Advise me about capsule type coffee machines please?

[Ratel10mm]

My darling wife would like a coffee machine, but wants a pod type as she understands they're easier to clean.

So, is a Nespresso the way to go, or is there a better brand?

[dullbird]

I have a nespresso and I love it :)

I'm sure Rick will chime in soon :D....and when you have chosen which one to get we can then talk about pastries to go with your coffee :p

[Homestar]

My advise is don't buy a cheap one. Not only will they break quickly, but they don't make as good a cup of coffee. The pumps are weak, and it won't be hot.

The Nespresso makes a good cup compared to the likes of the Aldi and other cheapies.

Still not as good as a real cup of coffee, but easy to make and keep clean, so I see why they are popular. Much better than instant...

[sheerluck]

I'm sure Rick will chime in soon :D

Why? Rick's never mentioned any liking for coffee before has he?:angel:

Seriously though, the Nespresso one is good but the pods are just a little pricey. We've got one of the Aldi ones in our little kitchen at work, and the coffee is not quite as good as the Nespresso, but for the price of the pods, it's very good.

[CraigE]

My advice is go to your electrical retailer and have a look. Also go to a Nespresso store and look at what they have as they have all the versions the mainstream electrical stores do not. Most of them are De Longhi so are not bad and often you can get a good one on special. Also take your normal coffee mug size as a lot of the cheaper ones on have room for a small cup. Depends if you like a cup or a mug of coffee. They range from around $150 up to over a $1000 depending on what you want. At the Nespresso shop you can also try the coffee for nothing.
I have one cheap one at home as our good coffee machine is broken and a mid range one at work.
Nespresso pods can be dearer than others but are great coffee. There are some coming onto the market that will fit and are cheaper but sometimes do not work as well.
Cheers
CraigE

[Landover]

He is a link we prepared earlier, might be some helpful info here.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/165674-nespresso-do-you-have-one.html

We really enjoy ours and very easy to maintain.

[frantic]

We have both a nespresso and the pod machine from woollies after the nesspresso broke 1 week short of warranty:D. They fixed it free.
The nesspresso makes nicer coffee but you are restricted to their pods whereas the woollies one you have a larger choice of pods, can get them at coles or woollies(whereas with the nespresso pods from the few city shops or online order) and there are the Gloria jeans pods with caramel, etc and the kids love the hot choc.

[dullbird]

I buy my nespresso pods from ebay:)

[shining]

We have a non-pod type. I don't think there is any additional cleaning. But each to there own. Having said that assess the options and choose the best you can afford. Our local Betta Electrical has refillable pods - I am not sure what machines they fit, but you can use your favourite coffee. Pump pressure, heating capability and capacity are the main factors to consider aside from warranty etc.

[Tombie]

You can get refillable pods and make your own for nespresso.

But nothing beats a proper coffee maker and good beans ;)

[gavinwibrow]

Just be aware, unless you use reuseable pods, you will be contributing to a growing used pods environmental waste issue

[p38arover]

Pod or capsule machine?

This is a pod:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=78892&stc=1&d=1402659150

This is a capsule:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/1076.jpg


Just be aware, unless you use reuseable pods, you will be contributing to a growing used pods environmental waste issue

Pods can't be refilled. There are refillable capsules. I've tried them and gave up. To messy. too much mucking around, and bloody awful coffee.

[Tombie]

Well the capsule makers call them Pods :cool:

[p38arover]

Well the capsule makers call them Pods :cool:

Actually, they don't.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/1074.jpg

http://www.groceryrun.com.au/images/prods/6290/6290_1.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

http://www.selectormagazine.com.au/Images/UserUploadedImages/INTENSO.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/1075.jpg

Need I go on?

[Tombie]

Well there you go!

I've learnt something :)

[Blknight.aus]

before you go an buy one find out if anyone you know has one of any of the types, enquire if you may come around and be shown the lurks and perks and sample the coffee...

I dont grind my own but Im still running a cheap "proper" coffee machine theres a few of reasons for this.

