ᐅ Is a Built-In Fully Automatic Coffee Machine Recommended?

Shut off the mains water connection and use the tank. It would be inconvenient, but this is only a theoretical consideration.

Let’s just make a brief summary now:

- Built-in appliances are significantly more expensive than regular standalone appliances.
- You are at a disadvantage if you want to replace an appliance later on.

These points, especially the first one, were an absolute deal-breaker for us. We want to remain flexible, not knowing where our “coffee journey” will take us in the future.

Personally, I really enjoy drinking espresso and treat it as a ritual on Sundays with a long process. The beans are ground by hand and then brewed in a stovetop espresso maker on the hob.

My wife always shakes her head and laughs, saying “20 minutes of work for your tiny coffee.” But for me, those 20 minutes are relaxing, and I happily take the time. Maybe it’s because I rarely get a good coffee during the week—I’m always on the go, and an espresso is my moment to unwind.
A portafilter espresso machine would definitely be a dream, but first, the house around it needs to be built.

Since a few questions came up, I’d like to answer them. My equipment is a Sage Oracle Touch with caffe mokariko from Firenze. Overall, it’s an explosion of flavor.

And when it comes to the price of coffee, it’s like with meat: if you buy cheap, you can’t expect good quality. You won’t find any coffee in the supermarket that’s even remotely worthwhile.

I can also recommend Dinzler from Irschenberg. But there are many small, very good roasters as well.

And not every coffee works well in your own machine; you have to do some experimenting.

Bookstar schrieb:

And the price of coffee is like with meat. If you buy cheap, you can’t expect good quality.

That would be my criticism of the coffee machines I have come to know: they tend to mask the actual quality differences. The full potential of a truly good bean doesn’t come through (at least not for me).
Of course, if you always drink coffee with milk as a cappuccino or latte, it might not matter so much. But then I wonder why I should even bother buying top-quality beans.

Pinky0301 schrieb:

Does it need to stay warm for you, or is it common practice to keep the machine turned on?
I'm also considering switching from a fully automatic machine to an espresso machine with a portafilter. But I’m worried that making coffee will then become too time-consuming.

We have the ECM Technika iV model. In this machine, the water is kept warm in a boiler, and the brew group—the part where water is pushed through the portafilter at a defined pressure and temperature—is also heated. This brew group is made mostly of metal and takes some time to fully heat up. After about 15 minutes, you get really good coffee, and after an hour it’s even better. So the machine is switched on in the morning and turned off sometime after the last coffee in the afternoon, though sometimes it’s forgotten until the evening.
Making coffee for four people isn’t slower than with a fully automatic machine. You hold the portafilter under the grinder, grind the coffee, let water pass briefly through the brew group, insert the portafilter (it can do two cups at once), extract coffee for 20–25 seconds while frothing milk, add the milk foam to the coffee, a little sugar, and your delicious drink is ready. Then you just knock out the coffee grounds from the portafilter, rinse it briefly under water, and you’re done.
What takes a bit of time and care is adjusting the machine to the beans, since grind size and quantity make a huge difference. We have an ECM 64 grinder, where you can adjust the flow time and vary the grind size precisely. Also, the coffee isn’t crushed or heated during grinding.
For the price, you could also get a built-in fully automatic machine. However, in terms of overall maintenance, I find those more demanding. To sum up the difference: both machines create “mess” — the fully automatic inside and the portafilter machine outside.

Bookstar schrieb:

Sage Oracle Touch

This machine sells like hotcakes here. Especially during the mining boom when money was abundant, it was snapped up by the miners like crazy. It is the best-selling coffee machine in Australia. My husband says it is a very good machine as long as you don’t keep changing the settings. Otherwise, problems arise, and people end up not getting the coffee they were used to or expecting. Our biggest issue is water (scale buildup), and owners tend to leave the machine on for too long, which causes the seals to wear out. He would 100% recommend the machine if you don’t fiddle with it too much. He has these machines in his shop every week.

Oh, and the milk sensor is located at the tip of the steam wand, and it is often damaged.

My husband calls it "the lazy man’s barista coffee machine."