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  • TC
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Originally posted by 3B203B2E232D2A282621212A3D4F0 link=1246340080/19#19 date=1246491499
    We live in western Victoria and Im guessing that freshly roasted beans might be hard to come by here. Although Im guessing that there are companies that will mail them to you.

    I think maybe the Sunbeam 6910 and decent grinder might serve us well  initially and will hopefully last a few years and then we could look at upgrading.

    Who knows, I might even wean myself of syrup and become a coffee snob one day!
    Hi beginner,

    <<<<<<<<Over yonder, youll find CS buy brown as well as a list of site sponsors, many of whom wil be happy to mail beans to you.

    Can I recommend that you try some CS brown first? Andy has a huge and very loyal army of clients and his brown beans are top notch... After that, you have a multitude of options if you wish to look further..

    Enjoy

    2mcm

    Leave a comment:


  • totalbeginner
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    We live in western Victoria and Im guessing that freshly roasted beans might be hard to come by here. Although Im guessing that there are companies that will mail them to you.

    I think maybe the Sunbeam 6910 and decent grinder might serve us well initially and will hopefully last a few years and then we could look at upgrading.

    Who knows, I might even wean myself of syrup and become a coffee snob one day!

    Leave a comment:


  • Crisp_image
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Originally posted by 6F4E454542582B0 link=1246340080/14#14 date=1246405578
    Originally posted by 763132717A6A020 link=1246340080/14#14 date=1246403920
    but if youre into syrup, then you may as well use supermarket coffee.
    Have to disagree with this part of your advice Steve.  Seems a bit like saying if you like gravy on your beef you might as well use a cheap cut.  I dont think so.
    Hear Hear!
    Sugar or suryps can enhance the natural sugars in the coffee. If your a sweet tooth there is nothing wrong with starting with a great coffee shot then add what ever you like!

    Leave a comment:


  • mmmcoffee
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Choice words Mal! As u can see u and your husband have a few things to think and talk about, to decide what u both really want from it all. As has been stated this site is full if passionate coffee lovers who love coffee and making it but more than that trying to master it. This will taint our advice to better equipment- meaning more $$ and often lessons and lots of practice to use it to full potential. But for sum this isnt what they want, they want easy, convenience in their coffee.
    Balls in your court, have fun ;D ;D

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Originally posted by 617A6174797770727C7B7B7067150 link=1246340080/0#0 date=1246340080
    Any opinions would be greatly received.
    Gday "totalbeginner"....

    Welcome to CoffeeSnobs (and your hubby too).... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

    As you may have gathered from some of the responses above, most of us here take our coffee very seriously, inasmuch as we must have the facility to enable us to imbibe the best quality coffee in the cup every time we make a brew; be that Espresso, French Press(Plunger), Moka Pot, Syphon, AeroPress, Pour-Over, Ibrik and even Iced Coffee (to name a few :).

    Thats why we harp on so much about using the best quality beans available, freshly roasted and only ground immediately before brewing. In order to do that, you do need to have at your disposal the best quality grinder you can afford as contrary to popular belief, it is the quality of the grinder you have and how well it is maintained that can have the most significant impact on the final quality of coffee in the cup. As has already been suggested, the Sunbeam EMO480 is considered to be the basic entry point at which to buy a grinder but there are much better quality units out there that will last you a lifetime, unlike the Sunbeam.

    Quite a number of our Site Sponsors listed over on the L/H side of the page, are National Award Winning Coffee Roasters including our very own Andy Freeman who both owns and runs the CoffeeSnobs website. If you or your hubby dont have a lot of experience using Espresso Machines then maybe you should just concentrate on acquiring a decent grinder initially, buy an AeroPress coffee maker from CuppaCoffee or one of our other Sponsors and then use that combo to fully appreciate how to extract the best brew possible from great beans, freshly roasted.

    Once youve got a handle on that, and if you still want an espresso machine, work out your budget and then visit which ever Site Sponsors are near your locality and get some hands-on practice with a number of demo machines that lie within your budget and then decide which machine suits you best. Its easy for all of us to say "buy this machine or that machine" but in reality, the best thing you can do is sort this out for yourself at one or more of our Sponsors. They will look after you and even give you a discount on the purchase price for being a CoffeeSnobs member. They will also be there for you long after the initial purchase to answer any questions you may have and help out when ever that may be necessary. Well worth it in my opinion.

    Anyway, thats my recommendation as only you and your hubby know what hardware best suits all of your requirements. All the best and have fun....

