Here is my dilemma: my wife and I just came back in from a vacation from Cancun, Mexico and stayed at this hotel that had a super automatic coffee maker/cappuccino which I used everyday at least five + times. Back here in S. Dakota I miss just pressing a button and having a perfect cappuccino made in 20 seconds. I am a small business owner that drinks a lot of coffee everyday but I also drink $1000.00+ of Rockstar or Redbull per year too. What I am trying to justify is stop drinking Rockstar and Redbull and putting all that money into a superautomatic machine for less than 800 to 900 or so. Can some of you all give me advice on where to start? I am done a little research and have found a Saeco for somewhere along the lines of $550 but I can't imagine a machine that will do almost everything for you expect make your bed last a long time using day to day for under $1000.00

Can someone give me the pros and cons of a superautomatic? What type of price range I should be looking at and if craigslist, buying direct, not buying one and just sucking it up and keep brewing my own 100% Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in my $100.00 coffee maker is my best option?

I read that Seattle Coffee Gear is a good start for refurbed models but are refurbs a decent deal or will they stop working after a year or so?

Thanks everyone --

I know this has probably been covered before but I am a newbie and just got a account therefore I have not been able to do any searches yet on this topic. Any help would be grateful.

Thanks from -25F S. Dakota.


Also, I have been debating the Jura Capresso Impressa F9 and I have read that a lot of the cheaper models are plastic and not stainless steel. Is this particular model stainless and do any of you actually have and you this model on a daily basis?

You probably were using a Franke machine at the hotel, which is a $10,000+ machine. You're not going to find anything similar for under 1000, or even under $3000.

Most people here will tell you that a super-auto makes a very mediocre espresso. The built-in grinders are OK at best, and there's no control over distribution. You'll get more for your dollar by buying a separate grinder and semi-auto combo, and learning how to use it well. Still, as long as your expectations are set right, the super-auto has its place if convenience is important (and cost effectiveness isn't).

As you go up the price range in super-auto's, the general rule of thumb is that the coffee side stays more or less the same, and the milk side improves. (You also get more whizzy features that may or may not matter to you.) Since you're interested in milk drinks, I think you should stay away from the low end. Look for a refurb (one done by a reputable place like Seattle Coffee Gear ought to be a safe buy). A used model off of craigslist or ebay will be cheaper and chancier.

(I have a Jura J5 myself, and it makes decent enough coffee. I've never used it for a milk drink, have no idea how it performs steaming milk.)

If the convenience aspect is important to you, you might look a the Nespresso line of machines, quite reasonable and reportedly make decent espresso (I've never tried one). The superautos that you're looking at are prone to breakdowns and won't make nearly as nice coffee as a separate grinder/machine.

aspenedelen wrote:Can someone give me the pros and cons of a superautomatic? What type of price range I should be looking at and if craigslist, buying direct, not buying one and just sucking it up and keep brewing my own 100% Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in my $100.00 coffee maker is my best option?

Chris at ChrisCoffee has a super auto at around $2,000 that from the specs has the kinds of things I would want in such a machine if I were buying one. Haven't brewed on any of them, however, so it is all speculation.

aspenedelen wrote:Can someone give me the pros and cons of a superautomatic? What type of price range I should be looking at and if craigslist, buying direct, not buying one and just sucking it up and keep brewing my own 100% Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in my $100.00 coffee maker is my best option?

Most people on this site enjoy the tactile nature of making coffee too much to use super-autos so you're going to get bias against these in general. When I started in this hobby/obsession I thought that one touch was what I wanted but quickly found that controlling all the conditions really improved what was in the cup alot. The biggest problem with superautos I've heard is that there are too many parts that can break...in fact I know a guy who swears by them and was trying to talk me into getting one. The way he does it is that he actually owns TWO of them since he often has one in the repair shop...this way he can always have 1 functional machine (some starbucks brand...or actually might have been a Jura).

I recommend reading: http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/howtob...ssomachine

Now if improving you coffee is what you want, I can provide some much cheaper and more satisfying advice that is fairly simple...
- Try beans from an artisan roaster such as Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, or Ritual to start. Try coffee within 4-10 days of being roasted....it will probably blow your mind relative to "100% Kona" which has probably been sitting on a shelf....this is despite the method of brewing. Most of these roasters ship priority right after roasting so will get to you ready to go

- Upgrade your grinder (or definitely get one) - there is also a big difference between the blade grinders and a burr grinder. Points 1 and 2 are really the basic fact that there is a big garbage in/garbage out factor in all coffee

- Give an Aeropress a try. It is advertised as an espresso maker but it isn't...just makes a damn good cup of coffee if you hit it right that will blow the doors off of any drip coffeemaker. $25, a hot water source, and a few minutes and you are golden.

Hey to all that have replied so far,

Wow is all I can say! I think that many of you have just saved me close to $1000. Being a multiple business owner I don't have a lot of time in my day and I think I was trying to justify spending close to that $1000 for convenience rather than quality. When I was in Mexico it was wonderful just pressing a button and in 20 seconds you had a cappuccino or coffee but realistically I am not spending $10K or anywhere near that for my personal coffee habits and cappuccino habits.

What I am going to do is do a lot more research on this, pm a few of you (if this site allows it) and ask lots of questions and then make a informed, efficient, and intuitive decision based on your information to my needs.

I do love convenience but I am not going to sacrifice spending money to repair these things after a year or two or three or four for it. My wife and I got married just a little over two years ago and one of my groomsman got me this $100 coffee maker that I honestly love but it is getting to the point of being used everyday and is starting to breakdown. I want to get more involved in the actual quality of my coffee now but one of my wifes fortes is Starbucks. I figure that if we spend money on a good machine we literally can replace our Starbucks budget and put that money into a machine that will make coffee, lattes and cappuccinos. I have a long way to go but with your advice I think I will get there. Thank you all for your info and if any of you have anything else to add please feel free to pipe in with any and all information that may be relative to this topic. Thanks from warm and balmy 10F S. Dakota (it's a heat wave here).

I have a Nespresso Citiz Milk machine that I take with me when I travel. Although the quality of the drink is not even close to what I make at home it is typically as good as, perhaps better than and more convenient than finding coffee at 5 AM in the morning. For an office environment I think it might work but be prepared to spend 75 cents per capsule for coffee and don't be surprised if it take 2-3 of them to make a stronger cup as I do.

I looked at the Super Automatics long and hard before I bought my current setup and I am glad I chose what I did.

There is another side to coffee making and you should explore it before you invest. If convenience is more important than taste then the super automatic is the way to go.

I would suggest that you stick on the subject on this forum, ask a lot of questions and you might find a local barista that will expose you to what coffee can taste like.

aspenedelen wrote: having a perfect cappuccino made in 20 seconds.

Impossible.

Well the machine at the hotel did it in 20sec flat. I timed it from when I pushed the button to when it was finished.

Bluecold wrote:Impossible.

Perhaps not- if you start timing after the espresso has been pulled. And about half-way through steaming the milk.