Cappuccino Machines
Hi, I’m Peggy.
I spend lots of time doing detailed research, so you don’t have to. Below you’ll find Peggy’s Picks.
-
I retired from the education field a few years ago. My three adult children are living their own lives in their own homes, so these days I spend my time making jewelry, streaming true crime, trying new recipes, walking and stretching to keep in shape, and watching sports, particularly baseball.
Should you decide to buy something using one of my affiliate links, I thank you very much for supporting my website and supplementing my fixed retirement income!
-
Now that I’m retired, when I shop online, I spend a lot of time reading descriptions, looking at specifications, and even reading the user manuals. I take lots of notes, and then for verification, I compare what I find with recent reviews from actual testers. I even imagine using the product regularly to see if there might be something I might not like over time. There are so many choices that it takes me many days, and often several weeks, to review it all and really think it through to determine which is best for me.
Should you decide to buy something using one of my affiliate links, I thank you very much for supporting my website and supplementing my fixed retirement income!
-
My children have asked why I don’t just pick products reviewed by other websites. Well, I’m not sure if what a review website picks as best is really best for me. I wonder if they only choose from the products they are paid to test and review. I can research many of the options pretty thoroughly since there is so much out there on the Internet, it just takes time. Also, as a retiree from education, I have to admit I kind of like it!
Should you decide to buy something using one of my affiliate links, I thank you very much for supporting my website and supplementing my fixed retirement income!
-
I wanted to get a fairly automatic machine so that I wouldn’t have to bother with other accessories, gadgets. and extra steps just to make a cup of cappuccino. Keep things simple to simply enjoy. I soon discovered, though, that there are a fair number of features to consider, and a lot of choices with a wide range of prices. And I learned that there is a balance between more automatic and the quality of the cappuccino. The more automatic the machine, generally meant that the quality of cappuccino was less. I did lean more towards simple and easy, more automatic machines, since I’m not really that picky when it comes to cappuccino, and I didn’t want to work that hard to enjoy a cup, but I still wanted a tasty one! Features that were important to me included fully automatic, height of the machine (all my counter space has cabinets above it) easy maintenance, dishwasher safe, and I really wanted to be able to control the amount of milk and froth.
Should you decide to buy something using one of my affiliate links, I thank you very much for supporting my website and supplementing my fixed retirement income!
Nespresso Gran Lattissima around $650
I’m really impressed with this one. It has a simple design, but still has enough options to give lots of flexibility. The nine buttons for selecting the preferred drink are clear with pictures, and you can even re-program the amount of espresso, milk and froth you want in a specific drink! There are also separate buttons for hot foam and hot milk, so not only could I add more foam or milk to my cappuccino if I wanted, but at night, a cup of hot cocoa made with the hot milk option was very appealing to me. I even imagined topping it with a bit of foam. It uses Nespresso pods which I have started leaning towards over grinding beans. I like all the variety of different roasts, flavors, and styles that I can choose based on my mood. The aluminum pods (recyclable) are made in a way that keeps the espresso grinds fresh, so I wasn’t too worried about the espresso quality, although I expect fresh ground beans would be better. Another bonus is that it’s only 10.8 inches tall. The water container is in the back though, but I found a simple solution to resolve that (see the end of these reviews for optional solutions I found).
This is the cappuccino machine that made Peggy’s Pick. The simple to use buttons, with clear images, the flexibility of programming, and having on-the-fly options to make changes all appealed to me the most. And even though Nespresso pods were not likely to be as good as grinding beans fresh, the variety and quality of the Nespresso pods won me over.
De’Longhi Magnifica Evo with LatteCrema around $800
I like the control panel of this espresso machine best. It has actual images of the coffee drinks that it can make, so there is no confusion as to which drink you are making, or how big a cup you will need. Like all the other fully automatic espresso machines, you can control the grind size, strength, and water temperature, or use pre-ground coffee instead of the beans. What sets this machine apart though is two things. One, you can change the preprogrammed settings for milk and espresso amounts so that you customize the ratios in case you don’t like the standard amounts. The second thing is the “My Latte” selection which uses whatever amount of milk you put into the container so you can change the milk to espresso amount on-the-fly. Not sure though how often I would use it though after I programmed the cappuccino to my liking. And to be honest, I’m not sure I would even change the preprogrammed amount. Another nice thing is that all the parts that need cleaning are dishwasher safe, and there’s no other maintenance needed other than cleaning.
