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Coffee Machine
Whether you’re looking for a good Italian coffee or you just want the occasional hit of caffeine, coffee machines have increasingly become an important feature of the modern kitchen. With increasingly busy consumers spending less time on the high street, grabbing a coffee at home is an increasingly popular option – and our expectations are high!
There is a wide choice of coffee machines to select for your kitchen with a variety of added extras to make your coffee in just the way you want. The Ciao Shopping Guide to Coffee Machines gives the coffee enthusiast an overview of some of the most important features to bear in mind – whether you’re perfect for an espresso machine or more suited to a classic filter coffee maker.
Don’t forget that different machines will suit different people. The first decision to make is whether you are a frequent or occasional coffee drinker, as this will affect the investment that you’re prepared to make. Next Cafetiere
If you only want a few cups of coffee once in a while, perhaps the cafetiere option is best for you. A cafetiere is a plastic or glass container with a wire plunger on the inside to filter the coffee after you’ve left it brewing for whatever you consider the right amount of time. Cafetieres are cost efficient and very easy to use – you can’t really go wrong, although you’ll miss out on many of the more personalised and advanced features of today’s more high-tech machines.
Filter coffee machines
The phrase ‘coffee machine’ usually refers to a filter machine. Water drips slowly through the ground coffee into the cup placed underneath the machine. These machines will usually heat the water for you, saving the time of having to boil the kettle.
Espresso machines
For those who really need a quick caffeine hit, an espresso machine is ideal. Dedicated to providing the best intense caffeine shot, these machines use beans that are ground more finely than the filter equivalent. The more finely a coffee is ground, the slower the espresso will come out of the machine. A good espresso cup may take as long as 25 seconds to fill up!
As you’ll see from the Ciao community, the espresso machine is one of the most popular ones with our users. If this is the one that particularly takes your fancy you can find reviews of all shapes and sizes of machines here.
Pod or capsule coffee makers
Some brands will offer you the ability to make multiple kinds of coffee. These are often proprietary brands which offer ‘pod’ coffee – small capsules of coffee which keep in a cool environment for several months. These machines do away with the messy filter system or the necessity for a large amount of loose coffee grounds and may seem ideal for the more hands-off coffee maker, especially as the system often allows you to make hot chocolate or even soup in your machine.
However, you do tend to only be able to make one cup at a time and each machine tends to be compatible with only one brand of coffee – so make sure you like it before you buy!
Cafetiere
Traditional Coffee Maker
Espresso Machines
Pad/Capsule System
Previous | Next Price
Guide price differs massively from machine to machine, with prices varying from L50 to as much as L1,500. A standard, good quality coffee machine is likely to cost around L100 - L150, although there are a few bargains out there for less. At the top end of the market a semi professional machine could cost over L1,000, but this is generally superfluous to what is required by most. The secret to selecting the correct machine is to think ahead and decide how much you’re prepared to spend and how often you drink coffee. These factors will help you determine which of the mod-cons you require most from your apparatus.
If you’re looking for a cheap option the cafetiere will be your best bet. Filter coffee machines can cost anything from tens to hundreds of pounds, depending on what other features you want. If you’re after something that will create any kind of coffee your heart could desire, you’re likely to be looking at the top end of the price bracket!
Previous | Next Capacity
A major factor you will need to consider is how much coffee you require from a single brew. Many of the products, especially the drip machines, will offer between 6-12 cups. However, if you are the only person looking for a cup of coffee, it is worth looking at a ‘1-4 machine option’ which ensures your coffee is maintained at a better temperature.
Filter machines will give you a great range of capacities and are a good bet if you’re looking to make a large pot at once. Cafetieres are also flexible – you can get an individual version or anything up to a family sized pot. Pods can be trickier; bear in mind that you may need to insert a separate pod for every cup of coffee, which can be a bit laborious. Previous | Next Boiling/keeping the coffee warm
When purchasing your coffee machine you can choose from a glass or thermal pot, both of which have advantages and disadvantages. The most notable is that while the glass pot is more easily topped up with water, a thermal pot will keep your coffee warmer for longer. However, other extra features are available with certain machines to ensure your coffee doesn’t go cold. The majority of decent products offer a cup warmer while certain others also provide a hot water top-up feature.
