Which Coffee Machine?

BlueMonke

Hi there,

I am a coffee adict and am in the market for a new coffee machine. Willing to spend roughly €300. I was in DID electirial and seen two machines that look great. My main coffee of choice would be a Latte so I want to have a good milk frother.

Both systems have frothers but are significantly different in price.

1. Murphy Richards €84.99
85.99.jpg
2. Krups €199.99
199.99.jpg

I have attached pictures of both and would love to know peoples opions and maybe help point me in th right direction.

Thanks in advane.

Mr Magnolia

I wouldn't advise on either tbh. They may be able to froth milk for your latte but those machines won't make a decent espresso.

If you're willing to spend €300 then you should do a bit of digging.
Gaggia have a range of single & twin boiler machines. The twins will be out of your range if you've allocated €300, you might stretch to a single boiler unit. I have the Gaggia Classic, it's a single boiler unit. So you have to switch between the espresso function and the steam function, you can't run them both together.

This has advantages and disadvantages:

It's more energy efficient than the twin as only one boiler is heating.
It's cheaper to buy than the twin, the classic is around €350 iirc.
It's probably easier to maintain than the twin.
It's trickier to master the single boiler as the foaming then brewing functions have to be run sequentially.
The OPV valve is an important feature in good espresso making. Neither of the machines you link have one afaik.

The Ascaso is another option though more expensive than the Gaggia range I think. Have a read of this for a start.

I picked mine up in Brown Thomas, worth a trip in if you can make it to the capital. You'll be able to see some demonstrations there.

Gaggia Baby Twin:



Gaggia Classic:




Work away with questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

BlueMonke

Firstly thanks for your prompt reply Mr Magnolia,

I am a big coffee lover and only recently decided to splash out on such a system…fed up with the packet Lattes…lol

I am based in Dublin so getting into town is no problem. The word espresso keeps coming up a lot but I don’t drink espresso coffee. I mainly drink standard coffee or Latte’s so why would I need an espresso maker???

Mr Magnolia

A latte is made up of foamed milk and a double espresso

Edit/ A standard coffee or americano is also a double espresso topped up with water just off the boil. Espresso forms the basis of most coffee drinks.

unklerosco

My GF has the smaller version of the Murphy Richards one u have above... We paid €40 for it near two years ago, it gets used at least twice every day n it still works a treat. She loves it, my dad thinks its the business.. He's been in the coffe industry for over 30yrs so has seen it all... He thought the coffee out of it was better than some of the machines that are 10 times the price....

Its a sinch to use, cleans up in two mins...

SuperGrover

I have one of these. A Gaggia Evolution. It's a fine machine and never fails, though needs to be maintained with a little love.

http://www.xpresscoffeeuk.co.uk/product.php/63/gaggia-espresso-evolution---passion-red

I recommend this for your price range.

SuperGrover

All coffee making begins with an espresso. Learn to make this right and the rest is just variations on a theme.

RE*AC*TOR

SuperGrover wrote: »

All coffee making begins with an espresso. Learn to make this right and the rest is just variations on a theme.

What about french press, drip filter, vaccuum pot, moka pot, ibrik etc?

There's more to coffee than espresso. Lots more.

SuperGrover

I used the word 'begins' for a reason.

The OP is looking to start making decent coffee.

But, hey, thanks for the insights.

RE*AC*TOR

SuperGrover wrote: »

I used the word 'begins' for a reason.

The OP is looking to start making decent coffee.

But, hey, thanks for the insights.

Making a good espresso is probably more complicated than any of the other methods mentioned. I took your meaning that if you want to make an americano, a cappucino, a latté etc you must start with espresso.

Much simpler and much smaller investment to start with some of the other methods.

Either way - to the OP - I'd agree with Mr Magnolia.

The Morphy Richards is a steam driven espresso machine, and for various reasons (wrong pressure, wrong temperature) will not make anything remotely like an espresso. Its little more than a toy.

Not familiar witht he Krups one, some of the Krups espresso machines are proper pump driven boiler machines. Not sure about that one. Also you have to watch out for the dreaded pressurized portafilters.

Anyway for that money you could get a lower end Gaggia, which coupled with a decent grinder will make a good espresso.

BlueMonke

I went to the Bagel bar for lunch and watched how they made my Latte and other coffees and seen what you mean here

A standard coffee or americano is also a double espresso topped up with water just off the boil. Espresso forms the basis of most coffee drinks

I am learning already.

Most of the coffee lovers seem to highly recommend the Giggia although Unlerosco’s metion on the M?rphy Rich@rds

He thought the coffee out of it was better than some of the machines that are 10 times the price....

has me thinking!!!

Gran Hermano

As already mentioned avoid the cheap machines, they're a false economy.
You'll need to spend €200-300 minimum for a decent espresso machine
and at least €150 for a decent grinder.

As for the '30 years experience', sure someone selling Nescafe or
Maxwell house could claim to have coffee experience

unklerosco

Gran Hermano wrote: »

As for the '30 years experience', sure someone selling Nescafe or Maxwell house could claim to have coffee experience

Now thats a good point :p

As for my recommendation, I'm mearly going by what the OP had in his first thread... But u get what u pay for, most of the time.

