Out of my way, poor people! I’ve got a 1500 dollar coffee maker to buy!
You might as well buy that machine, if you are going to be buying coffee for $28 per pound!
It’s coffee machines for folks who don’t know how to make coffee and coffee for folks who don’t like coffee.
Wooo!
Wha…? I don’t even… 28$ a lb? Have these EVEN been consumed and eliminated by Perusian goats? If not, I don’t understand why the price…
[QUOTE=Beeker3, post:4, topic:382350]
It’s coffee machines for folks who don’t know how to make coffee and coffee for folks who don’t like coffee.
[/quote]
I put your comment in its rightful place!
Does the $1500 coffee pot sync with my $8000 watch?
That does seem a bit much. Especially for Woot.
I always have a hard time believing wooters are ready to drop this much cash on random items. I imagine the people who end up actually buying these first say “What a stroke of good fortune! I’ve been seeking that exact model of coffee machine and, by jove, what a positively charming price! I shall endeavor to order one forthwith!”
They’re the type of people to talk to their computers, apparently.
I’ve never looked into acid free coffee, but from what I’ve gathered it is only used by people who cannot stomach real coffe. The decaf has gotten pretty good reviews over at http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B003VOG6J6.
I know Tylers Coffee it is bold, smooth but with no bitter after bite and doesn’t upset my stomach!
Expensive, but it is real acid free coffee and you can taste it. 100% chemical free, not digested then pooped.
In my option it is a much better decision to pay $28 a lb for this natural acid free coffee then $10 for a lb of coffee that will harm your body, is full of chemicals, or cut with other products than coffee. And $300+ for a lb of digested by animals then pooped coffee does not sound too appetizing.
I have the Talea Giro Plus which I bought from Costco about 3 months ago. I’ve really enjoyed having it. I got mine for $399.99 on a sale, so this price for a refurb isn’t a total steal, but it might still be worth it.
There are four ways to adjust your end-result:
Dosage - how much coffee is ground and used. You can use one of the three programmed amounts by pushing the button that has the 3 beans on it.
Water used - using the dial, you can adjust how much water is pushed through for extraction. I have mine set to the very first dot on the left. Anything higher starts to get over-extracted for my taste. I’m not sure of a situation where you would ever go more than a couple notches from the lowest setting.
Grinder - You can adjust the coarseness of the grinder. I have mine one notch from the default with Stumptown Hairbender Espresso.
SBS Dial - or, the Saeco brewing system dial. In the picture its the dial just above where the coffee comes out after extraction. I really can’t tell any difference from adjusting this all the way down, or all the way up, or anywhere in between. It’s possible that my palette doesn’t detect some subtle nuance, but if your palette could you probably aren’t even considering this machine.
The foam wand is pretty good for the cost of the unit. There is a piece on the end that has a tiny air hole that assists with foaming, but it works much better if you take that off and just manually foam the milk. Look up some youtube videos on this. I still use the extra piece if I want really heavy foam, but you cannot get microfoam like you get from a good barista out of that nozzle.
Overall, I really like the unit. I got it dialed in and I’m able to create some great lattes and cappuccinos. I made an americano for a friend and he said it was fantastic.
Cleaning? Oh wow is it simple. The whole thing pulls out, and you just hose it off in the sink. Shake it a bit to dry it, and you’re done. Occasionally, per instructions, you will add a bit of food-grade lube (included) and I haven’t needed to yet.
Got the Saeco Odea Giro (without the ‘plus’) last year refurbished on Woot for $229.99 plus shipping.
For that price, it was a steal, the only thing I am missing is a pre-ground coffee bypass, this is a feature you should look for, question is how much is that worth to you.
A ‘better deal’ in my opinion for an entry level automatic machine was this one for $399
compared to Odea / Talea: the grinder of the Incanto being ceramic or not depends on which version you get it seems (ceramic being regarded better)
In general, by-pass doser seems to cost you $150 more.
Now the machines today are mostly in a different ballpark.
Personally I do not think that the refurbished Talea Giro Plus is worth it though at $500 unless you really need one right now and want a by-pass doser.
