I tried a lot of beans from Dutch coffee roasters. The one I like the most is the Bourbon Royal from Blanche Dael. Grinder setting: 3-4, depends on what coffee I make.
I bought my wife a Philips lattego 5400, we've had it since 2020 and it's still going strong. Total drinks made is 5000ish. Good beans, good milk, good coffee!
If you just like Americano, a simple espresso machine can be enough if you already have a grinder (as long as it can grind fine enough for espresso) as you suggest. Trouble with a lot of bean to cup machines is you can't get a good dose. You'd want 15-18g of coffee for a 250-300ml americano and a lot of machines top out at 8-10g. So whatever you buy keep an eye on that.
My wife likes Americano and I just boil the kettle, fire an espresso (18g coffee making 40g espresso) out from my espresso machine then top up from the kettle. It's super nice.
I had a Philips 5400 bean-to-cup for a long time and while good, the coffee it could make was super weak compared to the basic method I mention above. Those bean-to-cups often don't grind very fine, nor have a sufficient dose like I said. So you can't get espresso and you don't get great extraction. But....one button & zero faff so I get you. Just throwing out other ideas :)
Hii had the 3200 5400 and the saeco xelsis....all served me well
Now I have the Delonghi Eletta explore
and this machine does everything your looking for
milk based use 2%
grind setting 4 for all coffees drinks
Right now I have been using lavazza super crema which is a great balance for coffee and expresso ...I too.almost pulled the trigger on the Z10 but opted for this
everyone has a comment about which they love......Its all personal preferences
if you can and have amazon prime you can buy use and return without issues .
this way you can test them all.
Hi I have the same machine.
It's one of the best out there keep my grind setting at 4.
I use 2% milk for the best froth for milk based drinks.
Grinds are not all over as people suggested.
Cleaning the brew group once a month submerged in water for 5 minutes.
water filter is a choice.
I use refrigerator water which has a filter
plus I have no hard water.
Lavazza supercrema beans I find the best for grind setting "4" for all coffees drinks
but thats my taste.
If you like very hot cappuccinos try the flat white to me provides hotter froth
also on a regular cup of joe .You can use the hot milk setting just make sure you there to stop it.....lol.
I have had philips latte go ,saco xelsis and( jura10 returned after a week).
Youtube also has lots of videos too.....
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I’ve had the Phillips latte go 5400 and it is indeed extremely easy and perhaps the best out there in terms of maintenance for the milk system, but the espresso it produces and in particular, the milk quality it produces, is not good at all.
Like you, I considered the Jura, but having to use tablets after cleaning the milk system every day will be rather tiresome as there are many days when I think I’m done and won’t have another coffee drink with milk, but then I end up having one more.
The next option is the DeLonghi and the one that I got is the Eletta explore. The espresso is very good on this machine and the milk quality is also very good and very easy to clean. You simply turn a knob and it rinses it out and then you need to clean the milk container every couple of days with a simple rinse.
The last one is the KitchenAid KF8, which I also have and I find I like this one the best. The espresso it produces is also very good and while you cannot manually adjust the milk frothing it does change, depending upon the drink that you have selected. As for cleaning, it’s not quite a simple as the DeLonghi because you do have to move the hose from the milk container into the base of the machine, but after that, all you have to do is press one button and walk away.
I had mine (5400) for about 3.5 years. Absolutely zero quality issues and cleaned pretty regularly (not as often as suggested, but every two weeks).
I loved the precise controls for volume in oz or ml (vs Delonghi small / medium / large sizing) and the quick double shot button.
However, if you know good espresso, this is pretty weak. But my major complaint had to do with the frother. No control so every milk drink was like a cappuccino, even for a latte. Yes, easy to clean, but rather poor quality milk texture b
ac-panther
