This post is about the perfect smart coffee machine, you won’t find any info here about stupid coffee machines, or scruffy ones, only smart coffee machines will do.
OK, I’m kidding, clearly smart coffee makeking equipment in this context doesn’t mean that it needs to have a Masters degree, or that it ought to wear a shirt and tie, of course, we’re talking about smart in a slightly different context.
So what is a smart coffee machine?
Theoretically speaking, any modern coffee makeking device which has clever technology could be discussed as a smart coffee machine.
For example, fully automatic “one touch” bean to cup coffee machines will make the selected coffee consume for you. You simply press the button, the machine pulls the shot, steams the milk, delivers it into your cup and even disposes of the used puck of coffee (into the internal dump box) for you. This is pretty smart!
The Sage Oracle & Oracle touch, are likewise really smart, in that they take over all of the stuff the home barista would usually need the skills to perform, dosing, tamping & getting the milk texture wonderful, making home barista quality coffees without the usually essential home barista skill.
I would think, but, that lots of people when searching for “smart coffee machines”, will probably be thinking along the lines of “connected” coffee machines, that can be controlled over the internet with Alexa or Google Home, and/or via a dedicated app.
In reality, there aren’t – at the time of writing in 2022 – all that a number of “smart” coffee machines in this context, and the ones that are, aren’t necessarily the best options.
Jump in your time machine, and (after you’ve gone back & bought last Friday’s winning Euro Millions ticket) go forward to a time where the coffee machine can get the cup, rinse it, warm it, get the milk out of the fridge, check if there are beans in the hopper, or put a pod in the machine, and so on, and yeah – smart coffee machines in that sense would be mega.
But right now, I think there’s fairly little that connected, wifi/bluetooth app-controlled coffee machines can really do, other than remote on and off, and providing you certain information, such as whether the tank is full or when a descale is required.
There are other coffee machines that may not be “smart” in this sense but that are extremely incredibly smart where it matters, and that very do all the things “smart” machines do, and more, just without a wifi or bluetooth connection.
So for that reason, I’m going to suggest a mix of machines including “connected” coffee machines, and machines that I think are truly “smart” where it matters and may be worth considering regardless of whether they’re “smart” in the sense you were initially thinking.
Forget “smart” – what type of coffee makeking device do you want?
The first thing I’d recommend, to anyone who got to this article by searching for something along the lines of “which is the perfect smart coffee machine” – is that you take a step back, and figure out which type of coffee makeking equipment you need.
For this reason, I’m going to explain each type of coffee makeking device, and then give you my recommendations for the perfect smart coffee machines in that category.
In other words you’re not basically searching for a smart coffee makeking equipment, you’re searching for a smart filter coffee makeking equipment, or a smart bean to cup coffee brewing equipment, and so on, so if you choose your machine just based on connectivity, you may end up a machine which isn’t capable of creating the kind of coffee you want to beverage.
So below you’ll find an introduction to the various different forms of coffee machines, followed by suggestions for the perfect smart coffee machines for that kind of machine.
Fully manual traditional espresso coffee machines
I very much doubt this is the kind of coffee makeking tool you have in mind when searching for “smart coffee machine”, nevertheless I’ll include it anyway so that you understand what all of the options are. Fully manual machines have a lever, and a piston to create the pressure.
The the majority of well known fully manual espresso machines are the LaPavoni Europiccola, even if you don’t know these machines by name, you’ll understand them by sight, as you’ll have seen them in the background of various different movies & TV shows, often to help build an air of sophistication and luxury.
For more on the La Pavoni lever espresso coffee machines, see:
La Pavoni Europiccola Review
You’re not going to find a La Pavoni lever espresso machine with smart features, and the same is true of other old-school coffee machines. But, if the main thing you want to do is to remotely turn your coffee brewing equipment off and on, then there’s another solution.
For me this is among the many valuable “smart” properties of any coffee brewing equipment, to be able to remotely turn it on so that it’s hot when you get to it, brews great sense. If you can wake up, reach straight for your phone and turn on your coffee brewing equipment, that is a feature the majority of of us would value, particularly if we have a coffee brewing tool that takes 10-15 mins or longer to heat up.
If your coffee brewing device has a classic on/off rocker switch, then there’s a in truth easy solution. Leave the switch on the coffee makeking device in the on position, and connect it to a smart plug, like this:
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This economical Wifi smart plug, enables you to turn even the most old-school coffee machines into smart coffee machines at least where remote on and off is worried.
As long as your coffee brewing equipment has a standard on/off switch, as the La Pavoni machines do, and as the original pre 2009 Gaggia Classic does, for example, you can remotely turn them off and on via this smart plug.
You benefit from this with the original Gaggia Classic, and the La Pavoni Europiccola, extremely any machine with a basic on/off switch so you can leave it on the on position and control the power via the smart switch.
