Coffee machine for small office

tobsey

Recently one of my colleagues bought a Gaggia bean to cup machine at a car bout sale for 10eur and brought it to the office for us. It was great for a while but it gave up pretty quick though because the grinder wasn't grinding the beans small enough. The boss has said he'll get us a replacement so I'm starting to research some options.

Anyone have any recommendations? There's 10 of us in the office so it'll only need to do 20-30 cups a day. The bean to cup setup was good because it was all self contained so I'd prefer that, but if anyone has other suggestions that would be great.
Thanks

tobsey

Sorry title should be "for small office"

Prenderb

Capsule machine*. That way everyone can bring their own coffee as they want and drink as much or as little as they want. Saves hassle of operating a kitty or saying "Tobsey drinks all the coffee and it's not fair." Might even be cleaner too!

There's a load of capsule options from the Nespresso types to ESE filters which are like tea bags only they fit in the espresso maker's portafilter.

*Assuming that you and your colleagues are providing the coffee?

philthrill69

I'd recommend a Tassimo, I have a T55/charmy which also incorporates a brita filter that's adds to the experience.
Lovely little machines and are made by bosch.
Huge variety of pods from latte, cappuccino, espressos, americanos, hot chocolate, caramel machiatos and even tea to name a few.
You won't need a separate milk frother like the Nespresso and the pods are available in all good supermarkets unlike the Nespresso which are only available online or if you queue up in Brown Thomas.
They are on offer at the moment in Currys http://www.currys.ie/Mobile/action/searchsite/tassimo

sarkozy

I'm presuming these are overkill for your needs: http://www.watermark.ie/office-coffee.php

Slaphead07

tobsey wrote: »

It was great for a while but it gave up pretty quick though because the grinder wasn't grinding the beans small enough.

You know you can adjust that?

Maybe something like this?
http://www.gaggia.ie/machine/gaggia-brera/

sarkozy

My pops has the Brera. I've talked it up here a good few times. It's a great machine for frequent home use, but you'd want to check with Gaggia or the likes of Watermark for small office use.

The lowest grinder setting is rather coarse, but this is needed in order to clear the head after brewing. How it compensates is by running through a short infusion cycle and then brewing. The milk frother is excellent and it's impossible to scorch the milk. Another plus. But, I'd say as a result of the grind, its coffees can taste a little 'light'/watery. I've adjusted the amount of water to make a more concentrated shot, but still not enough. It could, however, be the coffee being used at the moment - Badger & Dodo, which is lovely but, I dunno ...

With the Brera, you are, however, restricted to using light-to-medium roasts or, in other words, you cannot use coffees with a shiny/oily appearance.

maxwell smart

tobsey wrote: »

Recently one of my colleagues bought a Gaggia bean to cup machine at a car bout sale for 10eur and brought it to the office for us. It was great for a while but it gave up pretty quick though because the grinder wasn't grinding the beans small enough. The boss has said he'll get us a replacement so I'm starting to research some options.

Anyone have any recommendations? There's 10 of us in the office so it'll only need to do 20-30 cups a day. The bean to cup setup was good because it was all self contained so I'd prefer that, but if anyone has other suggestions that would be great.
Thanks

We got a Nespresso Commercial machine in the office a while back, its great. They installed it for us and I don't think we paid anything as we use enough coffee to get it for free

uberalex

We've had a few different solutions, but by far the most successful for us has been the simplest nespresso (domestic) machine we could get. It's great because people can handle their own supply of coffee, there's very little cleanup or management and it's simple enough for most people to use. We don't have a milk attachment, but those are easy to get and use, if your office desires one.

philthrill69

Ok just a quick comparison, Basic Nespresso Machine with frother €219. http://www.currys.ie/Product/krups-xn710141-nespresso-citiz-espresso-machine-and-aeroccino-titanium/316927/134.5
Top of the range Tassimo including frother capabilities and many more €99. http://www.currys.ie/Product/bosch-tassimo-charmy-tas5542gb-hot-drinks-machine-black-and-chrome/314726/134.5
Top of the range Dolce Gusto including frother capabilities €119. http://www.currys.ie/Product/delonghi-dolce-gusto-edg465b-genio-2-automatic-play-and-select-hot-drinks-machine-black/320054/134.5
Tassimo pod prices in tesco http://m.tesco.ie/mt/www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=Tassimo&un_jtt_redirect
Dolce Gusto pod prices in tesco http://m.tesco.ie/mt/www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=Dolce%20gusto&un_jtt_redirect
I can't link any prices for the nespresso capsules as Brown Thomas don't state any prices on their website and the nespresso website requires you to register for an account and register your machine before you can see the prices.
My friend who has one though has told me that it is roughly 50 cent per capsule.
Largest Tassimo beverage 330ml,
Largest Dolce Gusto beverage 220ml,
Largest Nespresso beverage 110ml, .
And also as you can see from the above links if you and your colleagues want to get your own pods or capsules it's a lot more convenient to pick up Tassimo or Dolce Gusto pods in your local supermarket on the way home rather than queuing in Brown Thomas or waiting for a delivery from Nespresso.
So basically if you want a reasonably priced machine that makes many different and delicious beverages that are widely available then go for a Tassimo or Dolce Gusto.
If you want to pay obscene money and be seen queuing in Brown Thomas and like small cups of coffee and the ability to brag that you have the same machine as George Clooney then go for a Nespresso.

