Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Off Topic Coffee Machine Suggestions

Even though the 5 year warranty on my Miele B2C machine has expired, Miele have introduced a monthly breakdown warranty for any of their appliances under 10 years old.

After year 10, so long as you’re prepared to keep paying the monthly fee they will cover the appliance against breakdown. If there’s a problem and they can’t repair it they will replace it for the latest model free-of-charge.

Even so, having tried many brands of whole beans over the years, I’ve found that Pact Coffee offer the most consistent flavour between purchases of the same variant (unlike other brands). Although I often buy directly from Pact, Ocado and Waitrose now sell 200g bags of their ‘House Blend’ and ‘Bourbon Cream’ Coffee. Pact are based in the same premises that once produced Bourbon Cream Biscuits.

Pact pay above Fairtrade prices to their farmers, and only source high quality Beans - which is why Pact Coffee costs more (but it’s well worth the extra).

Coffee and Pastries on a Saturday morning with Meridian playing Jazz in the background is my routine start to the weekend.

For what it's worth, I moved away from grinding coffee about 5 years ago on getting a Nespresso. Two Nespresso's later, I am now using a Nescafe Gusto Dolce which I would recommend, after trying Tassimmo et el .

Another vote for Nespresso machines, they make fantastic coffee. I bought mine somewhere around 12 years ago and it's still going strong.

My (now) wife liked it so much, she immediately went out and bought one (which we now use to take on holiday!).

+1

I use a Sage Nespresso Creatista Pro … before this it was Creatista Plus than provided many years of service.

They both make great coffee with proper milk steaming, the pro version has a much better display (colour touch screen) but more importantly it has independent high pressure water pump / heater and steamer generator which save times as both run simultaneously.

I regularly use a Nespresso Latissima Pro alongside my Miele B2C.

I buy India, Ristretto, Kazaar, Arpeggio, and Capetown Lungo Nespresso capsules.

Hey Jeremy A-H

Please let me know your holiday itinerary I will try to be there!

Best wishes Helen from the Asymetric Coffee Bar

AKA Hector

My Aeropress is still going strong after 10 years. No warranty, no monthly service charge, lol

…so long as you don’t inadvertently break your wrist.

If I was going to pull manual shots at home I would go for a La Pavoni Europiccola with the pressure gauge. Built to last a lifetime and no pump to break, plus more control over shots.

But then you have to have a great grinder…

As a long-time Nespresso user for home purposes, I was really pleasantly surprised on a recent stay at the Maybourne Beverly Hills with the in-room Illy machines. Basically the same as Nespresso with their own proprietary “Iperespresso” pods. They were honestly a step-up in quality from Nespresso and the machines pulled much better and more consistent shots. Very good tasting coffee.
Having said that, I can’t see the same machines available on the consumer site, so it’s possible these were built to a higher standard for hotels and other commercial settings…


My one criticism is that the pods appeared to be pure plastic, which frankly puts me off, and seems ecologically tone deaf. They say they are recyclable, but single use plastic is single use plastic in my book…

I would like to buy a Nespresso Pro Coffee Machine that utilises entirely different capsules compared to their Classic and Vertuo machines - and are cheaper overall to purchase. Unfortunately, you need an authentic business account to buy the machine and the capsules.

Yes, the commercial Nespressos are better machines, and capsules! These were my introduction to Nespresso, in 1995, while living near Nice. I used to occasionally pop into Monaco (which wasn't quite as overbuilt in those days) to wander around the grand prix circuit and soak in the glamour. There used to be a cafe in or around the Cinema complex just off the Casino Gardens, and I remember them getting a big commercial Nespresso machine, and how great the coffee was from that, even by the high standards of the coffee there at the time (next to Italy).

Vertuo, bears no relation to espresso at all, as it's a completely different extraction process. If one were being cynical, one might view it as invention for the sake of giving Nespresso a new system which gives them another proprietary capsule and machine design they have patented and can sell exclusively. The patent on the original capsule expired a couple of years before Vertuo's introduction. I've never liked the taste of this, or quality of crema.

+1
+100
+10