If you have a more modern coffee makeking device, however, that doesn’t enable you to leave it switched on, this is still doable, however you’ll need something a little bit more “A-TEAM”, like this:
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This is a genius idea, you can stick it onto simply about anything, connect to it with your smartphone, turn it on and off remotely, even set up timers so that it automatically turns on and off at the pre-set times.
I came across these a while ago in a reddit thread, someone was utilizing one to turn on a coffee makeking device which wouldn’t use a smart switch as it didn’t have a classic rocker on/off switch, and I thought it was a great idea!
As I said earlier, there isn’t a great deal you can truly do with connectivity and coffee machines other than remotely turn them on and off. It would be extremely difficult to work with your smartphone to fill up the water tank or empty the drip tray.
So with a smart plug or a smart switch, you can literally make basically about any coffee brewing tool “smart” in the one area that it actually does make sense.
If you find a way to make coffee machines do the other important stuff after turning on, such as washing cups, emptying drip trays, filling bean hoppers and so on, then please do let me discover! ;-).
Semi-automatic traditional espresso machines
The vast majority of traditional espresso coffee machines these days (well, not simply “these days” nevertheless for the past few decades) are semi automatic, which when it comes to traditional espresso coffee machines, implies that they have a pump for creating the required pressure.
So with these kinds of machines, you have a separate grinding machine with which you grind the coffee beans into the filter, which sits in the filter holder (referred to as the portafilter), which you insert into the group head, and then you press the shot button, the pump is engaged and the shot of espresso is pulled.
This type of espresso machine will (nearly) always have a steam wand for frothing and heating the milk for cappuccino, latte, flat white and so on.
The perfect smart semi-automatic espresso coffee machines
As I’ve pointed out above, you can actually turn any semi-auto espresso coffee machine into a smart espresso machine when it comes to remotely turning it on and off, via a smart plug or smart switch.
The semi-auto espresso machines I’m about to introduce you to are smart in the true sense of the word, for the reasons I’ll explain for each machine, and with the combination of a smart plug or smart switch, you can likewise make them connected in terms of being able to remotely turn them on or off.
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The Sage (spoken about as Breville outside of Europe) Bambino plus is among the entry level espresso machines from Sage.
This is a cracking little espresso coffee machine, which can be used for home baristas, or for complete beginners who have no interest in the home barista hobby.
Actually to delve a little deeper into that, utilizing an espresso machine as a home barista, means utilizing traditional filter baskets and a grinder capable of grinding fine enough and making adjustments small enough in order to be used for espresso coffee machines with fundamental baskets.
It implies spending time and effort “dialing in” which is generally (however not purely) about adjusting the grind, in order to get the extraction as close to perfect as possible. It implies weighing the dosage, and the espresso, and there in fact is a learning curve to this kind of home espresso coffee creating.
The cheaper (usually around £100-£200) machines which are marketed as espresso machines, are mildly different, as they’re aimed at people who like the idea of using what appears to be a traditional espresso machine, but without the essential skill.
These machines usually “boast” (fake boast, as this isn’t something to boast about) 15 bars or even 19 bars of pump pressure, and they usually come with pressurized baskets, not standard baskets.
Some of the entry-level home barista espresso coffee machines, including the entry-level machines from Sage, come with both standard baskets and pressurized baskets (Sage call them dual walled baskets), so if you prefer, you can use the dual walled baskets & this reduces the importance of the griner quality and home barista skill.
You can even work with pre-ground coffee with these baskets, but I’d highly recommend that you grind your own, even if you’re using pressurized baskets, as freshly ground coffee is much fresher.
As I found with some blind taste testing, you can truly get pretty close with the dual walled baskets when it comes to espresso quality, as you can with putting time and effort into dialing in with fundamental baskets.
So as far as I’m anxious, if you want to work with a average espresso coffee machine but you’re not yet convinced as to whether you want to go the whole home barista hog, a machine like this which comes with both kinds of baskets and therefore provides you the preference, is a good idea.
The smart bits
3 second heat up time.
With this machine, you actually don’t need the auto-on feature or scheduled on and off times, as it basically takes 3 seconds to be ready to work with. You’ll want to run some water through the group before you pull your shot, in order to warm up the group head, the portafilter and your cup, however you’d need to do this with a lot of espresso coffee machines.
Auto milk texturing.
One of the hardest things to do when it comes to creating excellent espresso based coffee drinks at home, is to get the milk texture right. Baristas and seasoned home baristas make it look much easeir than it in truth is!
With the bambino plus, although, you just fill the the jug, put it on the drip tray making sure it’s covering the heat sensor, and the machine will texture the milk to your pre-set froth and temperature settings. You can steam milk manually if you prefer, and it does a fantastic job of texturing that way too, once you’ve got the knack of it.
Automatic factory pre-set pre-infusion.
