Pragmatic family machine or jack of all trades master of none?

54and56 · 26-11-2020 04:56PM #1

Hi all,

Thinking of buying a Breville All in One Coffee House machine for £219 and looking for thoughts from people with more experience of using machines than me. Good idea / bad idea?

My requirement is for 2 adults working from home + a teenager who likes to make Dolce Gusto capsule based frappuccino and other milky flavoured and iced "coffee" drinks.

2 Adults like and drink a lot of coffee, mostly a combo of strong AeroPress or Moka Pot made from pre ground french and italian (Aldi) blends depending on the mood and available time.

I meander between drinking my coffee black diluted with water for americano style or flat white / cortado style by adding a small amount of frothed milk (using a Severin Induction Milk Frother).

My wife likes strong (preferably Moka pot) coffee with some cold milk added.

Although we've a Dolce Gusto machine it really only gets used by the teenager for the mixed drinks it offers.

I'm thinking that whilst the Breville isn't for connoisseurs it'll facilitate espresso for strong morning coffees, filter for top up coffee during the day and Dolce Gusto pods for my daughters preferences but I also know if something looks like it does too much it often means it doesn't do any one thing particularly well.

All thoughts and / or feedback appreciated.

Budget would be €250 - €300 or so.

DilD · 26-11-2020 07:10PM

Don't have any experience with the Breville unfortunately, but my feedback from what you've said would be to stop buying Aldi coffee and go to a local/online roastery. Regardless of the machine you use, Aldi coffee will be trash compared to some speciality beans. I'd rather have proper coffee from an ok machine than Aldi coffee from a great machine, you'll notice a major difference. Just my 2 cents.

Mr Magnolia · 26-11-2020 08:52PM

Buy a proper burr grinder, a large French Press and a couple kilos of quality beans.

You and your wife drink the vast majority of the coffee and the above would be the perfect set up for you in my opinion. You have to weigh up your daughters consumption against yours with regard to the frappa's etc. You'll make her a nice iced coffee with the French Press tho.

Hodors Appletart · 27-11-2020 11:58AM

Breville is Sage, right?

It should be a good machine regardless imo

54and56 · 27-11-2020 02:58PM

Hodors Appletart wrote: »

Breville is Sage, right?

It should be a good machine regardless imo

Saw one in the Amazon Warehouse for £119 delivered so bought it. Will try it out and if it doesn't live up to the billing I'll return it.

I also take on board what DilD and Mr Magnolia said about better quality coffee.

We used to buy and grind from artisan suppliers years ago (3fe etc) but drifted away as didn't really feel the improvement was greater than the benefit of supermarket pre-ground. For a special treat or Sat / Sun morning then yes worth the effort but not 3-4 times a day at a desk.

Having said that last night I ordered some ground coffee from https://www.eighty9.ie/product-category/coffee/eighty9/ to see if I can reset the taste buds. I'll do a blind tasting and see. If the Aldi coffee clearly loses I'll invest in a burr grinder and maybe focus on 2-3 good cups rather than 3-4 mediocre cups per working day.

FYI Mr Magnolia I have several French Presses and really only use them for guests who's taste I'm not already familiar with or for frothing milk. I like my coffee stronger than anything I've ever been able to get from a French Press hence I tend to use an AeroPress or a Moka Pot.

Pragmatic family machine or jack of all trades master of none?

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