A coffee addicts dream! (Russell Hobbs 3160)

Member Name: Blurbubble

Product:	Russell Hobbs 3160
Date:	16/02/04 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely result!

Disadvantages: Messy for the amount you get

Oooh fantastic!! A caffeine junkie's dream come true! I don't own this particular model but an older, very similar model. As I say, mine's pretty old now, but I've seen near enough identical (obviously just the updated model) in high street shops in the region of £20-£30 depending where you go. Shops such as Index and Woolworths seem to offer the best prices on these appliances but no doubt there are bargains to be had online. Mine was actually given to me at the time so I have no idea of its original cost. It's nothing special to look at but then most such appliances look this way! White metallic casing with a plain glass jug and that's about it - no frills!

Personally I love a nice frothy capuccino but with one of these you can make expresso too. Like most coffee makers of any grade/make it basically consists of a chamber for water, filter device, a jug or small carafe to catch the brewed coffee (you're a bit stuck without that!!) and, in the case of one having a capuccino facility, a frothing nozzle which jets out burning hot steam to froth the milk ready. This model is obviously designed with a small caffeine fix in mind as it doesn't actually produce that much (unless you subsidise your coffee with lots of milk!) I'd say you get a large mugful or about 2-3 small coffee cups full so it's not the sort of applicance to leave on for top-ups later.

It's easy to use but can get very messy and admittedly it's not a quick way to prepare your caffeine fix. You fill the water chamber, spoon your desired strength of ground coffee into the small metal filter device, click it into place, put the glass jug underneath, switch it on - and wait! It takes roughly 2 minutes to start filtering through at a steady pace and once it's boiling nicely you can, if you wish, get your milk at the ready and activate the steam nozzle to froth and heat the milk ready for a lovely capuccino. The steam nozzle
can get ve
ry messy and I'm not very accomplished at using it myself! I find I either over-estimate the milk (remember it expands when frothing!) or just fail to get a good enough froth. However the machine makes wonderful coffee and is worth the money compared to what you pay for a capuccino or expresso in a bar or restaurant. The coffee is always nice and hot (and strong but that's down to how much coffee you use and your own tastes of course) and the aroma coming from the machine in action is irresistible. I've found this to be a quick and reliable machine over the years but I must confess to not using it as much as I like due to the mess factor and it seems a lot of bother for one mug of coffee, however it's good for an occasional treat and I haven't had any problems with it.
Unfortunately, as I previously mentioned, this was given to me secondhand (well, not "unfortunate" that it was given to me but unfortunate because of the next bit!) without any original manufacturers' instructions/manual so I can't comment on that but it's not hard to work out how to use it and most of these machines are basically the same. As far as maintenance goes - well, I have to admit it is a bit of a nightmare to clean. the casing is white so inevitably it ends up with coffee splatters all around it and the steam nozzle gets rusty after a while if you do not clean it regularly. Obviously, like any electric appliance, it shouldn't be immersed in water but wiped clean with a cloth so you'll need some small sponges/brushes (and/or small hands!) to get into all its nooks and crannies. Admittedly that's one reason why I don't use this machine as much as I'd like to.


I'm no snob with coffee, I drink many cups of instant in a day and must admit for quickness and cost that's my preference. I also have an ordinary filter coffee maker but this makes a wonerful treat :o)

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