Thursday, August 29, 2013

Let's talk about Coffee machines

The only 'vice' I truly have (well, other than shopping & constant redecorating) is drinking coffee. 

Not just any coffee, but GOOD COFFEE

I don't drink a lot of it, 1-3 daily is good for me, but I do like it to taste real good.

So with the new kitchen coming soon, we wanted to invest too on a good coffee machine. 
Thanks to our friends, the Deloso's and their excellent home-brewed coffee, we were convinced to get a nicer coffee machine.

Initially we wanted to get this...


Breville Barista Express
It looks great, smaller size and a  Semi-automatic espresso machine.

 For the record, I am no coffee connoisseur and so what I'm about to tell you about this & other coffee machines,  comes from an ordinary layman's perspective.
Warning, a lot of 'new' terms here for those unfamiliar with the coffee lingo!

Semi-automatic means, the coffee machine will grind the beans for you, but you have to manually tamp (press) on the ground coffee yourself and then from that, you put it back and the machine then brews the coffee for you. 

Tamping

It has a steamer and frother  or a steam wand on the side too - 
the one the looks like a shotgun on the side. 
The steamer of course, steams your milk piping hot and the frother, well, froths the milk to give you that bubbly, frothy feel you get form a good cup of cappuccino like this..

mmmmmm...
It's like your regular coffee machine really, the only difference is that the Coffee Grinder comes built in to it.

However, we eventually decided against this machine since my hubby and I thought, we might get tired of the tamping process in the long run since our time in the morning is always a rush, so we have to have our coffee ready right away.

So we looked into the Superautomatic machines.
Automatic, as the term implies does everything for you - the grinding, tamping and brewing. You still have to steam on your own and froth on your own, but at least the coffee will be ready.

The down side to these superautomatic machines is that it's usually very bulky and can get really expensive, prices can range from the thousands to a couple of hundreds. 

There are so many models out there. So we limited our choices with our budget and the one that can fit our counter space. Here were some of the models we looked at...

Delonghi ECAM 23210SB
Perfect size, nice to look at, only thing against it was the short steam wand and the price, since this was closest to the upper limit of our budget.
Saeco Odea Capuccino Espresso Machine
Nice size & price, but this one doesn't have a Bypass, the conduit you could use to pour ground or decaf coffee. And sometimes, you just want that kind right?! I need my Dunkin Donut Coffee grounds a lot and also my decaf for my night time cup ;-)

Jura ENA 4 Capresso
This is the one we actually chose. 
Perfect size & price, love the stream-lined look and our friends had experience with this machine already, so we knew it could brew great coffee and works excellent too. 
The brand name as well is synonymous to excellent quality when it comes to Superautomatic espresso machines.

We've had it for about a month already (Yup, got it even while the kitchen was in progress) and I can just say, it is coffee heaven for us!

How about you? How do you like your coffee? Have you splurged on any kitchen gadget recently? Was it worth the money? 


Happy Shopping & Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!


*VEL* 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

15 comments:

  1. Vel, I am SO glad you wrote about this subject!!! I looked into getting a high end coffee maker for my husband for Christmas a couple years ago (we love our coffee too, and he's Italian…..the whole extended family would appreciate an espresso machine in the house!) but I was totally overwhelmed with choices! Pinning this post…..maybe I can squeek a little out of our budget for one of these when we renovate!!

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  2. I love my coffee and made lattes myself (with grinding and t amping) for years, but now Im just doing drip coffee, how boring. My special treats are lattes at coffee shops, well, even McDonalds, geez they are everywhere now.
    I love your machine and so glad youre happy with it.
    xo Nancy

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  3. Sounds nice and really good. I use a Melitta single serve coffee here since I am the only one drinking and I only really drink once every morning. I've had it forever since I lived in FL. Before moving here. I also have a Nespresso capuccino/expression make which I also love. In our FL home, I am using a Keurig. how is the kitchen coming along?...Christine

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  4. Oh this sounds heavenly. NO, we just have a plain jane coffee maker and it does make a good cup of coffee, but no espresso. I would like that. Your new coffee maker sounds absolutely fabulous. Hugs, Marty

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  5. Fancy and I love it! We use a french press and we love it.

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  6. We love coffee but don't often have anything fancy. However, we too have been looking at coffee makers for our kitchen. Have never seen any of these so this was GREAT info!!!
    So the one you chose will also make regular coffee too...right?
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  7. I like coffee, my husband loves it too, but we don't own a machine such as nice as the one you now have! Hmmm that would make a nice Christmas present for him ;) I like how pretty it looks.

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  8. With the growing popularity of automated coffee machines it is now fun preparing a great cup of coffee.

    Thanks
    Finn Felton

    Kopi Luwak

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  9. I have been, and continued to get my espresso fix at Cafes in Toronto before getting my own espresso machine .

    .

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  10. Very interesting post about coffee. I’m so inlove with this. I would like you to continue writing more about this. Thanks

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  11. There are a number of places study The Best Coffee Maker Review, such as in various publications. However, you shouldn't discount the power of the internet. You can study very detailed Coffee machine online opinions, and find honest scores and reviews about various models.

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  12. "Having the best coffee always comes up with a best coffee machine." This is what coffee makers believe and because of your blog, we now have ideas on having the perfect coffee maker. Jura ENA 4 Capresso will be added to our choices. I'm really looking forward on purchasing this one too.
    Thank you for the information!

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    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi, thank for sharing this useful informative about coffee maker supplies for all, it have been benefits for all kitchen and perfect coffee making done! So, see also more best items with best prices deals for Coffee Machines here!

    ReplyDelete

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