Tired of spending a fortune on pricey coffees out, beauty editor – and former barista – Laura Mulley put this bean-to-cup at-home espresso machine to the test – and was super impressed
Like many, my day doesn’t truly start until I’ve had my first cup of coffee in the morning, and I can’t resist popping into my local coffee shop a few times a week. However, with the price of a flat white now over £4, I’m always looking for home solutions that taste as good as the real thing – and cost considerably less in the long run.
I’ve always used a coffee pod machine (Nespresso’s and its own pods are the best I’ve found), but always dreamed of having a proper bean-to-cup espresso machine – especially since I sort of know the ropes from my days working at Starbucks as a student. Keen to up my coffee experience, I tried out the Philips Barista Brew Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine – and here’s my honest review…
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Usually retailing for around £530, the single bean machine is now reduced to £399.99 at a number of retailers, including Amazon, Currys and Philips’ own website (the silver model I have is the dual-bean version). This makes it cheapest than what is probably its biggest competitor – and most popular of these types of machines, the Sage Barista machine, which is around £530.
From first looks, it’s an impressive piece of kit: it looks great in your kitchen, and comes with professional-looking accessories: milk jug, calibrated tamper, portafilter and four different filter baskets. It’s easy to set up – although if you’re totally new to using these types of coffee machines, as I was, I would recommend thoroughly reading the instructions and watching a few videos, however confident you normally are with gadgets.
Philips Barista Brew Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine
£529.99
£399.99
Amazon
Buy here
An impressive bean-to-cup coffee machine that features espresso and americano settings, milk frother and calibrated tamper.
Makes coffees as good as café-bought ones; easy to use once you’re set up; looks stylish; easy to clean; froths milk really well; calibrated tamper is a big plus
Noisy when grinding; a bit messy; takes a bit of practice if you’re new to using bean-to-cup machines
The basic method is: fill up the sizeable water tank at the back, empty in your beans, select your grind size and single or double measure (make sure you’ve fitted the correct filter basket), tamper the coffee down, then slot the portafilter in and select either, single espresso, double espresso or americano. You can also use the steamer on the side to create lattes, cappuccinos or hot milk.
It takes a bit of trial and error with various grind sizes and measures to get the coffee to brew at the optimal pressure range (too low and it’ll be weak, pale and sour, too high and it’ll be too dark and bitter) – which varies depending on your beans, so be prepared to initially waste a few, but eventually the americanos and cappuccinos it produced were honestly as good as professional ones. I’ve truly stopped nipping out on a Friday morning and spending £5+ on take-out coffee now.
The steamer is especially good – it froths milk just as well as in a café – and apparently the calibrated tamper is a big deal amongst coffee pros, compacting the grinds to the exact right pressure. The water tank is also really big, so doesn’t need refilling very often.
A few cons to potentially consider: the grinding and brewing is quite noisy (not ideal for very early morning coffees!), it’s a bit messy (there’s some spray when the coffee is grinding and when the hot water is dispensed for americanos), and it can be tricky at first to get the optimal pressure range right. It’s also, of course, quite a big initial expense. However if you love good quality coffee, it’s an excellent investment (and it is cheaper than some other makes).
Overall, I absolutely love this new addition to my kitchen and my morning routine, and I haven’t touched my pod machine since – and it will even save me money on my coffee habit in the long run.