Hey all.
I'm sick of having my coffee through a kettle and want to upgrade to a coffee maker but don't know which ones are good. Are pods a good option or are beans better? Could you let me know which brands are good. Cheers guys :)
Best coffee maker
TRENT86 on 12/03/2014 - 03:54
Comments
You can buy beans in smaller quantities, and a grinder is $12 at kmart.
But if you are content to use the pods, which sit on the shelf for who knows how long, you might as well use pre-ground coffee in a 200g pack. It will get used in a couple of weeks.
Since this is ozbargain, I will suggest stovetop espresso machines like the ones here:
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=stove+top+espresso&oq=sto…They have no moving parts and rely on steam pressure to push the water through the coffee, and they are cheap, at under $30. These are pretty much how every Italian makes coffee (or did).
The other alternative, and the one I find myself using most because it is good, fast and easier to clean up, is an aeropress. The local dealer puts deals on OzB from time to time, and the comments from other bargainers are very positive.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/aeropress
I reckon if you emailed them asking for a special there is a good chance they would oblige.Those are my best value picks, but since the question was best, I would suggest a second hand single group commercial machine. They can be had for around $500, which is what a high end Nespresso costs, but they produce the best coffee with the option for genuine cappuccino froth. They need to be connected to the water pipes by a plumber, though, and use a fair bit of energy as they keep the water at boiling temp all the time (and take a while to heat up).
It's the coffee equivalent of having keg beer at your home bar.
A side conversation about commercial and prosumer machines;
That is good bang for buck, but ex commercial can be problematic, you could be buying someone else's problem at a higher repair cost than a new prosumer machine.At the factory I have a 3 group commercial and at home I (currently) have a Rocket Giotto - its actually not as costly to keep the machine on all day and walkup to use it, vs turning it on and off on demand. These machines use a pressurestat to regulate the element which works out to around 15seconds of power (typically 1300watts) per five minutes. When you work out its hourly consumption, thats 50watts per hour, not 1300.
In contrast, domestic espresso machines that use a thermoblock, like the Nespresso Capsule and Breville/Sunbeam appliances, they can be turned on and used within minutes.
I would second your recommendation for the aeropress. Speed, value, ease of use, ease of cleaning.
I used to make 300+ coffees a day for a living, but my machine at home never gets used, only the aeropress.
But do get a grinder, fresh grounds are a major improvement over pre-ground.
a grinder is $12 at kmart.
A burr grinder that works well enough for even a basic $350 espresso machine is going to be about $150.
Beans are FAR better than pods. Also virtually no pod machines have a steam wand to properly foam the milk. Half of what you love in a cafe coffee is the mouthfeel of properly microfoamed milk. The frothers you get with pod machines don't even approximate this.
A good home set up is a Gaggia Classic machine, a Sunbeam EM0480 grinder, and beans from Baybeans (look for their ozb deals).
NEVER ever buy pre-ground coffee. It is stale. Would you make your sandwiches with 6 month old stale bread? It'd work… but you would be pretty disappointed with the result.
Also factor in $30 for a tamper, and $100 for a basic coffee-making course like this https://www.tobysestate.com.au/store/espresso-school/home-ba…
which will make all the difference.TL/DR: pods are convenient, but the coffee is average. Espresso machine + grinder makes much better coffee, but takes effort.
rely on steam pressure to push the water through the coffee
What temperature is the steam? Yeah, 100 deg +. This usually burns the coffee and explains why most people's experience with stovetop pots result in bitter coffee.
The OP is making instant coffee with a kettle.
If their budget is under $50 they can get a cheap blade grinder and an aeropress or stove top and have markedly better coffee that instant.
For another $700 they can move to a burr grinder, high end home machine and training course and have a bit better again.
It's a bit of an 80:20 rule though, with most of the benefit achieved straight away, then rapidly escalating costs to capture increasingly small benefits.
Good Beans, a good grinder and any coffee maker plus a bit of practice (and understanding) will hands down beat even the most expensive Pod machine. BUT you need to learn the machine and understand how to tweak the grind for each bean to get the best results.
I'd say a good coffee is:
50% Bean (got to be freshly roasted)
20% Grind (needs to be evenly ground)
25% Skill
5% Machine (pretty much, the more expensive the machine, the less skill it requires to get a good result).for a budget, the pod machines are pretty good as they're relatively cheap
I agree. When you buy a capsule machine, generally speaking, you are buying into a system so the hardware is offered cheaply / subsidised in the same way Gillete famously sold their system (and many blade shaver companies still do); here is a shaving handle with two blades, come time to buy a 5 pack of blades, youve discovered the handle was given away free in the hope of making up revenue from the refill packs.
