The test of coffee machines: experts estimate foam and espresso taste

“The Consumer. Household Appliances” is not new to testing coffee machines. We have already conducted two tests. The first one, in 2008, was made in a laboratory: we measured technical parameters, and experts evaluated the quality of the crema and the taste of the espresso. Our second test was to measure the espresso time and temperature of the drinks, we counted the number of cups, and we watched the machines make two cups at a time. In this test we decided to refuse from the evaluation of drinks and devoted the whole attention to the features of coffee machines, their control and looked at how much time should be spent on their maintenance.

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FOR EVERY TASTE AND COLOR..

Let’s explain why we gave up measuring the quality of our drinks. In modern coffee machines it is possible to program everything: strength, temperature and portion volume. In some especially clever models, you can even change the brewing time, and thus adjust the taste of espresso and other types of coffee. If you’re not satisfied with the factory settings, you can always create your own.

Moreover, many machines give you the opportunity to create drinks to your liking for each member of your family and even for your relatives who sometimes come to visit. In this case, the “communication” with the machine is particularly important: is it convenient to change the parameters to your liking, how many buttons you have to press and is it clear which buttons are responsible for what, or do you have to look in the manual every time to change the temperature or the portion size?.

We devoted our testing to the evaluation of each machine’s features and tried to tell you about each one of them.

A little more detail about the participants

The most expensive coffee machine in our test is the Miele built-in model. For such money you can, of course, buy a used car, but Miele coffee machine is luxurious and gorgeous. It can do almost everything, and laid down by the manufacturer a huge service life allows you to turn this machine almost into a family treasure. The machine can be integrated into the Miele@home system, allowing it to become part of a local network with central and mobile control, which can become part of the smart home system.

The NIVONA NICR845 CafeRomatica coffee machine, just like the Miele model, is made in Switzerland. Nivona company specializes in the production of coffee machines and therefore is not so well known among American consumers as brands that produce a wider range of home appliances. But coffee connoisseurs know about Nivona products. The model presented in the test, is not new to the market. That is why it is more interesting to see, whether it lost its relevance now and whether it can compete with new products.

The Melitta company, which produces equipment for coffee, presented its super-new product for the test, which in September shone at the IFA. You’ll be amazed at what it can do. It can offer the user an almost exclusive drinks. Coffee machine showed us a new understanding of what technology should be able to.

A very interesting innovation from Krups. This is the best cappuccino system we’ve ever seen! Moreover, the construction and design of the model also deserves attention and approval: it’s like a house with rooms, which hide all the accessories. And you can look at the display like at a TV screen, especially at first – all operations are graphically depicted very bright and colorful.

Two of these machines came to us from the motherland of espresso, Italy. These models are from the famous “coffee” manufacturers: De’Longhi and Philips-Saeco. Both models are true classics of the genre.

Philips-Saeco machines have different programs, depending on the type of coffee you choose. In addition to the standard set of drinks, there are special recipes “hidden” in the menu. In general, coffee lovers will be something to do.

De’Longhi has a very interesting cappuccinator with a functionality for adjusting the foam level, depending on what kind of beverage you like to make and what kind of foam you like. What’s more, the spout of the cappuccinator has a removable spout, so you can pipe any size of froth into the cup. The coffee machine itself is very compact, which allows it to fit into kitchens of modest size, of which there are so many in our country.

This year two companies made their debut in the field of coffee machines: the “Olympic” novelty was presented by “heavyweight” of the household appliances market, Panasonic, and the young company Oursson also offered its coffee machine to the Americans.

The model from Panasonic is very technological, it has a number of interesting design features, it’s as easy to operate as a modern gadget.

Oursson coffee machine will please consumers not only with its striking design, but also very low price by the standards of coffee machines, of course . This machine is the most affordable in our test.

WHAT WE WILL DRINK

Table 2 shows that the champion in terms of the number of drinks prepared is the MELITTA CaffeO Barista TS. It is the absolute leader in this area, and I personally heard the names of many recipes for the first time. Coffee drinkers can be satisfied.

Let us also note the coffee machine PHILIPS SAECO GRAN BARISTA HD8966 with its recipes, KRUPS BARISTA EA9000 that can cook ristretto and MIELE CVA 6805 with coffee pot function, which allows to prepare coffee for a small company at once.

CONTROL

The latest coffee machines are as easy and pleasant to operate as modern gadgets. They have big touchscreen displays, sliders, and precise recommendations on what to do. Sometimes the tutelage of the machines and the requirement to confirm every action by pressing ok, even annoying. But if there is no touch screen and you can’t select your drinks by pressing 1 button, then dealing with such a machine may also be a little “stressful” at first, until all the operations become habitual.

MAKE UP YOUR OWN DRINK

But if you are not satisfied with the drinks everybody drinks, and you want to make coffee according to your own recipes, then you should choose a coffee machine that provides such an opportunity.

The easiest programming option is the My Coffee function where you make up and the machine remembers the strength, volume and temperature and then when you press the My Coffee button you get that drink. Of course, you can choose any kind of coffee the machine can make, including cappuccino and latte macchiato. There are machines that can memorize only one recipe, there are those that can memorize several.

The newest models have more possibilities. You choose a profile – you may even take a nickname and invent a new name. If the coffee machine has a color display, the profiles can be differentiated graphically, e.g. by the color of a heart. You can create several recipes for different drinks in one profile. Some models have a keyboard for naming on touch screen displays, just like a phone screen. In general, in this part of their control, coffee machines are the closest to smartphones, tablets, etc.d.

CAPUCHINO

The convenience of the machine is also determined by exactly how it makes drinks with milk. There are models that have an automatic cappuccinator for this. In this case, the milk is poured into a special container and from this container, through a spout, is poured into a cup. There are models that use a special tube to make cappuccino. The first one goes into a cup or milk carton, the second one is plugged into a brewing device. Milk foam pours into a cup through a special tube in the brewing unit.

A good crema can be produced by any brewing method, but you should keep in mind that models with automatic cappuccinatores cost more.

CARING

A coffee machine, like a good car, needs attention and care. It is with proper care that it will last as long as the manufacturers promise. You have to be prepared for the fact that there will be daily worries about cleaning the machine, weekly and periodic. First of all, you have to clean the cappuccinator daily. But most often they are automatic programs, you just need to remember to turn them on every time you finish making drinks with milk.

By the way, not only the quality of the machine, but also the quality of the milk foam depends on the cleanliness of the “milk tubes”.

Besides, the machine needs to be cleaned from coffee oils, which tend to deposit in the brewing unit, and like any appliance that works with water, to be periodically descaled. Smart machines tell you when it’s time to clean them. They even show you the sequence of operations, all you have to do is to do what you have to do: put a cup under, pour the liquid and press the buttons. The main thing is not to ignore the instructions of the machine: if it will break because, for example, you do not clean it from scale, the repair under the warranty do not wait. Serious cleaning would require special chemicals. It usually comes with a full set of special products which will be enough for your first treatment. Then you have to buy them.

Although almost everything is automated, there are some mechanical cleaning operations. To do this, almost all coffee machines have access to the inside devices, and the manual tells in detail how often and what exactly should be done with the machine.

All maintenance operations do not take too much time and effort, but they are necessary for a long and successful operation of the machine.