tobsey

Thanks all for the suggestions. I have a Nespresso at home which I think is great. Two of the lads in the office have espresso machines and prefer to buy their own coffee and do it that way. The one who bought the first machine is a big coffee nerd and has said before he's not a fan of the capsule machines. He'd rather buy his own coffee so I'd say we'll go down the route of either a simple espresso machine and grinder or one of the bean to cup. The Brera does look pretty good so I might push for that.

philthrill69 wrote: »

Ok just a quick comparison, Basic Nespresso Machine with frother €219. http://www.currys.ie/Product/krups-xn710141-nespresso-citiz-espresso-machine-and-aeroccino-titanium/316927/134.5
Top of the range Tassimo including frother capabilities and many more €99. http://www.currys.ie/Product/bosch-tassimo-charmy-tas5542gb-hot-drinks-machine-black-and-chrome/314726/134.5
Top of the range Dolce Gusto including frother capabilities €119. http://www.currys.ie/Product/delonghi-dolce-gusto-edg465b-genio-2-automatic-play-and-select-hot-drinks-machine-black/320054/134.5
Tassimo pod prices in tesco http://m.tesco.ie/mt/www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=Tassimo&un_jtt_redirect
Dolce Gusto pod prices in tesco http://m.tesco.ie/mt/www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=Dolce%20gusto&un_jtt_redirect
I can't link any prices for the nespresso capsules as Brown Thomas don't state any prices on their website and the nespresso website requires you to register for an account and register your machine before you can see the prices.
My friend who has one though has told me that it is roughly 50 cent per capsule.
Largest Tassimo beverage 330ml,
Largest Dolce Gusto beverage 220ml,
Largest Nespresso beverage 110ml, .
And also as you can see from the above links if you and your colleagues want to get your own pods or capsules it's a lot more convenient to pick up Tassimo or Dolce Gusto pods in your local supermarket on the way home rather than queuing in Brown Thomas or waiting for a delivery from Nespresso.
So basically if you want a reasonably priced machine that makes many different and delicious beverages that are widely available then go for a Tassimo or Dolce Gusto.
If you want to pay obscene money and be seen queuing in Brown Thomas and like small cups of coffee and the ability to brag that you have the same machine as George Clooney then go for a Nespresso.

Wow. Am I right in thinking that the Dolce Gusto and Tassimo machines use dried milk in the capsules and so those machines don't have any real milk frothing? Also the 110ml for a Nespresso beverage is for a lungo, a large espresso. That doesn't include the frothed milk.

I'd happily get a Nespresso for the office but I'd prefer one with a steamer rather than the aerator because you've more control. I've found that depending on the supplier the milk make the drink anything from a flat white to a frothy latte. The Nespressos with the steamer start over the 400 mark though I think.

philthrill69

tobsey wrote: »

Thanks all for the suggestions. I have a Nespresso at home which I think is great. Two of the lads in the office have espresso machines and prefer to buy their own coffee and do it that way. The one who bought the first machine is a big coffee nerd and has said before he's not a fan of the capsule machines. He'd rather buy his own coffee so I'd say we'll go down the route of either a simple espresso machine and grinder or one of the bean to cup. The Brera does look pretty good so I might push for that.



Wow. Am I right in thinking that the Dolce Gusto and Tassimo machines use dried milk in the capsules and so those machines don't have any real milk frothing? Also the 110ml for a Nespresso beverage is for a lungo, a large espresso. That doesn't include the frothed milk.

I'd happily get a Nespresso for the office but I'd prefer one with a steamer rather than the aerator because you've more control. I've found that depending on the supplier the milk make the drink anything from a flat white to a frothy latte. The Nespressos with the steamer start over the 400 mark though I think.

The tassimo uses UHT milk, the Dolce Gusto uses powdered which is one of the reasons I chose the Tassimo.
This is what I'm getting out of my Tassimo, plenty of froth and layers for me.

uberalex

Well, we paid significantly less for our machine, we got it for less than 100 euro. Harvey Norman have at least one around that price.

We also are situated in the City Centre, which makes Brown Thomas viable, but actually ordering online with nespresso includes free delivery if you buy enough of them.

I've not found the Tassimo to be as good tasting by a long shot, and for nespresso there is a wide range of 'compatible' capsules, including those available in Lidl (though admittedly I haven't found any I like as much as the official ones).

I think keeping the milk separate is useful, but then I like my coffee black!