If you were buying Nespresso pods from Nespresso, thats anywhere from 65c-90c per capsule for 5 grams of coffee. Gross that out and you are paying $130-$180/kilo for your coffee vs ~$25 for supermarket beans or $39.70 for fresh roasted coffee including delivery from a recent medal winner at the Sydney Royal ;-)
TBH, it depends on your budget… for a budget, the pod machines are pretty good as they're relatively cheap now, or at least have cheaper machines (e.g. woolworths caffitaly machine). Having said that, the pod machines make it so you are forced to use a specific set of coffee pods and thus has less variety (i.e. you can't try different coffee grinds unless you get a pod making machine and do it yourself)
Espresso machines are fairly expensive, but if you treat it as a long term investment and depending on the amount of coffee you drink, you can easily justify the cost. However, you will need to learn how to do it whether it be learning online or actually going to a barrister class.
I would recommend getting this espresso machine if you have the budget for it. It comes with a proper grinder and its a dual boiler design which supposedly keeps the water used for the coffee at its optimal tempurature (80 degress i believe) whilst using the other boiler to produce steam. The other benefits of this is that you can use both function at the same time. This machine has been on special for quite some time and i'm sure if you pay by cash you can talk them down a bit more…
Of course, there is also the stove top espresso machines but i don't know alot about them…
P.S. Yeah i'm biased towards the expresso machine and have been eyeing the one i mentioned for awhile… i just can't justify it since i will only be able to use it once or twice a week =(
for a budget, the pod machines are pretty good as they're relatively cheap
I agree. When you buy a capsule machine, generally speaking, you are buying into a system so the hardware is offered cheaply / subsidised in the same way Gillete famously sold their system (and many blade shaver companies still do); here is a shaving handle with two blades, come time to buy a 5 pack of blades, youve discovered the handle was given away free in the hope of making up revenue from the refill packs.If you were buying Nespresso pods from Nespresso, thats anywhere from 65c-90c per capsule for 5 grams of coffee. Gross that out and you are paying $130-$180/kilo for your coffee vs ~$25 for supermarket beans or $39.70 for fresh roasted coffee including delivery from a recent medal winner at the Sydney Royal ;-)
coffeemaker $45-$50: aeropress espresso/plunger or bodum santos vacuum/syphon coffee maker
burr grinder $90-$100: sunbeam em0440
mannabeans has previously had aeropress/syphon/grinder/coffee combo deals :)
You haven't mentioned a budget & you're asking on ozbargain, so this may not suit. But I wish someone had told me this before I went on my 'try the cheapest option first' coffee journey.
All I wanted was nice tasting, consistent, & easy to make coffee. I didn't want to futz around with grinding beans or making sure the temp or pressure are right or cleaning or try drinking hazelnut chocolate latte infused with purple moon beams pods… I wasted a lot of money & time trying other machines ~ kettles / dripper / percolator / manual espresso / pods / grinders / filters / stainless steel containers / temp gauges, even tried special frothing milk! Some of these options had great tasting coffee - but far too much effort.
Then I bought this -> De'Longhi Automatic Coffee Machine ESAM3500 ~ $750
You just stick water in it, and some Lavazza cafe blend beans. ($20/kg on special at woolies)
You fill your frother container with any type of milk. Its sealed so you keep it in the fridge (no waste).ONE BUTTON. PERFECT COFFEE, EVERY TIME.
You're buying beans from Woolies!?
When I see Coles do Lavazza for $20/kg ill buy it there.
Why wouldn't you buy freshly roasted beans from the deals posted here?
Sure they're $5 more expensive, but that probably equates to less than 10c/cup extra and you'll have a significantly better coffee!
I am a massive coffee fan and don't know why it's taken me so long to buy a machine (Under $300), I see the pods as an easy way to make good quick coffee and quite a lot of flavours. I'm currently looking at nespresso Pixie, I watched a video on it and it looks pretty good.
Does anyone here have a pod machine that they like?
Thanks for all the reply's too guys :)
I'm a massive coffee drinker/snob. I had a few goes at making coffee on home espresso machines but found it all too difficult to bother with for my weekend coffee. Keeping fresh beans, getting the grind right, getting the right tap for the grinds, clean up, etc etc. I figured it was far better to outsource this to a processional.
For home coffee I eettled on an Nespresso U and pods from Coffee Capsual Delights. Not nearly as good as a professional barista, but does the job very well for the effort/cost.
Yeah I'm not looking for the primo out there I just want something where I can get good tasting coffee easy
If thats the case, i strongly suggest the caffitaly ones available at Woolworths when on special… those pods aren't too expensive and they taste pretty good… the pods i use are from map coffee i particularly like the red pods.
50% off at $49 if you can find a store with stock :)
http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/shop/ProductDetails?Stoc…
https://www.woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/website/woolwo…
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/caffitaly
I've got DeLonghi Lattissima Plus, works well.. it's been 4 yrs and no damage at all still in great shape…
I bought 2 Kmart machines for $29 when it was on special long time ago.
First machine still works fine =)
David Jones had that special on Nespresso Breville machines with cashback. I'm sure that was good value for a genuine machine.
It depends on how much coffee you drink. The cost per cup on the pod/capsule type machines is a lot higher than the proper machines.
The problem with beans is that you have to grind them, and they're not really suitable for storing, so you need to go through a lot of coffee to justify the effort and mess.
I personally use a Nespresso machine and add hot water and milk to the coffee to make an americano. I also have a Bialetti milk frother when I'm in the mood for a latte.