Is an integrated fully automatic coffee machine recommended?

Shut off the fixed water connection, use the tank. It would be annoying, but it is only a theoretical consideration.

Let's just make a little summary now:

- The integrated devices are significantly more expensive than the regular stand-alone devices.
- You are at a disadvantage in the event of a possible later device change.

These points, especially the first one, were already an absolute no-go for us. We want to be flexible, no idea where the coffee journey will lead us in the future.

Personally, I really enjoy drinking espresso and celebrate this on Sundays with an eternally long procedure. The beans are ground by hand and then cooked in an "espresso pot" on the stove.

My wife always shakes her head and laughs, "20 minutes of work for your tiny coffee." But for me, those are 20 minutes that relax me and I like to take the time. Maybe because I never get a good coffee during the week, I am always on the go, and an espresso is for me the moment to switch off.
A portafilter machine would definitely be a dream, but first, the house around it has to be built.

Since a few questions came up here, I would like to answer them. My equipment is Sage Oracle Touch with caffe mokariko from Firenze. Overall, a flavor explosion.

And with the price of coffee, it’s like with meat. Whoever buys cheap cannot expect good quality. You will not find any coffee in the supermarket that is even remotely worth it.

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

And not every coffee works in your own machine, you have to experiment a bit.

And the price of coffee is like meat. If you buy cheap, you cannot expect good quality.

And that would be my criticism of the coffee machines I got to know: They actually blur the existing quality differences. The potential of a really good bean (at least I) just can’t get out of it. Of course, if you drink everything with milk as a cappuccino or latte macchiato, that might not be so decisive. But then I ask myself why I should even buy the top quality beans.

Does it have to stay warm for you or is it generally done that the machine stays on? I am also considering switching from a fully automatic machine to a portafilter. But I fear that making coffee will then become too time-consuming for me.

We have the ECM Technika iV model. Here, the water is kept warm in a boiler and the brewing group – the part through which the water is pressed with defined pressure and defined heat into the portafilter – is also heated. This brewing group consists of quite a lot of metal and takes a while to heat through – after about 15 minutes there is really delicious coffee, after 1 hour it gets even better. So the machine is turned on in the morning and switched off again sometime in the afternoon after the last coffee, sometimes it is forgotten until the evening. Making coffee itself for 4 people is not slower than with a fully automatic machine. Hold the portafilter to the grinder, grind coffee, let water run through the brewing group for x-tenths of a second, insert the portafilter (can also handle 2 cups at once), extract coffee for 20-25 seconds while frothing milk, milk foam on coffee, a little sugar and the delicious brew is ready. Now just quickly knock out the puck, rinse briefly under water and done. What takes some time and care is adjusting to the beans, because grind size and quantity make a huge difference. We have an ECM 64 grinder, where you can set the flow time and vary the grind size perfectly. In addition, the coffee is neither crushed nor heated during grinding. For the price, you can also get a built-in fully automatic machine. However, I consider that one to be even more demanding in terms of maintenance overall. To put the difference succinctly: both machines make “dirt.” The fully automatic machine inside and the portafilter machine outside.

Sage Oracle Touch

This machine sells like hot cakes here. Especially when we had the mining boom and money was in abundance, it was bought like crazy by the mining guys. It is the best-selling coffee machine in Australia. My husband says it’s a very good machine as long as you don’t constantly change the settings. Then there are problems, people end up not getting the coffee they were used to or hoped for. Our biggest problem is water (scaling) and owners leave the machine on for too long, which causes the seals to break. He would 100% recommend the machine if you don’t fiddle with it too much. He has these things in his shop every week.

Oh yes, the milk sensor is at the top of the steam wand, and it often gets damaged.

My husband says, "it is the lazy men’s barista coffee machine."