Melitta Barista TS Smart Review
Touch display, LED menu and adaptable coffee specialities
Helpful information about a premium, automatic, bean-to-cup coffee machine
The Barista TS Smart coffee machine, by Melitta, delivers great-tasting coffee with very little effort needed. You can even order this machine to make your favourite coffee from the comfort of your bed with the Melitta Connect app.
Available in black, stainless steel and silver. You have a variety of options to suit your kitchen.
Overview of the Barista TS Smart
This machine has a sleek, professional overall design, albeit slightly large in size. So, you will need a decent bit of kitchen space to work with. This Melitta coffee machine has simple functions that take all the hard work out of making coffee.
There is a display screen menu with touch-sensitive buttons for navigation and an automatic milk frothing system. The price of this Melitta maker is certainly reflected in its high-end finish. You can get your favourite cup of coffee at the click of a few buttons and can guarantee that you will get the same quality cup with every use.
This is an advanced machine that has good features for making your bean cup coffee machine experience as smooth as possible. There are plenty of automated settings, from making drinks of your choice, to automatic cleaning and descaling. The machine also has a low-bean reminder to ensure you don’t run out of coffee halfway through making a cup (that would be least pleasing first thing in the morning!).
In addition to this, Melitta Caffeo Barista TS takes an innovative approach and has created a downloadable app, so that you can save yours (and your friend’s) favourite drinks. You can even start making coffee straight from the app – so you don’t need to be in the kitchen!
Pros
- 21 fixed settings.
- Extra customisation with the downloadable app.
- The double integrated bean hopper can store 2 different types of beans at once.
- Can also use pre-ground beans.
- Easy cleaning settings.
Cons
- It is quite large.
- The app isn’t always stable.
Breakdown of the Barista TS Smart and its functions
The water tank is located at the back left-hand side of the machine and has a 1.8-litre capacity. Other than filling up the water tank and the milk container, or adding coffee beans, this machine pretty much does everything else for you.
Below is a listed description showing the different functions of the Barista TS and what it has to offer:
A. ON/OFF button (pretty self-explanatory).
B. This is the coffee dispenser. There are two nozzles which dispense coffee and milk to create your chosen drink – you can make up to two drinks at a time. It also has a single nozzle for the use of hot water when needed. There are LED lights built into this dispenser which illuminates your drink as it is being poured (how suave!).
C. The bean chamber is located at the top of the machine and you can store up to two different types of coffee beans here, which is great for users when they want to change up their coffee from a light roast to a dark roast.
P.S. If you prefer to use only one type of coffee bean, then fill up both sides and you won’t have to top it up as often!
D. Separate milk container, which connects to the machine via a tube in order to heat up and add milk to your coffees.
P.S. This could seem irritating to some as it isn’t attached to the machine directly, but it comes in handy as the container can be detached to store milk in the fridge or for easy cleaning.
E. Drip tray for any spillages.
F. Espresso button.
G. Café crème button.
H. Cappuccino button.
I. Latte button.
J. Milk heating function, to create hot milk or frothy milk for drinks.
K. Hot water function for preparing americanos, teas and general hot water use.
L. Two cup option.
M. Display screen so you can see menu options and current functions that are in use.
N. MENU/OK button.
O. Arrow buttons for navigating through the menu or selecting the coffee flavour (intense and standard).
P. Beverage quantity function.
Q. Option to select what type of beans you would like (this is used when you have two different types of beans stored in the bean chamber).
R. This button is used to select personal drink settings or selecting drink recipes.
S. Coffee strength setting.
How much is it going to cost to buy and then maintain this machine?
This is a high-tech machine with a luxury aesthetic, and it comes with a price tag to reflect that. On the market for around £859, this machine certainly shouldn’t be considered an impulse buy.
In addition to the initial cost, you should also consider the upkeep cost of the Melitta coffee machine. Do you prefer expensive coffee beans? Do you enjoy extras for your coffees, such as syrups or sprinkles?
You may also need to buy some cleaning products on occasion to prolong the life of your machine.
Although these upkeep costs will be relatively low – and certainly much cheaper than buying daily coffees from your local coffee shop – they are still important factors to consider before jumping in and buying a bean-to-cup machine.
So, what have we learnt?
As a coffee lover, the utmost important thing we want in a machine is for it to deliver a perfect cup of coffee every time. Well, the Barista TS Smart by Melitta is certainly capable of such service.
Considering the issues with the downloadable app, it is slightly on the pricey side for an automatic bean-to-cup machine. However, the app is just an extension of this futuristic machine and you will still be able to get great tasting coffee without it (phew).
On a final note, this machine does everything that one would require for an instant barista-style coffee of their choice and it does it at the touch of a button (or a few buttons). So, if you are a big coffee fan and have the budget to invest in this sophisticated machine, then go for it!
If this machine is a little out of your budget but you still want a fully automatic bean-to-cup coffee machine, then take a look at the De’Longhi Eletta, which is another great contender in automatic coffee machines.