Following treatment for throat cancer my taste buds are pretty much shot so most stuff tastes foul these days. But good coffee still gets through. So looking for a reasonable priced coffee machine that I will not sell my first born to buy the coffee for.
While not an actual machine, I'd recommend an AeroPress. I think quite a few people on here use them too.
What type of thing you looking for? A free standing machine or one you can build into a kitchen? one that grinds its own beans or one you need a grinder for?
Another forum recommended this so definitely a contender. As I am new to coffee machine I am here asking advice. But I do know I want something simple and free standing as I have no idea what it means to build one into a kitchen,
If you don't want to put down serious bucks, the good old French press and a decent Hario Skelton ceramic hand grinder will see you through. A step up for the coffee geeks is a Chemex, but it requires their special paper filters. In terms of machines I'd look at Gaggia, starting in the £300,-- range. A really good machine is an Elektra Microcasa but that sets you back £800,--. And then you'll want a good burr grander, and a water filter, and...
I don't want any of that even if I could afford it which I cannot. The watch words are simple and inexpensive. Just looking to get a more flavoursome coffee which I don't get with instant.
Aeropress or french press (I prefer the former), hand grinder and fresh beans. That last bit is the most important, as is freshly ground. Fortunately there are dozens of good roasters that sell online, I tend to use hasbean as they have a fantastic selection of single origin and do some cracking blends. I've recently fallen in love with the "Here's Johnny" and have just finished off a bag of "Ooh Aah" which was also exceptional, more so because they're both the sort of coffee I wouldn't normally go for. Alternatively, a Moka Pot can make something a bit stronger, to great effect. For espresso, a well looked after and appropriately modded Gaggia Classic would set you back around £130 or so (I've recently sold mine for £125 collected) and a decent hand grinder would serve a purpose. An Iberital MC2 is about the lowest you can get away with for electric grinders for espresso at around £150. I'm not sure how this would compare to a decent hand grinder though. The Eureka Mignon is a popular entry level grinder, and I'm led to believe quite capable at £280. Best sticking to brewed though, espresso is a slippery slope. Having come from a Classic and a soon-to-be-replaced low end grinder, I can tell you that it's an exercise in frustration at times - until you get to fairly lofty levels (e.g. £1200 machine and grinder combined), consistency will be an issue. One day when everything is going just right you will pull that utterly perfect shot, and then the standard fare is ruined for you. For reference, pro-sumer machines start at around £800 and stretch to £8k whereas "Titan" grinders (i.e. 83mm flat or 71mm conical burr) start at around £1200 and cap off at around £3000. ESPRESSO. NOT EVEN ONCE.
All we know so far is that you don't want instant coffee. A french press is a good start. They would cost as little as £10 and it all depends on the quality coffee you put in. One disadvantage, in my opinion, is that it doesn't keep the coffee warm for a long time. Which brings me to the humble coffee filter machine. It will probably cost as little as £10-£20 and it will again all depend on the quality of the coffee you put in. Personally, I find it just as tasty as the press (but some disagree) and it keeps that coffee warm. But, if you you are looking for espresso machines, the the machines start to matter a little bit more, grinding your own coffee etc etc. I had a Gaggia for a while and I admit it was a faff. In the end we just went with the Nespresso pods. Nothing beats it in simplicity, but the pods are expensive (about 20p each). For me it doesn't matter as I only ever use it on weekends.
Honestly you'll get far better coffee from a pourover (or french press or aeropress) than a filter machine. The issue with filter machines is that the water tends to be far too hot in the first place and the infusion is uneven (i.e. all of the water drips in the centre of the filter). With the three other brewing methods you're able to control both of these things as much or little as you like. Hot plates should generally be a nono as well, burning the coffee and introducing even more bitterness. If you absolutely must get a filter machine, go for one with a thermal carafe as opposed to a hotplate. Espresso can be a little bit of a faff, but once you get into the routine it's soon forgotten... perhaps not for all though. Nespresso is pretty impressive for a cheap-ish pod solution. I've sampled the espresso output from some fairly high end bean to cup machines and they're not a patch on Nespresso, somehow. The only other reasonable option for faff free espresso is the apparently fairly decent (though still limited) Sage/Breville Oracle, but that costs.
I'm guessing he wants a coffee machine for less than £100, without all the bells and whistles, but looks decent and does the job. I say this, because that's basically what I'm after
I bought a Saeco Poemia (manufactured by Philips and same internals as Gaggia Gran Prestige) and really enjoy the coffee from it. I use Lavazza mainly and have tried the Espresso, Rossa and am on to the Qualita Oro - all of which I like. Just the Crema e Gusto to try! It comes in several colours and the red one was the cheapest so I bought that. Edit: I bought it on Amazon but it looks like it going to be hard to get now. Tesco and John Lewis still have them though. The red one at Tesco is £50.99 at the minute and the black/silver models ranging from £70-100.
A fixation on a "machine" is what would cause a problem. Within the budget though, there are plenty of ways to have consistent and exceptional coffee (just not espresso) - aeropress, moka pot, french press and pour-over All of these would come in significantly under budget actually. If coffee was one of the few things I could taste, I don't think "does the job" would be enough - I'd want it to be the best damn coffee it could be.
May I just correct this a little I really don't get much out of coffee though it is tolerable. Some things like beer are foul and intolerable. So I am looking for something cheapish to make a cup off coffee other than the instant I currently drink.
You'll find a great deal of difference between properly brewed coffee and instant or the tat you get in most cafes - surely worth trying for the sake of £50 on an aeropress and a hand grinder? Worth at least finding a decent cafe locally that can show you what coffee is supposed to taste like before you settle. A few worth a look - http://coffeeforums.co.uk/search.php?searchid=4308744 (Not sure if that link will translate, but just search on edinburgh in the cafe reviews subforum) Brew Lab seems to get consistently excellent feedback.
Without know just how shot to **** your tastebuds are as a result of the cancer[? apologies if i've got that wrong], it'd be hard to advise on anything tbh, for all I know i could suggest machines x, y and z and to you it could taste the same as a jar of nescafe... So i'd try and find someone who has/uses the machine you're looking at, try the coffee and see if, for you its actually worth the effort...
I did mention that I had had a Latte which was reasonably pleasant so I hope that gives a rough idea. And I know no one with any sort of coffee machine. But I shall probably go cheap as chips Aeropress with which I can try various coffees to give me an overall Idea on what I am tasting and whether it is pleasant or not.
+1 for moka pot: Its cheap, simple to use, and does not need any extra consumables. Also it does not need electricity, so you can use it then camping/hiking or then the **** hits the fan .
Personnally I adore my coffee machine: De'Longhi Magnifica You can buy whatever flavour coffeee beans you like (Columbian for me). You just pour the beans in the top, it grinds them up and kicks out the grounds in a compressed disc. Really, really easy to use and next to no cleaning.