Is anyone a Cappuccino/Expresso Drinker?

[bigtrain74]

I am interested in investing a little bit of money into a cappuccion maker. Are there any speciality coffee drinkers out there? If so what kind of machine do you have? Do you make them often?

 

[scarbelly]

I have a Jura Impressa E75 that we bought 7- 10 years ago for something like $700. We use it every morning and at last count we were over 10,000 vends on it. It grinds, tamp, brews then dumps the grounds into a hopper. It is considered a semi automatic. Jura even replaced the unit after 6 years because they discovered we were registered but did not get sent a recall notice. I highly recommend this company and for individual advise and customer service beyond belief try Whole Latte Love
www.wholelattelove.com they will talk to you about how you will use it and make recommendations. You can browse their website and see customer reviews on each machine plus some reviews buy the website. I have no interest in this company or the one below but have found their customer service to be outstanding.

Once you have made up your mind on a machine you are going to want to experiment with different whole beans already roasted from several different places. Everyone roasts in a different manner and to a different finish. We got the bug and now roast our own beans. The best site I have ever found for roasting and customer support and in depth coffee information is Sweet Maria's Coffee. They are a whole bean - green coffee importer with an ephasis on getting coffee from responsibe growers and they give you a description of every coffee they import - they now have about 80 on line. They are at www.sweetmarias.com and they carry both the beans and the roasters with very detailed reviews

I hope this helps with you decision making and if I can be of further help send me a PM.

 

[deltadude]

The Aeropress works ok for small quantities of coffee or a semi-espresso shot. I say semi because it is not quite espresso, but is close, you can even get foam on top similar to the reddish-brown crema that is always present on a well made shot of expresso. About $30

I bought a Aeropress for a Mother's day gift for the wife. She is a coffee fiend. We really enjoyed the coffee the Aeropress makes, and I like double shots of espresso, and thought the Aeropress results was the cheapest home version of espresso with ok results. The only problem is the wife like to grind the beans, put it in a filter and pour water. When you add in the extra step of heating water in the micro wave and the practice necessary to get the temps just right repeatedly, she would drink coffee from the Aeropress if I made it but wouldn't bother with it herself. Too complicated.

However for me it was simple, I can make two cups of coffee in a lot less time than the time required using the drip coffee maker. With practice you can make excellent tasting coffee, and ok tasting espresso. I say ok espresso, because the Aeropress doesn't actually make the crema part of espresso, which can only be accomplished via a high pressure espresso maker. The crema is all the flavor. The other issue with the Aeropress is you can only make a couple of cups at a time. If you have a good insulated caraf you can make 6 or 8 cups, by just making 4 espresso shots x 2 then just add hot water, but it is a multi step process and a bit of a hassel. The whole point of the Aeropress is to make a single or two amazing cups of coffee at a time, and the Aeropress excells at that task.

 

[scubadoo97]

Milk covers a lot of sins. For a good low end espresso machine look at coffeegeek.com for a lot of info. Most important if you want to pull good shots you need a good grinder. This is important for you to understand, the grinder is more important than the machine. A high end machine will turn out crappy espresso with a grinder that's not up to the task. Look at espresso quality grinders first then look at the machines. A low end semi automatic home espresso machine will set you back about $400-500 and the grinder will be $250-500. I can give you more info later. Got to get ready for NYE home party but I'll get you more info soon.

 

[mysticalman]

I did the routine on a day basis for about a year until I was turned onto a keurig Brewer. Now when I want a latter put in a k-cup push a button, while doing that use my microwave froth pitcher to get some milk ready so I can be all said and done withing 3 mine or less. Vs old method of turning on Tue machine grind up some coffee pack it down wait some more draw the espresso wait for it to recover then froth the milk.

The old process could be done in 15-20 mins but with the keurig Brewer it just goes so much faster with minimul taste differences.

MM

 

[beer-b-q]

I drink them just don't make them...

 

[greendrake]

I did a ton of research before buying mine. I have a Jura Capresso S7 super auto. Yes they are $2k new, but you can find deals. I look at it this way, if I were cruising through a coffee stand every day, the cost of those drinks would cost justify purchasing a super auto, within the warranty period of the product...most of the time within one year.

I checked out all the sites, found a great one at www.zaccardis.com where they often times have refurbs on sale. I ended up buying directly from Capresso. they have a section on their page where you can buy refurbished super autos, which to me, is the best deal. I think I paid about $1000 for my S7 and it has been chugging along for years now. I like the double boiler, conical burr grinder and the fact that it does it all in one machine. Including a bypass pour funnel if someone wants a decaf or if you have a gourmet flavored ground. As for me, I do a four shot cappucino every morning, love it.

Here's the secret link, check out their refurbs, killer deal and they are an excellent company to do business with
http://capresso.com/factory-serviced-products.shtml

 

[bigtrain74]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the info!

 

[scarbelly]

Greendrake is right on with this post. I also looked at Capresso direct when I was looking but due to impatience I got mine from whole latte love cause I wanted it now _ LOL Mine is an older version of his machine
Don't know how often you stop for a coffee drink but these machines go from Espresso to a regular coffee vend and do it in about a minute with a good quality vend. One of the other highlights of these machines is the ability to vend both regular beans and ground decaf or vice versa without having to cleanse the machine. This is a somewhat pricey but well worth the investment if you enjoy a good cup of coffee in multiple formats