Melitta Purista Series 300 Fully Automatic Coffee Machine
www.melitta.co.uk
£400

The Melitta Purista is a slimmed down machine from Melitta that still offers everything you could need in quality. The major appeal of this machine for me is how practically it fits into your home. Thinking about coffee machines, two traits that usually come to mind are their size and their noise-levels. In both aspects, the Purista is extremely house-friendly. For one thing, at only 20cm wide, it is one of the narrowest fully automatic coffee machines on the market! For another, its steel cone grinder is extremely quiet, meaning you can brew your coffee first thing in the morning without worrying about waking your family. This is a coffee machine made for any home – it understands that you might not have miles of free counter space and that the bedrooms in your home might be within noisy-grinder earshot of the kitchen!

However, these aren’t its only good qualities. First and foremost, to answer the important question – yes, it makes a good espresso, and a good café crème. I used to work as a barista, so I’m aware of what a complex art and science goes into that pursuit of the perfect cup, and I was pleased to see Melitta giving this a lot of thought. The aroma of the beans you’ve invested in is well-preserved by the Purista, thanks to several features designed to deliver the nuanced flavours that your chosen coffee is capable of. For example, a new pump control system has been designed to make sure the contact time between the water and the coffee is optimum, and even better, the freshly ground coffee is pre-moistened to better encourage the flavours to dissolve through and into your beverage. This allows you to enjoy the benefits of a slow drip-pour whilst still owning a machine that will make your coffee on demand in a timely manner.

The Purista has five grinder settings, so you can have your beans prepared the way you like them, and you can also customise your drink through adjusting the strength and the pour amount. For extra convenience, you can program in your preferred coffee settings, and then the next time you want that style of brew, all you need to do is press the Favourite Coffee button. This is a brilliant feature, though I would prefer it if you could save several favourites – then, for example, you could program in your preferred settings for a strong morning cup and a gentler evening brew.

Other modes and options include Double Cup Mode, which, quite predictably, pours two drinks at once. The height of the coffee outlet is also adjustable, allowing you to pair the machine with everything from espresso cups to latte glasses. (The height is adjustable up to 135mm.)

Circling back to its practicality, this machine is easy to clean. The whole brewing unit can be taken out, cleaned and put back in without stress, and the machine even lets you know when it needs cleaning or descaling! In the case of descaling, this shouldn’t need to happen too often – only about once a year - thanks to the Melitta® Pro Aqua Water filter. With a slick design, large buttons and a clear display, everything about it is doing what it can to be attractive and convenient. It even comes with an accompanying app that gives you coffee tips and helps you to check your machine’s diagnostics if it’s ever giving you trouble.

All in all, this is a handy machine. I just don’t have the room in my kitchen for most coffee machines, so I was happy to see a design that caters to this need without losing out on coffee quality. The near-silent grinder, too, makes this very worth considering – especially with two people and a dog I want to leave sleeping when I sneak out to work every morning!

4.5/5

Pros:
Slim design
Quiet grinder
Program a ‘Favourite Coffee’
Tells you when it needs cleaning/descaling
Easy to clean
Anti-scratch
Five grinder settings
Adjustable coffee strength
Adjustable pour height


Cons:
Wish it supported multiple Favourite Coffee settings