Latticia

Firstly, this machine makes a fabulous cup of coffee, latte, cappuccino or plain black or white.My trusty De’Longhi (over 10 years old) went bang so it was time for a new machine. Hard to choose a different maker but I’m glad I did.It’s beautifully made - solid and good looking.The setup is pretty simple and is just about fully explained in the first time setup in the manual.The setting to make it as hot as possible works well as I like my coffee really hot.It also takes the standard water filters (which improves the flavour) and they are cheap enough as long as you don’t but the ‘branded’ versions - so then you don’t have to faff around with the frequent descaling if you don’t use the filters (it also makes setting the water hardness a redundant feature).Some people are moaning about the endless cleaning cycles- don’t listen to them- it’s no more intense than my de’longhi was after each drink, just different- and I don’t mind at all.You can adjust the quantity and strength easily ‘on the fly’ which is nice as you don’t always have the same mugs/cups etc. the only drawback is that the ‘Costa’ sized latte glasses don’t fit under, nor the slightly smaller versions - but that’s no different to my old machine - so we’re now using mugs - but that’s ok as they actually take the same volume of liquid.I was cautious about not having a milk carafe, but actually it’s so much more sensible just having a tube and wand (purchased separately but absolutely necessary). You just drop the wand into your milk bottle- simples! No mess, no space taken up in your fridge. The clean cycle after making a milk based coffee does require dropping the wand into a receptacle with water - so I just have an old milk bottle filled with water stashed behind the machine for that. Again, you had to run a clean cycle on my old machine- so no difference there.It is quite quiet- maybe not whisper quiet as stated.It also makes 2 coffees/lattes at once - that’s really neat.All in all - very impressed so far.

Love this machine. I have had it for a while now and it does not disappoint. Easy to use, easy to clean. Definitely recommend this brand. German engineers know what they are doing 🤣

Great coffee machine.Fantastic at making a latte, black coffee or espresso. I've owned a Gaggia machine which has a more than double RRP of this, and that had a much poorer carafe milk design, which produced less nice milk for coffee and the milk would go off within 3 or so days sat in the carafe. The design of this machine is excellent. The milk system accessible easily behind the chrome nozzle section is easily cleaned, but unlike the Gaggia it never seems to look dirty, the Gaggia would get full of old steamed and dried milk, this one after a quick cleaning cycle every time you use it, stays very clean. All other cleaning cycles take their time, and require the manual to figure things out, but are then easily done. The only place I've noticed milk residue to build up is on the tip of the steam wand attachment (sold separately) but this disappears with some household cleaner or descaler.This machine really does make a nice coffee.There's an error in the manual which says you need to hold down a certain button to run the quick milk wand cleaning routine, but that's the wrong button, you need to hold down the milk glass button until the lights flash, then it runs a quick milk tube cleaning. That error in the manual frustrated me for a long time!

If you go to a cafe, a mug of coffee is generally an Americano (a couple of espresso shots with hot water added. Or you could have a double lungo ( longer shots of espresso) to fill a mug which gives a lovely rich taste. What this machine does however, if you want a mug then the preset option is turn the volume to max before pressing the button. This results in a long over extracted single shot of espresso/Lungo which is average at best in taste.I strongly advise buyers of this machine if you want a mug of coffee, set the volume dial to a few small notches short of halfway, use the 2x feature (designed for making 2 cups simultaneously, but you can use it for making a double shot), and then press the coffee button. This results in a fantastic mug of coffee. Alternatively do 2x espresso sized coffees followed by hot water using the button on the machine.It's the same principle for the cappuccino/latte drinks, for best results don't use the one touch buttons. Cappuccino: do 1x or 2x espresso sized shots (depending on size of drink required), then turn the volume dial to halfway for the 1x or 2x milk portions (depending on size of drink required). Latte Machiatto: the same as Cappuccino but in reverse.If you use the one touch button for these drinks then you just get over extracted shots of espresso mixed with the milk as the machine uses a 1:1 coffee/milk ratio for these drinks.So fantastic coffee with this machine really is possible , and with decent beans, better than the high Street coffee chains. I'd advise against using the inbuilt recipes however. (If you really want the one touch experience than at least press the 2x button first for a mug/tall glass , as this way you are still getting 2 shots of coffee coffee in your drink rather than a long single shot) . Essentially avoid turning the volume past halfway, and use 2x for a longer drink!There are negative reviews about the rinsing, this is a good thing! When you turn the machine on/off, not only is the nozzle rinsed through but the inner workings of the machine too. It is worth the frequent emptying of the tray at the bottom!!Also ensure that once you have finished preparing your milky coffees, always use the quick milk clean feature before turning off the machine.With the brew group, I'd advise taking out every couple of days to clean as the coffee residue can get skanky, and as it builds up starts to end up in the parts of the machine that you can't access to clean I.e. the drive gears. This can effect reliability later on.For me the negatives are the one touch recipes, plus I'm nervous about the reliability of this machine. My previous Melitto (avanza) failed after just 2.5 years, and after a year had to replace the milk frother too. It's very expensive if the machine only gives you 2-3 years of life. This newer version does seem to run a bit smoother , so I'm hopeful. One more thing, people have complained about the noise of the grinder. Well you can't have silent bean grinding!!! It is a bit quieter than my previous melitta. If you don't like the noise then get a filter machine and buy ground coffee.The coffee (providing you use it more like a barista would if this was their machine) is very very good indeed.