1. I can "dial the coffee" to the way I like it, if Im in the mood for a fast cooler coffee I can do that, if I want a strong, hot, last the duration of a show hand warmer coffee I can do that too.

2. you can mix and match the coffees Im not stuck with whatever the manufacturer stuck in the capsule/pod, If I want half arabica and half italian its on the cards.

3. Its more involved, I like to make the coffee, its therapeutic in a way that I can only describe as a smoker going through the motions, when everything is going wrong taking 5-10 minutes out to make a cup of coffee is a really good stress reliever.

Now Im not saying that the nespressos and the pod type machines dont make a good cup of coffee, they do, given that no 2 machines make the same cup of coffee why not take advantage of your friends desire to show off how good what they have is and find out what you like most before you spend your bucks on something?

[p38arover]

We have a Cafitaly capsule machine and a real espresso machine.

The Cafitaly makes consistently mediocre coffee. I make consistently bad coffee in the espresso machine - hence the reason it's on the shelf in the garage. It does have a basket for pods so I might buy some to try.

[Marshall]

A friend has a Lavazza from Coffee machines, Coffee Vending Machine, Espresso Machine, Home & Office Coffee Machines (http://www.bluepod.com.au/shop/workplace-coffee-solutions/11) the machine is free and you have to buy their capsules
He raves about it...

[Chucaro]

I have a K Mart $29 coffee machine and refill my capsules with Lavazza or coffee from an excellent coffee shop in Hobart.
It works very well and cost me $0.05 per cup :)

[MacMan]

I wonder how many people with those machines have actually tried making a coffee with a $40 Bialetti stove top espresso maker. It's not hard. We use a 4 cup maker every morning. It's cleaned with running water and my index finger immediately before use, which takes all of 30 seconds. In another minute it's on the stove. In another 3 I have heated the milk in the microwave and I'm pouring coffee as good as I've tasted anywhere in Melbourne. $1000 buys over 60kg of the coffee beans we purchase to grind every 2 days. Try taking a Nespresso machine in the bush!

[p38arover]

I have a couple of Mokka pots in the house plus one in my camping gear.

[p38arover]

I have a K Mart $29 coffee machine and refill my capsules with Lavazza or coffee from an excellent coffee shop in Hobart.
It works very well and cost me $0.05 per cup :)

We had one of those and gave it away to a friend as we didn't think much of it. I have the refillable capsules for one of those machines. As I said earlier, I tried them and gave up on them. Too messy and still bad coffee even with good beans.

[loanrangie]

Nothing wrong with the Aldi machines if your'e not a coffee snob.

[Blknight.aus]

I have a mukka express for field use and have just found out that you can now get a sub 600w expresso machine, One of the guys at amberley has one AND my cheapy, "it'll be used to charge lights, phones, gamboys and my tablet" overkill ALDI 600W inverter runs the damn thing.

His reason for purchasing it, It needed to be able to run on a 1000W inverter to keep swmbo happy.

[Chucaro]

Nothing wrong with the Aldi machines if your'e not a coffee snob.
Two problems, one Aldi is not in paradise (Tasmania) and second there are no empty capsules available for it to use with the coffee of your choice.

[Redback]

I like STRONG coffee, those capsule machines never make the coffee strong enough, so I use an espresso/Cappuccino machine.

Baz.

[Ratel10mm]

Thanks a lot everyone.

Dave, are you back from Secret Squirreling?

Ron, I do mean a capsule machine.

I am a bit of a coffee snob. Not enough to bother grinding etc. my own, but enough to use beanbunter & make a definite effort to find good coffee. I like Black Sheep, and Merlo had a Zambian bean in a while back that I think is 'the right true Mocha' as in - a 'normal' mocha is adding chocolate in an attempt at copying the flavour of the Zambian.
Their Private Blend is quite nice too.
I'm tempted to get an Aeropress for mobile coffee (the bushcraft crowd back in the UK swear by them) but haven't persuaded myself yet. Keep wanting to try those Italian(?) octagonal things that you put on the stove.
At the moment a Bodum plunger is as sophisticated as we've got.
I like the idea of the capsule you fill with your favourite coffee. Definite plus for Nespresso. Plus I hear Nestlé have recently lost a court case trying to ban a UK co. from supplying coffees in capsules to fit the Nespressos, so clearly the options of suppliers will continue to expand.

