Buying a new machine - Advice

evolutionix

Hi there,I am in the middle of buying a new coffee machine, I like espressos and cappucinos. My budget is approx 250 euro. To be honest I love coffee and I spend too much buying it in coffee shops so im taking the plunge. My intelligence in relation to same is poor so can anybody help?Regards

Curry Addict

this might suit. http://www.adverts.ie/kitchen-appliances/saeco-bean-to-cup-coffee-machine/1116345#comments

evolutionix

Gaggia’s L’Amante what are these like versus a classic?

Gran Hermano

Get a Gaggia Classic, bargain price this week on Amazon UK is GBP 175.
It is a steal at that price and is a great machine to start out on.

Put the rest of your budget towards a decent grinder.

llatsni

^^^ What he said... when you're starting out you'll convince yourself that the grinder cannot be as important as people in the know make out... you are wrong! (well at least, I was)

If all I had was 250 euro - and I needed my home-brew-coffee-fix - I would buy an Aeropress (and/or Chemex) and a Baraza Virtuoso... and save up for a Silvia or similar.

Sinfonia

llatsni wrote: »

^^^ What he said... when you're starting out you'll convince yourself that the grinder cannot be as important as people in the know make out... you are wrong! (well at least, I was)

If all I had was 250 euro - and I needed my home-brew-coffee-fix - I would buy an Aeropress (and/or Chemex) and a Baraza Virtuoso... and save up for a Silvia or similar.

As someone who went the machine + preground route first, I couldn't agree more.

aristotle25

Yeah just to weigh in here with the same comments really. A decent burr grinder is probably more important than that machine.

More important than the grinder is fresh beans. There is no point having a great machine pump water through stale beans that have been poorly ground.

So start researching where to buy fresh beans (e.g. hasbean.co.uk) and a decent grinder.

You might have to increase your budget though.

jackbhoy

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Get a Gaggia Classic, bargain price this week on Amazon UK is GBP 175.
It is a steal at that price and is a great machine to start out on.

Put the rest of your budget towards a decent grinder.

Wow, that is a steal. Mine cost almost twice that a few years ago, recently tried buying one here in Melbourne and average price is c. $600.

Gotham Knight

aristotle25 wrote: »

Yeah just to weigh in here with the same comments really. A decent burr grinder is probably more important than that machine.

More important than the grinder is fresh beans. There is no point having a great machine pump water through stale beans that have been poorly ground.

So start researching where to buy fresh beans (e.g. hasbean.co.uk) and a decent grinder.

You might have to increase your budget though.

The comments from posters on the grinder are absolutely spot-on. For years I convinced myself that it couldn't be worth spending money on a grinder -- WRONG!!

Since I bought a Virtuoso Preciso from Baratza the quality of my shots has been transformed.

So don't make the mistake I made. Don't spend good money on a machine and then neglect the grinder. (In my defence, at least I didn't buy a cheap grinder that can't go fine for espresso. If I had done that I'd probably still wonder what all the fuss was about.)

Haven't graduated to home roasting yet... watch this space :rolleyes:

evolutionix

Gotham Knight wrote: »

aristotle25 wrote: »

Yeah just to weigh in here with the same comments really. A decent burr grinder is probably more important than that machine.

More important than the grinder is fresh beans. There is no point having a great machine pump water through stale beans that have been poorly ground.

So start researching where to buy fresh beans (e.g. hasbean.co.uk) and a decent grinder.

You might have to increase your budget though.

The comments from posters on the grinder are absolutely spot-on. For years I convinced myself that it couldn't be worth spending money on a grinder -- WRONG!!

Since I bought a Virtuoso Preciso from Baratza the quality of my shots has been transformed.

So don't make the mistake I made. Don't spend good money on a machine and then neglect the grinder. (In my defence, at least I didn't buy a cheap grinder that can't go fine for espresso. If I had done that I'd probably still wonder what all the fuss was about.)

Haven't graduated to home roasting yet... watch this space :rolleyes:

Ok folks so I'm going with a gaggia classic and what would ye reccommend for a grinder? Il stretch the budget just to have it right.

Gran Hermano

evolutionix wrote: »

Ok folks so I'm going with a gaggia classic and what would ye reccommend for a grinder? Il stretch the budget just to have it right.

If the budget is stretchable get the aforementioned Baratza Virtuoso Preciso.
Coffee Angel are competively priced on it and I recommend highly.

Gotham Knight

Gran Hermano wrote: »

If the budget is stretchable get the aforementioned Baratza Virtuoso Preciso.
Coffee Angel are competively priced on it and I recommend highly.

+1

raytaxi

I'm using Baratza Virtuoso with la pavoni lever machine and its working well so far.

donnacha

+1 CoffeeAngel

Just to add some weight to benefits of purchasing from Coffeeangel. I purchased two grinders from them around 20 mths ago. Last week I ran into an issue with my Vario and contacted them for advice. Due to the grinder being used for 18 mths I'd assumed I'd be paying to get it fixed, or to buy parts. Karl connected me with the engineers at Marco who were happy to take the machine off me at no cost and take a look at it. Both Coffeeangel and Marco have gone beyond the call of normal customer service and I have been told if it can't be fixed then they will give me a brand new grinder.

glynf

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Get a Gaggia Classic, bargain price this week on Amazon UK is GBP 175.
It is a steal at that price and is a great machine to start out on.

Put the rest of your budget towards a decent grinder.

Mant thanks for that, just bought one.