I’m in the market for a good coffee machine. I want a built-in grinder with a milk foam feature (ideally for alternative milk like soy and almond, but not mandatory), and one that isn’t too hard to clean/maintain (I recognize they all require maintenance). I really like the Miele options, especially the Miele 7750 because it has a three-bean hopper which allows you to choose between coffee beans/flavors with each cup. That said, the $4500 price tag is hard to justify. The Kitchen Aid looks good, too, but doesn’t have the multi-bean option. Any experience with these machines (or other brands) would be much appreciated.
Jura. Highly Highly recommend.
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We have a Gaggia. My H is the coffee lover at our house and he adores it. He loves the customizability and it can save the preferences for up to 4 people for all different types of coffee.
Single bean hopper though but easier to clean than some of our previous machines.
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Is there a specific Jura model you recommend?
Gaggia does make a double hopper but it’s very pricey. We have the Cadorna Prestige.
Previously we had Saecos (before they were bought by Phillips). Not as customizable and more difficult to clean, but it did have a bypass for decaf.
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Yes we are big fans of Gaggia too. This is our current machine (we’ve bought several over the years from Whole Latte Love and think they are great, they also sell whole beans):
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We ordered ours online too from Whole Latte Love, but if you have a Sur La Table near by you can do a coffee tasting and compare machines. They carry most of the top brands.
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We’re on our second Phillips coffee maker, the 5500 model, I think. It works well and is lower priced that some of the others.
I use a Nespresso Vertuo in my office. It makes great coffee.
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We have the Jura E6. We’ve had it for 5+ years and it’s been great. We had a De’Longhi as well, but that broke within 2 years.
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Here is a thorough review of “bean to cup” machines by James Hoffman, an all things coffee expert known for great reviews. He reviews each for quality of coffee, quality of coffee drink, and functionality. He is really unimpressed with the expensive miele, especially the quality of the coffee, which he found to be the worst of the bunch.
His comments on the miele hint at a larger issue when considering spending big bucks on one of these do everything, super-auto machines. If you want to be able to make a excellent espresso or espresso based drink – the kind you might get at a quality shop and just say WOW, that is incredible! – then IMO fresh quality coffee, a traditional machine (for brewing and steam), and a separate quality grinder (sometimes as expensive as the brewer/steamer) will give you much better bang for your buck.
On the other hand, chasing a consistently great espresso drink can be a rabbit hole, and some people just don’t want to deal with it, and so they gravitate toward machines that will do a good job with (somewhat) less hassle. Hopefully the reviews above will help you sort some of these choices.
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Our first Jura was…I don’t remember the number but it was very similar to the current E6. I think it may have been called Ena 6. We kept it 10 years and then gave it to my SIL. Our current one is Ena 8. We mostly drink coffee and espresso without milk but it does make all the milk drinks too. It makes really good coffee. I think the only one with more than one hopper is the Giga, which is super expensive.
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Super helpful! Thank you!
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We have been very happy with Breville!
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I have this one from GE Cafe. I am in love. It is very easy to use/clean/maintain. It has an app that you download so you can customize your espresso drinks (size, strength, temp, etc.) and it doesn’t take up a lot of room on my counter. Whenever I travel and have to subject myself to a Keurig 
I can’t wait to get back to my espresso machine!
Not these ones specifically. We had 2 Breville One Touches which are pretty expensive.
The first one we had to have fixed under warranty after a few years and then it ran into the same problem and so we replaced it. Bought a second one and eventually ran into the same problem. Dh fixed that problem but then the built in grinder stopped working so we decided to go with something else.
When we originally purchased the Breville it was because I wanted something that was pretty easy to use as I was intimidated by the more manual espresso machines. After using the Breville for several years I was ready to go with a less home appliance model.
We ended up going with a Profitec Drive. It does not have a built in grinder though it does have 2 steam wands. I like it but a couple of things that I miss about the Breville is that it had the built in grinder/tamper, and the water tank was easier to fill. Also Breville had an automatic stop so you didn’t have to monitor as it brewed your coffee. The Profitec you need to manually stop, remove the portafilter, and then start it again to run the hot water and manually stop it.
The Profitec and similar machines operate like a machine one would find in a speciality espresso cafe. They must be paired with a quality grinder. The upside is the potential for outstanding espresso and the downside being it takes quite a lot of time, effort, and practice to figure out to consistently create an excellent cup. One has to dial in the precise amount of coffee used, the grind setting (which will vary depending on the type and freshness of the coffee), and brewing temp and time, and learn how to properly froth milk. And you also need a quality grinder and a scale and some patience. It is almost has to be a hobby, at least until someone in your house figures it out. But once someone in your house gets it figured out, the coffee is great.
