Quote from: OutOfMemory on Today at 06:26:01 PM

Automatics are midrange, quality wise. Rarely a bad choice, overall, but i would never drink a mocca (moka) made by one.
The true values of autos lie in the quality of the grinder, cleanability and built-in descaling program (use only lactic acid, 50-60%). Some brands (sorry, Saeco/Philips) are a nightmare when it comes to spillage, amount and quality of manual cleaning needed to keep the thing mold-free. And that's the no1 priority when it comes to automatics.

I use a DeLonghi auto, it's terribly easy to be kept clean, compared to most other designs i saw or used in the past. If you use it often and you don't want to get mold in the system, you clean it with after a few couple of complete water refillings. In my case, every two to four weeks (as you might already know: i'm forgetful a bit). We have very soft water, so descaling is done every few months, which is quite rare.

As always, you have to consider the operational requirements. Mine is an individual fresh cup of coffee on demand (I recently dropped one of those glass vacuum ones off at the thrift store as it was too much faff). I was reasonably happy with a Senseo I had but I am considerably happier with the machine I now have and, of course, cappuccinos... Mine is the Philips/Saeco and it is a little messy but the cleaning is honestly not that onerous though I do often tend to push it out to monthly. Scale is not an issue as water is fairly soft here and I RO it anyway. As a first foray into the field, I am pretty happy with it though might go a bit more spendy next time. I initially priced out one I got coffee from in a Czech hotel but that came somewhere in the region above $2000 (but the coffee *was* good and it had more options). I always forget the name though. I think the beans I buy are better than what I was getting in the pods and at half the cost per g too. Plus less waste, of course.

Richy_T

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