Coffee machine recommendations?

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#2618008 8-Dec-2020 11:05

frankv:

elpenguino:

For that same reason don't go stockpiling beans either.

I heard someone say grind your beans within 6 weeks of roasting, recently.

Keep spare beans in the freezer. Dunno why coffee beans aren't in the freezer at the supermarket.

Please no! Do not freeze coffee beans.

TwoSeven

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#2618294 8-Dec-2020 18:49

From my perspective, if one is looking for a relatively good cup of coffee, then I suspect any machine thats ok will do.

I started off with getting a good affordable grinder and worked on the basics. My current preference is for using a french press at the moment.

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#2618363 8-Dec-2020 21:08

frankv:
Handle9:

Right, time to make my first coffee of the morning...

Wow! You can make coherent comments before your first coffee!

That's very debatable. Saying that it doesn't get noticeably better after a coffee.

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#2618385 8-Dec-2020 22:40

Senecio:

Please no! Do not freeze coffee beans.

Agreed, though nothing bad will happen if you package them into individual portions. But nothing really good comes from it either, just buy lower quantities of beans.

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#2618472 9-Dec-2020 09:49

Senecio:

Please no! Do not freeze coffee beans.

Could you please explain why you're so adamant? Googling finds many sites saying it's a *good* idea, especially if you have more beans than you can you use in a week or two. Some sites have the caveat that the beans be in an airtight and/or vacuum container, and be thawed in that container before opening it. e.g. https://www.javapresse.com/blogs/enjoying-coffee/coffee-beans-in-the-freezer lists pros and cons.

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#2618482 9-Dec-2020 10:03

frankv:

Could you please explain why you're so adamant?

I would add, how many could actually taste the difference , especially with the more generic cheaper machines & a crap load of boiled milk added (flat white) :-)
any double blind testing done ?

Is freezing worse than beans in the cupboard , for a few weeks ?

Edit
I found a double blind test .
https://www.home-barista.com/store-coffee-in-freezer-results.html

"none of the tasters could consistently differentiate among the shots made with previously frozen or never frozen coffee."

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#2618554 9-Dec-2020 10:59

Freezing beans exposes the beans to moisture, and moisture kills beans. I was once sceptical, but I attended a workshop at Ripe a few years ago and the difference between frozen and not frozen was palpable. Beans do need to be stored air-tight.

They also demo’ed freshly roasted beans that had not had time to de-gas, which takes 2-4 days, and again I noticed the difference.

best approach is start using beans 2-4 days after roasting, and 2-3 weeks thereafter, stored in a dark area in an airtight container.

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#2618557 9-Dec-2020 11:01

But really, do what you want, who cares?

blackjack17

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#2619799 11-Dec-2020 07:07

Does anyone have an opinion on either of these?

https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1087025/sunbeam-barista-max-espresso-machine-em5300/

https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1087507/delonghi-magnifica-fully-automatic-coffee-machine-esam04110b/

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jonathan18

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#2619969 11-Dec-2020 10:55

Not sure of the relationship to the model you list above, but the Magnifica S ECAM22110SB gets a pretty decent write up on Consumer (80%; recommended).

That’a not a too dissimilar price:

https://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1641244

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#2620021 11-Dec-2020 11:08

I would recommend staying away from fully automated machines. You want to be in control of the coffee making process, not the other way around. Plus, there's a lot more that can go wrong with them over time.

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#2620022 11-Dec-2020 11:10

https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1087507/delonghi-magnifica-fully-automatic-coffee-machine-esam04110b/

@blackjack17 I have this one.

It took me quite a few goes to get the settings keyed in nicely how I like it, but I guess that's part of the fun.

I only ever use the 'double shot' button and therefore one coffee at a time.

The one major annoyance I have at the moment is if I need to make a couple coffee's and switch between coffee/steam when switching back to the coffee settings it just won't switch over and flash the warning for low water. The fix is just undock the water container and plug back in, so very quick and easy. But just feel you shouldn't have to.

Only other minor annoyance is the steam wand doesn't tilt. It swings out to the side, but you can't tilt it out like most other machines I've used in the past.

Overall though, I felt like it was a pretty great price for a "mostly automatic" machine and I can make coffee that matches the local shops so happy days.

Edit: I probably should add though, I am by no means a connoisseur. But yea I get beans from one of our local roaster's (Ebony Coffee), and the coffee's I stick in my cup in the morning taste the same to me as they do from Ebony's shop.

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#2620886 13-Dec-2020 13:05

That Sunbeam is a rebadged, restyled & rebodied version of the Breville that received so many recommendations in this thread. They even left the model name in place - Barista.

At $499 I believe that's a good deal. (I paid $800 for mine 3 years ago & 12/10 would buy again) Buy it.

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#2868607 15-Feb-2022 13:57

I thought I would open the creaky crypt door on this one, since with the Omicron infection raging outside the walls, it is time to focus on what is really important: the coffee must flow.

In a stroke of genius on my part, I managed to convince the SO that we should re-allocate some of the funds we were going to use on our now cancelled trip away to picking up a Breville Infuser:

I'm still getting the hang of everything, but James Hoffman and r/espresso have been obliging. While the infuser seems to be up to my meager barista skills level for now, one thing is clear though; the ole' hand grinder is just not going to cut the mustard.

I'd initially looked at the Breville SGP as suggested earlier, but after reading some of the feedback and checking out the NZ market, it seems like investing a little bit extra, say around the $500-600, gets you to a sweet-spot of performance and longevity before real diminishing returns set in. Features like timers don't really add value to me, as I plan to be dosing by weight.

So far, I've had the Baratza Sette 270 and Eureka Mignon Manuale on my radar in that price-point; both have the goods to fine-tune espresso grinds, but the Baratza seems to have a bad reputation for lunching it's gearbox after a couple of years and sounds like a jet engine from all counts, whereas the Eureka is "built like a tank" and relatively quiet from all accounts.

The Eureka seemed to be the way to go, but then I came across the Urbanic 080 on Reddit. They cover the range here, but the brief highlights of the 080 are step-less adjustment, 60mm flat vertical burrs, 250w motor... from accounts, it appears to be a good quality re-production of an older commercial design (Lance Hedrick covered a range of them here, but the 070s) and is shipped directly from the manufacturer in Korea. Most of the reviews I have read from owners seem to be pretty positive, just good raw performance without the fancy bells-and-whistles. Going by the e-shop, it would be about $586 NZD landed here for the S/S burrs, or an extra $50 premium for the titanium burrs. Support from the company seems to be pretty good as well, coming from an owner I have spoken to about it.

Any experience with any of the above, or other options I should be considering in in that price range?

Senecio

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#2868660 15-Feb-2022 14:13

I've recently upgraded my grinder to the Eureka Mignon Specialista. What I love about it.

Small, we don't have a large kitchen so needed something small on the bench top
Quiet. It is significantly quieter that my previous grinder
Very fine adjustment. If you are always using the same beans this might not be that important but if like me you are changing beans every week then being able to dial in the grind adjustment is important
You get very consistent grind output, not a large dispersion of courses and fines. Important to prevent channeling and make sure you get a good extraction

Where are you based? If Auckland I still have my old Rancilio Rocky doserless in storage that you could use to tide you over until you decide which way to go?

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