Espresso / Cappuccino machines.

mad cyril

Winger
Lost Magpie
In the market for a new one, like the look of the Delonghi Sculptura or Icona.
anybody got one or recommend one.
Budget up to £200
 


Have a look at johnpyeauctions.co.uk they’ve got loads going through at the moment from bankrupt shops and John Lewis closing down loads of stores, I got a new iPhone off there last week for a £150.
 


This bloke knows an awful lot about coffee.
This is the bloke, no question.

Only problem is that he's so good, he doesn't even drink espresso at home, as its too much work to make a good one each day. What comes out of the cheaper machines isn't what those-who-know would even call espresso.
I have an Autentitca, bean to cup. Its fine. Its not amaing, but I've been learning how to use it less automatically and the difference is pretty clear. 17g of beans in the hopper, 34g of espresso out in about 28seconds - and then adjust until you have neither sour or bitter flavours.

Its funny, I thought I knew about coffee, then I found places like r/coffee and r/espresso on reddit. I realised I actually knew nowt!

So much so I'm even thinking of selling my machine, and buying a pourover setup instead - which would cost even more because a good grinder is more expensive than my entire machine was (new!)
 
This is the bloke, no question.

Only problem is that he's so good, he doesn't even drink espresso at home, as its too much work to make a good one each day. What comes out of the cheaper machines isn't what those-who-know would even call espresso.
I have an Autentitca, bean to cup. Its fine. Its not amaing, but I've been learning how to use it less automatically and the difference is pretty clear. 17g of beans in the hopper, 34g of espresso out in about 28seconds - and then adjust until you have neither sour or bitter flavours.

Its funny, I thought I knew about coffee, then I found places like r/coffee and r/espresso on reddit. I realised I actually knew nowt!

So much so I'm even thinking of selling my machine, and buying a pourover setup instead - which would cost even more because a good grinder is more expensive than my entire machine was (new!)

Yeah, the downside of being so into something means you notice the flaws in even the really good stuff. I am no coffee expert and have just a basic pourover with supermarket beans.

I did think about bean to cup because try as I might, I cannot make a better coffee than the Douwe Egberts machine at work.
 
Yeah, the downside of being so into something means you notice the flaws in even the really good stuff. I am no coffee expert and have just a basic pourover with supermarket beans.

I did think about bean to cup because try as I might, I cannot make a better coffee than the Douwe Egberts machine at work.
Just incase you haven't seen it:
 
I have the rancilio Sylvia he recommended in that video. I've also done the modifications he recommended, adding a PID for improved temperature control.

It is excellent and I make coffee better than anything you can buy in a high street chain.

Monsoon malibar from Roberts coffee is great.
 
In the under £200 price range Delonghi is probably one of the best IMO. We had a Delonghi machine for 4 years and only got rid of it because my parents bought me a bean to cup machine.

Breville also have a range of budget machines in Currys which I believe are rebadged versions of Sage machines (I’m assuming they’ve maybe swapped out some components for cheaper bits too).
 
In the under £200 price range Delonghi is probably one of the best IMO. We had a Delonghi machine for 4 years and only got rid of it because my parents bought me a bean to cup machine.

Breville also have a range of budget machines in Currys which I believe are rebadged versions of Sage machines (I’m assuming they’ve maybe swapped out some components for cheaper bits too).

I’ve had a delonghi espresso for years but it’s finally give up on me. I’ve no reason to leave them tbh so will probs stick with them unless there’s a really good alternative I can find
 
In the under £200 price range Delonghi is probably one of the best IMO. We had a Delonghi machine for 4 years and only got rid of it because my parents bought me a bean to cup machine.

Breville also have a range of budget machines in Currys which I believe are rebadged versions of Sage machines (I’m assuming they’ve maybe swapped out some components for cheaper bits too).
The breville stuff is beyond confusing.
All the sage stuff is rebranded breville, because the breville that sells around the world don't have rights to use the name in the UK. Seems the Uk breville are making knock offs of the sage-breville kit

Its a bit like how our magners is called bulmers in ireland (where its from), because the bulmers company sold the rights to the name in the UK. So the drink called bulmers in the UK is totally unrelated to magners-bulmers - confused yet :lol:
I’ve had a delonghi espresso for years but it’s finally give up on me. I’ve no reason to leave them tbh so will probs stick with them unless there’s a really good alternative I can find
Depends on how far you want to go down the rabbit hole. Basically, the question you need to ask is "do I want a new hobby". If no, then stick with your plan.
If yes, get reading! :lol:
 
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Depends on how far you want to go down the rabbit hole. Basically, the question you need to ask is "do I want a new hobby". If no, then stick with your plan.
If yes, get reading! :lol:

Haha cheers, that’s actually sound advice. I’m the type of person who when gets into something, really gets into something.
As I havnt got the time to delve to these coffee depths I’ll just stick to the delonghi and the canny espressos they kick out.
 
I have the rancilio Sylvia he recommended in that video. I've also done the modifications he recommended, adding a PID for improved temperature control.

It is excellent and I make coffee better than anything you can buy in a high street chain.

Monsoon malibar from Roberts coffee is great.
Would like one of them. Just using sage atm.
 
We bought a Tassimo. Don't think it's very good at all
They're terrible. I don't rate any of the pod machines except the nespresso ones. And even those aren't really espresso.
I've just got a delonghi 2800 delivered yesterday, was reduced down to 225 on amazon
I'm convinced all the delonghi btc "super-automatic" machines are basically the same inside, just different features on the outside - digital vs analogue controls, size of water container etc.
 

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