Bean to cup

[davidd]

I know that even the question might be sacrilege, but has anyone tried any of the bean-to-cup machines, and had a decent shot from one

[pault]

I'm just off to get my flaming cross, a few well-sharpened stakes and the rest of the villagers ...

[pault]

oh, should have added a few ....

[zix]

I know that even the question might be sacrilege, but has anyone tried any of the bean-to-cup machines, and had a decent shot from one

The other villagers haven´t shown up yet, so I throw this in quick before they come howling
On my friends job they have... the machine you mention. I would absolutely not call it good espresso, but it *is* drinkable whenever they have really fresh coffee. My friend recently managed to get the temp up to the highest setting. I haven´t had the opportunity to taste the difference yet or ask him if it was a success. Shall I steal away to you with a report when I know - if you manage to get away from the possy?

[tisri]

I know that even the question might be sacrilege, but has anyone tried any of the bean-to-cup machines, and had a decent shot from one

I use a Gaggia Syncrony Compact Digital and I've been very pleased with it. If you buy a cheap one you're more likely to be unhappy with it, simply because there are so many corners that would need to be cut.

My machine was about £450 and allows control of the temperature, the grinder coarseness, the amount of coffee, whether to prebrew, whether to pregrind, whether to self-rinse on power-up and so on. Self-rinsing is a Good Thing, because it flushes out any remaining coffee from the previous session.

When I draw an espresso from my unit I get a good strong coffee with anything up to a quarter-inch of crema which varies from golden to reddish-brown depending on the coffee and freshness (generally I've found that the fresher the coffee, the redder the crema). It's probably not as good from a purist's perspective as a dedicated espresso machine but it's certainly something I'd recommend, not least for the ease of use.

It's particularly good in the morning before going to work - I can push the button for "regular coffee" twice, go and put my shoes on and have a cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee waiting for me when I've finished.