Pre-infusion indicates introducing water to the ground coffee under reduced pressure. With the Bambino plus (with all the Sage espresso machines basically) the pressure slowly increases up to the 9 bars of pressure after the preinfusion phase.
9 bars of pressure.
As with a lot of espresso machines, the Bambino plus has a 15 bar pump, but unlike most of the cheaper domestic machines, it has an overpressure valve set to 9 bars of pressure, which is mainly accepted as the standard for espresso coffee.
3 way solenoid valve.
As with the OVP (over pressure valve) and pre-infusion, a solenoid valve is something you’d usually expect in commercial machines or home barista espresso coffee machines, most of lower cost home espresso coffee machines wouldn’t usually have a 3 way solenoid.
The benefit of this is that the leftover pressure and water is expelled via a tube from the solenoid into the drip tray, so you’ll usually have a nice dry puck, and if you choke the machine with too fine a grind, you don’t get what’s known as portafilter sneeze if you remove the portafilter from the group without allowing the brew valve time to get shot of the pressure.
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The smart bits
The Barista touch, again from Sage Appliances, is smart in the same ways as the Bambino plus above, however it also has:
Integrated grinder
The Barista touch has an integrated grinder with 30 grind settings. What this suggests is that you don’t need a separate coffee grinder, but (unlike bean to cup machines) you have at least some ability to dial in.
You don’t quite have as much dialing in ability as you would with a stand-alone espresso coffee capable mill, although, particularly not compared with the likes of the Eureka Mignon (which has a worm dial for infinitely fine adjustment).
For more on Eureka Mignon grinders, see:
Eureka Mignon Review
Having an integrated mill doesn’t make the Barista touch a bean to cup coffee brewing device, by the way – although to be fair, the Barista touch is straddling the line between traditional espresso machines and bean to cup coffee machines with its touch screen settings and auto milk steaming.
Touch screen controls.
The Barista touch has, as the name would recommend, a touch screen. This allows you to swipe through and select your coffee, and also to alter the drinks, and to add new ones. When you choose your consume, the screen will talk you through what to do to make the selected coffee.
This is similar to the Sage Oracle Touch, only it’s literally the milk side of things that are done for you with the Barista touch, as this machine doesn’t quite have the same extent as smartness when it comes to the espresso coffee side of things as the Oracle Touch has, with it’s auto dosing & auto tamping.
Auto milk texturing.
The Bambino plus does have this too, but it’s a bit more advanced with the Barista touch, with more control over the milk texture and temperature and the controls being via the touch screen.
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I know I’m starting to come across as a real Sage fanboy ;-), however they truly do make some of the smartest espresso coffee machines. They do things differently from the way many manufacturers work when it comes to designing domestic coffee machines.
They’ll look at the way other manufacturers do things, and instead of basically following suit, they’ll often invent new components or new ways of doing things in order to do a better job.
The dual boiler is a fantastic example of this. The obvious approach to making a higher-end espresso coffee machine would have been to make a dual boiler machine or a heat exchanger (which heats the brew water via a pipe running through the steam boiler).
Instead, they created a (the first, that I’m aware of, at least when it comes to domestic machines) dual boiler machine, likewise with a heat exchanger for the objective of improving thermal stability.
The smart bits
Auto on.
Just go into the menu, and select the time you want it to turn on. This is ideal for having it turned on and heated up each morning of course, however likewise, each time you work with it you can extremely quickly go into the menu and tell it to turn back on again 5 or 10 minutes before you’re going to want your next coffee.
Ultimate temperature control
It’s not uncommon to have two or three brew temp settings, but with the dual boiler, you have 10 settings, in 1C increments from 86C – 96C, really humble to alter via the control panel, which offers great control when it comes to literally precisely dialing in with a wide range of roast profiles.
Incredible preinfusion control
Not only do you have control over the pump power when it comes to pre-infusion, being able to troubleshoot both the preinfusion power and the preinfusion time provides you rare flexibility over the preinfusion.
Unparalleled (at this price point) temperature stability
One of the keys to great espresso coffee is temperature stability, and temp instability is the Achilles heel of lots of lower-cost espresso coffee machines.
What they’ve done with the dual boiler, without getting too technical, truly suggests that the machine performs as if the group was one with the boiler, which is called a Saturated group.
It’s not, and saturated group machines are something I’d expect on much higher-end machines and some commercial espresso coffee machines, nevertheless it acts as if it is, due to the pid controlled heated group, and the pid controlled brew boiler, which work together to deliver the exact brew temp needed by the user.
Loads more…
I could go on and on about the Dual boiler, I have this machine, actually I have two of them. I have one at home as my main home espresso machine when I’m not using other machines to review, and then I have one in the studio, and having two implies I can mess about with one of them.
