De'Longhi Magnifica Bean to Cup Espresso/Cappuccino Maker £199

I have been looking at this for the last 3 months waiting for a price drop.
I just purchased one now.

Its up to £220 now

Do they actually make Americanos? I'm just looking at the comparison table at the bottom and it says it doesn’t

Barr wrote: »

Do they actually make Americanos? I'm just looking at the comparison table at the bottom and it says it doesn’t

Very few bean to cup machines do a proper Americano (i.e. dispense most of a mug of hot water, and then top it up with espresso) and those that do are expensive. Strange really, as some of the more expensive machines that make automatic lattes etc should be able to do it no problem if the makers bothered programming them. I've just bought a commercial grade machine originally costing a few grand and that doesn't do it! Most machines "large coffee" programme simply passes water through the ground coffee for longer, which doesn't produce the best taste purists would argue. Of course, it's nearly as easy to just do it semi manually - dispense the hot water yourself from the steam wand, then use the espresso programme. One thing to note is that, on all but the most expensive machines, the amount of ground coffee used by the machine for an espresso shot is not really enough to get a decent sized mug of medium to strong Americano; i.e. unless you like your coffee weak, you'll need to dispense two separate espresso shots.

I have a Tassimo, seriously considering one of these

The Costa "Americano" pods for the Tassimo are quite unusual (in a good way) - they make a decent size mug of strong coffee in one go.

loopymum wrote: »

I use those alot and the Carte Noire Intenso, are the bean to cup as easy to use as the Tassimo?

Truthfully, no. Rather more maintenance required I'm afraid! Weekly cleaning, regular descaling, etc.

hfallada wrote: »

Which is literally dropping a tablet or solution into the machine and turning it on. Wait 20 mins and it's done

And brew group removal and cleaning, occasional lubrication, infrequent o ring replacement and, depending on machine, ideally some minor disassembly to clean parts not on the instructions. Hey, I don't mind that (I'm on my second bean to cup) but it IS more than a pod machine, which is the question that was asked.

Great Stuff, just bought another as a 50th birthday present for a coffee afficionado. Thanks again Sub430 and Zimmerframe.

rubberdiddies wrote: »

I find when making a plain coffee it's never hot enough. Anyone any tips?

1. Pre-heat/warm your cups, I use the first flush from the machine when switched on or the kettle.
2. Mine has heat setting, set using some combination of switching on and off and holding buttons down. Have a look in the manual.

Do-more wrote: »

Yeah, I used to buy loads from Amazon but went to place an order this morning and found that they had dropped super saver delivery to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal or Sweden.

That 1 letter is so important

ozmo wrote: »

At the end of the 1Kb bag of Espresso Magnifico Lidl beans which I'm sorry i didn't buy more when they had them - so keeping an eye on this thread in case anyone has anymore recommendations for beans

How much were the beans in Lidl?

Ikea have whole beans in the food shop after the main tills, they are €2.35/250g so €9.40/kg.

I'm a bit out of touch with Irish prices, so not sure how good value they are but I think it's reasonable. No connoisseur, but I always found their beans perfectly drinkable, some other cheap beans can be very sharp and bitter.

Do-more wrote: »

How much were the beans in Lidl?

They were 8 euros/kg I think it was - and they were really great coffee (great reviews online also) - going watch out for them if they come back - none now.

Ill give the IKEA one a try also thanks. The Extreme Caffeine one on discountcoffee.ie site looks promising but that other site (coffeemojo.ie) looks overpriced at over €22 +pp a kg - is their coffee worth that?


What settings do you use on the machine?

I've mine set to
1) Turn off automatically after 15 minutes (default is something like 45?)
2) Both Dials set to three quarters around (sort of 2pm clock position)
3) Eco off (no idea what this actually does...)

Grinder is set to default setting (any benefit in adjusting this?).

Then Either one or two cup button into a tall long cup. nice :P

nthside_cycle wrote: »

Ikea beans are more suite for a filtered coffee machine or cafeterie not for making expresso. But have to say they do make a nice cup of filtered coffee

I have to agree, I think IKEA are an arabica/robusta blend, so I find them making a very bitter/acidic espresso. You are entering the realm of taste and preference and it can be hard to settle on something you really like.

I would suggest do not go off on a mad bulk buy until you find what you really like. I got stuck with a couple of Kg of beans that I now use only for 'visitors'. Buy small amounts and see what floats your boat. M&S do some beans and I think many of the on-line and B&M also do small taster selections.

Indecently I buy mine when I go 'foreign' €9.00/kg for 100% arabica in Carfour, but my tastes are very common!

Sub430 wrote: »

Was £399, now £199.
These went quick the last time at £239.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001EOMZ5E/?tag=ho01f-21

CamelCamel

HUKD Discoussion

Back down again to £229 now

MrRight1 wrote: »

Disaster. Paid £287 for it last week.

Amazon might refund the difference if you contact them. I think someone did similar on here a while back and they refunded the difference. No harm in asking their customer service is excellent.

Cheers, been waiting for this one!

Jet Black wrote: »

Amazon might refund the difference if you contact them. I think someone did similar on here a while back and they refunded the difference. No harm in asking their customer service is excellent.

Or you could return it for a full refund and re buy at cheaper price

nthside_cycle wrote: »

Meant to ask are these machines good. I have a Gaggia cost about €100 to get fixed or could buy one these for about €220 reviews seem good.

We had one of these at work, two years I was there it was going really well, the life beaten out of it with hard water and nobody descaling it. Finally died there last week and they got the latest model. Great unit in my opinion. At home I have a Gaggia Titanium that leaks all the time (pure crap) at triple the price, I'd go for this one over repairing the Gaggia! Downside, like most automatics is they dont brew hot enough tho..

FBP.

Ballies do a good value Espresso starter pack - 2 bags for £9
Lovely beans too!

link

Also check out:
http://www.coffeemojo.ie/
http://www.ponaire.ie/ (Connoisseur Blend for Espresso)