The thing is, we both know that going the full hog is best, but neither of us are coffee snob enough to spend the coin, the missus likes the coffee one of her friend's machines does & likes the 'no muss, no fuss'.
If I'm going to spend coin on any sort of coffee machine, it has to be simple enough & minimal maintenance enough that we'll keep using it. Otherwise it's cheaper to keep buying coffee at the cafe.

Good suggestions re. going to try some different machines etc. Now to find out which of our friends has what. :D

Please keep the advice & suggestions coming.

[Homestar]

Keep wanting to try those Italian(?) octagonal things that you put on the stove.


Best name I've heard for these is a 'Wog Pot'. Another forum member here calls them that, but I find it suits. Apologies if this offends anyone, I know a lot of Italians and I don't think any of them would be, but if so, sorry.

[Blknight.aus]

yep, tell you what, consider this an invite to come down and try a coffee from my place.

One of the touted highlights from the SS trip was "when farey finally found a good coffee supplier"

Americans can not make good coffee

[sheerluck]

........Americans can not make good coffee

Ain't that the truth. :Rolling:

Working as I do (normally, when upright :D) for an American owned company, I end up hosting a few visitors. And without exception they come here and love the coffee.

Anything must be better than **** weak brown cack served in a bucket. :D

[Blknight.aus]

It got to the point on the trip I just got back from that international roast became an acceptable alternate to what they were serving for a while....

I very nearly smacked one of them "gibbs" style when they tried one and proclaimed it as good coffee.

[sheerluck]

I never thought I would hear the words "International Roast" and "acceptable alternate" in the same sentence, unless it was an alternate to a DIY appendectomy. :D

In my times working in China, the first 10 or so trips were coffee-less. It was a choice of having the local Nescafé instant, or going without. Going without it was. But in the last few trips, we found a little cafe in one of the shopping malls in Shanghai that served Illy coffee. It was wonderful, even if the local milk and water did have a bit of a funny taste to it.

[Chucaro]

I never thought I would hear the words "International Roast" and "acceptable alternate" in the same sentence, unless it was an alternate to a DIY appendectomy. :D

In my times working in China, the first 10 or so trips were coffee-less. It was a choice of having the local Nescafé instant, or going without. Going without it was. But in the last few trips, we found a little cafe in one of the shopping malls in Shanghai that served Illy coffee. It was wonderful, even if the local milk and water did have a bit of a funny taste to it.

Spot on on then comment :) the only way that I would drink that dust is by adding 100ml or more of Tia María on a small cup.
But, then again, I would go for a good tea before a cup of dust sweeped from the floor of a coffee warehouse :)

[Sleepy]

Nothing wrong with the Aldi machines if you're not a coffee snob.

I bought an Aldi one for work, but it is a bit tired after 12 months. Leaks and splutters a lot. Leaves a puddle if you don't keep it clean too.

[DiscoMick]

I bought a little stainless steel coffee pot for camping cause it will cook on any heat source and is so tough I actually ran over it once and nothing happened - still works fine.
Currently trialling some Rosebank Gold Premium Arabica Coffee I bought from a shop near Lismore, very nice!
We have a Sunbeam coffee machine at home - works fine.
Can't see the point of pods/capsules

[sheerluck]

............We have a Sunbeam coffee machine at home - works fine.
Can't see the point of pods/capsules

We've got a Sunbeam espresso machine at home, now 5 years old, and makes decent coffee. I don't follow the train of thought that they need a huge amount of cleaning. Ours has been used with triple filtered water for 5 years, and no sign of scale build up or issues with the pump.

