I am fond of a coffee (flat white, cappuccino type of thing) in a morning and often pop into the nearest place to home with the excuse of 'I'll just pick up some xyz'. Fed up with shelling out 80p for parking and £3 for a coffee, I bought a £77 espresso machine. A Beko CEP5152B, because the reviews, particularly from Which are good.
It's a 15bar machine with single and double coffee baskets, 1.2l tank and steam wand, drip tray and warming plate. (Already have a burr grinder and a supply of beans as the missus likes filter/americano style coffee). Didn't go crazy as I don't know if the novelty will wear off and it will pay for itself pretty quickly).
It's pretty good for the £. It's not the most substantial thing but I didn't expect it to be. Shop bought ground coffee works fine (I bought a couple to try different types) as does the home ground Papua New Guinea beans that we have. Some people have put a finer basket in to give a better crema but I think with the right grind and tamping pressure it's OK. There are no bells and whistles, it doesn't give a set volume so you have to stop it when you have the right volume of coffee. Doesn't come with milk jug or thermometer and the tamper is just a bit of plastic with a scoop on the end.
The wand has a removable sleeve which you're supposed to leave on for max frothing and take off for latte style. Works fine with full fat, semi and a 50:50 mix.
Process is typical, run water through to heat the head/basket and warm the cup, quick blast of steam. Fill the basket and off you go.
Supposed to descale it every 2-3 months. I suspect a lot don't get done.
If anyone wants a machine that won't break the bank, it seems like a reasonable choice for two or three coffees a day but not for a coffee production line.
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