Coffee Appreciation

The sage is a good grinder, for £200 its a bargain.

I have an opinion on all bean-to-cup fully automatics.

They're great for as long as they work.

Extremely consistent espresso for very little hassle.

But, they are complex and each individual component is a balancing act of compromises on space and cost. Take them apart and too much is plastic... but that's OK, it's never the plastic that fails. The grinders are OK too. What fails are the self-cleaning mechanisms, the solenoids, etc. Stuff which should be cheap to fix, but because of the complexity of these machines the cost to repair usually works out just shy of the cost to replace... and as the cost to repair only addresses that one component it's usually best to replace.

The several I've owned have been DeLonghi (x2), Sage (x1) and Saeco (x1). Always the £500 > £1k range (the more expensive machines purchased cheaper during promotions).

They've all averaged 22 months of service before failing.

Yes, I followed the maintenance plans, diligently cleaning and descaling on a monthly basis. These machines are just doing too much for the price point... the business-grade versions are rock solid, the home versions have too many compromises for cost.

Are they worth it? Yes. But as a 2 year disposable product that you may get a longer life out of.

If you're using it daily for 2 people (as we were) for 2 years, then a £500 machine amortises at a cost of 34p per use. Expect to amortise between 35p > 50p per use.

On that basis... consumer fully automatics are rather good value. Giving a total cost of ownership similar to Nespresso but much better coffee during it's lifetime and you have far more say in the coffee you buy.

But in the long-term, people who have a dedicated grinder, espresso machine, etc... they can get their equipment to last 5+ years with low maintenance costs and will amortise closer to 10p per use even on much more expensive equipment.

Thus... I view the consumer fully automatic as an alternative to Nespresso but with fresh coffee and incredibly consistent espresso.