The marvellous world of coffee machines is a rather intimidating one.
Questions tend to swirl around one’s head when attempting to navigate the purchase of one such premium appliance. What on earth does bean to cup mean? Am I capable of learning how to manually tamp? Where do Moka pots come in? Will it make me feel like a barista?
If there’s one singular brand that has worked to simplify and luxuriate the at-home coffee machine experience, it’s the heritage Trevigiani manufacturers over at De’Longhi. From the brand’s headquarters in Treviso, Italy – a stone’s throw away from one of the country’s many cultural epicentres, Venice – the design team at the family-owned brand has consistently worked to create coffee machines that its users can fall in love with. And not just because Brad Pitt is the current face of the company.
The simultaneously comprehensive yet streamlined range of coffee machines consists of four main categories:
We’ve gone one step further in the simplification of the De’Longhi experience and rounded up a selection of the best machines to buy. Keep scrolling to find a coffee machine that suits your needs.
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De’Longhi Rivelia Automatic Bean to Cup Machine
From the moment you switch on the Rivelia, you’re guided through an incredibly simple set-up process, which is pleasantly surprising for such a hi-tech machine. With the help of the fantastically responsive touch-screen interface, the product will help you run a first test of the system to make sure everything is running smoothly – a process which includes testing your water hardness with the included test strip to ensure the perfect extraction – before helping you to set-up personal profiles for all the machine’s users.
Though it may seem frivolous to some, the colour-coded and wonderfully customisable profiles help to bring this state-of-the-art machine back down to earth. While many coffee lovers who invest in high-end machines often become scared of using their wonderful devices for fear of breaking or damaging them, the Rivelia has been designed to form an immediate personal bond with its users – it will greet you in the morning, afternoon or evening depending on which profile you’re using and when. Once it’s made your coffee, it’ll deliver a cheery message with your brew.
With all smooth, curved surfaces and polished finishes, the Rivelia has so clearly been designed with everyday use in mind. Unlike most automatic bean-to-cup machines, it’s also available in four different colourways: white, black, pebble grey and even beige (which so happens to be my personal favourite).
While you may not get a choice when it comes to extraction pressure, as this is all figured out by the brilliant computer hidden within the compact frame of the Rivelia, I’m yet to have a coffee that doesn’t taste as good – if not better – than shop-bought brews.
The first affordable, compact and beautifully crafted fully automatic bean-to-cup machine of its kind, the Rivelia has been designed with coffee lovers looking to take the next step when it comes to their morning brew in mind. This next step is not an overcomplicated one, but rather one that allows users to explore a variety of beans and coffee types at the tap of a button. The Rivelia is a revelation.
Buy now £749.00, Amazon
De’Longhi PrimaDonna Elite Fully Automatic Bean to Cup Machine
The first fully automatic De’Longhi machine with app connectivity, you can select your favourite drinks and create new recipes with the dedicated companion app. So long as there are cups underneath the spout, you can make yourself a drink and manage profiles from the comfort of your sofa with ease.
The PrimaDonna’s intuitive one-touch display allows you to select from up to 13 different drinks, while the LatteCrema Hot technology delivers superior-quality hot foam for all your beverages. It grinds the perfect amount of beans before brewing, ensuring that your brew is as fresh as can be, each and every time. The removable milk carafe is small enough to pop into your fridge, so you don’t have to fiddle around with re-filling it every time you make a frothed coffee.
With the opportunity to create up to six user profiles, the machine is programmed to remember every member of your bustling household’s favourite drinks.
Buy now £1299.00, Amazon
De’Longhi Eletta Explore Bean to Cup coffee machine with Cold Brew Technology
Sleek, sophisticated and semi-automatic, De’Longhi’s cult-favourite Eletta Explore is capable of crafting over 50 hot, cold and cold-brew drinks for you to discover (hence the name). Equipped with LatteCrema Hot technology for perfect foam every time, and LatteCrema Cool for perfect cold extraction, there’s no coffee order that this wondrous machine can’t fulfil.
It’s also powered by proven Bean Adapt Technology which adapts to the bean you pour into the machine’s hopper and automatically adjusts its settings to ensure the ideal coffee extraction and preserve those wonderful aromas. One of our favourite features, however, is the To-Go function – which learns how to fill your favourite flask with ease.
Buy now £969.99, Amazon
De’Longhi La Specialista Arte Compact Manual Bean to Cup Coffee Machine
Best for: coffee customisation
This impressive piece of kit, while intuitive enough to do a lot of the work for you (e.g. grinding the beans), will still make you work somewhat for your coffee. That said, there’s reward for you should you be happy to put the effort in: namely, an incredible cup of coffee.
A large portion of the De’Longhi La Specialista’s interface is dedicated to tailoring your coffee, with a dial on the left for coffee volumes, buttons for grind dosage, plus the option to create customised profiles and more.
There are also six grind levels, which are discreetly displayed on the hopper itself, plus a slider mechanism which allows you to rotate the hopper to pick the grind level yourself. It also comes with a generous water tank – handy as it means you don’t have to fill it up as regularly as other models – that effortlessly lifts out in spite of being positioned at the back of the machine.
As well as the main machine, you also get a separate barista station to rest the portafilter handle, as well as a tamper to tamp the grounds, and a stylish jug to froth milk.
With its stainless steel finish, portafilter and stylish buttons and knobs, this is a good-looking piece of kit, especially if the aesthetic you’re after is coffee shop chic.
While if you’re after a no-fuss one-click coffee machine this might not be for you, this gadget does offer a lot for coffee enthusiasts who are happy to invest extra time, research and customisation into creating the perfect brew.
Ultimately, it will enable you to become a coffee aficionado, without the need for separate grinders and other machinery or utensils: ideal.
Buy now £529.99, John Lewis
Nespresso Vertuo Next
Best for: a value-for-money route into the Nespresso club
The Nespresso Vertuo Next has pretty much all of the features you could desire from a coffee maker and a few of the extras that you may not have anticipated - namely WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. While neither of those will actively make your coffee tastier, they do help to create a seamless experience around brewing your next mug.
This budget-friendly coffee machine is quick and easy to use, promising a zero-fuss experience that allows you to have a coffee in hand in less than a minute. Despite its tiny size, it's a well-packed machine, capable of brewing up to 18 oz. of pour-over coffee. Bonus: it also comes in a range of colours.
Buy now £74.00, Amazon
De’Longhi La Specialista Maestro Hot & Cold Brew Bean to Cup Machine
True to its name, La Specialista Maestro has been designed to maximise your coffee experience tenfold. Though it’s equipped with the MyLatteArt steam wand so that you can expertly create your own microfoam, on those days when you’re running late you can instead opt for automatic milk frothing with the help of LatteCrema Hot technology. Cold extraction technology also allows users to craft a refreshing Cold Brew drink in less than five minutes.
The machine is equipped with eight different grind settings and five infusion temperature profiles which you can shift through to help the machine adapt to the type of beans you choose.
Buy now £799.99, John Lewis
