We've now spent quite a fews days looking into this issue, and the deeper we look the less convinced we are with the quality of the machines on the market.  We've looked at the DeLonghi ICM60 (GBP49.99) in detail, and while customers are happy with it performance while it is working, there are too many customer reviews on Amazon and elsewhere where the product's element has failed in less than 12 months.  We can't afford to start recommending products with that kind of reliability profile to our customers; we are trying to simplify the path to making gourmet coffee at home, not fill your place with more consumer grade junk.

We also looked at the Tricity TCM10 at Tesco, on offer for a wholesome GBP19.97 at the time of writing.  Again, we have our doubts about longevity, we think it looks cheap, and haven't even got to the critical issue of correct brew temperature.  Its late now, but we're going to have to give this some more thought and come up with a better solution I think.  All we've seen to date are cheap products that are unlikely to provide you with years of reliable service, which is the objective of this exercise.  Our inability to provide you with a machine or list of machines that we can categorically state will accommodate the KF4 Swissgold coffee filter is also annoying.  This issue is ongoing as filter coffee machine models are constantly being rebadged and 'upgraded' to try and stimulate demand, even though it is essentially the same machine year after year.  This would necessitate updating a catalogue of machines that the KF4 Swissgold filter fits, which obviously becomes a bit of a drag after a while.

More soon.