New machine €1000 budget

Treppen

Anyone any other thoughts on what to get for 1K

Bean to Cup so it would have to include a grinder etc. (or a grinder that sites beside/onto the machine and you pour the ground coffee in yourself!)
Does milk Based drinks too.
Easy to maintain.
For an office, so will be dealing with luddites that can possibly be trained if it takes less than 30 seconds.

wilsixon

Treppen wrote: »

Anyone any other thoughts on what to get for 1K

Bean to Cup so it would have to include a grinder etc. (or a grinder that sites beside/onto the machine and you pour the ground coffee in yourself!)
Does milk Based drinks too.
Easy to maintain.
For an office, so will be dealing with luddites that can possibly be trained if it takes less than 30 seconds.

Here's a quick video (at double speed - 1:48 in real time) of using Oscar+Vario combo. Very simple workflow once you have dialled in and set timer on buttons for your particular beans (which would only need occasional adjustment, depending on consistency of the beans you use).

https://youtu.be/bWgooOkNNCU

wilsixon

wilsixon wrote: »

Here's a quick video (at double speed - 1:48 in real time) of using Oscar+Vario combo. Very simple workflow once you have dialled in and set timer on buttons for your particular beans (which would only need occasional adjustment, depending on consistency of the beans you use).

https://youtu.be/bWgooOkNNCU

Clean-up afterwards was a 3 second flush of steam wand and group head, and wipe off milk on steam wand. Empty drip tray and top up the tank with filtered water approx. once every 10 coffees. Thorough clean of group head (including backflush) every 1-2 months, and descale every few months depending on your water hardness.

cnocbui

Treppen wrote: »

Anyone any other thoughts on what to get for 1K

Bean to Cup so it would have to include a grinder etc. (or a grinder that sites beside/onto the machine and you pour the ground coffee in yourself!)
Does milk Based drinks too.
Easy to maintain.
For an office, so will be dealing with luddites that can possibly be trained if it takes less than 30 seconds.

Quickmill Pegasso or 02835 https://www.homecoffeemachines.ie/collections/quickmill/products/quick-mill-mod-02835

Krusty_Clown

wilsixon wrote: »

Here's a quick video (at double speed - 1:48 in real time) of using Oscar+Vario combo. Very simple workflow once you have dialled in and set timer on buttons for your particular beans (which would only need occasional adjustment, depending on consistency of the beans you use).

https://youtu.be/bWgooOkNNCU

Was that your video? I wanted to reach through the screen and clean your steam wand.

Marcus-Aurelius

BrownFinger wrote: »

Did you plumb that in ?
I'd love one of those

Nah not plumbed in, only going through about 6/8 coffees a day in the house, no need.

adrian522

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Was that your video? I wanted to reach through the screen and clean your steam wand.

Same. Clean that thing as soon as you move the jug away.

wilsixon

adrian522 wrote: »

Same. Clean that thing as soon as you move the jug away.

I usually do - in fact straight into a cup of water, flush out any backed up milk with a blast of steam, then wipe.
But video was to show how quick/easy to go from beans to drinking.

Tommiekly84

https://www.bertazzofood.com/prodotto/nuova-simonelli-oscar-ii-nera/
I ordered this yesterday . Seems like a great deal. Free postage also.

Ginger83

The Hound Gone Wild wrote: »

1k is reasonable tbh ...

https://shop.3fe.com/product/victoria-arduino-eagle-one-prima

Wow I'm so happy I like tea.

Mr Magnolia

Marcus-Aurelius wrote: »

100% legit. I’ve mas three purchases from them. Nuova Simonelli Musica and Eureka Mignon x2 for a bday present and a Xmas present and a grinder for myself. No issues whatsoever, well packaged and tracked on sending. Auld fellas one is going strong 4 years later, serviced locally.

Nice set-up. You put the portafilter in the group-head when you're heating up, yeah?

MrMusician18

Treppen wrote: »

Anyone any other thoughts on what to get for 1K

Bean to Cup so it would have to include a grinder etc. (or a grinder that sites beside/onto the machine and you pour the ground coffee in yourself!)
Does milk Based drinks too.
Easy to maintain.
For an office, so will be dealing with luddites that can possibly be trained if it takes less than 30 seconds.

Miele 6350. It needs a bit of daily and weekly love, but makes great coffee.

I have one with 12k drinks on it and it hasn't missed a beat.

wilsixon

Tommiekly84 wrote: »

https://www.bertazzofood.com/prodotto/nuova-simonelli-oscar-ii-nera/
I ordered this yesterday . Seems like a great deal. Free postage also.

I bought mine there last July. Excellent service. Had the o-ring on water tank go, and a replacement part was sent out quickly.

Tommiekly84

Yeah they were very quick to reply to me mails, like 20 mins. The pro pack upgrade was only 75 as well.

Marcus-Aurelius

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Nice set-up. You put the portafilter in the group-head when you're heating up, yeah?

That’s the setup at the home house/Dads machine. He has a habit of leaving the used portafilter in the group for sure 🀣

cnocbui

Ginger83 wrote: »

Wow I'm so happy I like tea.

If you drink 3 cups a day, that's 12.5 cents a cup over 5 years for coffee as good as you get from a cafe. A cappucino costs €3.43 in Dublin according to numbeo.

A machine like that is likely going to last a good bit longer than 5 years.

