Here we are in a brand new year, on the first morning of 2017. That means it’s time for the biggest update of the year for us here at beantocupcoffeemachines.net, as we embark on updating our top ten to reflect what’s gone on over the festive season.
One of the things we’re asked about more than anything else is how we rank our top ten bean to cup coffee machines on the homepage. Each year, we completely revamp the table to reflect what’s popular, what’s new, what’s been refreshed by manufacturers, and so on. We also make a few changes during the year too, for example when there’s a notable new machine that hits the market. While these mid year updates aren’t as sweeping as the annual refresh, they do have a few things in common.
The 2016 Top 10 Coffee Machines Table
Before we go into any more detail, here’s the 2016 table, preserved for reference if you want to compare it to updated versions in the future (the most up to date version is always on the homepage):
| Image | Name |
|---|---|
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Delonghi Magnifica ESAM4200
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Melitta Caffeo Bistro
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Delonghi ECAM22.320.SB
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Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Dual Boiler
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Melitta E953-101 Caffeo
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Gaggia Brera
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Delonghi Magnifica ESAM 4000.b
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Delonghi ECAM22.110.SB
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Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Barista Express
|
So, Why Did The Machines Make The Top Ten?
First and foremost, unlike many other websites, we directly take price into account. If you think about it, the most expensive machines will almost certainly make the best possible cup of coffee, and there’s some out there that retail at several thousand pounds. Very few of these machines even get a review here, as the chances are you know what you want already if you know that much about coffee. That’s also why you’ll see things like Delonghi’s ESAM4200 coffee machine ranking well year after year, as it’s very affordable and makes great coffee – probably ticking the boxes of the majority of our readers. It also sells a lot of units too – it was a near permanent fixture at the top of Amazon’s best seller list throughout 2016, along with the more expensive Sage Barista Express.
Does That Mean I Don’t Need To Spend More Then?
There’s nothing particularly special about bean to cup machines in terms of how much you need to spend – as with most things, you get what you pay for. Also, as applies to most other things, simply comparing two products doesn’t show the more expensive one is always best, it’s more of a trend that more expensive tends to mean better. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons why most of our readers visit us, we help to identify how to get the most for your money.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to which machine is best, but in general, follow one simple rule – read reviews for as many machines as you can in your price range. While we do review a lot of fairly expensive machines (in the upper hundreds of pounds range), we’re certainly not suggesting you should buy one of those instead of a lower price one if it’s going to leave you short until pay day. On the other hand, if you can afford to spend more, use the reviews to narrow down the best machine for your coffee tastes.
Are The 2016 Machines Still Worth Buying?
Just because a new year has rolled around, it doesn’t mean a great machine suddenly becomes bad. We try to reflect the current market as much as possible with our main top ten, but no-one’s saying you need to replace your coffee machine every year, that would clearly be silly. If you love the look of a machine we rank well in a previous year, go for it, it’s still going to be just as great as before, it’s probably just that newer machines have come along to push it from our latest top ten or the manufacturer has updated it with a newer model. As we said before, it’s not a case of one-size-fits-all, and it’s you that’s going to be using it, not us!
The Last Word
As 2016 evaporates into the past, it’s a great time to take advantage of the New Year sales, and online purchases are no exception. As you’ll notice as you look around the site, we’re big fans of Amazon, as they tend to be very competitively priced and offer the convenience of delivering to your door. There will be plenty of sales in the shops too – so keep an eye out for the bargains. Just because we link to Amazon doesn’t always mean it’s cheapest – we like them for their competitiveness, reliability and convenience, as well as speed in putting things right if something goes wrong along the way.
Happy New Year!