(BTW, @gwnorth, there’s only one steam wand. The thicker wand on your right dispenses scalding hot water for tea or americanos (although tea and coffee snobs will think the scalding water too hot for that.)
As for Breville I was going to mention that as a possibility above. The Dual Boiler came out about 15 years ago as Breville’s first espresso machine and it is the one closest to a coffee specialty cafe set up-- not super automatic, no internal grinder, so the user maintains more control over the final output, and thus the potential for great coffee. The Oracle Touch @gwnorth mentions is more automatic in that it has a grinder and tamps the coffee but the user has to move it over to the brew head. Both machines have been around for quite a while now. And there are other machines as well. The brevilles are easy to use, are stacked with features, and can make good coffee.
One knock on Breville among the coffee hobbyist/snobs is that they sometimes break down. Breville is great about fixing them, but it is still a pain. My guess is that other super automatics have similar issues, although it seems like Jura has a better track record on this issue. Like @gwnorth, many coffee people start with a breville then move into something more prosumer like the Profitec and a dedicated espresso grinder, because their breville broke down and/or they are chasing even better coffee. My guess is that it is much rarer for someone to go from a Breville like the Oracle or Dual Boiler to a super automatic because you will not produce a better espresso/latte/cap with a super-auto, but you could with traditional setup.
Anyway if you are looking for an almost completely automated experience, I would at least consider the Oracle. The user has to be minimally involved, but the quality of the coffee is strong.
Hoffman didn’t include the Oracle in his review above because it requires minimal involvement from the user, but here is his detailed review of the product.
Also, here is a video that is somewhat of a follow up the super-auto review video in the post above, talking about how to try to “dial in” a super automatic machine. IMO the very idea of having to dial in such machines goes against the super-auto idea, but it does give some idea of the shortcomings of the super automatic setup.
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There is a definitely a balance between wanting an amazing cup of espresso/coffee and wanting consistency and speed.
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Which is exactly what dh wanted lol. He likes all the experimentation. He would have gone with one straight off instead of starting with the Breville, but I told him if he went with one of the professional barista type models I’d probably never drink coffee. I’m much more comfortable with the process now but dh is the one that does all the set up. We upgraded to the Breville during Covid lockdown when dh started working from home. Before that we were using a Keurig machine so the Breville was a real step up.
We buy our coffee from a local roaster and have been trying out their different blends. Every time we get a new one dh goes through all the steps of “dialing it in”. He enjoys the process of determining the best grind texture, measuring, weighing, timing etc. Me I just want a good cup of coffee lol. We do have a separate grinder as well, a Libra 65.
The advantage of machines with an integrated grinder is that’s one less appliance taking up space on your counter. Dh isn’t all that concerned with overall esthetics lol, though he did give me a choice between the Profitec and another machine he was considering based on which I thought was better looking. Personally I think they all look like something out of a steampunk movie. I do have to confess though, they make fantastic coffee.
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Anyone here know about the Ratio 6 coffee maker? It gets great reviews (doesn’t grind the beans) for an excellent cup of coffee.
@gwnorth, sounds like you have the best of both worlds . . . H does the prep and you get the great coffee! Making the coffee is fairly quick and easy once everything is properly dialed in. I just wanted to spell it all out so people understand what they are getting themselves into if they do choose to go that route. Making excellent coffee becomes a hobby, and if you don’t want a coffee hobby, then it may not be a good idea.
You probably already know this, but the Ratio Six is an automatic “pour-over” machine, very different than the espresso based machines being discussed, and different from the usual “drip” coffee machine. For those who don’t know, “pour-over” is a popular technique of slowly and precisely hand pouring hot water over freshly ground beans without pressure.
Sounds simple enough, but coffee nerds get really into the precise grind, temp and time and amount pouring (for example, grind fresh, saturate the beans, stop for a specified time, then continue at a specific pour rate and amount, etc.) I’ve read that the Ratio Six handles these variables and makes an excellent cup of coffee, but I suppose the purists/hobbyists will not want to give up the simplicity and control of doing it manually.
My one caution would be that you also consider the cost of a quality grinder, which will greatly impact the quality of the coffee produced and may cost you as much or more than the Ratio Six. No reason to commit to pour-over unless you are willing to get the grind right. (Coffee purists/nerds will say you need a flat burr grinder to produce the most uniform grind,)
It depends on the beans, but in my limited experience pour-overs can be crisp, complex, refined, and refreshing, with a much lighter and cleaner texture than espresso or drip coffee. Not something I’d cut with milk. My family and friends mostly drink milk drinks so I’ve stayed away from the pour-over rabbit hole.
If you haven’t, you may want to go to a quality shop and try some before buying.