Enjoy your tea, and best you stay away from the pictures of my watches thread.

Squidgy Black

wilsixon wrote: »

I upgraded from Gaggia Classic and Gaggia MDF grinder (which I had for 8 years) to NS Oscar II and Mahlkonig Vario grinder.
Only paid slightly over your budget - €685 for the Oscar and €370 for the Vario.

Huge step up in quality. No regrets.

I'd definitely recommend that over gaggia classic, which is still a good little machine for the price.

P.S. the opv kit is definitely worth the small extra charge. I bought it afterwards and installed myself, which was easy.

I actually upgraded to the oscar from a classic myself, but they're great little machines for getting started on, but the oscar is a different beast altogether.

Opv kit is well worth the money for sure and as you say was a breeze, did you get a sirai kit as well?

wilsixon

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Opv kit is well worth the money for sure and as you say was a breeze, did you get a sirai kit as well?

No sirai. From my understanding, that just adds reliability/longevity especially for those who leave the machine turned on all day. No improvement in performance/quality of shots. Correct?

I have mine set up so it automatically comes on half hour before my morning coffee. And can switch it on from anywhere with Google home. So I don't leave it on all day.

Did you get the sirai? Benefits?

Planet X

Started on a Gaggia Classic also....with a Baratza encore. Great coffee for a starter.

Now on a Rocket :pac: and Compak K3. Happy so far......
With all the money some people are saving with lockdown/pubs......................treat yourself.

(Let yer man treat himself with the €1000 car )

bergipau

I’m in the very same situation. Ideally I’d love a dual boiler with PID, the silvia pro looks perfect but I can’t justify 1400.
The Oscar II looks good but it doesn’t have a PID, can anyone recommend a heat exchequer with PID?

Tabby McTat

bergipau wrote: »

I’m in the very same situation. Ideally I’d love a dual boiler with PID, the silvia pro looks perfect but I can’t justify 1400.
The Oscar II looks good but it doesn’t have a PID, can anyone recommend a heat exchequer with PID?

I’d say you’ll be doing well to find one cheaper than the Silvia Pro.

bergipau

barrac wrote: »

I’d say you’ll be doing well to find one cheaper than the Silvia Pro.

Yea. I agree, dual boilers are expensive that’s why I will probably go heat exchanger.

Tommiekly84

I very nearly went with bezzera bz10 but it was a bit of a stretch on my budget compared to Oscar 2

cnocbui

bergipau wrote: »

I’m in the very same situation. Ideally I’d love a dual boiler with PID, the silvia pro looks perfect but I can’t justify 1400.
The Oscar II looks good but it doesn’t have a PID, can anyone recommend a heat exchequer with PID?

https://www.homecoffeemachines.ie/collections/quickmill/products/quick-mill-silvano-04005

Quickmill Silvano. It has two thermoblocks, rather than boilers, a 600w one for the coffee and 1000w one for steam, and it has a PID and is €1000

bergipau

cnocbui wrote: »

https://www.homecoffeemachines.ie/collections/quickmill/products/quick-mill-silvano-04005

Quickmill Silvano. It has two thermoblocks, rather than boilers, a 600w one for the coffee and 1000w one for steam, and it has a PID and is €1000

That looks ideal. Is anyone familiar with this machine?

cnocbui

I have a different machine from that manufacturer, a Pegasso, which is a very manual bean-to-cup machine with an excellent integrated flat-burr grinder; which I am very happy with.

I believe Quickmill were very early on the scene with domestic espresso machines and were pioneer users of thermoblocks. The main thing that attracted me to them was I noticed the longevity of their products, with functioning 60's and 70's era machines appearing on ebay.it and ebay.de fairly regularly.

The company motto actually seems to be more than just marketing propaganda:

The Company motto has therefore always been “Made to last for years”:

I also liked that they have quite a history in making coffee grinders, hence the 'mill' part, so that section of my machine isn't just an afterthought and it's by a company that knows how to make a coffee grinder.

cnocbui

Whoops, sorry, my bad, the Silvano has a boiler for the coffee, not a thermoblock, but has the latter for the steam.

Plenty of resources on Youtube.

One thing I really like about my Pegasso and the thermoblock is it only takes a minute from turning on, to reach operating temperature, though supposedly waiting a couple more is optimal.

Squidgy Black

wilsixon wrote: »

No sirai. From my understanding, that just adds reliability/longevity especially for those who leave the machine turned on all day. No improvement in performance/quality of shots. Correct?

I have mine set up so it automatically comes on half hour before my morning coffee. And can switch it on from anywhere with Google home. So I don't leave it on all day.

Did you get the sirai? Benefits?

Longevity and the ability to adjust steam pressure and brewing temp I think. But it's fairly minimal stuff so I didn't bother with it personally as I usually only have it on for a few hours during the morning as well.

Etnies

Think I'm gonna go with the Oscar II, the ability to do milk and coffee at same time is a big plus for me, still looking at grinders at the moment

vinnie_cork

Just put in a new kitchen & found an ex display Siemens built in one from a kitchen showroom in Wicklow (not the place I bought my kitchen from). It was never used. Bought for €500, retails at €2,400!
If you like coffee then Bean to cup all the time. But do shop about, can spot good buys.
Previously I had a Gaggia, it cost me about €700 to buy at the time and lasted me 8 years before dying... I drink. A lot of coffee (sometimes 8 a day) so definitely got my money’s worth.