Coffee/Espresso Maker Recommendations

I am ready to break my Keurig habit, but I am making myself insane trying to find reliable reviews on other machines …

I’ve looked at pour over styles, machines with built-in grinders, and I think the fully automated espresso machines look super cool! (Also super expensive)

Does anyone have something they love? We like good, strong coffee and have a hard time functioning before we down our caffeine. My husband just drinks black coffee. I start with regular coffee, but have a habit of picking up a cappuccino/flat white after lunch.

Anything too complicated is out …

I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

I love espresso but also want to make coffee when I am 2/3 asleep. So, I have gone to fairly automated machines (I believe they are called Superautomatic).

My first machine was a Saeco Barista (non-digital) sold by Starbucks – a gift from my MIL. It wasn’t really built for much use and I don’t think at the time I knew how to take care of them, so we went through a number of them, which Starbucks happily replaced restarting the 2 year warranty each time, though at some point in this stretch, I had to pay to switch to the digital model. They made great espresso but had some plastic piping that just didn’t last. Then I bought a much more expensive Gaggia (don’t remember the model) with all metal pipes, which was excellent, but needed to be repaired every three years anyway. The repair guy told me to buy the least expensive one that I liked and just get replace it when it died as that was not much more than repairing it. So I bought a Saeco Vienna Plus (made fabulous espresso and was pretty simple) and then a couple of Saeco Giro Odea and Odea II for home and office (my employees were very happy with me). The latter was better because it had two heaters – one for coffee and one for frothing – whereas many of the early devices you had to wait after making the espresso for the block to reheat to steam milk (or vice versa).

My favorite is the one that I now have, which is a Saeco HD8911/48. Looks like I bought it a little over three years ago. Works great. Makes wonderful espresso. Two other people have bought it or a successor model on my recommendation and both report being very happy.

We bought the post-Starbucks machines online and the vendor I have been happiest with is Seattle Coffee Gear.

The Saeco froths milk well but my MIL bought me a Breville Milk Frother that speeds things up. That is an extravagance (I’m a hard guy to buy gifts for and she knows I love my daily coffees).

One important thing. For any of these superautomatics, you need to clean the brew unit regularly (I do it every weekend) and descale periodically (the machines tell you when and how). You also need to use medium roast rather than dark roast coffee. The dark roast gums up the machines over time and they stop working. I’m sure that you can find great coffee beans wherever you are, but we often get a Lavazza organic medium roast in 2.2 lb bags. For better or for worse, those last about two weeks.

Some of my friends will only use the super fancy machines where you pull espresso shots by hand. These are extremely expensive. Good for them but doesn’t work for my life.

Incidentally, the Dutch company Philips has purchased both Gaggia and Saeco (and possibly other manufacturers as well). I think they are now both sold under the Philips name.

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Too complicated is really relative. We owned three different super-automatics, 2 Juras and a Saeco. They make decent coffee, with a push of a button, but they are very complicated, break too often, even the really good ones, and are expensive to fix.

We switched to a semi-automatic 14 years ago, first a La Spaziale Mini Vivaldi II with a Baratza Vario grinder, and now a Lelit Bianca with a Eureka Mignon Specialita grinder. It became routine very quickly. We’d never go back.

For good coffee on the cheap, but more fuss to make, we have an Aeropress, a French Press and a Chemex. All do a good job. WE never use any of them unless we’re camping.

For regular coffee, we are very happy using a percolator.

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I’m a pour over person. Simple and easy.

But every one that I talk to loves this machine:

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The Technivorm is a great machine, but it needs to have the outlet arm replaced to wet the coffee bed evenly and maximize its performance.

If you don’t mind a Chinese made machine and want a drip maker, the Bonavita Connoisseur has overcome the single outlet of the Moccamaster and is about half the price. It makes excellent coffee and in blind tests has beat the Technivorm.

Money no object, I’d get the Technivorm and replace the arm. They’re just so iconic. Cool machine. Completely different beast though than a machine that produces crema. There’s only one way to get that…high pressure.

