One of the most important items that no kitchen should be without is the coffee machine.
But with the abundance of offers, brands, models and the like, it can be difficult to decide on the right one.
Where do you start your search? Not only the functions, but also the appearance and the price play a major role.
Then of course other questions arise, which beans are suitable for which coffee machine and, above all, the most important one: which coffee machine suits my needs?
In order to answer this, you first have to be clear about the basic requirements and circumstances.
This means you should consider what your home looks like, what kind of appliances you already have, your coffee-making skills, and so on.
To make your life and the search for the perfect coffee machine a little easier, we have put together a small guide below to help you!
First things first – how to find out what you are looking for:
4 tips to get the perfect coffee machine
1 Come up with a budget
Nothing happens without moss! If you're not sure how much you can actually spend on a coffee maker, your search will probably get dizzy pretty quickly. There really is a world of difference between a filter coffee machine for around 30 euros and an exclusive luxury espresso machine for several thousand euros. It also narrows down your search when you determine how much you want to spend on the purchase.
But it's not just the acquisition costs that are important. Even after that, there will be ongoing costs that you have to pay for somehow. This starts with the type of coffee: A capsule machine may be relatively cheap to purchase and maintain, but the individual price of a capsule is often many times more expensive than if you buy the whole coffee beans or coffee sets by the kilo.
However, you need more accessories for these machines, such as a milk frother, which is already included in a fully automatic machine.
However, these comments are just a few of many that you should consider before purchasing a coffee machine.
2 How many people use the coffee machine?
This varies from one household to another. If you prefer to meet your friends in a coffee house or generally rarely receive visitors, you will be happy with a model that does not have a dual function.
However, especially when working from home, you should think twice about whether you should buy a machine that can withstand increased coffee consumption.
If only one person in the house likes to drink coffee, then the largest model will not be necessary.
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3 What type of coffee is drunk the most?
If you are a fan of good old filter coffee and are already satisfied with an Americano in the morning, then you can safely exclude the exclusive versions of the Italian single-horse machines from your search. These would have a hard time satisfying your thirst for half a liter of coffee when you get up.
But if you're really into lattes and the like, then you definitely should Take a closer look at fully automatic machines. A capsule machine, if its capsules cannot prepare milk coffee variations directly, will not bring you much joy. If you are not quite sure which type of preparation suits your needs, you can also buy coffee sets when purchasing so that you can experiment with the new machine at home.
4 Pay attention to the technical data!
Are you very concerned about not doing too much damage to the environment and therefore don't want to use too much water, electricity, etc. to prepare your coffee?
Then you have to devote yourself to the more unpleasant part of shopping and study and compare technical data carefully. The power consumption in the background of one of those big one-horse machines that you know from the café is incredibly high!
Of course, this is significantly lower for models for home use, but such models also consume significantly more electricity than a small capsule machine or a classic Bialetti espresso maker (Espresso maker test 2021).
All of these are factors that can largely be subordinated to the financial demands on a coffee machine.
If there are several people in the household who use the coffee machine and you spend a lot of time at home, or perhaps you all work from home, then it is not essential to consider the volume of the coffee machine!
Just like in the office, no one wants to be constantly distracted by the noise while brewing coffee.
Conclusion
So there are a lot of things you have to consider if you want to get a coffee machine for your home. It becomes particularly difficult when several people have a say and do not share the same taste. In any case, coffee sets help with this, so that you can vary a bit with the respective machines and so everyone gets their money's worth! Because drinking coffee is primarily about enjoyment and you don't want to get into a bad mood before you've even prepared your first cup of coffee! Espresso, latte macchiato, cappuccino – which fully automatic coffee machines make the best coffee? Fully automatic coffee machines in comparison.