The dirty end of the machine, well, the used grounds get tapped out into the composting bin, and the receiver gets swilled out under the tap. The drip tray gets rinsed under the tap with every use, and chucked in the dishwasher every few weeks.

In conjunction with a good burr grinder, and decent beans (Lavazza is normally favourite for the price in terms of mainstream brands), it makes consistently decent coffee. Even my daughter does quite a good job with it, she's made better coffees than some that I've paid professionals for.

And the pods/capsules - have their place, but you are sacrificing quality for convenience.

[DiscoMick]

Our filterclogged up once, so I soaked it overnight, let it dry and then blasted it with the air compressor - all good since, so far.:cool:

[Ratel10mm]

Thanks for all the help guys.
Dave, I'll take you up on that offer next time I'm over Ipswich way.

My missus went with a Nespresso U. So far she's very happy with it.
I'm much more impressed than I expected to be. Will be looking for one of those 'u-fill-it' capsules.
Am still tempted to get an Aeropress as well. Plus a Bialetti Moka pot. :D

[Chucaro]

Thanks for all the help guys.
Dave, I'll take you up on that offer next time I'm over Ipswich way.

My missus went with a Nespresso U. So far she's very happy with it.
I'm much more impressed than I expected to be. Will be looking for one of those 'u-fill-it' capsules.
Am still tempted to get an Aeropress as well. Plus a Bialetti Moka pot. :D

I am very happy with the french Capsul In capsules (http://coffeecapsulesaustralia.com.au/index.php) which cost $29.00 per 100 capsules.
I use Lavazza decaf and normal coffee from one supplier in Hobart.

[gazk]

I bought an Aldi one for work, but it is a bit tired after 12 months. Leaks and splutters a lot. Leaves a puddle if you don't keep it clean too.

Our Aldi machine at work leaked at the bottom of the tank after about 6 months. We took it back and they gave us a new one with 12 months warranty plus $10 refund as the price had dropped. Can't complain about that for service.

[stevo68]

My advise is don't buy a cheap one. Not only will they break quickly, but they don't make as good a cup of coffee. The pumps are weak, and it won't be hot.

The Nespresso makes a good cup compared to the likes of the Aldi and other cheapies.

Still not as good as a real cup of coffee, but easy to make and keep clean, so I see why they are popular. Much better than instant...Bollocks :), sounds like a Toyota driver who has never driven a landy ;). I love coffee, I have used a plunger and then the fancy medal jobby that pushes up the water from underneath ( cant remember the name) and all good coffee.

Then the missus got me the K-Fee from Aldi. 2 yrs later still pumping out great coffee. Piping hot, no issues and a great selection of Expressi Coffees and hot chocolates ( great for the kids). Also you can use Gloria Jeans coffee pods and the Woolies selection of coffees in them as well. I have tried the Nespresso and I find it a) comparable and b) bucket loads cheaper. At the end of the day, you want real cafe coffee...go to a cafe, but I wouldn't go past the KFee for this type of coffee. Horses for courses of course,

Regards

Stevo

[Offender90]

Something to be aware of (not sure if it's been mentioned before) - most espresso machines aimed at home users (capsule or portafilter) use aluminium thermoblocks to heat water, which are often (but not always) Teflon coated. The inside of a thermoblock looks like a maze that the water passes through as it heats up (i.e. a heat exchanger).

http://imageshack.us/a/img22/6415/q2np.jpg

Over time, especially given the hardness / quantity of minerals in our water, the thermoblocks corrode inside after a relatively short time. When I pulled mine apart after using it intermittently for about 2 years (from a middle of the range Breville portafilter espresso machine) I was pretty disturbed by what I found. Half the Teflon coating was gone, and the water channels within the thermoblock were badly pitted - imagine a defender door skin next to a steel frame that's started flaking - powdery aluminium oxide combined with limescale / calcium deposits. Not pretty. And probably not that good ingested either.

