When it comes to camping and caravanning, there’s one thing I never fail to feel is missing, especially first thing in the morning. When I’m at home, the first thing I do after climbing out of bed is to head for the kitchen and brew a fresh cup of coffee (even if some people think it’s a bad idea). I’m a big coffee drinker, and I’ve had several bean to cup coffee machines in my time.
The ESAM4200 Vs The Caffeo Barista TS
I started with a Delonghi model, the stalwart ESAM4200 which is always a big favourite among new starters in the bean to cup world. It consistently scores well too, as you can read in the review of the ESAM 4200 at beantocupcoffeemachines.net.
After that, I moved on to a much better machine, something I’d really only recommend to people who have as much enthusiasm towards coffee as me – the Caffeo Barista TS from Melitta. Melitta are a speciality coffee manufacturer, so you get a really impressive coffee from their machines, but that does come at a price. There’s also beantocupcoffeemachines.net reviews for that version too at https://www.beantocupcoffeemachines.net/reviews/melitta/caffeo-barista-ts/.
You Get What You Pay For
As you can see, you get an awful lot more with the Melitta compared to the Delonghi, so why is it that so many more people choose to buy the lesser model? Firstly it’s about price, as if you get your timing right, you can typically pick up the ESAM4200 for a third of the retail price of the Barista TS – a huge £600 saving. That’s not to say that you can’t get the Melitta model at a discount though, but you’re unlikely to get near to the sub £300 price tag that you’ll sometimes find the Delonghi for on Amazon’s best seller list. Secondly, it’s the sheer trust that Delonghi get from sitting atop the best buy lists, which are almost always heavily influenced by the price tag. After all, you have to be a bit of a coffee nut like me to spend almost a thousand pounds on a coffee maker, so you’d hope that most people that are in the market to spend that much would already know what they want. That leaves many reviews pointing their readers towards the cheaper models instead of those like the Barista TS or Oracle by Sage.
Careful What Coffee Machine You Buy For Caravan Use
That last machine, The Oracle, is more expensive still, and also raises another point about buying coffee machines, especially in our world of caravanning. The really high end machines often have a rated supply requirement that’s greater that that offered in a van, so you’re running the risk of tripping out the electrics with something like the Oracle. Beyond the inconvenience of tripping electrics and the potential fire hazard of overloading, you also want to avoid wasting the coffee beans on half brewed coffee when it all grinds to a halt. (grinds! see what I did there?)
Next Steps
If you’re like me, it was always a question of when, rather than if, I started to spend a fortune on coffee for my adventures away from home. It’s all very well having the latest machine on show on the counter in the kitchen at home, but it’s not going to do much for getting the blood flowing in a field in Devon. You’re almost certainly going to want a separate machine entirely for your travels, and that will probably mean that the sensible option is to opt for something like the ESAM4200 mentioned earlier. Yes, the Barista TS is great, and I really love sitting down with the coffee creations it conjures up, but frankly it’s a big expense to justify.
To put it another way, if the Barista TS is the one to choose – you’ll know that already, so probably aren’t reading this to help make your mind up!