For instance, my silver one (I have a silver one and a black one) now has the “slayer mod” a really humble mos which allows me to utilize the water knob to control the pressure on the fly, allowing me to do “flow profiling”, which I won’t get into within this article, but truly take my word for it, this is one chuffing smart espresso machine!
For more, see:
Sage Dual Boiler Review
That’s it for my suggestions for semi automatic espresso machines, nevertheless for loads more suggestions, see:
Perfect Espresso Machines
Bean to cup coffee machines
A lot of people when searching for the best smart coffee machines, I reckon, probably have bean to cup coffee machines in mind, so for this reason I’m going to focus the majority of my suggestions on bean to cup coffee machines.
These are usually espresso coffee machines (not always, there are some bean to cup American coffee machines) and they have an integrated coffee grinder & a brewing unit (which handles all of the espresso-making), an internal grinds container (into which the used pucks of coffee are expelled, for you to dump when full), and many of the time, a way to froth milk.
There are “one-touch coffee” bean to cup machines or “semi-auto” bean to cup machines that deal with the coffee for you as a one-touch affair but which have a steam wand (usually what is known as a Panarello or turbo frother).
There are likewise “one-touch milk” machines sometimes likewise known as “cappuccino makers” which likewise handle the milk frothing at the touch of a button, so you basically press a button and walk off with your cappuccino or latte for example.
The best smart semi-automatic espresso machines
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Melitta is a well-known coffee makeking equipment manufacturer that has been around rather some time, and they make some really popular domestic bean to cup coffee machines, in addition to making commercial bean to cup coffee machines.
The smart bits
This is a relatively affordable bean to cup coffee machine, particularly considering it’s a one-touch, carafe machine, which are usually more expensive.
Many of the features are just what I’d expect to see on a one-touch, fully automatic bean to cup machine, however this is likewise a smart coffee machine in the sense that it’s “connected”, via the Melitta Connect App.
This app allows you to:
Access tutorials
Yeah, not literally that impressive – I have youtube for that, next…
Amend and create drinks
There are an impressive 21 different consume selections in total and 8 user profiles, and you can edit and create from the smartphone app.
Make coffee
This is a fairly impressive feature on the face of it, but, and it’s a fairly big but, you have to turn it on manually to make coffee via the app. Hmm.
Theoretically, you could use a smart plug or smart switch as I explained earlier, to turn it on remotely and then work with the smartphone app to make coffee, nevertheless it seems a bit of an error to me that they’d make a “smart coffee machine” which is smart enough to make coffee from the app but only after you’ve walked up to it to turn it on.
The manufacturer have probably figured that this doesn’t actually question because you can’t work with an app to put the cup on the drip tray, put milk in the carafe and so on, but in that case what’s the point of being able to make coffee from the app?
The machine will turn itself off after 15 minutes, so it’s not like you only have to turn it on once and then at any time you can make a coffee from your phone as long as there’s a cup and the milk carafe is in place.
However, if you could turn it on with the app then in theory you could leave a cup on the drip tray the night before and at least make an espresso coffee or Americano, for instance, from your smart phone – or if there’s someone else up and you can’t be bothered getting up, you could ask the less lazy person to put milk in the carafe and stick it on the machine, and then bring you your coffee ;-).
Yes if there’s a less lazy person already up, they could turn the machine on too, but you can only operate the machine from your phone once the machine has heated itself up and rinsed itself, so there’s a bit of a wait once it’s been manually turned on.
Split hopper
OK we’ve moved on from the app stuff now, and I’m including this feature as it’s rare, nevertheless in fact, it’s not extremely a feature I rate. The modest reason is that while this is marketed as being a dual hopper machine, this is just one hopper split in half.
Yes in theory you could put one type of bean in one half and another in the other half (such as full caff and decaffeinated) nevertheless bean hoppers are among the worse places to store coffee beans, you’re way better off just grabbing a handful (or better still, weighing the approx amount of beans you’re about to utilize) and lobbing them in the hopper.
The not so smart bits
Reading through the Amazon reviews they’re largely simply positive, however there are a few people who’ve had issues with connectivity, with a couple of people saying the app disconnects often, which I’d find frustrating if I’d bought the machine partly down to the connectivity.
There are also a few people complaining about the milk temperature, though there are some people saying the opposite where max milk temp is concerned so it could simply be that some people have had defective models, it happens.
As I’ve referred to, the biggest oops for me is the reality that among the biggest features, in theory, being able to make coffee remotely, is only literally a gimmick because you – or someone – would have to walk up to the machine first to turn it on, unless you work with a smart switch.
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This is Brad Pitt’s coffee machine, and if you believe that you’ll believe anything ;-). It’s the coffee makeking equipment he uses in the latest (at the time of writing) commercial featuring Brad Pitt.
The smart bits
This is another app-controlled smart coffee machine, and with the DeLonghi “Coffee Link” app, which allows you to do quite a little bit, to be fair, including:
Turn it on
Once the machine is setup, you can turn it on from your smartphone, via the app.