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Thank you for the detailed reply. I’m really interested in these super-automatics. Interesting that Philips purchased Gaggia and Saeco. I’ve been looking at a few Gaggia models. Cooks’ Illustrated recommended the Anima version. I believe they are made in Italy which is a plus.

I did read about avoiding dark, oily beans (which is the first thing I reach for when I drag out our old Mr Coffee). Good to know I need to keep on top of cleaning.

I used a Percolator years ago and it made great coffee. Honestly had not reconsidered them, but may take a look.

@sushiritto and @eyemgh. The Technivorm is a strong contender. If possible, I would prefer to find a machine that is not made in China, but I’ll take a look at the Bonavita. The Breville Precision also looks interesting. I haven’t checked where that is made.

I’m tired of feeling guilty about using those pods, although I buy San Francisco COffee pods that claim to be compostable, but I am spoiled by the ease of my Keurig.

Appreciate all your suggestions.

I have a Farberware percolator and I would suggest that. Makes terrific coffee…in my opinion. I set it all up the night before and it gets plugged in in the morning. Takes 12 minutes to perc 12 cups.

Here’s the coffee you want. We buy it, and three of their single origins, 5 lbs at at time. The last pound loses a lot of the crema, but it still tastes good. It’s not over roasted like say Pete’s and you can’t beat the 5lb price. Enjoy!

I’ve used Jura for years and really enjoy my coffee. Happy hunting.

So if I go with anything other than the Super-automatics, I’ll need a grinder as well …

@eyemgh How do you store those beans? Freezer? Airtight container?

@Rivet2000 May I ask which Jura you’re using?

I love our Nespresso machine. The pods are more expensive than Keurig but coffee shop quality coffee without the hassle of beans. One problem is that there are very few locations that sell the pods but they can be easily ordered by mail.

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Also pods are recyclable and they will provide free bags with pre-paid postage to recycle.

Still like my Bonavita. You have to make sure that you descale it, or the switch starts going off. Simple, no bells and whistles. Makes hot, good coffee.

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We have two AirScape Kilos. As I said, the last pound starts to get relatively flat as it loses it’s CO2. For less than $60 per 5 pounds, you can afford to throw the last pound away, if it really bothers you. I drink 1-2 Americanos every morning and an unsweetened espresso every day at lunch and will use the beans to the very last one. Less crema, but the taste is still great. If you want SO, the Huehuetenango they offer is very good, more floral, but not overly acidic and still very chocolatey/nutty.

We liked our Jura, but the coffee quality can’t compare to a good E61 machine with a good grinder. We baby stepped in over many years though. You can’t go wrong with a Jura if you choose that route.

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We had a Saeco for years that H loved and just upgraded to Gaggia super automatic. Cadorna prestige or something like that. He loves it.

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With Covid and working from home, dh decided to ditch our Keurig wanting better quality coffee. He was originally looking at the very complicated “barista” type models but I told him if he bought something like that I’d likely never drink coffee again. We compromised on the Breville Oracle Touch which is an all in one machine including grinder and steamed milk frother. I tend not to be that fussy about my coffee but a few weeks ago we went to visit dh’s parents and they have a Keurig. It wasn’t until I drank that coffee again that I really appreciated our new machine. There is no comparison in the quality of the brew. For the most part we just drink Americanos but since we bought the machine s19 has developed a fondness for cappuccinos.

We purchase our coffee in small batches from a local roaster but store the extras in a vacuum canister.

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I too was fearful, and my wife very much so. That’s why we bought super-automatics. This is a misconception though. There is a small learning curve to dialing in grind if you want to play at the margins of quality. You don’t have to though and you can’t on a super-automatic. My morning routine consists of putting the portafilter in the grinder, pushing a button, tamping, putting it in the brew head and pulling a lever. I encourage anyone who is at least curious to watch a video or two on espresso work flow. It isn’t rocket science.