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Best coffee pod system

I have the same Sage espresso machine (the cheapest one, which is actually great) in two different places and with the same beans, one of them (the newer one) never gives as good a flavour as the other. I bought a 5 litre container of mineral water last week and that seems to have fixed the problem( though I want to try it for a while to rule out wishful thinking/ other variables). Glasgow tap water is disgusting due to the chlorine level. Anyone else have experience with tap water quality and results with their coffee?
 
Couldn't buy one of these systems, they're an environmental nightmare and part of the problems affecting the industry.

The producers are barely getting cost of production back and these companies market an "added value" product involving packaging which is impossible to recycle in many parts of uk.

We use one of a pair of French presses and make sure the coffee is kept sealed in the freezer and fresh.

Son in law brings his own battered stove top to produce a cup you can stand a spoon up in; but he's French so breakfast is that plus a freshly rolled fag.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
We have a Bialetti stove top maker somewhere. No matter what advice from here I followed, it always tasted boring. Add that to the hassle of cleaning, a Nespresso with 9 and 10 strength pods was a pleasure.
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Well, there's something going wrong for you because I know you can do it. I'm drinking one now. I think it's obviously important to burr grind just before you make the drink. And I make half strength, basically I use a six cup at half strength and lots of water, making a sort of "café allongé" -- I don't try to make espresso.

As far as cleaning goes, you shouldn't do more than rinse the topmost part of the Mr Bialetti. The rest is easy to clean, I don't see why you have a problem.
 
TheDecameron said:
I have the same Sage espresso machine (the cheapest one, which is actually great) in two different places and with the same beans, one of them (the newer one) never gives as good a flavour as the other. I bought a 5 litre container of mineral water last week and that seems to have fixed the problem( though I want to try it for a while to rule out wishful thinking/ other variables). Glasgow tap water is disgusting due to the chlorine level. Anyone else have experience with tap water quality and results with their coffee?
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yes I didn't add that to my list of variables which was getting long enough - but yes, we have v.hard tap water, so we have an undersink water filter that seems to do the job. I know someone who thrives on coffee faff, that only now uses Waitrose bottled spring water for his dripper.

Sage machines are well built and use pretty good components. We are pondering one (the Sage Dual Boiler) as a replacement for our Isomak Zafiro - which is on its last legs and getting increasingly difficult to find spare parts for.

Yes the number of variables leading to a decent coffee (espresso based) can generate a lot of faff:

Water quality/hardness
Originating beans
Processing of beans post harvest
Roast level style
Post roast bean age
Grind size and consistency of the grinder
Coffee dose
Tamping pressure
To pre-infuse or not (pre infusion temp, pre infusion pressure)
porta filter type; single/dual?, open?, mesh size?
Water temperature
Machine warm up time and temp.
Extraction pressure
Extraction time

and the faff is added to if you roast your own beans like me.
 
dweezil said:
Couldn't buy one of these systems, they're an environmental nightmare and part of the problems affecting the industry.
.
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The whole non recyclable thing is so overblown on this. They contain very little plastic by weight. I do hope that everyone so concerned never does anything as environmental ly unfriendly as drive to the supermarket, as this will burn enough fossil fuel to keep me in coffee pods for a year.
 
gintonic said:
that isn't really true. The machines need to be able to supply an accurate dosage of water, at the right pressures and temperatures. Then you need the correct beans, roasted appropriately for your taste and a grinder setup for the type of coffee you want to drink, then you need the correct dose of coffee, tamped at the appropriate pressure. Yes it is a faff, and there are a lot of variables, but get it all dialled in and a small counter top machine, can produce tasty and consistent espressos.
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The reason I said it is just that I've never been impressed when I've had coffee from a capsule machine in people's houses, maybe the problem is just that they haven't been using good capsules or a good machine. Having said that, I certainly remember enjoying a drink made in a Krups capsule machine more than any other, so I expect that what stevec67 says is right.