Learn
You can discover stuff via the Delonghi coffee link app. I’m uncertain what you can learn, I’m just reading through the instruction manual, it truly says “discover”, I’m assuming this is coffee-related discoveries.
Manuals & Help
You can access manuals for your coffee machine, and access help directly via the smartphone app.
Troubleshoot the 16 beverages
This machine comes with 13 pre-set coffees, and you can add another three via the app, all of which can be controlled via the app.
Custom profiles
There are three custom profiles with this machine, which can be set up and accessed via the app.
Initial setup
Once you’ve turned it on, filled the water tank & put beans in the hopper, the initial setup can all be controlled via the app, and the main machine settings are available via the app if you need to change them in the future.
Overall then, this looks pretty good. I think the truth that you can basically turn the machine on from the smartphone app is a positive.
As long as you remember to put a cup on the drip tray the night before, in theory as long as you don’t want milk (as there’s currently no app smart enough to get the milk out of the fridge), you can turn the machine on as soon as you wake up (or actually before, if you’re very clever), and then order a coffee from your phone as soon as it’s warmed up.
The milk thing, by the way – there are machines that come with milk fridges, but currently, these are just commercial bean to cup coffee machines, as far as I’m aware. If you had a bean to cup machine with a milk fridge, with this type of app connectivity, you could wake up and order a cappuccino or latte, which I think would make this feature a lot more interesting to a lot more people.
The not so smart bits
In theory, I can’t actually see lots of issues with this machine, there are no glaringly obvious issues such as allowing coffee preparation from the app however only once you’ve got up off your backside and turned it on.
There are, however, numerous recurring mentions in the Amazon Reviews concerning the milk temp at the hottest setting being only warm & not hot.
Whether this is just the occasional person like my dad who likes his milkies hotter than the center of the sun, or whether it is an matter with the machine, I can’t be certain, but if you like actually hot milk in your milkies you may need to forget one-touch carafe machines and go for a machine with a manual steam wand which provides you total control over milk temp.
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Seimens make several bean to cup coffee machines, the most popular of which appear to be the “connect” range, with the Home Connect app.
Via this app, you can do the following:
Remote start
Once you’ve enabled it remote start, you can use the app to turn on your coffee brewing device.
Make coffees
Once the machine is ready, you can select, modify and prepare coffees from your smart phone via the app.
Queue up drinks
With the “coffee playlist” feature, you can take orders from your guests or family, to be then made one after the other. Clever!
Coffee World
Select coffee drinks from a selection of app-exclusive specialities from around the world. I’ve actually downloaded the app, as you can work with it in demo mode as if you have this machine, and this coffee world feature is really interesting. It includes extremely speciality drinks such as Keliener Brauner, Weiner Mrlange & Kaapi, so it’s not just the usual suspects.
Childproof Lock
You can activate and deactivate the childproof lock via the app, handy if you have kids who’ve grown tall enough to reach the machine!
Switch off timer
In theory, you can select a wide range of auto off times via the app, from 5 mins to 3 hours. I say in theory, as I’m going from the demo app, and I’m uncertain if all of these times will be accessible in all countries.
The EU regulation (that the UK still appears to be operating under at the moment from what I can gather?) for auto-off times on domestic coffee machines is 15 minutes, so whether or not you’ll have the full functionality as per the demo version of the app, I’m unsure, but I will try to find out & I’ll update this accordingly.
Milk first or coffee first
In the Home Connect settings, you can toggle between milk first or coffee first for cappuccino, which is a rare extent of control.
So I have to say, if this app works as it’s designed, I think the Seimens bean to cup machines possibly take pole position when it comes to the smartest bean to cup coffee machines. The world coffee selections and the coffee playlist, I think are really clever features that are in fact usable, not gimmicks.
The not so smart bits
The only negatives I can find for this machine is the same old “milk isn’t hot enough” matter that tends to be a common one in reviews with one touch bean to cup machines. Other than this, I’ve found mention of the app being a little clunky to work with, but when I used the demo app it seemed fairly slick, so I’m not sure if they’ve updated the app, or if the “clunkiness” refers to pairing, which I wouldn’t discover about as I’ve only used the demo version.
For more bean to cup coffee machines, see:
Perfect Bean to Cup Coffee Machines
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This is the latest version of the De Longhi Magnifica, I’ve reviewed the earlier version, the De’Longhi Magnifica S – and this is the updated “smart” version of this machine.
I’ve tried this machine, and I’ll be reviewing it really soon, in the meantime though just see my original De’Longhi Magnifica S review, as it’s practically the same machine.
The smart bits
This machine isn’t a smart coffee machine in the sense that it’s connected via an app or Alexa, etc. As I’ve mentioned earlier, there’s nothing stopping you from turning this machine on and off remotely via a smart switch, nevertheless if you’re looking for a machine you can make coffee from remotely, then this isn’t it.
