If you're looking to brew authentic espresso from a coffee shop or milky drinks, a one-touch bean to cup is the best option. If you love milky drinks, make sure your machine has a professional steam wand.
Consider the impact on the environment. The pod machines generate waste, while bean-to-cup machines reduce it.
1. De'Longhi Magnifica Plus
The De'Longhi Magnifica is a fully automated machine that makes a variety of coffee drinks at the touch of one button. It comes with a variety of amazing features that make it among the top coffee machine bean-to-cup alternatives, such as integrated grinding, milk frothing, and an intuitive user interface. This is ideal for people who want to spend less time arguing about their coffee and more time enjoying it.
Magnifica Plus is a De'Longhi bean-to-cup coffee machine that comes with a range of settings that can be customized to ensure you get the most of each brew. You can alter the strength, temperature, and even the size of grind of your beans to meet your preferences. best coffee machine for latte to ensure the beans are always freshly ground, which improves flavour and aroma.
It also has a wide selection of one-touch drinks to choose from, including espresso and latte macchiato. The integrated frothing unit is able to make hot chocolate. All of the drinks can be enjoyed with a fine rich foam thanks to the cutting-edge LatteCrema Hot Technology.
A conical burr grind is utilized to increase the extraction of each drop of coffee. This is a crucial factor in the performance and quality of a coffee machine. It ensures that your beans are brewed perfectly. The Magnifica Plus has an automatic cleaning function that eliminates all traces of sediment from the chamber of brewing.
This model is a little more expensive than the other bean-to-cup machines on this list however, it's worth it to get the highest-quality machine. It's also important to note that De'Longhi also has a selection of other coffee machines, like the Rivelia model, which is less expensive but still offers a high-quality bean-to-cup service.
If you're looking for an affordable option then the Philips 3200 Series is another excellent option. It's a bean-to-cup coffee maker that comes with a variety of useful features, such as a built in grinder and an ejectable tank. It's also easy to clean, so it's a great alternative for those who don't want to shell out a fortune for an expensive coffee maker.
2. Sage Barista Touch Impress
A lot of people don't think of bean-to-cup machines since they are only used to make cappuccinos or espressos. They are an excellent choice if you're looking to brew hot chocolate, latte, or flat white. You'll get some amazing tasting coffee with this type of machine when you take the time to learn how to use it properly. It will also require some trial and error to obtain the best results, but you'll find that it's worth it.
The Sage Barista Touch Impress is a brilliant machine that's perfect for making drinks like latte hot chocolate and flat white. It's a little slower to work with than a pod-based coffee maker but once you get knack of it you'll be able to make drinks in no time. The touchscreen display is intuitive and easy to navigate. The machine will automatically suggest the ideal grind size, brewing speed and the temperature of the milk for each drink. You can also save your coffee settings to have the same cup each time.
Another great feature is the ThermoJet heating system which guarantees the highest extraction of flavor. This will result in a cup of espresso with a smooth consistency with a full body and optimal flavor extraction. This is a big step up from some older machines that make weak, un-extracted coffee.
The only drawback of this model is that it doesn't offer a manual grind adjustment which is a shame. It's nevertheless a fantastic bean to cup coffee maker and one that I highly recommend.
Currys and Argos are usually excellent places to search for a bargain. They typically stock Gaggia machines and De'Longhi. Grey imports don't be covered by a UK warranty, so you'll want to be careful. However, they're usually very affordable and you may be able to pick up an affordable price, but don't expect too much in terms of quality.
3. Jura E8
The Jura E8 is an impressive coffee maker that can be brewed bean to cup that is able to easily match the quality of the drinks that you get in the cafe. It is simple to use and offers a variety of options to customize your beverage to your liking. This includes adjusting coffee strength as well as milk quantity and the temperature of the brewing. It also lets you select the amount of time you want to wait before pouring the milk into latte and cappuccino drinks. This feature lets you choose how long to wait until the milk has a chance to stratify into a layer containing the froth, steaming milk and other flavors.
This beautiful machine was awarded the Red Dot Design Award in 2016 and 2021, for its "elegant experience" and "use the most modern technologies." It has large displays with TFT-screen to make the operation even easier. The machine is equipped with a single thermoblock heating system. This could result in some waiting time between the brewing and steaming. However, it is still an excellent choice for those who are looking for a compact and affordable bean-to-cup coffee machine.
It also has a variety of useful features, including the possibility to save a profile that is personalized. This makes it easier for the user to select their preferred coffee with the touch of a button. It also has a reusable filter that makes it simple to clean up any unwanted residues. Additionally, it has a number of cleaning programs for automatic use that have been certified by the German quality institute TUV. These programs allow you to clean the machine without having to remove the unit that is brewing.
This machine can be used with whole or ground beans and has a capacity of up to 10 cups. It comes with a grinder that can grind up to 40 grams of beans in a minute. This makes it efficient and fast. The Jura E8 has a removable drip pan that helps keep it clean and tidy.
4. De'Longhi La Specialista Arte
The De'Longhi La Specialista Arte, or EC9155MB as it is known to its friends, was designed to give the barista at home a hands-on experience in mind. The machine is designed to provide control over the entire process from the grinding of your beans to the frothing of milk for your coffee-based drinks. This is achieved by the conical grinder built-in with pre-sets which are adapted to your preferences. It also includes steam arms of commercial quality and a milk jug.
The machine is also capable of providing three convenient pre-set coffee recipes, allowing you to dial-in the perfect cup of espresso or long black. You can also pour straight into your travel mug. This is an excellent option for those who are always moving.
The machine's temperature control is a crucial feature. You can preserve the flavor of your favorite coffee by adjusting the temperature applied to the water by the machine during extraction. This is a great way to ensure you get the best out of your coffee, especially when you're working with delicate blends.
This machine is a little difficult to master if you're not used to making your own coffee, but it is certainly worth the effort for those who love to enjoy freshly-ground, hand-crafted espresso. De'Longhi has created some great tools that keep the mess as little as possible, such as a guide for dosing and tamping to ensure there's no spillage while you're filling your portafilter, and the tamping stand which holds the portafilter at a consistent level to allow tamping.
We did miss the ability to use beans that are longer in this machine, because many of our most favorite coffees are made from longer beans rather than the smaller, uniformly sized ones that are found in the majority of automated espresso machines. We hope that future models will address this issue, as we'd love to see more DeLonghi machines that can handle these unique varieties of beans.
