Was visiting friends last weekend and had a crack at a Delonghi 4200 magnifica. Good bit of kit. Nice coffee. Easy. Noisy

I feel like treating myself in the sales to something up from a French press. However I have a good burr grinder and don’t necessarily want steamed milk. I see one can buy an Espresso Pump machine which just does the coffee making bit.

Has anyone got any recommendations? The delonghi ones start from £80 discounted. If they manage water temp and 15bar I assume the higher the price the sparklier the unicorn poo?

Is the EC 271.B by delonghi
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B013GDEAI0/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1514213728&sr=8-10&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=delonghi+coffee+makers&dpPl=1&dpID=41-qCTjf6mL&ref=plSrch
any good for example or do I need the dedica?

My father in law has a basic 100 quid delonghi with the self fill basket

It’s a bit shit – so much so he doesn’t use it at all except for when I come round because it’s a faff- and although he doesn’t know it I don’t particularly rate its output.

I got my dad an ecam 4200 for his Xmas for 180 quid on amazon it is much better than the little 100 quid unit. Ok it’s a built in grinder but the bean to cup function takes all the hassle and mess away from coffee

I have an ecam 22 360

It makes reliably good coffee that easily rivals all but some artisanal shit I had in downtown San francisco made by a man with a big curled up moustache , lots of chrome on his coffee machine and many awards in frames on his wall.

If your considering it I suggest you go the whole hog. – unless of course the act and art of making coffee is the part you enjoy rather than drinking it.

TBH reduced faff is an attraction.
wouldnt stretch to the ecam 22 though.
4200, while a bit plasticy looking did make a good coffee without nay mucking about.

the ecam i will admit was a gift i recieved (but im assured was bought at a highly highly discounted price) – there is no way i believe anyone pays full price for a delonghi ….. i was in the same boat as you to start with just mentioned id like something with some form of pressure rather than the french press…..and frankly the moka pot is a last resort – id rather filter it tbh…. just too bitter for me

our uk offices all have the 4200 and they seem to be quite robust as they have seen alot of use in the 5 years i was there….. never seemed to see them breaking .

the ecam isnt any less noisy – other than the fact its programmable to come on and off at set times by its self – features no one needs i see no reason why youd buy an ecam over the 4200.

Gaggia Classic is STW standard answer for good reason. Works consistently well. Easy to service. You can get spares for pretty much anything.

Do you want espresso or prefer it to the results from your french press? If yes, then an espresso machine is what you need (unless you would be happy instead with the results from a moka pot).

However, if you are planning to use the machine to make americanos, I would suggest you consider instead other methods for making long black coffee, e.g. filter such as Chemex, V60 or Aeropress.

With regard to reduced faff, grinding beans and pouring water to make filter coffee is not much trouble, and disposing of the grinds is easier than with a french press: just lift out the filter cone or fire out the puck and filter from the Aeropress into the bin. Bean to cup machines will potentially offer less faff unless/until they develop a fault or require servicing/maintenance. Routine descaling is likely to be very simple, but anything more than that is likely to be more problematic.

Have a peek on here – http://coffeeforums.co.uk
or https://www.bellabarista.co.uk

You won’t make an Americano with any of the methods you describe though slowster.

You’ll make a long black coffee but that’s not an Americano. An Americano base is an espresso

The ecam/esam make Americanos with a single press of a button – once every 20 or so coffees you tip the coffee pucks into the compost and top up the water/empty the drip tray at the same time and I’ve yet to see an out of order sign on any of the machines in our offices in 5 years of commercial environment use by people who don’t care about it….I’m pretty certain it’ll never have been descaled either.

If you just want a long black drink and not specifically an espresso based drink might as well stay with the French press since you already have it.

I bought Mrs P one of these for Christmas – probably pay for name / looks but very good quality.

http://www.smeguk.com/product/ecf01cruk/

mrblobby – Member
Gaggia Classic is STW standard answer for good reason.

This.

Second hand ones can be had for around £100.

Do it and don’t look back.

I replaced my Classic with a Magnifica and, several years on, I still regard it as one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

Call me old fashioned, or indeed a party pooper, but my Bialetti Moka works beautifully every morning 😀

all these ways to make anything but espresso 😉

My moka lives in the van now for use on the stove to ensure caffinated beverages are availible in the morning (and it seems excessive to try and run an espresso machine from an inverter/12v batteries…)

reasons for espresso.

interesting BillMc

What was your rationale for the swap?

Cheers for all the pointers.

In the end I went for the STW Choice of a new Gaggia Classic. Bit of a bargin on ebay thanks to Jamie’s PSA thread with 20%, £180.