Buying Guide - Coffee Makers

Before you invest in a coffee maker think about what sort of coffee you like - filter, espresso or cappuccino; how much of it you want to make and how often you plan to use your machine. Prices vary enormously depending on the type of coffee and ease of use.

There is a lot to consider when purchasing a Coffee Machine and its worth considering your options to make sure you ultimately get the coffee taste and pleasure from your coffee maker. Think about the coffee you like, espresso, cappuccino, latte, filtered or cafetières. Coffee makers can vary in price and work in different ways to help extract the prefect flavour from your coffee beans.

Cafetières or French press uses a wire mesh plunger system in either a glass or steel jug. These are ideal if you want a quick coffee and can it can be brought directly to the table if you have guests. They produce a similar coffee taste to a filter system. See our Cafetières Range

Filter coffee machines come use a water drip system, the water is heated in your coffee machine and this water drips over the coffee grounds, into a coffee jug. They vary in size and often come with either a thermos jug or hot plate. Allowing you to keep you coffee warm without having to re-brew.

Look for a deep cone to hold your coffee , letting the water penetrate through all the coffee grinds. The filter will either be a reuseable mesh or disposable filter papers, that can be thrown onto the compost for disposal.

Some coffee machines allow you to use a pod system which is like a tea bag, ensuring that the correct amount of coffee is dispensed for the prefect brew, but also there is no messy grits to dispose of.

Percolators and moka stovetops produce coffee from the bottom up. Ground coffee is put into a filter pod at the top, water into a vessel at the bottom. The water is boiled often on a hob or through their own heating element, the resulting steam is forced through the filter pod and the brewed coffee enters the jug at the top. For some this produces a great coffee, almost every household in Italy will have a moka stove top brewer. For others this method does not produce all the zingy flavours from the coffee bean. In our opinion a great and convenient way to enjoy coffee. See Our Range of Filter Coffee Makers Moka Stove Tops

There are a great range of espresso machines that produce the strong coffee that your barista will make at your favourite coffee shop. The coffee machines heat up the water to force steam through the coffee to produce a rich strong full flavour.

The rich espresso is used as the base for cappuccino or lattes or simple drunk as short espresso on it's own. These machines us either a pressure system or pump to produce the espresso. To make a great espresso there are some very simple rules, and depending on your skills as a barista will help you choose the right coffee machine for you.

To make the perfect shot you need to force 3ml of water at 88 to 90 degrees C through 7 grams of ground coffee under 15 bars of pressure! But don't worry that's what the espresso machine is built to help you do it.

Water is boiled in a pressure chamber.When there is enough pressure the steam is forced through the porta filter of coffee.

The coffee maker will also have a nozzle for frothing milk with steam. Look out for a machine with at least 15 bars of pressure, otherwise as the steam is released the pressure can drop quickly, producing a disappointing coffee. Don't worry we're done some testing and offer a good range of machines that we think won't disappoint.

These tend to cost more but the recent invention of Thermoblock technology helps to produce the cafe espresso form a domestic coffee machine. Not unlike a combi-boiler the water is pumped through the thermoblock which has been heated, this quickly turns the water needed to steam at 88-92 degrees C. The steam is then forced through the porta filter of coffee grounds at the correct pressure. Some machines will control this process through a computer chip, through the whole process, from grinding the bean, tamping, to producing just the right amount of water. Other leave this in the hands of the domestic barista. Look out for thrmoblock coffee machines and fully automatic bean to cup coffee machines. See our range of Espresso Machines

If you're looking for a easy way to make espresso coffee consider a nespresso machine. No spills, no grounds no grinding and no messy filters.

Just add a pre blended, roasted and ground coffee pod into your machine, switch it on and watch it work its magic. As the pods are sealed the last for about 12 months, and it's easy to have a range of strengths and flavours. Great for the occasional coffee drinker, but not for the coffee aficionado. See our Range of Nespresso Machines

Useful Links