One inconvenient thing is that on start-up it goes through a cleaning cycle, so I can’t just jump right in and make my cappuccino, although I guess it’s nice to know my cappuccino would be made in a freshly cleaned machine! Also, the machine is fairly tall at 14 inches, so I would have to slide it out to refill the beans, or to use the pre-ground bin. I ended up picking a pod-based machine for the convenience, but if I had open counters and was more particular about the quality of the espresso, then I probably would have made this my pick.
Phillips 3200 LatteGo around $725
The really appealing thing about this machine to me was the control panel. It looks very simple and straight forward to use. Choose the drink you want to make, and then select the strength of the beans, amount of coffee, and the amount of steamed milk and froth. There appears to be only three settings for each, but that’s probably fine. It uses beans that it grinds automatically, but it also has a separate bin to put in pre-ground coffee. I really liked this feature to give me options for being able to choose which roasts, or types, of coffee grounds I might want to enjoy. This got me thinking though that I might not even use beans to be freshly ground. The quality of the espresso would probably be better with freshly ground beans, but I don’t think I’m that picky. I worried that the beans might become stale if I didn’t use them quickly, but this system’s lid for the beans has an “Aroma Seal” which presumably keeps the beans fresher for longer. So maybe that’s not an issue.
I didn’t pick this one for a couple of small reasons, but one big one. Small reasons were that it’s a pretty tall machine that would just fit under my cabinets, so any time I wanted to add beans, or pre-ground coffee, I would have to slide it out. Another small reason was that apparently the froth, even at the highest setting, isn’t that much, and I like frothy milk! The main reason though that I didn’t pick this one was the maintenance needs. According to the manual, the part that brews the espresso needs weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly maintenance, which includes oiling it! It probably makes a great espresso, but I wanted something simpler.
Keurig K-Cafe Single Serve K-Cup around $185
This machine I found to be designed in a really clever way. It doesn’t directly integrate the milk frother with the espresso maker. It’s really two separate parts in one machine, but by putting them together it’s so much simpler to use. In case you didn’t know, it is possible to buy a stand alone milk frother, but I didn’t want several gadgets to make my cappuccino, I wanted a single, all-in-one machine to do it. The idea of using an espresso pod instead of beans appealed to me too since it gives me easy to select options for different roasts, and types of espresso. Adding the hot (or cold), frothy milk is manual, so you can control how much you use. This I thought was convenient, but then I realized that it wouldn’t necessarily be the same every time since I’m not sure I could be consistent with pouring it. Thinking more about it, it’s really a convenient pod based coffee maker with an espresso option to manually make cappuccinos.
This didn’t make my pick mostly because it’s really a manual system, and I wanted a more automatic machine that would consistently make a cappuccino that I could easily make and enjoy without too much fuss. Also, it stands 12.5 inches high, but you need clearance up to 16.7 inches to open the top to insert the K-cup. Not ideal when you have cabinets above your countertops.
De’Longhi Dinamica Plus with LatteCrema System around $1400
This machine was very impressive. It connects to a “Coffee Link App” on your phone which makes it easier to operate and customize the machine. You can program personal recipes that vary the strength, size, and amount of milk froth. I was drawn to this one because it has 18 pre-programmed coffee drinks, the most I’ve seen, and it’s the only one that I researched that actually can make cappuccino the barista way, i.e., pouring the espresso first and then the milk followed with froth. Apparently though the connection time to the phone app is a bit slow.
I ended up not making this one my pick because I decided that I wanted to use espresso pods instead of beans. Also, it’s fairly tall at almost 14 inches, so I would have to slide it out from under my cabinets to refill the beans, or to use the pre-ground bin. It was hard for me though because I really liked that it could make a cappuccino the “barista way” rather than the way all the other machines seem to do it - milk, froth, and then espresso. If you don’t mind using beans with some of the limitations of doing so, then this one is a great choice.