RE*AC*TOR

BlueMonke wrote: »

Unlerosco’s metion on the M?rphy Rich@rds has me thinking!!!

I wouldn't think too long about it. Without wanting to insult anyone, if someone wasn't able to produce coffee better than the morphy richards on a machine 10 times the price, then they shouldn't be let near one.

I'll tell you why its no good, so you are forewarned. The machine has a single boiling "chamber" that generates the force to drive the water through the coffee as well as steam the milk. This means that the water going through the coffee is far too hot. Also the pressure will vary wildly as the steam is created and is forced out.

A proper espresso machine will have at least one boiler that heat the water to the correct temperature for making espresso (in the 93/94 degree range). It will either have a pump or a piston to drive this water through the coffee at an ideal pressure (9 bar).

The Morphy Richards achieves none of these things. The Krups I don't know. But personally Krups have a mediocre at best reputation for espresso.


PS on the Morphy Richards beating machines 10 times the price - some of the very expensive superautomatics have been known to produce utter shít.

BlueMonke

:eek:

€200-300 minimum for a decent espresso machine
and at least €150 for a decent grinder.

Surely a ginder is just a special type of blender so why pay €150!!!

I mentioned to one or two mates that I was thinking of paying €85 to €200 for a coffee machine and they thought I was Gaggia not to metion what they would say if I actually paid the money for a Gaggia.

But saying that I am going to treat myself soon as I am nearly six months of the smokes and I think I deserve it.

unklerosco

And the Morphy Richards doesn't steam the milk.. the milk is heated on a hot plate and then frothed using the "easy clean frothamater"..... Well thats what I call it..

RE*AC*TOR

A hammer will break coffee if you want.

But if you want to make espresso - you need a burr grinder.



This creates coffee particles/ grinds of an EVEN size.

Even is the important thing to note.

Gran Hermano

BlueMonke wrote: »

:eek: Surely a ginder is just a special type of blender so why pay €150!!!

I mentioned to one or two mates that I was thinking of paying €85 to €200 for a coffee machine and they thought I was Gaggia not to metion what they would say if I actually paid the money for a Gaggia.

But saying that I am going to treat myself soon as I am nearly six months of the smokes and I think I deserve it.

Six months off the cigs, if you were a 20 pack a day smoker that's a
saving of €1,260. For that type of money you'll get a decent espresso
machine, grinder and roaster.

Some people happily blow a wedge of cash in the bookies, casino or pub.
What's a few hundred on coffee gear?

http://www.jlhufford.com/articles/grinding.htm

Cheap blade grinders as already mentioned are bad. The shatter the beans into
uneven particles and they can also generate heat whilst grinding. A proper grinder
is probably more important than a good espresso machine. Using a cheap grinder
and expecting decent results from a good espresso machine is like polishing a turd.

Check this for more info:
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/mc2review/mc2review.htm

rockbeer

You get what you pay for.

On the plus side, the law of diminishing returns kick in at around €1,000

BlueMonke

Cheers for all the information.

Now that I have decided that I am Gaga and am going to buy one can you suggest where I might get one and a decent grinder also!!

Mr Magnolia

Brown Thomas for your machine, they're as good as anywhere for Gaggia.

Happy Donkey for the iberital mc2 if that's the grinder you're going for. It seems to be the preferred option here, possibly because so many of us have it.

Gran Hermano

I agree with Mr M on the suppliers. Put a call into Home Store & More
and check their pricing as depending on your location their shops
in Airside and Belgard may be more convenient than Dublin city centre.

TequilaMockingBird

Just saw this thread today, and I have the Morphy Richards model waiting to be collected in the post office! I mainly like just regular coffee (not "knock you over" strong) and cappuccino, so hopefully this will do the job for me. I couldn't justify spending anymore anyway, but I hope its a good one for this price range.

Boy, you guys know your coffee!

eclectichoney

actually i'm sure i saw gaggias in the argos catalogue recently - not sure which ones though. i was in too much shock.

Gran Hermano

eclectichoney wrote: »

actually i'm sure i saw gaggias in the argos catalogue recently - not sure which ones though. i was in too much shock.

Argos stock several Gaggia machines, in the Argos extra section.
Gaggia Espresso Pure.

• 050/3239

Gaggia Cubika Stainless Steel Espresso Machine.

• 050/2962

Gaggia Espresso Pure.

• 050/3239

Whilst the catalog numbers above are valid for Argos Ireland, they
are not showing on www.argos.ie (not unusual as it's hit and miss
finding stuff on the Irish site wven if it's on the UK one).

rockbeer

You might find you can save a fair amount buying online rather than in Brown Thomas. If you've decided on a Gaggia, It might be worth checking out these prices before you commit yourself.

Depending on your budget, I'd also give serious consideration to the Rancilio Silvia. Gaggia aren't the only option.

antoniosicily

I drink 4 espresso a day + a cappuccino and I *really* like coffee.
I have a Nespresso Krups, paid 149eu which makes excellent coffee, there are other manifacturers which make other coffee machine (see nespresso.com).

This system works with capsules, which costs around 40c each (if I'm not wrong), you can buy everything at the nespresso shop, Brown Thomas, third floor.

In case you want the traditional espresso machine (I haven't seen a real difference so far), the same floor have a good range of them, even Gaggia if I'm not wrong.