Coffee Machines

Coffee Machines

The right coffee machine depends almost entirely on how much of the process you want to do yourself, and that is a preference rather than a budget question. At one end, a capsule or pod machine does everything: you drop in a pod, press a button and it is finished in thirty seconds, with no grinding, no tamping and nothing to clean beyond emptying the used pods. The coffee is consistent and the cost per cup is high. At the other end, a manual espresso machine with a portafilter hands you the whole job, grinding, dosing, tamping and timing the shot, which is how you get cafe-quality coffee at home and also how you get a bad one until the technique clicks. Bean to cup sits between the two and is where most people land: whole beans go in the top, the machine grinds, doses, tamps, extracts and disposes of the puck, and the better ones froth milk automatically as well. Cost per cup drops sharply once you are buying beans rather than pods, which is what makes a bean to cup machine pay for itself in a household drinking two or three coffees a day. Two other formats are worth knowing. Filter and drip machines brew a full jug rather than a single cup, which suits a houseful or an office and is the cheapest way to make a lot of coffee. Cold brew machines steep coffee in cold water for hours rather than minutes, producing a smoother, less acidic concentrate. Whatever the type, the two things that most affect the cup are a burr grinder rather than a blade, and a machine that can hold brewing temperature steadily. Milk matters too: a steam wand gives you control and a learning curve, an automatic frother gives you consistency without either. Check the water tank size and whether it lifts out from the front, since a machine pushed under a wall unit with a top-fill tank is a daily annoyance. Everything here is delivered nationwide across the Republic of Ireland, with click and collect at our Athlone store on Shannon Retail Park, Dublin Road.

Sage is the enthusiast name here, covering the Barista Express, Barista Express Impress, Barista Pro, Oracle Touch and Oracle Jet, plus the Nespresso Creatista Plus and the Luxe Brewer thermal drip. Delonghi covers the Stilosa and Dedica manual espresso machines through the La Specialista Arte and Opera to the Magnifica Start, Magnifica Plus, Rivelia and PrimaDonna Soul bean to cup machines, and the Nescafe Dolce Gusto pod range. Siemens covers fully automatic bean to cup through the EQ300, EQ500 and EQ6, and Bosch the VeroCafe EQ300 and the Tassimo pod machines. Ninja brings the Luxe Cafe range with cold brew, the AutoBarista and the Prestige DualBrew pod and filter system. Nespresso and Krups cover the Citiz and Pixie pod machines, Philips the L’OR Barista, Smeg the 50s Retro espresso machines, and Russell Hobbs the Everyday espresso and Buckingham filter machines.

Bean to Cup Coffee Machines

Beans in the top, coffee in the cup, and the machine does the grinding, dosing, tamping and extraction in between. This is the format that most reduces cost per cup against pods while removing the technique a manual machine demands, which is why it is a large part of the range. The decisions are whether you want automatic milk frothing or a steam wand, how many drink presets you actually need, and whether the grinder is adjustable enough to dial in a bean you like. Browse bean to cup coffee machines.

Semi Automatic Coffee Machines

A semi automatic espresso machine gives you a portafilter and a steam wand and leaves the shot in your hands. You control the grind, the dose, the tamp and the extraction time, which is what makes genuinely good espresso possible at home and what gives the format its following. Expect a learning curve of a few weeks, and budget for a decent grinder if the machine does not include one. See semi automatic coffee machines.

Automatic Coffee Machines

Fully automatic machines take the decisions away entirely: one button, a full drink, milk included. They suit a busy kitchen, an office or anywhere several people with different tastes use the same machine, since drink profiles can be saved per user on the better models. Browse automatic coffee machines.

Capsule and Pod Coffee Machines

Pod machines are the fastest and tidiest way to make a single coffee, with no grinding, no mess and a consistent result every time. The thing to check before buying is the pod system rather than the machine, since Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Tassimo and L’OR capsules are not interchangeable and the system decides your coffee choice and cost per cup for the life of the machine. See capsule coffee machines.

Filter and Drip Coffee Machines

Filter machines brew a jug rather than a cup, which makes them the cheapest way to make coffee for several people and the obvious choice for an office or a household that drinks mugs rather than shots. Thermal carafes keep the jug hot without a hotplate, which stops the coffee stewing. Browse filter and drip coffee machines.

Cold Brew Coffee Machines

Cold brew steeps ground coffee in cold water for several hours instead of forcing hot water through it in seconds, which produces a concentrate that is smoother, sweeter and markedly less acidic. Machines with a dedicated cold brew cycle cut the wait from overnight to under an hour. See cold brew coffee machines.

Coffee Machines Sale

Every coffee machine currently reduced is gathered on one page. This is one of the strongest Black Friday and Cyber Monday categories in the shop, and the reason is the price points: a saving on a bean to cup or a Sage espresso machine is a three-figure sum, which is why they move in volume across that weekend rather than trickling. Expect the deepest cuts on the previous season's bean to cup models and on pod machine bundles that pair a machine with capsules. Coffee machines are also a common Christmas present, so the popular models tend to sell through in late November rather than lasting into December. Prices here are live all year, so the page is worth checking before the event as well as during it. Shop the coffee machines sale.