By the way I was somehow under the impression that smaller, non professional, machines don't really get to an optimum pressure. I haven't explored this in any depth so maybe that's not right.
 
dweezil said:
coffee is kept sealed in the freezer and fresh
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The accepted wisdom on this at the moment, is that this should only every be done, if you have a truly airtight container, and only if you really have to. It isn't really recommended practise.

Oxygen, heat, light cause beans to go stale as can high moisture levels. Only buy beans and grind them as you need them. Freezing can prolong the flavour, but only in an airtight container and then not really for more than a few weeks. Long term storage in a freezer can leader to freezer burn. Oh and let the beans defrost and dry out before use as surface condensation isn't good when grinding the beans.
 
mandryka said:
By the way I was somehow under the impression that smaller, non professional, machines don't really get to an optimum pressure. I haven't explored this in any depth so maybe that's not right.
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I think the adage - "you pays your money you takes your choice" - it is really down to the internal components, and on the whole the more you spend, the better pumps, boilers etc get better. You can make a brilliant espresso with a small footprint Gaggia or a Sage dual temp. Yes a bigger machine might be better in terms of pump and temp control etc, but good things can still be achieved with smaller high quality machines.
 
Sage Barrista recently purchased here. Easy to use and it produces a spectacularly good coffee - every bit as good as anything I’ve had from a good coffee shop.

If an Oracle fitted under our kitchen cabinets I’d buy one in a flash.

I’ve had a couple of decent Nespresso coffees but generally it produces an average cup of coffee.
 
I picked up a free Nespresso machine from someone at work. I have a Dolce Gusto machine but had fancied a Nespresso machine for some time as there are third party suppliers of the capsules. Once thing that's puzzled me is that the capsules from some makers just fall through the machine into the hopper that holds the used capsules. I'm assuming that's due to them not being exactly the right size.
 
gintonic said:
The accepted wisdom on this at the moment, is that this should only every be done, if you have a truly airtight container, and only if you really have to. It isn't really recommended practise.

Oxygen, heat, light cause beans to go stale as can high moisture levels. Only buy beans and grind them as you need them. Freezing can prolong the flavour, but only in an airtight container and then not really for more than a few weeks. Long term storage in a freezer can leader to freezer burn. Oh and let the beans defrost and dry out before use as surface condensation isn't good when grinding the beans.
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Must confess to being a heathen, we usually get ready ground now as the coffee grinder has been retasked as a spice grinder.

Spices and coffee are all fairly well sealed in the little kitchen freezer.

Know it's totally hypocritical to complain about lack of recycling when OH uses cat food sachets; I cringe every time I look in the non recyclable bin.
 
To kick me into gear in the mornings, Monday to Friday, I make myself a Hot Java Lava with a Bodum individual coffee filter maker.

And when I get home it has been cleaned! By magic!
 
gintonic said:
The accepted wisdom on this at the moment, is that this should only every be done, if you have a truly airtight container
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Is there a really good airtight container?

I buy 1kg of beans at a time, and it takes some time to use them. I'd like to have a really airtight container to store them in.
 
I think the Nesspreso pods are actually aluminium and all the third party ones I used were plastic and were more faffy to use. I now have a DeLonghi and grinder. The coffee is I think better than the pods, and much cheaper, I buy 2.5kg bags of beans from the Algerian coffee shop in Soho London. No doubt it’s not the best way to buy coffee, depends on how important it is to you. I once saw a guy who would adjust the grind size depending on the humidity level on the day,
 
I currently only use two capsule machines.
One is Nespresso style using locally produced capsules, I choose the strongest one and adjust the machine to get a mug sized drink out of it.
The other is a Tassimo which I prefer when I can get hold of the capsules for it (Not available here, wait for friends and family to bring some or order if desperate).
They both rely heavily on the capsules you choose but I've had most luck with the Tassimo and find the machine more consistent.
 
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mandryka said:
Tremendous, thanks. That’s the sort of thing I was looking for but the last time I searched I couldn’t find anything.

Are you near SW London? If so, can I come over for a cup? I’ll bring the biscuits.
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No sorry - Heart of Herts.
 
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