Personalising your coffee
Jazzing up your coffee these days is so much more than “one lump or two”! For the more adventurous coffee enthusiast, certain products now include innovative ways to personalise your coffee. One of these is a frothing wand, which will be of particular appeal to those in favour of a cappuccino or latte. The best machines will also offer a special pot where you can keep milk to make your coffee absolutely perfect.
Often the timing of your cup of coffee can be a crucial factor. This is especially true for those in a rush to get to work in the morning. If this is something that matters to you, perhaps you should consider an automatic timer option that means a freshly brewed cup is ready at a time of your choice.
For those who are also looking to temper or even maximise the levels of caffeine, a strength controller is advised to ensure you neither fall asleep on the job nor find yourself bouncing off the walls!
If you would like to easily review the options you have selected, certain machines integrate a digital screen, which will allow you to check your timer, strength and temperature preferences at a glance.
Again, if these features are what really excites you, you probably don’t want a humble cafetiere. The higher end espresso, pod and filter machines will give you a full range of personalisation choices.
Pod or Grinder
The source of the coffee itself is also a big factor when deciding which coffee machine will be best for you. The simplest option is to buy ready-ground coffee that is easily poured into the machine.
Aside from this, the most common coffee source, there are a handful of other systems. By selecting a machine with a grinder, you will find yourself paying extra with prices starting at around L150. This ensures you can use fresh coffee to make your drink as authentic as possible, but be prepared for the cleaning that comes as a result. If you’re keen to purchase the very best grinder, look out for a burr grinder as opposed to a steel blade. This is less likely to leave a burnt taste in the coffee as the beans will be ground opposed to sliced.
If this sounds too much like hard work you may want to consider the pod or capsule option, which lessen the decision-making process to a significant degree!
Coffee Grinders
Espresso machines with Integrated Coffee GrinderPrevious | Next Cleaning your coffee machine
All coffee machines need to be cleaned and it’s worth taking a look at your chosen model’s requirements before you commit yourself to a potentially arduous regime – especially if you’re going to be using the machine on a daily basis. Does it require a specific kind of cleaning product, water filter, updates or other additional tool that you need to add to your shopping list? For example, a filter coffee machine will require either disposable paper filters which must be removed after every use, or a permanent one which will require more intense (and potentially messy) cleaning to keep it in peak condition.
The more committed coffee drinker will want to keep their state-of-the-art machine in tip-top form, while a more laid-back or occasional drinker may be happy with something that can be swished out with water once in a while.
The perfect blend for you
As you’ll be able to see by now, the choice of coffee machine is as varied as the way you take your coffee in the morning. Starting with the essentials – in other words, what really matters to you in a cup of coffee – will help you decide which machine really suits your needs and which add-ons and applications are just an optional extra.
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Reviews of Espresso Machines »
Super Efficient Coffee Machine
Advantages: Quick, clean and easy to use Disadvantages: The flavour of the drinks may not be to everyone's taste.
...liked the taste of the Krups Dolce Gusto drinks, and were so impressed with the efficiency of the machine that we decided to get one. The Krups Dolce Gusto weighs 3 kilograms and is small, very compact with round shapes. The exact dimensions are 21.4cm(W) x 31.5cm(H) x 33cm(D). It probably wouldn't look out of place in The Jetsons' kitchen, as it has a certain futuristic look about it. We got the black-silver one, but there were also red-silver and ... ...know for sure that you like their taste. Krups Dolce Gusto coffee machines can be bought from several stores including Argos, John Lewis and Sainburys and usually cost between £79.99 and £89.99. A box of capsules costs around £2.99 and can be found at the major supermarkets. ...
babycougar 28.05.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Krups KP200040 Dolce Gusto
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Performance Ease of use Durability Cleaning & Maintenance Value for money |
Coffee Connoisseurs Only
Advantages: Lots of built-in features, Modern look, Robust feel, Fantastic Coffee Disadvantages: Expensive, Only useful for coffee, Bulky, Expensive accessories, Hard to clean manually
...for even easier cleaning.
