Buy any six packs of Vittoria Espressotoria Capsules (72 capsules) for $50 and get a free Espressotoria Coffee machine valued at $99.
Big W
72 capsules is only half a kg of coffee. So $8 worth if you stock up on beans during the regular discount periods.
(https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/207419)
4 bags of beans, $60, equivalent capsules $400, save $340 - enough to buy grinder and espresso machine.
Yes, but capsules are ultra convenient. No mess!
Buy a machine that grinds the beans automatically then.
Beans cost less, you can get them much fresher and have far nicer coffee with minimal extra effort. You simply pour in beans instead of capsules every time and top up water/empty the bin as you normally would.
As per my post below, can you recommend one?
I've got a Delonghi Magnifica, pick up the obsolete models when there on sale.
Beans go in the top, water in the container. Around 150ml of milk in the microwave for 1 minute then put it under the drip and perfect coffee every time.
There's the same maintenance as a capsule machine, empty the grinds/capsule bin whenever needed and give everything a good clean depending on usage ~once a week. Then descale every 6 months or so.
It costs a few hundred dollars but the coffee is brilliant, and you'll save in the long run if you drink loads of coffee.
But the attraction of capsule machines is the simplicity. Insert capsule, press button and the result is coffee.
I'm yet to see someone recommend a coffee machine where I can insert coffee, press a button and the result is coffee.
Are you saying that inserting beans and water is harder than inserting pod and water?
My (possibly limited) understanding is that it is more complex than just inserting beans and water. There was one example of an expensive Swiss(?) machine but the quality was questionable. Happy to be proven wrong.
@mathew42: I'm the type of person that wants to aim a good cup of coffee at my head with the least amount of effort. There are heaps of options available for people like me.
The machine I use at home is the 'Saeco Royal Cappuccino' - https://goo.gl/Sf3d8W.
It does not require any more cleaning than a pod machine does.
…yes, I know. My machine is 48 times more than this deal (new) but there are much cheaper options available.
I got both, manual and capsule. Capsule is for lazy/rushed days (ie. Mon-Fri).
This is correct but not quite apples and oranges. I have a proper Italian espresso machine & grinder set up at home, which I use only on the weekend as I don't have enough time in the morning before work to make a coffee and clean up afterwards. That's why I also have a capsule machine. And yes, I use 3 Nespresso compatible capsules to get the same amount of coffee I get from my espresso machine, i.e. 15 grams.
You must be doing it wrong. The only cleaning I have to do is the milk jug and coffee mug, which is the same for pods.
OK, there might be a little bit of grounds spilled under the grinder, but that only needs occasional sweeping up.
If you want maximum convenience and minimum mess, just use Nescafe. They have done all the work for you of extracting the soluble parts of the bean, and discarding the rest.
The problem I have with Nescafe is that it loses aroma too quickly after opening. Freeze-dry seems to last longer.
I think a lot of people don't like it because it is usually made much weaker than espresso. Its never quite the same, but OK if you use enough, it is fresh, and you want convenience.
Comparing instant coffee like Nescafe to fresh beans is like comparing baloney to wagyu beef. In this analogy pods would be the regular supermarket beef.
Instant coffee just tastes like poo to me (or rather like I how I imagine poo would taste). I can tolerate freeze dried coffee, like Moccona, if I'm just after a caffeine fix but can't go as low as instant.
I don't do milk based - I'm a doppio drinker, at home at least. However, I do weigh every doze using jeweller's scales and adjust the amount of beans and the grind setting depending on the bean type and age since they've been roasted. More importantly, I use the Weiss Distribution Technique (look it up), which makes a huge difference to the end product with my machine but can be time consuming.
In terms of the cleaning, I backflush a few times (until the water in the blind filter is free of the residual ground beans) then wipe the group-head and the seal with a damp cloth.
Could I be doing something wrong? Always possible but fairly unlikely. In fact, I am quite confident that given the same beans, I can pull as good as or better espresso than most cafes who use equipment costing many times more than mine.
Comparing instant coffee like Nescafe to fresh beans
But I was not. - only comparing it to pods :-)
Your coffee routine reminds me of the opening monologue to American Psycho.
Pods are more comparable to beans than instant coffee - pods contain unprocessed ground coffee that's preserved fairly well due to the vacuum seal on the pod.
Instant coffee on the other hand is to coffee beans what reconstituted juice is to oranges.
As a someone who drinks a lot of coffee, classic espresso, pods and freeze dried coffee - all have their place in different circumstances. But I draw the line at instant.
Not a big range of choices in the pods only downside
it's $49 at Woolworths, Coles and the Espressotoria website according to their site:
Slightly different deal though. Big W allows a choices of any 6 packs of capsules, while the Espressotoria site offers a set selection.
"In short mode, once I'd reprogrammed it, the Capino extracted 33 grams of coffee in 15 seconds (too fast for a "real" espresso of 30 grams in 30 seconds. "At the end of the day, you can't get the extraction that a good barista can get with a commercial espresso machine," says Schirato)."
http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/drink/mugshot-roadtests…
But for $50…
Can everyone upvote this comment thanks!
Similiar deal has been on a few times lately (at Coles i think?), can anyone comment as to how this compares to similiar pod machines, ie Nespresso, Caffitaly, Aldi, etc?
Thanks