How Will You Use Your Superautomatic?
Rolling out of bed to a freshly brewed tall, skinny vanilla latte waiting in the kitchen is the dream—but you have to pick the right machine to get you there! With the variety of superautomatic espresso machines available, you might feel overwhelmed with all the differences. Fortunately for you, we have reviews, comparisons and gear guides—like this post—about superautomatics to help narrow down your top choices!
In this post, we will recommend how to choose between mid-range, intermediate, and advanced superautomatics. A great place to start finding the machine for you is to imagine your morning cup of coffee. Are you drinking lots of lattes and cappuccinos? Do you like to customize each cup? Or perhaps you are more of a casual coffee drinker, who enjoys things more simple and straightforward.
Thought about it? Good! Here’s one more question to get you started: How many drink options do you want?
Keep things simple—the fewer buttons the better!
Rub the sleep from your eyes and welcome the simple operation of mid-range superautomatics. These machines excel at offering home baristas smooth, consistent espresso with an affordable price tag. Their affordability can be largely attributed to fewer features, but if you’ve ever heard the phrase, “Less is more” this is one of those cases. Your drink menu features a couple of espresso volumes (generally, single and double) and a milk frothing option. They skip latte or cappuccino buttons and forgo one-touch brewing in favor of manual milk control. That’s a bonus for barista’s interested in more steaming control!
Simple Features, Less Customization
If you’re a casual coffee drinker who just takes their coffee with milk, a mid-range superautomatic will fit the bill. You’ll still have features such as adjustable grind setting, programmable espresso and brew temperature, but less programmability. Typically, these machines remember your settings but have fewer individual buttons and lack multiple profiles. If you want to tweak, adjust or customize and have the machine remember your preferences, read on!
[caption id="attachment_13255" align="alignnone" width="1080"] The Saeco Intelia Deluxe is a mid-range superautomatic that comes with an interchangeable cappuccinatore that can be replaced with Saeco's panarellos.[/caption]
Variety is the spice of life!
Feeling like a tall, double shot, non-fat, vanilla soy latte with extra whip? OK, so we don’t know of an espresso machine that adds whipped cream, but there are plenty of intermediate machines that will do the rest! Programming the volume and brew temperature is a must-have to be considered intermediate. Like most superautomatics, our customization is offered in a limited range for quick and convenient customization. Typically, the settings are presented in low to high within the ideal range, so home baristas don’t have to worry about brewing at the wrong temperature.
Must Have One-Touch Drinks
In the drink menu, you’ll find classics ready to brew with one-touch technology—another must-have feature on these machines. Milk siphons systems, whether it’s in a carafe or external milk hose, draw and steam milk and then instantaneously brews espresso. Intermediate espresso machines are pre-programmed with the appropriate ratios of espresso to milk for drinks. Some machine even offer programmable milk volume too!
Profiles For The Whole Family
Best of all, some machines feature programmable profiles for the whole family! Use the profiles to save everyone preferred drinks from a vanilla soy latte to a traditional cappuccino. The only work you’ll have to do is add your vanilla soy milk into the carafe—tall, double shot, non-fat, vanilla soy latte, anyone?
[caption id="attachment_12941" align="alignnone" width="1080"] The Miele CM6310 Superautomatic comes with an attached stainless steel carafe, double coffee settings and individual profiles.[/caption]
All the options!
Flat white, latte, ristretto, milk, cappuccino—advanced superautomatic espresso machines include everything but the kitchen sink! These superautomatics combined everything we love on the first two types of machines and double the features that they have to offer. The menu is filled with traditional and popular espresso drinks that you can customize the coffee strength, temperature and volume. Don’t forget to save your favorite drinks in the profile section when you’re done—it’s like having your own personal barista!
One-Touch Cappuccinos And Frothing Control
Steaming with advanced superautomatics feature one-touch technology and generally the ability to program milk options such as the volume. Typically, superautomatic espresso machines have one-steam-fits-all because there’s no way to adjust the aeration, so achieving a variety of milk-based drinks is a challenge. But, good news! We’ve been introduced to machines with milk siphon systems that do offer foam control, so fear not—there are wondrous machines out there!
Advanced Interface And Extra Features
When you bump-up the features, there’s other perks like touchscreens, digital displays and more. With an expanded interface, advanced machines include the extra bells and whistles to keep your machine fine-tuned. Daily maintenance is effortless with smart filters, automatic rinsing and descaling alerts. All the additional goodies also means that advanced superautomatic machines have larger water tanks, bean hoppers, etc. to make multiple drinks back-to-back. These machines are great workhorses for continuous use in a small office or busy, well-caffeinated homes.
[caption id="attachment_12968" align="alignnone" width="1080"] With the Jura Z6 choose your top six drinks and save them to the home page for easy access.[/caption]
Conclusion
Whether you like to keep settings simple or have all the options, there is a superautomatic espresso machine for you. This is the end of our coffee journey through superautomatics, but there are always new reviews and comparisons on machines to help you narrow down more choices. Check out a few of our suggestions below and tell us your favorite superautomatic in the comments below.