    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • t30sxh
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    ok, see your point...though if you used powdered gravy, then I would still say use a cheap cut of beef.    Good cut of beef....use proper home made gravy.   ;D
    Coffesnob, beefsnob and gravysnob.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Originally posted by 763132717A6A020 link=1246340080/14#14 date=1246403920
    but if youre into syrup, then you may as well use supermarket coffee.
    Have to disagree with this part of your advice Steve. Seems a bit like saying if you like gravy on your beef you might as well use a cheap cut. I dont think so.

    Leave a comment:


  • t30sxh
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    I dunno about the Silvia/Rocky...the learning curve is pretty steep, especially for someone whos not really into coffee.
    Id recommend a Breville/Krups/Sunbeam, but preferably a unit that has pressurised and unpressurised filters just to make the process easier for you.
    Fresh roasted coffee, correctly ground in an unpressurised basket is always going to taste better, but if youre into syrup, then you may as well use supermarket coffee.
    A Sunbeam EM450 or EM480 grinder would be my recommendation to go with your espresso machine.


    Leave a comment:


  • mmmcoffee
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    also allow for a grinder, this is VITAL to good coffee and can transition a cheaper machine producing not flash shots, to a cheaper machine making good coffee.
    The Sunbeam 0480 is the bare minimum as it is a conical bur grinder with "grinds" the beans, rather than chopping the beans like cheaper grinders.

    At the end of the day, get what you can afford, but if you can push the budget a little to get better equipment such as a Silvia and Rocky, you wont regret it. ;D

    Leave a comment:


  • mmmcoffee
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    welcome totalbeginner, welcome to the coffee journey... WARNING it is addictive and may take over part of your life... or more!

    as has been suggested you need to think about this and talk with your husband about how keen and particular you want to get about coffee, this will determine what machine to get. A lot of us here started with basic machines and now have spend thousands on our hobbies, stealing the kids popcorn makes to roast a bit of green coffee, migrating to stealing our wives bread makers and converting them into coffee roasting machines. ;D

    All the machines you are looking at are "appliances" meaning mass produced, and sold in retail stores, and often have a limited life and once they have issues you throw them out and start again.
    Other machines such as the Silvia, while have a greater learning curve will produce far greater coffee and last a lot longer!

    As has been suggested call some of the sponsors<<<<<<<< and chat with them and have a play with their machines.

    Leave a comment:


  • grimsby
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Hi totalbeginner and welcome to CS.
    You might also want to consider the Nemox Dell Opera at $799 from sponsor Coffee Machine Express. This is a quality machine and comes with a good quality grinder built in.
    The version without the grinder is the Nemox Fenice at $579.
    If you teamed this with a Rancilio Rocky grinder it would be about the $1000 mark.
    Far better than anything on your list.

    Cheers and happy hunting.
    Alan

    Leave a comment:


  • GregWormald
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    You will really have to work out what sort of a person you are first.

    If you are happy with faq (fair to average quality), rarely if ever get enthused about anything, and cant be bothered to put any effort or learning into a task, and have more than enough hobbies, if taste really isnt that important, and you think take-away food is good value---then any of the machines will work, and the Sunbeam 2300 with 450 grinder is probably the cheapest and best bet.

    If none of the above is you, then the Silvia is a proper machine, and coffee will take over your life and your tastes in coffee are likely to completely change.

    Good luck.

    Greg

    Leave a comment:


  • Crisp_image
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Greetings total beginner,
    Welcome to CS. I too was in your position less than 12 months ago. We got the sunbeam 6910 and a 0480 grinder. We drink milk based drinks and also use suryp. However the ammount that we use has fallen to about 5-7ml from the usual shot of 30ml (in some places) We can even drink good coffee without it. I always try a coffee without flavour when trying new beans or a new cafe. With the 6910 you can get very good coffee with a little work and all the other things like fresh beans ground on demand etc.
    There has been lots of discussions about this combo.
    I figures out based on 25 cooffees a week @ $3 saved per coffee (allows about 75cents cost) we save $75 per week which adds up to $3900 PA.
    Good luck in your quest. I like mu gear but also cant wait till I am alowd to upgrade (when 6910 dies.mmmmm where did I put that hammer?)
    Regards
    Crisp Image

    Leave a comment:


  • CharlieVee
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Ta - did I stuff up again ??? CV

    Leave a comment:


  • TC
    replied
    Re: Help - too many choices!

    Originally posted by 76575C5C5B41320 link=1246340080/5#5 date=1246355191
    Originally posted by 4E656C7F6164685B68680D0 link=1246340080/4#4 date=1246355074
    Buy a Rancilio Sylvia
    Grrr.  Its Silvia!
    ;D I just did a mod typo correct

    Leave a comment:

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