The Syntia for $499 previously available twice e.g.
with by-pass doser also seems to have been an OK deal but not even anywhere close as good a deal as the $229 Odea Giro.
In the ends it depends on which features you want.
Compare the various Saeco machines at
[youtube=guImN141p2I][/youtube]
For the Talea series it starting about 5:40 - but I recommend watching the previous machine also to put it in context.
This is basically the company that so far supplied all the refurbished deals that I have seen.
Check out the other videos of the two ladies also, I find them great and entertaining, although over time it gets a bit repetitive when looking at many machines. They are also pretty honest about some features and what they give you… I love it when they say “ahm - more to clean” in regards to milk frothing 
Also check out their website for e.g. manuals to download.
One comment - I think that built in milk-frothers using the steam wand are usually not a good idea.
Get something like that
Breville Milk Café Frother -
it is worth it. If you are enough people, get even several of them or try to get additional stainless steel containers.
If you want to descale, and you are a cheapskate, consider something like this:
http://stores.ebay.com/NutriVitaShop/Citric-Acid-Anhydrous-/_i.html?_fsub=2822500010
Many espresso addicts attest that the professional formulations do not do much better.
(Check however what type of metals you have inside of your machine, aluminum and citric acid is not a good combination.)
@andreaserben: thanks for a very informative post.
I too got the $229 deal and it was an absolute steal. It’s been working perfectly and the only problem I have with it is the frequency of error states: empty bean hopper, empty water tank, grounds receptacle full. This problem is common to the smaller machines, but it drives novice owners crazy (my dad took a long time to get used to it).
I don’t have a use for a bypass doser but I could see where it might be useful if you want to be able to occasionally make a cup of decaf, and it does make descaling easier too.
I totally agree with you about frothing: doing it with the panarello is a total waste. Even if you own one of the fancier twin-boiler machines which don’t require waiting for the temperature to adjust (this takes several minutes) frothing milk is messy, time consuming and inefficient. A little frother like the one you recommend is fast, easy to clean and inexpensive, and it does the best job. Stay away from the CBTL model which has huge reliability issues.
Also, stay away from cappuccino machines with built-in milk holders. They will save you a couple of minutes of making the cappuccino, but require at least daily cleaning – not worth it unless you’re using them in a commercial setting.
Will there ever be a return of the Woot! that people love?
When I first joined I bought all the time - because there were SERIOUS values. Now we get garbage ground coffee from generic beans for nearly $29/pound.
Remember the awesome deal with Thanksgiving Coffee a couple years ago??? Why not revive that offer?
Amazon Gold Box has better deals than Woot! these days. That’s pretty lame.
Oh well - I guess I should thank you for saving me lots of money.
My company has Xelsis machines for our use and the frother is not only easy to use it does a rather amazing (and consistent) job with near zero skill on the part of the user. As far as being “more to clean” - it’s true at face value, but it’s not it’s really that big of a deal. A separate frother hardly changes the “more to clean” equation…
I’ll take acid with my coffee and buy it for less than 1/2 this price.
Six months ago my Keurig broke and while I waited for a replacement, my life was changed by a simple French press. I will never have coffee any other way!
Plus sales are different than the Daily sales. They are smaller quantities and sometimes more niche product that appeal to a smaller audience. It’s also a good way for us to test our wooter market.
Plus deals sometimes won’t have the deep discounts like the Daily deals but are still good deals on their own and better deals if you take advantage of the $5 all day shipping.
That is really cool that your company has laid out that kind of machine for its employees!
I dont know how a super automatic like this works but everything I have heard about frothing on a machine one has to be diligent on cleaning the thing or milk will definitely gunk back into the machine and there is no way to clean it except by a professional.
It is the reason I have read that a lot of really serious espresso makers always go with individual machines.
The one mentioned earlier as one on Woot! before which I found at TJMaxx *Capresso Automatic Milk Frother - froth pro (model #202) for the past two weeks has been giving me excellent micro froth ($40 @TJM)