Nespresso Lattissima One around $400
Of all the cappuccino machines I researched, this one is by far the simplest to use. But it also has limitations because of how simple it is. There is only 1 button for making cappuccinos and lattes (actually a latte macchiato). Which one is made is dependent on how much milk you pour into the milk jug when you make the drink. So, there is some control over how much milk froth is put into the cappuccino, but no espresso amount control. It looks easy to clean and maintain, and the idea of using Nespresso pods is appealing. Nespresso pods are made from aluminum and in a way that keeps the espresso grinds fresher than other pods. There’s a lot of variety too that covers many different roasts, flavors, and styles of espresso. And the pods can be recycled! I also liked that it was just over 10 inches high, so it will easily fit under my cabinet. One drawback is that the water container is on the back, so it’s a bit harder to access for refilling.
Even though I like simplicity, I did not make this one my pick. It does all the things that are important to me, and it’s priced less than comparable quality machines, but I thought that as I started enjoying cappuccinos at home, I might enjoy experimenting with some options, and I thought that this machine was a bit too limiting.
Nespresso Lattissima Touch around $530
There are 3 versions of “Lattissima” Nespresso machines that use the original Nespresso espresso pods. I almost skipped this version because it was the middle one of the three, and with the price difference being relatively close, I thought either the smaller or bigger version would be the way to go. It has six different drink buttons which can all be re-programmed to change the amount of espresso and milk forth used, and the recyclable Nespresso pods it uses come in a lot of varieties of roasts, flavors, and styles. The espresso grinds are kept fresh in the aluminum pods much like food in a can (at least that’s what I imagine). But the feature this version has which made me decide to review it deeper is that the milk frother has a regulator knob that controls the texture of the froth itself. They recommend using less texture for cappuccinos and more for latte macchiatos.
Ultimately, I did not choose this as my pick even though it has all the important features that I wanted, fit easily under my cabinets, and had the really unique regulator knob for controlling the texture of the froth. I supposed that since they recommended specific settings of the regulator knob for cappuccinos versus lattes, that they would have programmed their default settings to their recommendation in the other versions. If there was not the “Gran Lattissima” version though, this one would have probably been Peggy’s Pick.
Nespresso Vertuo Lattissima around $500
This version of the “Lattissima” system uses a different type of Nespresso pod than the others I researched. It uses a newer version pod that comes in different sizes and has special bar coding around the rim so that the machine knows the amount of water to use when brewing the espresso. Like the Lattissima One, it is a very easy machine to use with only 3 buttons for cappuccino, latte macchiato, or hot foam.
I didn’t pick this one for the same reasons as why I didn’t pick the Lattissima One, it’s just a bit too limiting. Also, it has a really odd (at least to me) drip tray. The drip tray is just a circle that you adjust by moving it up and down and I thought there seem to be so many ways I would get that wrong!
Zulay Magia around $1000
What I really liked about this machine is the touch screen. The drink options look clear, and in color! It has 19 specialty drinks preprogrammed, and you have the ability to customize everything individually, coffee strength, coffee volume, temperature control, hot milk volume, and hot froth volume. Just like the other machines that grind beans, it also has a separate bin to put in pre-ground beans in case you wanted something different than the beans that were loaded into it. From a feature and customization standpoint it looks pretty amazing and easy enough to actually use. I also liked that the way it uses milk is through a simple tube that you place into any container you have poured your milk into. I even got the feeling that each of the drinks it makes is made the right “barista” way.
Even though many features appealed to me, I did not make this my pick. It seemed over the top for my needs, and I read some reviews that there was a fair amount of wasted ground coffee that piles up inside the machine, requiring frequent cleaning.
I reviewed and researched many other espresso, cappuccino machines, but decided against them fairly quickly because either they didn’t have the specific features I wanted (fully automatic, height to fit under my cabinets, easy maintenance, dishwasher safe, ability to control the amount of milk and froth/foam), or they were similar to the machines I had already reviewed above and decided against because of some similar feature they had that I thought I would not like. These included different models from some of the above (Nespresso, De’Longhi, Philips, Keurig), and other brands (Mr. Coffee, Jura, Terra Kaffe, Ninja).