I was in Tesco and noticed they are doing the Bosch Tassimo and the Nescafe Dolce Gusto at half price.

Now I know they are not ‘proper’ coffee machines, but I fancy trying something other than Nescafe instant 🙁

has anybody got any recommendations WRT the two above, or alternatives?

are they any good? or do they cost a fortune with the special sachets?

Ta

Chucky

Cafetiere or filter coffee maker. 🙂

They are decent – well, Tassimo is – as good as any home machine really unless you get really into it and ‘source’ the very best beans; but they are really convenient.

Definitely a good thing I reckon.

Cafetiere is great if you like cafetiere coffee, but it’s a different drink to espresso or what comes from a Tassimo.

I like my aeropress:

Aeropress

I had a Tassimo and hated it so gave it and loads of cartridges to the local Mind shop

We have a tassimo. Used it for a few months. Got a gaggia baby for good money last xmas. Use it several times a day, every day. Keep an eye on amazon black friday deals.

if you want an introduction to good coffee, and don’t want to spend a lot, buy an aeropress.

Haven’t tried either machine. Aeropress is excellent though – good coffee with little faff.

Nespresso, just get the basic espresso model. No need to fork out for the fancy models, mine was 50 quid.

Also have an aeropress, highly recommend those too. It’s just a modern cafetier

Nespresso is working for me, supplemented by instant, cafetiere options etc.

If you drink long coffees then I would just buy a £40 burr grinder and a french press. Then find out the nearest place to you that sells fresh beans, unless you drink a lot of coffee in which case going online makes sense.

3in1 Dualit machine in costco for a bit over a hundred quid

Our Tassimo is used every day. Close enough to fancy coffee shop coffee for me, done in seconds, no mess, no waste, almost no maintenance(descale twice a year).

The nespresso machine sits idle on the kitchen Work top but the cafetiere gets regular use along with the grinder. Can’t beat a freshly ground bean. Like the look and idea of the aero press but haven’t tried one.

French press is not a replacement for Tassimo or espresso or anything. It just isn’t. It’s better for tasting coffee flavours but it’s not the same drink.

You could spend ages crafting the best coffee, but you can get fairly close in about 10 seconds and the press of a button with a Tassimo machine.

I like my coffee, but I think instant carte noir is worth it for the convenience. Mrs edward has a coffee machine, I cba to use it

I think it’s the fact that tassimo decide how you take your coffee, sometimes I want 3 scoops sometimes I want 5. I can get a decent decaff with beans as well but not with a machine. The other thing is the cost with Nespresso, we were spending money that could have bought a new seat post or saddle each month, on capsules.

On the plus side some of the machines look very cool these days.

Agreed, a french press is not replacement for espresso. It is a big step up from nescafe though, and if the OP decides he wants to go for espresso then he already has a grinder and just needs a proper espresso machine.

Also, it does not take an age to make espresso with a real machine, unless it or you are odd. It’s going to be about 45s in my experience.

Fresh beans, burr grinder, aeropress or a cafetiere. That’s all you need.

Oh, and a kettle

And water

Ok, and electricity too.

Then find out the nearest place to you that sells fresh beans, unless you drink a lot of coffee in which case going online makes sense.

Don’t agree – every ‘local’ place I’ve ever used had old stale beans. Online every time – they shift so much that they are normally much fresher. Whittard Guatamalan Elephant beans for me at the moment – very good.

Mug- sorry, not you John, just adding to the list of things you need.

I use my Nespresso Pixie every day 🙂 Quicker than boiling the kettle (and I like the coffee)

Well yes john, thats why I said you need to find somewhere that sells fresh beans. If there isn’t one, then you have no choice but to go online.

Also, it does not take an age to make espresso with a real machine, unless it or you are odd. It’s going to be about 45s in my experience.

I do it every morning, takes me about 5 mins to make two lattes. Having used a Tassimo machine it was much quicker and vastly less faff.

I used a Nespresso on holiday.

It’s certainly convenient and the coffee looks good. But taste was very poor.

I’d suggest a cafetiere if you can’t stretch to a proper machine. Alternatively how about this on Ebay? Only £70

I was bought a Nespresso for my birthday and they are fantastic… No hassle for a proper coffee. My only issue is that apart from some limited options in our local Sainsburys I must order on line and I’m always forgetting and running out!

My Brother in law has a Tassimo and it seems just as good. Perhaps not as art deco on the kitchen worktop if that bothers you but just as good coffee.

like my coffee, but I think instant carte noir is worth it for the convenience.

You like ‘rubbish’ coffee.

Haven’t you seen ‘Sh1t mountain bikers say?’, get with the programme.

Its a bit like decent wine, or good food. Unless you know better, you don’t know the difference.

After buying a very good burr grinder and espresso machine, plus having a local bean shop, I can’t stand Costa coffee, much less instant. That’s just brown water.

Anyway, back to the OP. If you’re mega lazy, use instant, if you’re a bit lazy and have money to spooge up the wall, get a pod machine. If you want proper coffee, and have 5 minutes in the morning, get a burr grinder, decent one, less than £80 and I’ll not grind fine enough for espresso, and buy an OK espresso machine, to be honest there’s not a great deal between a £50 machine and a £300 machine, in terms of the quality of espresso. None of them will give you proper microfoam that you can do coffee art with.

I had a tassimo and gave it to the mil. I now have a nespresso.

Well, I know this is sacrilege around here but I nearly bought one of those Aeropress things but thankfully had one at a mate’s house. What a rubbish cup of coffee that was. Around as poor as a stovetop thing.

You are odd though Molgrips.

Odd by STW standards or just generally odd?

Deadleydarcy, there’s many ways to make bad coffee. The tool is one of them, the Aeropress can make good coffee if you make right, if you add not enough coffee, leave it too long, too short, too hot, too cold, or mix too much or not enough, it’ll taste bad.

Its simple to get it right, but its easy to do it wrong.

Still, its nothing close to a proper espresso, pulled from freshly roasted and ground beans.

Odd by STW standards. Which is very odd indeed 🙂

if you add not enough coffee, leave it too long, too short, too hot, too cold, or mix too much or not enough, it’ll taste bad.

O rlly?

Too many variables there.

Too many variables there.

Nowhere near enough.
Flat or conical burrs
Days past roast date (degassing time)
Tamper pressure
Dosage weight
Water temp
Pressure profile
To name a few and we haven’t even covered the coffee itself. 🙄

http://www.hasbean.co.uk

I’ve used this company for the last twelve months and the range and quality is superb.

I’ve gone for a subscription and a freshly ground 2.5 kilo bag arrives every Monday. If you want to learn more about the specific coffee they provide a piece on the grower and location.

The only thing I’d add is virtually all other coffee’s taste like crap after you get used to the good stuff.

Stove top or French Press at home, Nespresso on my desk at work. Also have a Gaggia Classic, but I find the Bialetti produced a good crema if used properly.

For the OP, if you want a half decent cup of coffee, with ease of use, Tassimo or Nespresso are perfect, and I have the latter.

For the serious coffee lover, only a proper machine and fresh beans will do. That just isn’t me.

I’m no coffee snob so currently using Aldi strength 3 filter coffee and it’s pretty acceptable. It’s replaced Sainsbury’s own label Premium Blend that had shot up in price.

Used in both filter coffee machine and cafetiere.

I end up throwing out my Dolce Gusto and Aeropress and thought the Nespresso coffee I had at a couple of hotels was worse than a decent instant. I probably should get around to getting a small Espresso machine but don’t really have the counter space for it let alone wanting to deal with the added faff…