It is a fairly smart coffee brewing device in the more general sense, though, although ironically I can’t truly see what’s smart about it in comparison to the “non-smart” version.
Other than a couple of purely aesthetic differences, the only thing I can truly see that I think is better with the “smart” version, is the panarello steam wand. The original “non-smart” version has a more standards panarello wand, while the Smart version has the same adjustable wand as with the De’Longhi Dedica, which I think is possibly the best version of these kind of wands that I’ve seen.
Cheap as chips
For a bean to cup coffee brewing tool, this literally is a cheap machine, and this and the original Magnifica-S I think are a lot of bean to cup coffee makeking device for this type of money.
Modest to work with
This machine is really straightforward to work with. My mum has one – and not that I’m calling her humble ;-), but I think this is the first machine she’s had of this type, and she’s had no problem using this machine after an very quick bit of instruction.
Perfect panarello
As I’ve explained, this “Smart” version has an adjustable panarello, the same one as you’ll find on the De’Longhi Dedica EC685. In case you’re wondering what a panarello is, it’s a milk frother which consists of a sheath placed over the steam pipe, which automatically froths milk without any skill requirement.
Using a “proper” steam wand to foam milk isn’t quite as simple as Baristas make it look, I can tell you this from personal experience! It took me years to find out to properly texture milk with a steam wand. A Panarello wand, AKA turbo frother, callsfor extremely little skill, and produces the type of froth a number of people are happy with.
Bean to cup coffee machines with this sort of wand are usually the cheapest, with one touch cappuccino machines having milk carafes, being the many expensive usually, but I simply think panarello wands are way better on the whole.
The reason I say this is that the nunber one complaint from people who have one touch bean to cup machines, is milk temperature not being hot enough. With a panarello wand, though you don’t usually have fantastic control over the texture, you have fantastic control over the temperature, you can basically simply keep going usually until the milk is at the temp you desire.
With this particular panarello, although, you have two settings – cappuccino, and hot milk. What this suggests, is that you can leave it on the cappuccino setting for as long as you want to inject air, and then literally change it to the hot milk setting to basically continue heating however not aerating, and this provides you not only conrol over the temperature of your milk, nevertheless likewise the texture.
With a lot of bean to cup machines with a panarello wand, even though, you can also remove if it you wish, and use the steam pipe beneath as if it were a pro steam wand.
The not so smart bits
I’m unsure why they’ve known as this “smart”
Given there’s already a Magnifica S, I would have imagined that the Magnifica S Smart version would be smart in terms of connectivity, and I’d think that several other people would think this too. This is an updated version of the Magnifica S, with a few design tweaks and the better (in my modest opinion) panarello wand, and I can’t quite figure out why they decided to name this version Smart.
Double shots aren’t double shots
I’ve pointed out this before when talking about the Delonghi Magnifica machines and other DeLonghi bean to cup machines, I do wish that a double shot would produce double the volume of espresso coffee brewed with double the ground coffee, for a true double shot.
With all of the Gaggia bean to cup coffee machines, for example, if you press the shot button twice in quick succession, the machine grinds and pulls the shot twice, so you end up with double the espresso from double the ground coffee.
I did some experimenting with the Magnifica S and from what I can gather, the machine either grinds the same or maybe ever so mildly more coffee for a double shot, and then produces a larger, weaker shot.
It’s not a deal-breaker even though, if I wanted a double shot from this machine I’d just press the single shot button, and then press it again once the first shot is pulled.
Check Price – Gaggia Direct
This is one of the latest bean to cup coffee machines from Gaggia, and it’s an impressive machine, with five versions:
Cadorna Style
This is the base version, plastic panarello steam wand, 6 different coffees.
Cadorna Plus
The same as the style but with stainless steel panarello steam wand, 6 different coffees as with the style.
Cadorna Milk
This comes with a cappuccinatore milk frother instead of a panarello wand, 10 different coffees.
Cadorna Prestige
This is the milk carafe version, and has settings for 16 different coffees.
Cadorna Barista Plus
The model pictured above, this is the same in features as the plus, nevertheless it has a pro steam wand.
The smart bits:
4 user profiles
This is among the main features that brews the Cadorna unique compared to other Gaggia machines, with four distinct user profiles with different colours. These machines are crafted for up to four users to be able to customize all of the coffees for them.
Easy to control coffee strength
It’s often rather difficult to discover what strength settings actually relate to with some bean to cup coffee machines. Among the things I actually like about the Gaggia machines is that you always know how much coffee is being ground depending on your strength selection, with the “bean” settings.
On machines such as the Cadorna which have 5 strength settings, the one bean setting is 7 grams, and then it goes up in one gram increments, with the 5 bean setting representing 11 grams. On machines including the Gaggia Brera, which have three bean settings, the min and max are still 7 and 11, nevertheless there’s just one setting in between, which is the 2 bean setting which impacts in 9 grams of coffee being ground.
