I don’t personally (it seems to fare ok without) but without fail it get’s descaled and cleaned monthly
EDIT: This is as involved as selecting ‘descaling’ or cleaning, and putting the stuff in and letting it do it’s own thing.
Any machine that steams milk will need cleaning at least daily. Minimal mess in this context involves milk in contact with hot metal, and if you let that dry, and then reheat it next time for the following cup, and then let that dry… then even minimal mess gets messy.
That’s why the Melitta CI has really caught my eye: the auto clean/descaling and the steaming thing it’ll do after running milk. I’m not sure if these are regular features on machines in the £500 ballpark (like I say, I’ll get some research done tonight) but as long as I’m not scrubbing not-dishwasher-safe stuff, I’m happy.
So as an owner I should say a few things, so you have the full detail.
- Auto/Clean: It’ll do this after each use when you turn it off. But, you do need to descale it every so often. (Like monthly).
- Easy Clean: It’ll do this when you’ve used Milk, this is simple as and it tells you what to do
- General cleaning: It’s not totally ‘non touch’ - You do need to clean out the ground coffee hopper every so often and the drip tray. Also, every so often I’ll take the side off (it clips off) and give it a good clean inside (such as wipe down excess coffee, run the brewing unit under the tap)
The latter isn’t necessary, but it helps the machine to have a longer life.
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After steaming milk, on any machine you should just need to give it a quick blast of steam to get any milk from the inside and then a wipe on the outside (which it needs after every use).
When I worked as a barista we would soak the steaming wands every day but we also had made over 1000 cups by that point, I don’t think you’d need to do that on a home machine every day?
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Honestly, before I got into it like I am now, I was on the Nespresso train with their Aerolatte device, was really good, and can throw it in the washing machine after making the latte.
Super straight forward, and a good gateway to the next “tier” in coffee making.
Minimal prep, minimal mess, and really straight forward to use when bleary eyed in the morning! 
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Got it. Thank you for the clarification! I think that, for me, this (note to self: here’s the manual) is still objectively better than the rigmarole I go through now:
- Grab aeropress from draining board
- Boil kettle
- Grab coffee, measure out, put away
- Grab and soak a filter paper
- Add milk to standalone frother
- Pour water, prep coffee and steep
- Add milk
- Rinse & dry frother
- Discard grounds
- Rinse & dry aeropress
It’s 5-10 minutes of manual, unavoidable faff, per coffee. It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up and I’m clearly too bone idol to do it! I suppose it’d be like asking me to clean the car every time it leaves the driveway – I’d pack in driving. But, ask me to give it a good once over every month and that’s fine.
The pinnacle of first world problems.
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I got this machine last year:
Very simple to use. If you remember to put a cup there you can even start it making a coffee via the app from your bed in the morning.
As others mentioned, after it has made a coffee you turn the dial on the milk carafe to ‘clean’ which blasts some steam and a water through it. It takes 2 seconds.
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You can save yourself a fractional amount of time by not soaking your filter. 
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Honestly, this is a luxury that I can’t believe I’m living without 
!
I’m in the “it tastes better soaked” camp however given my laziness and eagerness to speedrun my coffee prep, I should forego it.
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I always used to soak, until James Hoffmann said not to. So I did a blind* tasting and found I couldn’t tell the difference.
*Made two coffees in identical cups and left the room while someone moved them.
I use the darn thing that infrequently that my coffees aren’t exactly worth writing home about at the best of times. I ought to save the handful of seconds.
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Just ordered one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sage-Barista-Touch-Impress-SES881/dp/B0CFLM9YD2/
I’ve been thinking about getting a machine for quite a while (currently just use an aeropress and hand grinder, which is very tiring when you consume as much coffee as I do). Initially was going to get something a bit more robust and commercial, but after lots of reading, I decided I valued convenience pretty high, but also didn’t want something entirely automated. Looking forward to it arriving
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Oh nice!
Hard times, just cut open 2x Nespresso pods and used them for pour over coffee. 
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Hoping this is the best place for this rather than opening another thread…
But, I’ve been in the market for a coffee grinder for sometime and have narrowed it down to two contenders. The first is the Wilfa Uniform grinder. This one is the one I’m more veering towards at the moment, based on looks and a few reviews I’ve seen. Also apprently its one the the great James Hofffmann uses! What higher praise could there be! 
The second is one that is yet to be released and is by Barista & Co and is the update the Core All Grinder, the Core All Grinder Plus. This one is significantly cheaper than the Wilfa and the old version seems to have been well received as a good price/performance compromise…
At the moment I use a stovetop percolator to brew (this natty Alessi number both in a 6 cup and 3 cup variety depending on need).
After I get the grinder the next coffee related purchase is likely to be a Sage Bambino plus. But that’s not likely going to be until my birthday or the paper I’m currently working on get accepted!
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Hard to comment on the Core All without seeing some reviews. That’s a super low price for an espresso grinder so I’d be sceptical how good it is for a fine grind.
I’m not in the market any more, but always looked longingly at the Niche Zero.
The Niche Zero a bit out of my price range 
. Alas I am but a poor academic, in need of better coffee. I was watching JAmes Hofmann’s review of the uniform and the various comparisons and updates he did. I think that one even with the caveats he mentions seems to be a good fit for what I want. I’ll keep an eye out and see if there is anything that comes up for Black Friday maybe deals wise…
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if you are interested in espresso, I don’t think the Wilfa Uniform will be up to it unfortunately.
If you can wait til Timemore sell their new Sculptor 64S outside of their kickstarter buyers, that will probably fit within your price range.
If you want something now, the sage smart grinder is fairly well reviewed, and will match the aesthetic of your bambino plus when you get it
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I’ll have a look at the Sage smart grinder, hadn’t even really thought about that! Your point about it matching the aesthetic of the Bambino is also a valid consideration I had over looked. I’m sure after a while them not being matchy matchy would start tot trigger me
Although now I’m wondering if I would be better holding off for a little while longer and getting a bean to cup machine…
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