Hi Sospan,
We replaced our dolce gusto with a Delonghi Magnifica bean to cup coffee machine, it is almost as quick as a pod machine (we don't bother frothing the milk) just microwave the milk for 10 seconds, cup under the spout, press the button and out comes the coffee, we find it is good as you can experiment with different coffee beans (pelican rouge are our favourite at moment) and you can adjust the strength to taste, you can adjust cup size so from a espresso to a cup, for a mug just wait until first cup has poured then adjust cup size and press again. it needs a bit more cleaning than the dolce gusto but we like the coffee better so find it is worth while.


might just have to go press the button again now:)

Had some camp coffee at Beamish Museum a few weeks ago

I thought it was horrible

Wasn’t it a designed to be a cheap coffee alternative made from chicory?

Was that hot or cold ? I have only used it for making iced coffees when it is excellent and easy to use, never tried it hot.

It was hot, both with boiled water then warm milk like a cocoa

Probably why it horrible as I was comparing it to real coffee

I can imagine that was quite disgusting really and not matching the prices of their products

If I remember correctly Camp was a coffee and chicory mix designed to bring coffee to the masses through a lower price as well as be easy to keep in liquid form. The polite words that spring to mind are "an acquired taste". It was however a good base for several cocktails, caramel gelato swirl and several other very tasty morsels.

I was casting my mind back a lot of years and I think Camp was a precursor to Instant coffee for us here in the UK, we weren't allowed it as children either.

It came in an HP sauce type bottle and going by the colour could easily be confused, I happen to be a fan of both cold.

Yes that’s how it was explained to us at Beamish which is set in 1913

It was a chicory coffee substitute when coffee was expensive and rare to obtain in England

2020 has changed my coffee habits, not least because for some months local shops were closed. And my 30+ year old Dualit grinder died.

It’s taken a lot of research, and some practise, but I can now make a barista standard coffee at home - give or take the foam art :-)

Water.
Living beneath the south downs means our water is very hard - and of no use at all for producing a nice crema.
All our drinking water is already filtered through a Berkey filter - which cleans the water enough that we don’t have to descale the kettle weekly.

Water for coffee is then passed through a Peak Water jug - which adjusts the Ph - the thing that coffee shops do that's normally impossible to do at home.
https://berkey-waterfilters.co.uk/c...roducts/berkey-light-water-filter-system
https://peak-water.com/

The grinder
You could spend hours researching and a fortune buying a grinder. I was very tempted by the spiritual engagement of hand cranking, but settled for the precision of a Sage ‘dose control’ grinder that gives me exactly the same quantity and grind of coffee every time.
https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/coffee-grinders/bcg600.html

Coffee is ground from freshly roasted beans - either Hasbean or my local Pharmacie roasters, on subscription.
Switching home coffee making from french press to espresso I'm surprised to find how much I've reduced the amount of beans I buy by more than half - I'm now getting through 0.5-0.75kg a week rather than nearer 2kg
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/
https://pharmacie.coffee/

Espresso
Having been caught out before by electric espresso machines: eventually something gets choked, or breaks, this time I wanted a manual press. (15 years of hard water in the New Forest killed a Gaggia, in spite of regular cleaning :-( ) I travel with an Aeropress, but it can't produce enough pressure. & this unit doesn't need to be portable.

I’ve gone hand cranked with a Flair lever and pressure valve, which gives me good control.
With practice I've figured out how much coffee, and the pressure to tamp it with, I’m producing consistent, lovely creamy coffees.

https://shop.doppiocoffee.co.uk/dop...-maker-signature-new-model-white-copper/

Latte
Is there a way to get a nice foamed milk without firing up a steam pressure device? If foaming the milk is a separate process from making the coffee the whole thing could take longer.

I found Severin induction milk frothers, which spin the milk while heating it. Having been brought up to believe that foamed milk needed the drama of steam I was a bit sceptical that 'just' spinning and heating the milk would produce the same result - but it does, with measured consistency, and no drama.
In the 2 minutes it takes to prepare the milk, I can make a cup of espresso.
https://www.severin.com/electric-milk-frothers-2d5fc15e

There’s a fair investment here to get a cup of coffee… but man maths says that I’ll break even inside a year…

I have been through most of the processors in time and still a Jar of original Nescafe stands next to the Kettle

i do about x12 cups a day