Filter coffee machines
As the name would probably recommend ;-), and as you’re no doubt aware, drip coffee machines are machines that make drip coffee.
They have a filter basket in the top, into which you insert a filter (or you can utilize the reusable mesh filter that lots of of them come with), and put ground coffee into, which hot water then enters, filters through the coffee and drips into the pot.
If you’re into American coffee, then you truly should be looking for a drip coffee makeking equipment. I say that, due to the truth that I hear from people occasionally who’re not happy with their coffee machine literally because they’ve misunderstood “similar” types of coffee to be the same.
A common one is that people like filter coffee, and they buy a bean to cup espresso coffee machine, thinking that espresso mixed with hot water is the same thing as filter coffee.
This is Americano, or long black, and it may be similar in strength and in volume, but it’s definitely not the same, it has a different mouth feel and a different taste. The same is true of cafetiere coffee, for example, it’s similar, however it’s not the same.
So if filter coffee is what you crave, and you’re wanting the practicality of a coffee makeking equipment vs manual brewing, then you need to be specifically looking for a filter coffee makeking device.
The perfect smart drip coffee machines
Check Price - Amazon UK
This is a bean to cup drip coffee machine, so it’s a American coffee machine with an integrated coffee mill.
The “smart” bit is because you can control this coffee brewing device via app, and likewise via Alexa, Google Nest & Siri.
The smart bits
Coffee via voice command
The fact you can c0nnect this machine to Alexa, Siri & Google Nest, suggests you can bark commands at it, even though as far as I’m aware it’ll only answer coffee-related commands.
Brew coffee from anywhere
You can turn the machine on via Alexa or other apps, and order freshly ground freshly brewed coffee, as long as you’ve remembered to put a cup in place and fill the water tank on.
The not so smart bits
I can’t simply see any major flaws with this machine, but reading through the Amazon reviews, though it’s largely positive as you can tell by looking at the overall review score, if you trawl through the single star reviews it doesn’t paint a pretty picture, with rather a lot of failures reported.
Check Price – Amazon UKCheck Price – Sage Appliances Check Price – Currys
This isn’t a “smart” filter coffee makeking device in the sense that it’s connected via a Bluetooth app or Alexa, and really there are very few filter coffees that are, at the time of writing, but this is a very smart drip coffee machine in the broader sense of the word.
The smart bits
Big capacity
You can brew up to about 1.7 of coffee with this machine, which is about the a lot of significant volume you’ll find from a domestic American coffee makeking equipment.
Cold coffee…
It’ll make hot coffee too of course, but the Sage Precision brewer has a cold brew function.
Temperature stable
It has a PID which indicates that the brew temp is under control.
Multiple brew settings
There are various brew settings including “Gold Brew” which automatically makes you a coffee utilizing the SCA-approved standards.
Stainless steel carafe
Among the common gripes about drip coffee machines is the glass carafes can break, and they’re often rather expensive to replace, compared to the price of the machine. This is a stainless steel carafe, and it’s insulated which suggests it keeps your coffee warm, too.
Auto brew timer
You can set it to wake up before you do, and brew your coffee for you. Obviously you’ll need to grind your coffee and load the filter basket the night before.
The not so smart bits
The only obvious one is that it costs more than most people would think of spending on a filter coffee makeking tool.
For more drip coffee machines, see:
Best Drip coffee Machines
Pod coffee machines
Again, I’ll be preaching to the converted here, you won’t need me to tell you what a pod coffee makeking tool is.
Pod coffee machines all started with a chap known as Eric Favre, a Swiss fella who had a little bit of friendly spousal banter with his Italian wife about Swiss coffee vs. Italian coffee, which turned into a challenge that led to him inventing what became the Nespresso machine.
Eric played the long game with his invention, he even began working in the packaging department of the Swiss headquarters of Nestlé, just to get his foot in the door.
It wasn’t until a number of years later when he’d worked his way up to being a food scientist for Nestlé, that he pitched the CEO of Nestlé Japan, on an assignment there, that Nespresso was born.
About 30 years later, the same clever bloke likewise invented what we know as the Lavazza pod machine. Anyway, Nespresso were the first pod machines, of course there are rather a few others now, including the aforementioned Lavazza, plus Tassimo, Dolce Gusto & the newer Nespresso Vertuo.
The best smart pod coffee machines
Check Price – Amazon UK
This is one of the aforementioned Lavazza machines, invented by the same guy (well, the system he invented was licensed to Lavazza) who invented Nespresso.
He initially did it, apparently, because he felt so bad about the amount of damage potentially being done to the environment by the requirement of Aluminium in Nespresso pods, though there are a number of Aluminium free, recyclable, and even compostable Nespresso compatible pods these days.