Krups have used their own Compact Thermoblock technology for a high speed, perfect temperature with fresh water being used for every cup with greatly reduced scaling. The XP 7240 also possesses an automatic rinsing, cleaning and de-scaling program and is fully integrated with a Claris water filtration system - ensuring purer tasting coffee and further reduced scaling all for a much longer machine life. This compact machine ... ...container. The easy to use touch and turn dial makes things extra simple (useful when its one of those mornings) and the programmable LCD graphic display control panel is extremely informative, making it extremely easy to personalise your choice of coffee, as well as an abundance of other settings. It also alerts you to any required maintenance.
The XP 7240 comes with a transparent 1.8 litre removable water tank with carry handle and from this tank ...
666Nemesis666 15.03.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Krups XP 7240
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Performance Ease of use Durability Cleaning & Maintenance Value for money |
Bean-to-cup Krups XP 9000 Espresseria Automatic
Advantages: Easy to use, best featured at the price. Disadvantages: None.
Very easy to use, value for money (at time of writing 300 GBP cheaper on rebelio.co.uk than anywhere else).
Fully automatic bean-to-cup espresso, cappucino and latte - no other machine in this price range, nor many much more expensive, is as featured, simple to use and clean as this one.
From opening the box to first espresso took 30 minutes. Once the machine has warmed up (about 2 minutes), you can have an espresso in 30 seconds, latte or cappucino ... ...tired of drinking disappointing and lukewarm coffee from your filter machine and want to experiment with latte or cappucino as well as espresso then this machine cannot bettered at the price.
ADDED: Still using over a year later - no problems, best gadget I ever bought. If you love coffee, buy a machine of this standard! ...
yirgacheff 12.09.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Krups XP 9000 Espresseria Automatic
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Performance Ease of use Durability Cleaning & Maintenance Value for money |
Eccelenti! Fantastic! Molta buona!
Advantages: Brilliant, so simple to use, great value for money Disadvantages: none at all! would really reccommend!
...were able to buy the Krups machine for £170, a much reduced price than we'd seen (some shops were selling it second hand for over £250!).
So, once we had the machine in out hands it was time to test it!
Appearance
The machine looks so professional. It is very stylish in black and chrome, with selection buttons running down the left side, a strength indicator (use this function to make a café Americano, lattes, espressos etc). The right hand ... ...underneath the nozzle and has 2 holes for the drips to go directly into the tray beneath (rather than getting the silver plate manky!). The top of the machine is flat and has space to keep espresso cups etc. There is also a section to use pre-ground coffee. The water tank fits discreetly on the left hand side of the machine and the beans go in the right!
Functions
Ok, the buttons on the left hand side are the main functions for making fantastic ...
lauricha 14.11.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Krups FNF 243 Orchestro Autocappucc.
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Performance Ease of use Durability Cleaning & Maintenance Value for money |
A beautiful waste of space
Advantages: pretty, good coffee Disadvantages: pain to clean, not really worth it!
...time.
I chose the Dualit because its beautiful (undeniably) - it does look gorgeous on the work surface, and anyone who comes round seems to say "ooh, I wish I had one of those" - which subconciously as consumers is EXACTLY what you want to hear. The downside of that is that the visitor's next words are invariably "make me a coffee!"... and because you're still high on being the object of envy, you have no alternative than to adopt a fixed smile ... ...swearing at the further 15 minutes of cleaning the machine will need later on.
In fairness, it makes very good coffee - not at the level of proper bean-to-cup machines like they use in coffee shops, but a pretty close second - especially if you use really high quality ingredients. But it's quite tricky to use, and took me around twenty cups to get to anything like decent espresso (that was a wired evening!). Once you've got the hang of it, it's ...
minkypolly 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dualit 84202 Espressivo
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Performance Ease of use Durability Cleaning & Maintenance Value for money |
Yamaha RGX121S Electrical Guitars
A Fender Strat replica that matches Fender's in price, but beats them in terms of design, pick-ups and general build! A perfect rock guitar for the ne (*)
Nu Cinetrek WDP920
With DivX Playback - DVD-RW Player - DVD-R Player - DVD+R Player - with DVD+RW Playback
(*) Reviews by Ciao members
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