Coffee / hot drinks machines

[Penfold]

I have a Nespresso coffee machine which was perfect but now need to find one which also does other stuff like hot chocolate/tea etc

Does anyone have any experience of hot drinks machines which do more than coffee - such as hot chocolate and the like.

A domestic-scale machine would be fine but apart from the Tassimo (which wasn't recommended) I'm struggling to find one, they all seem to be espresso type machines.

I've googled vending drinks machines but they are tending to be either a bit commercially large scale for us or ones you lease and, frankly, there's a credit crunch on don't ya know.

Do you chaps use any others or know of any?

Thanks

PEN

[Blunt]

where is this for Pen?

office? home? garden shed?

[Gandalf]

ok, I've got a tassimo at work and a dolce gusto at home.

for coffee, the tassimo wins hands down for taste and varieties available. It does do hot chocolate, but it's not as good as home made stuff. I'd say it was on a par with other vending machines fare. It does make tea too, but there is only one variety available which is an english breakfast tea. I can't comment on what it's like as I don't drink tea!

the dolce gusto is far better at making the exotic coffees and drinks than the tassimo. the cappuchino and lattes are very good, as is the hot chocolate. normal coffee however is crap and it doesn't make tea. However you can use it to just dispense hot water so with a tea bag....

[Penfold]

it's for the orifice.

Thanks Gandy the Dolce one sounds like the thing. Bleh they can make their own tea ... bring a tbag - how hard can it be :eyebrow:

PEN

[OldBloke]

it's for the orifice.

Thanks Gandy the Dolce one sounds like the thing.

But he said it makes crap coffee. Can't have that.

[Penfold]

missed that :ranting2:

Good catch lol

PEN

[T-Bag]

Tassimo does have a couple of types of tea too. Problem with it is it's small serving sizes and the fact it's pretty expensive per drink. Also if you're a fan of the environment the number of plastic "disks" might be a concern too.
That said the drinks tasted alright, and there were large numbers of them.

We've gone back to using a kettle now though.

[Jamoe]

We've gone back to using a kettle now though.

I like the idea or the Tefal Quick Cup? Probably won't suit your needs if your looking for an all in 1 machine.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Quick-Cup-Water-Seconds/dp/B000SK9G52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1228130360&sr=8-1

[Gandalf]

I like the idea or the Tefal Quick Cup? Probably won't suit your needs if your looking for an all in 1 machine.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Quick-Cup-Water-Seconds/dp/B000SK9G52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1228130360&sr=8-1

that thing is a bag of shite. one of the guys at work has one. takes longer than the specified time and the water comes out warm. he said you're better off making your drink with the hot tap!

[Penfold]

When you say exotic coffee's Gandy and that normal coffee is crap - what do you mean.

I'll drink exotic coffees if they're nice (I keep wanting to write erotic instead of erotic for some reason :doh:).

[Romus]

I'll drink exotic coffees if they're nice (I keep wanting to write erotic instead of erotic for some reason :doh:).

It wouldn't make big difference anyways. :lmfao:

Erotic coffee.. That must be the next big hit.

[Gandalf]

normal coffee is bland and tasteless, it's just like a cheap instant. You get a better cup by doing a double espresso, but more expensive. Espresso is ok'ish.

Cappuchino, latte, mocha etc are good. My fav of the three is the latte. However as these use two of the pods you only get half as many drinks per box (8 or 10 I think) and each box costs around £3-4 so it's not cheap.

The main advantage with this machine is that you control the water, so you control the mixtures for the drinks such as latte, etc.

Really, if you're after something that does coffee with the occasional latte, cappuchino then the tassimo is a better machine, and 18 cups of coffee is around £3.50. This one gets 90% more use than the other as it's at work so is in use all day. The dolce at home gets used at weekends only.

[T-Bag]

I like the idea or the Tefal Quick Cup? Probably won't suit your needs if your looking for an all in 1 machine.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Quick-Cup-Water-Seconds/dp/B000SK9G52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1228130360&sr=8-1

Looked at that and figured, it's not going to boil water in 3 seconds. If the kettle has gone off boil for more than about 15 seconds I click it back on again to make the best tea. So if the water comes out at anything less than boiling I won't enjoy using it (I like tea made with really hot water).
Also in my house back home when I'm back from uni we make upto 5 cups a time about every 1/2 hour or so, which is pretty much tea urn scale.

(Just thinking about it...our electricity bill are probably about 50% kettle since we're on Gas heating and cooking...really should buy a generator and power the house on Veg oil, it'd save a fortune and we're already using it in the cars)

[Penfold]

Update:

Tassimo ordered. Thanks for the help guys!

PEN

[KKND]

What about Senseo also good coffee if you buy the right coffee pads..:norty: