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New to coffee machines and have a $200 budget range

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  • BalthazarG
    replied
    Originally posted by andysydney2003 View Post
    whats a faux flat white mate?
    Good question!

    Real Flat White =

    1) Pull shot.
    2) Steam milk using proper steam wand ie. on a machine.
    3) Carefully pour milk on top of shot, being careful not to lose your microfoam all at once.
    4) Create latte art if it makes you feel better about yourself.
    4) Kick back and enjoy with a copy of the Fin Review.

    Faux Flat White =

    1) Incinerate some stale, pre-ground chimney soot in a Moka Pot.
    2) Heat glass of milk in microwave.
    3) Transfer milk to plastic container & shake the bejesus out of it, OR; transfer milk to whisk bowl & give it a quick-and-dirty wash'n'tumble with a juice blender or $4 IKEA milk frother.
    4) Dump the resulting slop on top of "shot".
    5) Bottoms up before screaming out the door to work.
    Last edited by BalthazarG; 7 January 2017, 05:39 PM.

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  • BalthazarG
    replied
    [......so I don't upset the purists [/QUOTE]

    They'll get upset anyway, Barry.

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  • Barry O'Speedwagon
    replied
    Originally posted by andysydney2003 View Post
    whats a faux flat white mate?
    One that's not made on true espresso......so I don't upset the purists

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  • andyss2003
    replied
    Originally posted by Barry O'Speedwagon View Post
    a couple of faux-flat whites in the morning.
    whats a faux flat white mate?

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  • GunBarista
    replied
    Originally posted by K_Bean_Coffee
    Hi guys.
    For great coffee on a start-up budget I highly recommend a manual brewer.
    I set my Mum up with a pourover kit and a basic burr grinder and she uses this every day. No more pod machine for her
    There are heaps of great manual options from a basic pourover kit and hand grinder for $50.... all the way up to a Trinity ONE with a high end hand grinder.

    As much as I love my espressos, sometimes you just can't beat a nice clean cup of a well made pour over.

    ... matter of fact a 'slow brew' is my drink of choice in the afternoons. I'm always in my happy place when I'm weighing in a nice light-roasted single then grinding it by hand while waiting for the water to reach temp.
    It's a ritual of respect to the bean; the hard work from the farmers all the way to the roaster and you're responsible to carry that care forward into the end product - I think should be practiced or at least acknowledged if you're a true lover of coffee.

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  • flynnaus
    replied
    Originally posted by MrFreddofrog View Post
    Is this thread still going? OP disappeared a week ago. Just saying....
    Well the OP said he would be going down the coffee capsule path so we've lost him. I guess with a $200 budget, he didn't have many other options. Speaking as a CSer, I agree a manual brewer and hand grinder would have been the way but too many people want to take the quickest and easiest possible path to caffeination, even if it's reaching for the jar of instant.

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  • MrFreddofrog
    replied
    Is this thread still going?

    OP disappeared a week ago. Just saying....

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  • Barry O'Speedwagon
    replied
    I've been using my Aeropress (with OE Lido E-T grinder, but my old cheap Porlex mini did the job fine for Aeropress) exclusively for 5 of the last 7 months (I've been away from home). I love it. I tend to make a couple of faux-flat whites in the morning, at a grind setting not much coarser than that for espresso (water at about 90 degrees, 1 minute extraction), topped with milk warmed in a jug. In the late afternoon, I coarsen up the grind and go for a longer brew and have it black. It's not an espresso machine by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes great coffee of different styles, and the whole process (including cleaning) takes a matter of minutes.

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  • 3rutu5
    replied
    about 10 years ago my wife bought me a budget breville and it wasnt that good, but did the job, so i bought myself another stove top peculator. Ever considered a stove top? you can get a bialetti for about 50 bucks i think. I used mine daily for 12 years before getting my lever.

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  • Dimal
    replied
    I'd reckon that most of us who recommend a "good" grinder, would consider anything from a well known Hand Grinder, to a Breville and perhaps up to the Macap M2M or a Compak K3 as candidates for this. None of which I would call expensive, just good...

    Mal.

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  • saeco_user
    replied
    Originally posted by bogongtiger View Post
    All that is to say, I agree with those who suggest buying a good grinder first. Add an Aeropress or similar and you should be very happy with the result.
    I question the necessity of needing a good (I'm reading expensive) grinder for use with an Aeropress or pourover coffee maker.
    I understand why a quality grinder is needed for espresso - to be able to grind fine enough for a 25-30 sec shot and consistently enough to avoid channelling.
    But the Aeropress requires a coarser grind anyway, and I doubt some non-uniformity in particle size is going to cause much difference.
    I can't taste the difference using the Aeropress with my relatively cheap Rhinowares hand grinder (which can't grind for espresso) and my commercial Iberital grinder (might not be close to top of the range but certainly better than the Rhinowares).

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  • woodhouse
    replied
    agreed. a short black from an aeropress will destroy a pod shot. did a comparison a couple of days ago. the pod shot was watery and was a bit roasty which turned into screw-your-face-up bitterness. the aeropress shot with freshly ground coffee in comparison was full of fruity flavour, balanced, and even sweet (aldi's cheapest, mind you ). i've made heaps of milk-based coffees and long blacks for all the guests over the holiday period, and they all love the aeropress.

    Originally posted by bogongtiger View Post
    All that is to say, I agree with those who suggest buying a good grinder first. Add an Aeropress or similar and you should be very happy with the result.

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  • bogongtiger
    replied
    My coffee machine broke down recently. The grinder is fine. I started off using plunger coffee but it wasn't really satisfying. Then I remembered the Aeropress I bought a few years ago (for traveling).

    I found that making coffee with the Aeropress takes no longer than using the machine - or not so you'd notice. (I can't time it.) It certainly would use a lot less electricity, and is easy to clean up afterwards.

    I like milk coffee. Luckily I found a glass milk frother in the cupboard. It's like a coffee plunger but with finer mesh. So all I do is put a bit of milk in the glass part of the frother and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds, while I grind and make the coffee with the Aeropress. Then froth the milk and add it to the coffee.

    Voila - there's a lovely latte - or pretty close. I've got to say it's the next best thing to machine made espresso - and better than what you'll often get down the street. The coffee flavour bursts out of the cup.

    All that is to say, I agree with those who suggest buying a good grinder first. Add an Aeropress or similar and you should be very happy with the result.

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  • DrSmurto
    replied
    If automated and pods are what you want, I've seen the nespresso delonghi latissima machine on gumtree/ebay for $200 or less.

    The Sunbeam caffe bellissimo can be bought for around the same price and takes beans or ground coffee.

    Based on prices for Adelaide.

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  • Dimal
    replied
    Personally, I think you're exaggerating any perceived shortcomings of a Combi unit such as the Lelit Combi (PL042EMI).
    Both the grinder and the espresso components of the machine are extremely reliable and the concept that a grinder failure renders the whole box and dice useless is a major furphy and has very little credibility or foundation in fact.

    If there is a very slight criticism, it is with the situation where coffee is allowed to sit in the grinder bean hopper for extended periods with the espresso machine turned on. The heat so generated and dissipated will migrate its way into the grinder section of the Combi and heat the beans up and speed up their deterioration. Moral of the story is, to only load the hopper with the beans required for immediate use and then grind out at the completion of a session - Simple...

    The major benefit of the Combi machine is that of space saving where available benchtop space is at a premium. In that role, it is very hard to beat...

    Mal.

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