£179.99
 www.melitta.co.uk
New Edition Melitta® AromaFresh Grind & Brew Filter Coffee Machine – with detachable water tank
 
The Easter Bank Holiday weekend presented me with a promising run of free time. To my mind, it would be time to rest and catch up on sleep; in reality (aka, to my wife’s mind), it was time to dismantle a shed, renovate a garden and take the dog to new training classes. Aka, not much rest! Needless to say, I was extremely glad to be testing the New Edition Melitta® AromaFresh Grind & Brew – that energy boost straight to the veins, please!

What I love about Melitta® machines is that they’re easy to use, yet give you the fantastic taste of professional coffee. In the past, we’ve tested several of the company’s espresso-style machines, but this was a change of pace with a filter coffee model, which was a great chance for me to invest in some flavourful beans and see how well the AromaFresh lived up to its name in letting that flavour and aroma carry through.

Being able to grind beans fresh gives an entirely different experience to buying ground beans: half of something’s taste is in its aroma, and this is freshly released and, if the machine is doing its job well, captured at the time of making your coffee, meaning that none of those lighter notes are lost on their way to you. Any barista will know that hot water must be added to this fresh ground slowly and gradually, at the right speed and in the right way to release the flavour into the beverage and let the aroma blossom correctly. The AromaFresh nailed this – my coffee tasted amazing, as though it had been slow-dripped in a hand-brewed barista style.

The AromaFresh’s grinder, which is an integrated conical burr grinder mill, is made of steel, making for a clean cut and a precise grind that can be set from coarse to fine, depending on your coffee preference. You can also adjust the brewing strength, and you can even turn the grinder off if you want to! All of this allows you to not only use your beans and make your coffee the way you want, but also allows you to use pre-ground beans if you happen to have them. This is a fantastic little feature that allows you to use both kinds of beans (perfect if you find a bag at the back of the cupboard, or get gifted a type that wasn’t the ‘right’ kind for your machine. It is now!)

I was impressed at the quantity of coffee that you could brew: when full, the bean container could hold enough for a full jug of 10 servings to be brewed two or three times. I was also impressed at the way the flavour remained prominent throughout the coffee despite this volume (though your brew strength setting affects this, of course!) The glass jug itself is highly traditional-looking, and the machine in general (complete with a removeable water tank) has a sleek, modern and straight-forward look that would fit beautifully in most kitchens. It even has a timer feature with LED display to make and enjoy the coffee at the time you set.

This machine helps you to take care of it. Not only is the filter easy to remove and clean, but it provides you with 3-in-1 calc protection. First of all, it has an automatic descaling process, which saves you from needing to descale the machine yourself, but it goes further still, allowing you to program water hardness and to monitor calcification levels. Finally, an integrated drip stop means you won’t keep getting that annoying hiss and stain from coffee drips calling down onto the warm-plate.

All in all, I loved this model. It does everything I could ask of it – it makes delicious coffee, lets me adjust it to have my cup my way, is easy to use and maintain, and looks great in my kitchen. I’d say Melitta has done it again!

5/5

Pros:
Steel grinder does precise grind
Set grind level and brew strength
Slow water pour

Removable water tank
Rich flavour & aroma
Can use both fresh beans and ground beans
Makes 20-30 cups before needing new beans
Easy to use
Easy to clean
Descales
No coffee drip