what are you doing love about coffee? Is it a morning caffeine boost, the creamy sweetness of a cappuccino or latte, a bucket of filter coffee you can drink all day, or a quick kick of a good espresso? Or is it the zen tradition of it all, measuring the beans and the accuracy of the exact extraction? The good thing is the best for you than science previously realized.
If marketing scams are to be believed, you can have it all, thanks to the best of the best automatic coffee machines. These compact cafes promise to offer an extensive drink menu at the touch of a button, all without the skill of a barista required. But is alcohol good?
WIRED tries hard coffee machines-production would stop if we stopped. But for this blind group test, we wanted to see what coffee professionals thought about the drinks made by the “best” in fully automatic machines, without being influenced by any fancy design or brand awareness. We’re not judging the machine’s usability here, the software interface (there’s always software), or how easy it is to clean. We just want to know about Joe.
By the end of our test, it was clear that while money can buy you unlimited options and push-button convenience, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee barista-quality, restaurant-quality coffee at home.
Our experts
Adam Cozens is the founder of Perky Blendersa British specialty coffee brand from coffee-dense, hipster-populated East London. He was joined in WIRED’s pilot cafe by his business manager and coffee guru Calum Hunt. Launched in 2015 from a three-wheeled coffee cart, they now have multiple restaurants and over 100 retail partners across the UK.
For this test, they chose theirs Forest mix beans, characterized by dark chocolate, molasses, and walnut notes, a creamy body, mild acidity, and persistent sweetness. Most importantly, Cozens and Hunt know exactly what Forest Blend beans should taste like, and are in the best position to determine which of our machines produces the best coffee with the most accurate flavor profile from the beans produced.
Test
Each of the machines we selected is a bean-to-cup type capable of producing over 50 types of coffee drinks at the push of a button; everything from espresso and cortado to iced lattes with syrup or a simple long black.
WIRED chose a latte—the most popular order of steamed milk coffee in the United States—and a regular espresso for an invisible taste test. Latte allows us to experiment with methods of heating milk, frothing, and steaming, while espresso shows any weaknesses in coffee extraction and flavor. According to Cozens instructions, we used organic milk.
Our experts were blindfolded and then presented with one latte and one espresso from each machine. The machines, marked A, B, C, and D, were visible to the testers, but they did not know where the coffee came from. They then evaluated each drink on appearance, steaming quality, crema (the fragrant golden foam on top of the espresso), temperature, extraction and taste. The coffees were then ranked in order from best to worst.
To reiterate, this is not a test of machine usability, desirability or features. Each model can have every element of every recipe adjusted, but we’re not convinced that the average buyer will want to delve into the settings. These are advanced clickers designed to take the hassle out of making great coffee at home—anything for a simpler life.
Coffee Machines
Machine “A”
One of the few machines capable of making espresso drinks and classic drip coffeeThe TK-02, from NYC-based Terra Kaffe, is a sleek-looking kitchen set with quality features, a sleek glass milk carafe, a monochrome touchscreen, deep customization, and full software control.
