Not sponsored, coffee machine was gifted for review. This review is my own words.
Anyone that knows me will know I’m a bigggggg coffee lover, as in, I pretty much need it to function on a day to day basis. I would spend at least $25 a week at the local coffee shop, and that’s a minimum, as usually I’m grabbing babycinos and maybe an almond croissant to go with, too. I had been trying to cut down the cost by making coffee at home in the morning, but it just never tasted as good (I had a pod machine). So I ended up grabbing another coffee from the coffee shop anyway. So when I was contacted to see if I’d like to review the Sunbeam Barista Max Espresso Machine, I jumped at the chance.
Previous to the email from the good people at Sunbeam, our pod machine bit the dust and we were looking into a machine that would take whole beans (or grounds), and thus save us money and also the waste from pods which was weighing on my mind. Plus I wanted to learn to make a nice coffee at home!
The Barista Max was on our list, so I was very keen to check it out. It comes with an integrated grinder which I really liked, as we have limited bench space. It retails at $699. Check it out here. And read on for my review!
My Sunbeam Barista Max review
Straight out of the box, I found the Barista Max easy to set up, especially as it comes with a handy ‘quick set up’ guide, which is basically like the instructions for people who hate reading instructions (am I right?!). In about 30 minutes I had it set up and then realised I forgot to get beans when I was at the shops. Gah. So, after purchasing some beans the following day at my local Merlo outlet (I bought 200g to start with as I had no idea how many beans I would need!), I was ready to go.
I must add here while setting it up, I noticed that everything seemed to have its place, which I love. I read a review of this machine online that suggested that this machine was ‘designed by a woman as everything has its place’. I don’t go for sexist themes however I would totally agree that this machine does truly have a place for everything – which is a dream for those with next to no bench space. It takes up about the same amount of space that our pod machine + milk frother + pod display did. And the difference is that the Barista Max is all in one unit.
After setting up the machine, and running the ‘before first use’ routine on the quick set up guide; the first thing you need to do is fill up the water reservoir, which is super easy to remove and replace. It holds 2.8L of water which is quite substantial in my view. I then filled up the coffee grinder with freshly roasted beans, put on the lid and then turned it on. (Note: At first, I had my grinder set to 10 which is what it says to start with in the guide, however I now have it set at 20 which I have found perfect.)
After about a minute the machine is warmed up and ready to go. I place my two-cup coffee basket into the group handle, grind my coffee into the basket until just overful, tamp very gently (which is also something I had to experiment with – it took about 4 goes to get it right), then place into the group head. I then press the two cup button and off we go.
For milk, you need to turn the steamer on to steam – it goes through a little routine of spitting out some water, then steam, then it will pause for a second, the button stops flashing and it’s ready. I froth my milk by gently moving the jug up and down until the bottom of the jug is too hot for me to touch. I am still experimenting with milk, and pouring, however this makes a great tasting coffee – sometimes I have a two shot but usually this will make two coffees – one for me and one for the hubby. The steamer can then be turned to ‘hot water’ after steaming, and then you must gently wipe the wand with a damp cloth.
What I found tricky (especially as a first time barista!)
I found using the one-cup filter basket did not work for me – I’m still experimenting with getting the right amount of coffee and tamping it correctly. Every time I have tried the one cup basket the coffee has been over-extracted, so I will have to spend a bit more time on this. The two-cup basket is much easier to get right, I have found.
The grind setting really matters, too – I found it tricky to get it right however after reading some online reviews I turned it to just under 20 and that seemed to work really well for me.
The milk frothing area and the group head is a tight fit together, ie. after you have extracted the coffee, to get a bit more room you will need to take out the group handle from the head (tipping the used coffee grounds out and rinsing) before steaming milk. Not essential, it’s still doable without this step however I found it easier to take out the group handle before steaming the milk.
What I loved
After about 4 coffees of trial and error, I made a REALLY good coffee. Even I was super surprised at how good it tasted. And I’m pretty picky – when you pay $5 for a coffee at a cafe and the coffee is burnt or bitter it’s not a great experience. So I was quite surprised at how easily I could make a decent coffee with this machine.
I love how the grinder is built-in, it saves on bench space and it just looks really neat and tidy.
As soon as I wake up, I start up the machine and within two minutes I have a really nice tasting coffee, which I know will come in handy especially when I’m up all night again with a newborn next year (aaaarrgggh!) .
It’s easy to make a flat white, latte or cappuccino with this machine – it’s so fun to experiment and read up on how to froth milk and different grind and tamping techniques. (Who am I?! I need to get out more.) But seriously once you start…it’s addictive. And that’s not just the caffeine!
I’ve bought one coffee from a cafe in the past two weeks (prior to the Barista Max I would have bought at least ten in this time – spending at least $50). We are currently two-thirds of the way through a 500g bag of beans which cost about $21 from Merlo, and I bought it about two weeks ago.
What I haven’t done yet
I am yet to complete a full clean of the machine, which is done after 1-2 months of daily use.
The verdict
If you’re in the market for a coffee machine, you must take a look at the Sunbeam Barista Max. Basically, I’m sold and I hope it stays in my life forever. I think it’s the perfect machine for those who loved the convenience and ease of a pod machine however want to branch out to a real espresso machine. And perhaps those who may have a coffee machine at home however still prefer the taste of a cafe coffee (this machine will mean you probably won’t buy as many at the cafe!). It’s easy to use out of the box, however the different settings for grinding, tamping etc make it fun to experiment with if you’re after more manual controls. Although this was gifted for review, I’d quite happily buy the same as a replacement if (god forbid!) anything happened to my Barista Max. It retails for $699.
Do you have to have a daily coffee? How many coffees do you buy in a week?