I junked it and did some research before settling on the only "affordable" machine I could find that came with a brass boiler, grouphead and copper plumbing (Rancilio Silvia). The limescale / calcium deposits will still deposit on the inside, but at least it's aluminium oxide / Teflon free. I use a standard portafilter basket, but can brew from a capsule with an optional handle if that's a consideration for some. Makes decent coffee too.

[Chucaro]

Filter the tap water will help to extend the life of the machine and also the coffee will taste better.
Water filtered for the rain water tank will be even better :)
I agree, the Rancilio Silvia is among the best.

[Offender90]

If only I had a rainwater tank. The water I put through the coffee machine is double filtered, but I have my doubts as to how well the filters (Puratap/Britta) remove mineral salts (calcium and magnesium in particular) from the water... as evidenced by the buildup in my old machine.

I should fess up here, I do live in Adelaide, & our water is particularly hard. Has something to do with coming from the Murray, and Adelaide being the last stop before the sea - by the time it gets here, it's been recirculated through the soil so many times (via irrigation) that it is completely saturated with mineral salts dissolved from soil on the way... well, that and limestone soils surrounding Adelaide... but I digress.

I'm convinced the filters aren't very efficient at removing the minerals from the water... well, at least the ones I'm using aren't. Rainwater would be great!

[sheerluck]

I agree that the water makes a big difference, we use triple filtered rainwater (passes through a 50, a 10, then a 5 micron filter). We've had the machine 5 years and there's not a hint of scale in it.

[Chucaro]

If only I had a rainwater tank. The water I put through the coffee machine is double filtered, but I have my doubts as to how well the filters (Puratap/Britta) remove mineral salts (calcium and magnesium in particular) from the water... as evidenced by the buildup in my old machine.
...........
Was an study done in USA or Canada about the efficiency of the Brita filters and the result was that they remove just over 89% of the calcium in the water .
I do not use them, I have a double canister filter under the sink, one with charcoal and another for impurities.
I would like to have a reverse osmosis filter once the one that we have start giving problems.

[Redback]

We have the MAP machine and use their capsules, when we use the capsule we put it aside and refill it, I use 2 capsules, one capsule is not strong enough for me.

$49 at The Good Guys
http://www.mapcoffee.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/240x260/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/r/presto-product.jpg


http://taoscreative.com.au/support/uploads/upload-e07e8-whats_inside.jpg

[P0t3nt1al]

firstly this is only for the home but what you should be looking for is the best way to make a great coffee while on the road ( or the side of it ) when your travelling ...

just to add what I have at home which I think is worth a recommendation

Pronto Coffee & Co Machines (http://www.prontocoffeemachines.com/)

I paid about $499 and it came with some coffee, to be honest I buy my beans from a local coffee place that I like and the good beans help me make almost a bought one at home :) and I have had thepod coffee and the real deal seems better I think, there is so little cleaning for this machine and it tells you which bin to empty which goes straight in the bin and a slight rinse.

good luck in your hunt for great coffee guys.

[one_iota]

At home the morning ritual involves a Sunbeam Café Series twin thermo block machine coffee ground with their burr grinder.

However on the road or at least beside it we use this:

ROK Espresso Maker | Espresso Unplugged Australia (http://espressounplugged.com.au/rok)

It makes an acceptable espresso. :)

[superquag]

However on the road or at least beside it we use this:

ROK Espresso Maker | Espresso Unplugged Australia (http://espressounplugged.com.au/rok)

It makes an acceptable espresso. :)

Tell me more ! - am looking for a portable/mobile coffee maker.:D

[p38arover]

When camping, I use a Moka pot or a coffee press (French press/coffee plunger).

The grinder is a Porlex hand grinder with ceramic conical burrs that my wife saw in a barista supply shop in Newcastle. See Porlex Tall Hand Coffee Grinder | Espresso Unplugged Australia (http://espressounplugged.com.au/porlex-tall-hand-coffee-grinder)

[Naviguesser]

Got a Delonghi Nespresso machine, very happy with it.