The smart bits
Coffee via voice
Given the name, it would be quite funny if this wasn’t a machine that you could make coffees with via voice command ;-). This is a collaboration between Lavazza and Alexa, it comes with Alexa in-built.
Morning routine
Not only can you ask Alexa to make your coffee, you can setup a morning routine which involves your lights being turned on if you also have Alexa controlled lamps or light bulbs, an your coffee being ready for you!
Reorder pods
If you tell Alexa via your Lavazza machine how lots of pods you have left, and setup an auto order at a certain level, she’ll even order your pods for you when you’re running low.
The not so smart bits
The obvious one is that the voice command coffee is mainly a gimmick, as you have to walk up to the machine to put the pod in.
Alexa won’t (yet) reach for the pod and load it in for you. With this in mind, you might decide that a much cheaper Lavazza machine which is similar in the other features, such as the Deséa, may be a better bet.
I think the morning routine thing is ideal, due to the fact that you can simply slap a pod in the night before, and as long as you remember to put the cup in place, you’ll have coffee when you get to it as long as you remembered to say Good Morning to Alexa, nevertheless the voice-controlled coffee I can see being something you use to entertain friends and family, nevertheless that’s probably about it.
I’ve likewise read a few complaints in the Amazon Reviews referring to the voice control not working especially well, and having to repeat yourself lots of times, which reminds me of watching my father-in-law’s hilarious arguments with Alexa, in which he repeatedly shouted “ELVIS” at the Alexa, forgetting to say Alexa first ;-). There are probably people like my father-in-law just shouting “COFFEE!” ;-).
It’s likewise possibly a little more pricey than lots of people would be expecting to spend on a pod coffee brewing equipment, and there are much cheaper Lavazza machines which have similar features however are just lacking the “smart” features in the form of the Alexa controls.
Check Price - Amazon UKCheck Price - Sage Appliances
This is an original Nespresso machine, from Sage (Breville outside of the UK) – it looks similar to the Bambino plus, and has some similar features.
The smart bits
Big water tank
The water tank is 1.5L, which may not sound huge, nevertheless this is fairly bit when it comest to pod coffee machines.
Auto milk texturing
As with the bambino plus, you can just put milk in the jug, put it on the temp sensor, and the machine will texture the milk to your chosen froth level, and heat it to the desired temp.
Auto purging steam wand
The steam wand automatically cleans itself when you push it back down into place, as with the Sage Bambino Plus.
3 second warm up time
Again, as with the Bambino Plus, the creatista Uno is ready to go in actually 3 seconds.
The not so smart bits
It has a similar sized drip tray to the Bambino plus, and to be fair it’s probably rather big for a Nespresso machine, but the auto purge will take up a fair amount of drip tray space, so if you’re making milkies you’ll probably have to empty the drip tray fairly regularly.
The other obvious point is that the price, it’s a few hundred quid, which for many people is probably about three times more than they were expecting to pay for a pod coffee brewing equipment.
For more on Pod coffee machines, well, you understand the drill by now 😉 …
Best Pod Coffee Machines
Kev’s Smart Coffee makeking equipment FAQ
Are smart coffee machines helpful, or just a gimmick?
I think this truly depends on what the “smart” coffee makeking equipment you’re looking at actually does within these smart features.
Some smart coffee machines for example offer remote features which would lead you to think you can use them from the comfort of your bed, for example, but they don’t have a remote turn-on feature, so you have to get out of your pit to go & turn it on, which would render the feature fairly useless.
I likewise think it depends on the kind of coffee machines. With pod coffee machines, for example, you’re always going to have to put a pod in the machine, which makes the main “voice control” element of using a machine like this, no more than a gimmick if you ask me.
Having said that, if you have a pod coffee brewing equipment with a morning routine that will turn your lights on and make your coffee from the pod you loaded the night before when you say good morning to it, then for me, that’s a genuine, usable feature and not just a gimmick.
What does a smart coffee makeking tool do?
This depends, basically, on what exactly you mean by “smart”, and the sort of coffee machine, and the specific smart coffee makeking tool in question, as there’s no rule about what a coffee machine ought to do if it’s labeled as a smart coffee makeking equipment.
What I would refer to as smart, and what I’m sure you’ll be thinking of as a smart coffee machine, is one that can be operated in ways other than manually pressing buttons. The particular features will then depend on the kind of machine, and the specific make & model, as you’ll have noticed from the varied features of the coffee machines above.
What makes a coffee makeking tool smart?
Again, this does depend on what you mean. I would think that a coffee brewing device marketed as a smart coffee brewing device, would have connectivity, meaning that you can operate it via a smartphone app, and/or via Alexa, Google Home or Siri, however as I’ve explained, this isn’t always the case.
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This article first of all appeared at Coffee Blog – The UK Specialty Coffee Blog – For Lovers of GENUINE Coffee!
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