only man – but is horrendously bad value for money. Don't confuse strength of taste for quality.

this is what I have and I love it

simple, effective and beautiful

nice bit of kit is that

Rancilio silvia?

Try the forums out at toomuchcoffee or coffeegeek.

If you're after great coffee, freshness matters. There are a lot of roasters about. My favorite is hasbean.co.uk

Cheapest good coffee machine for under £400? A simple cafetiere with a decent grinder. You want a decent burr grinder. Rancilio Rocky is nice and OK for home. Never buy ground coffee from a supermarket. It's just stale.

With a £400 budget I'd be looking at a bean to cup machine.

Probably a reconditioned unit from Gaggia. They've got a Titanium for £499.

I've had a Gaggia Titanium for about 3 years. They're expensive but so far it's made over 4500 cups. It makes great espresso and cappuccino. Same quality every time at the press of a button. It even throws away the waste and rinses itself. The best kitchen gadget I've ever bought.

I'd love a decent mchine and a grinder – always fancied a pavoni – but its the size of these thing when put in a moderatly size domestic kitchen that is always the deal breaker for me especially when the oh does not drink coffee.

ok, its narrowing down….as this is my first foray into machines, which would be the best for cappucinnos (need to pacify the missus!)

Jura Impressa F70 – possibly stretching the budget but I Lurve it.

for cappuccino's there is an optional milk frother that lets you set the frothiness of the milk from latte to almost pure froth.

Just a quick warning to avoid Tesco coffee beans – they'll have too much robusta beans to make proper espresso

Don't listen to him. Unless you are an expert (which he either is, or thinks he is), I don't see how you would taste the difference. Also I can make a perfect espresso (on my Gaggia Classic) with a lovely crema using those beans and the taste is really good. Not quite the same as the best beans, but I consider it a good trade off for the massive cost saving over beans like Illy.

Anyway -why not try for yourself anyway – £1.99 is worth a punt. (That suggestion is aimed at anyone, including Darcy, who seems to prefer to assume it isn't a good coffee rather than find out for himself (although he did read once that Illy are good beans so assumes they are) 😉

we have a siemens bean to cup machine, was £400 and is fab.

which would be the best for cappucinnos (need to pacify the missus!)

The Gaggia Titanium has a milk frother attachment as well. It takes the milk directly from the bottle into the cup. No waste.

If you want to make a lot of cappucinnos then a twin boiler machine really helps. Otherwise you have to wait for it to heat up so you can froth the milk after you've made the espresso. Then it's too hot to make more espresso.

When I had a Gaggia Classic I found the heating up/cooling down a pain.

Oh and Hasbean is a great source of beans.

When I had a Gaggia Classic I found the heating up/cooling down a pain.

I bet it would be a pain – fortunately I am the only one in our house that uses ours so not a problem unless we have friends over. I can make two at a time using the twin pourer but always under-estimate my milk/froth. Any more becomes very difficult.

Oh and Hasbean is a great source of beans.

Agreed. There is also loads of choice in lots of local delis. I also found a great selection in my local Asda! As it is in Harrogate, home of Taylor's Tea and Coffee, they have a wide range of their beans, both pre-ground, as beans or even grind your own in the aisle and both pre-packed or dispensed. Apparently it is a peculiarity to the Harrogate store though.