We used to have a full review of the Tchibo fully automatic coffee machine on this page. It isn’t available on Amazon UK any more, so rather than leave a dead link here, this is what we’d buy instead if you were after the same thing: fresh coffee ground from whole beans at the press of a button, no pods and no barista skills needed.
The pick: De’Longhi Magnifica S
The De’Longhi Magnifica S does the same job the Tchibo did. You fill the hopper with beans, and the built-in grinder grinds them fresh for each cup, so there’s no capsule waste and no buying into one brand’s pods. It’s been around for years, which is exactly why it’s the safe choice: it’s rated 4.3 stars from over 50,000 reviews on Amazon UK, a track record very few coffee machines can match.
The useful details from the listing:
- A built-in grinder with 13 settings, and you can use pre-ground coffee instead if you want a decaf in the evening
- A soft-touch control panel that can make two cups at once
- A steam wand that mixes steam, air and milk for cappuccinos and lattes
- A 1.8 litre water tank, in a body about 35cm tall, so it fits under most wall cupboards
Who it suits: anyone who drinks a couple of proper coffees a day and is fed up with pods, or with the faff of a manual espresso machine. It’s a good first bean-to-cup machine.
The honest downside: milk is done with a manual steam wand rather than an automatic milk system, so a flat white takes a bit of practice and a jug to wash up afterwards. If you only drink black coffee, that won’t matter at all.
Runner-up: Philips 3300 Series LatteGo
If milky drinks are most of what you make, the Philips 3300 Series LatteGo is worth the step up. Its LatteGo milk system froths automatically and is just two parts with no tubes, so cleaning it is a quick rinse. It has a touch screen with drink icons, a ceramic grinder with 12 settings, and Philips’ SilentBrew for quieter mornings. It has far fewer reviews than the De’Longhi so far, at 4.3 stars from a couple of hundred, but it’s a much easier machine for lattes.
Which one?
Mostly espresso, americano or the odd cappuccino: the De’Longhi Magnifica S. Mostly lattes and flat whites, and you want the milk done for you: the Philips. Either way, you get what the Tchibo was good at, which is fresh coffee from whole beans without pods.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
