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The trusty Delonghi Caffè Corso is off to the great WEEE skip in the sky. 7 years of fine service. What to replace it with though? Another Caffè Corso, assuming they still do them? Another Delonghi of some variety? Some good deals on in Curry's at the mo.
Do we stick with bean to cup or grind as required? Any other brands worth looking at? Although I drink a lot of coffee I'm no real snob so dropping a grand on a new machine is out of the question. Only ever drink them as black Americanos so no real issue with having a smaller espresso machine and topping up with water from the kettle.
Ive got sage bambino plus and its fantastic. I buy the coffee ready ground for espresso from PACT mostly but have a seperate grinder if i get the occasional beans order in bulk. Paid £300 for it in the sale.
Rocket Espresso Appartmento or Cronometro. Once you have bought it could you tell me how awesome it is or isn't as I am hestitating.
*Edit - apologies, I failed to read all of the post............I feel ashamed. Rather than delete I will just leave here in case someone has tried one as I only have 1 real life bit of feedback and they were gifted theirs so it will always be awesome.
At £329 it is hard to look beyond this Currys bargain
https://www.currys.co.uk/appliances/coffee-machines/coffee-machines/delonghi
If you had a DeLonghi, you liked it and don't need anything else, why look elsewhere?
I have also found DeLonghi warranty to be first class.
La pavoni lusso or an elektra s1, because half of the enjoyment a decent espresso is making it.
Neither will be the best espresso machine you've ever owned but just look at them.
If they don't make you feel like you're only cannoli, a grappa and a Madonna and child short of the good life on a tuscan hillside in the autumn sun, nothing will.
I used to have a Delonghi bean to cup and loved it for its simplicity - check water level, press button, espresso comes out. But I replaced it with a Sage Barista a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. There's a lot more adjustability with the Sage (granularity of grind, amount of grind, water temperature, etc), but the espresso is good and the milk frothing is excellent. I believe(?) they're fairly serviceable too?
Get a secondhand gaggia classic or rancillio silvia. Easy to maintain and replace parts. Recently replaced the boiler element in my old silvia and it wasn't too tricky.
We have a delonghi corso and a sage barista (when the student is back). The delonghi makes a nice coffee. The sage makes a great coffee once you've spent a one-off hour faffing to get the settings right for your beans. Overall bean to coffee time is maybe 60 seconds longer on the sage. When our delonghi dies it will be replaced with a sage.
OP - have you contacted DeLonghi about this?
My ancient DeLonghi started to make a mess when grinding, so contacted deLonghi, hoping for a service/repair but its too old for them to repair but they offered 30% off machines on their website.
They arrange a free collection from you and then they recycle it and send you a code for the discount, wich even works on machines they already have a discount on
Sage Barista Express, had mine now since March 2020 and it gets hammered by mrs pizza and I, gets used probably 4-5 times a day, definitely got our moneys worth out of it and had no issues with it either
Gaggia classic going strong here from 2012.. Might be looking at second hand at your budget but worth it. All parts easily available and replaceable. Mine hasn’t missed a beat. Makes lovely coffee but also lots of mod opportunities to up the game!
Hello again. A new coffee machine arrived yesterday but it ain't no bean to cup. We've gone for a Sage Duo and a seperate grinder (that bit arrives shortly). A rather more involved process but we tried a brew using ground coffee for the cafetiere and it was ruddy fantastic! We appear to have thrown caution to the wind and dived headfirst into coffee w*nkerdom, or at least we will once we decide on what freshly roasted, small batch artisan beans to purchase....or some bollox like that anyway.
Which leads to another question, where are yous getting your beans from? It all appears to be a whole new can of worms.
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Had one of those Sage Duo's for a few years - great coffee.
For increased coffee w*nkerdom You'll need a larger and fancier jug from Barista & Coas the Sage one is too small for 2 cups worth of foamy milk (is that sacrilege?)
And a milk jug thermometer
And some one will tell you soon that you need to weigh the grind and a timer for the brew
Tend to get my beans from Small Batch in Hove, or Tigermoth in Lewes. I'm a heathen and go espresso blend - no single estate bs for me
Which leads to another question, where are yous getting your beans from?
May be worth just googling 'Coffee Roasters near me' and then pop round on your bike.
I would buy some cheap beans to begin with, whilst you practice getting a decent espresso.
My favourite cheapies are Asda Extra Special Columbian or their Java.
If I'm really stuck, then Aldi Espresso Strength is okay.
TBF having tried a few subsription services, I prefer the Asda ones to a lot that I tried.
Good shout on the Sage Duo OP - that's what I have. I had a Gaggia Classic (with the Rancillo wand upgrade which I believe is mandatory) but I got rid of it as it was leaking all over the place and I was sick of it. Sold it on Facebook for £150 (it was an original brass internals one so a bit easier to sell) and got the Sage on offer for £250 (IIRC) and it makes far, far superior coffee IMO (and it matches my Sage grinder which I am a bit anal about).
I get my coffee beans from:
https://whiterosecoffeeroasters.co.uk/
Good quality and very low prices.
Also Cafeology from Sheffield are very nice
https://cafeology.com/
Other recommendations can be found here:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/supermarket-coffee-bean-recommendations/
Smith Street roasters in Sheffield are good - like their White Peak Espresso blend. I've had a really good Espresso from Mancoco in Manc too but not had their beans yet. Going to pick some up next time I'm over there.
Rave Coffee Monsoon Malabar is my default. I usually get a kg of that and a few smaller bags of something else to see if anything is better for me. But after a good few years it remains my default.
Basically it's well priced and pretty forgiving of grind, so you'll be guaranteed decent coffee while you faff about learning. It was a godsend when I had a lever machine, which is capable of the sublime and the rediculous in equal measure.
I've never been massively impressed with my sage oracle.
Separate grinder is the way to go.
I've tried all sorts of coffee but I'm finding Rounton Coffee a nice setup now.
Can be delivered by Amazon too with decent rast date. They make a great decaf which has been hard to find.
See if there's a local roaster to you, my local roaster does a kilogram for £20 which is pretty hard to beat if buying online
I have the duo as well. It's not bad on dark and medium roasts but I struggle to get anything drinkable with light roasts.
Using it with a niche zero which is quite nice.
I had a Gaggia Classic which made great coffee but was too much faff in the end for me to make a coffee between meetings. If you have time/inclination for it to be a hobby then can't see much further than on of those or the aforementioned Rancilio (or La Pav if you're feeling flush) with a good-ish grinder.
I use an Aeropress now, and while it can't make an espresso like the Gaggia could, for everyday drinking (even as a bit of a snob) it makes a great consistent coffee in far less time and with less fuss than a big espresso machine. As for the beans, I agree with the hive mind - find your local roaster and go from there. Mine happens to be Owens Coffee who do a range of single-origin and blends, all organic and fairtrade/co-operative owned.