The German brand Melitta enjoys great prestige among regular coffee consumers, and not only for its famous paper filters used in any coffee maker to filter ground beans, but for some time now, for the marketing of a large number of household appliances.
The coffee maker analyzed here corresponds to one of its top-of-the-range super-automatic models, always designed to enjoy a good coffee at home, although perfectly I imagine this type of coffee maker in the kitchen of an office or a ‘a small business with which to motivate all your employees in the morning.
Design and build quality
- 1.8 liter water tank
- LED cup lighting
- External milk thermos
It is obvious that this is a large-scale coffee maker, for which before making the purchase it is necessary to find a suitable place, near a power outlet. The front is just the right size, but the bottom is 467mm, so not just any shelf is worth it.
It is also heavy, although manageable, with a figure of 10.6 kg. Keep in mind that it is made of stainless steel and plastic materials, with many removable parts to facilitate thorough cleaning and proper maintenance.
If you additionally add the external stainless steel milk thermos, the final space occupied is increased. The good thing is that this reservoir can be easily removed to store milk in the fridge when not in use.
For practical reasons of use, the Barista TS Smart range solves the replacement of consumables and maintenance very well. In the upper part we have a double bean container to separate the coffee from the decaffeinated coffee, or to use a different type of bean.
A third tank can be used to store already ground coffee, so that we have different sources to obtain the seed. The side covers are quite accessible and this is where you access to fill the water tank or adjust the grind.
We note that its capacity is generous, 1.8 liters, so in a typical house, it can take days before having to refill the tank with water. If you use it in an office kitchen or similar, you may need to replenish it daily.
Already on the other side we find a lever with which to adjust the degree of grinding. This is a plus that is completed by the possibility that this coffee maker has of being able to choose the type of grain for its coffee, a nod to good baristas.
Before moving on to the details of getting started, let’s say that the machine has a physical power button, which seems to us to be a very successful option if you want to turn it off completely without having to remove the cable. power supply.
This coffee maker, like the rest of the Barista TS Smart models, works with 15 bar pressure, has an integrated grinder, runs automatic cleaning and descaling programs, and the outlet nozzle has an adjustable height to be able to use cups or glasses to suit the user.
Operation and settings
- Presets
- Improved touch interface
- The mobile application is not in Spanish
But the best, without a doubt, is on its front, with a panel with backlit touch keys that react well even if your hands are slightly damp, or even slightly stained with food if you are cooking at that time.
Supported by a screen of about 2.5 inches, it is possible to move through the machine settings menu to customize the type of coffee we want it to offer us, or select the amount of drink we want at this moment.
We have verified after the first moments of use, that you hardly need a machine learning curve, since you quickly find the functions you want if what you are looking for is to get a quick preparation drink which appears on the front.
There are a number of quick touch presets for making an espresso, latte, cappuccino, latte macchiato or just making a cup of frothed milk or hot water for an infusion.
However, the Barista TS Smart is designed to offer much more, with a total of 21 different coffee programs, which you can customize, so to get out of the choice of jack, horse and king you have to enter the menu of the machine and move with a few arrows up or down.
This control panel, honestly, looked better when selecting each of the options to enter the corresponding submenus, as they appear listed and you have to enter each option as a drop-down tree.
In a way, it reminded me of the system used by multifunction printer manufacturers when they try to simplify keyboards, but they can’t cut down the steps until you finally get to it. desired option.
Fortunately, this all changes if you choose to manage the mobile app available for Android and iOS mobiles. Getting started is much simpler and more graphical, with scroll bars to increase or decrease the amounts of cereal or milk.
In the Melitta Connect app you will also find a lot of information on machine maintenance or instructions for use. But the use of the application has a small associated objection, which is none other than the one you will not find in Spanish.
It is unfortunate that a household appliance of this category, considered prime, have the application available in different languages, but do not include Spanish. Here, Melitta should invest a little more to retain users of its entire product line.
Luckily, a comprehensive printed manual included in the box is in multiple languages, including Spanish, making it easy to get familiar with the most important maintenance and operation steps.
In the screenshot of the application we see how it is possible to adjust both the amount of coffee and milk to be used, as well as the intensity of the bean. This is an advantage if you want to control the number of doses you take daily or if you want more control.
For everything the machine does, including the grinding process, it does not turn out to be excessively noisy. Indeed, the noise it produces when the self-cleaning system is activated in which it circulates water and steam at high pressure through the ducts is more important than when you prepare a coffee.
As you may have seen in the pictures, the coffee outlet nozzle is height adjustable, so we can use containers of different heights and not just the typical coffee cups, so you can also use normal glass .
Finally, a small warning. And it is that the drip tray that stores disposable water has a large capacity, but we have verified that it quickly fills with water thanks to self-cleaning processes, which can be avoided by placing a glass under the outlet nozzle.
Price and availability
The price of the automatic coffee machine set Barista TS Smart F850 It’s not exactly cheap. This is what a machine with these characteristics has in which it is possible to customize the coffee with up to 21 different recipes.
Its final price is $1,089, so unless you are a real coffee drinker who enjoys several doses of coffee daily, it is difficult to recommend this machine whose payback time is considerably longer over time.
Discover our ranking of best coffee makers for homewhere you will find very varied price models that can be adjusted to different budgets according to your needs.
verdict
During the test period where I used it and I was able to enjoy it, to tell the truth, I verified that despite countless customization recipes, you always end up preparing the modality that you like the most .
The good news is that with the level of customization it offers so advanced, you can adjust the amounts of coffee you drink based on the time of day, so that a mid-afternoon coffee noon doesn’t have to be the same as what you prepare at home, first thing in the morning.
I see the Barista TS Smart as very useful in multi-person environments, like a small office, where each worker can customize their settings without interfering with the tastes of others.
In addition, the double spout offered allows us to speed up the preparation process by being able to pour two coffees at the same time, helped by a direct access key that is located in front of the control buttons.
Being an automatic machine with easy maintenance, you only have to worry about always having water and grain for the treatment, with the advantage of not depending on single-dose tablets which are always much more inconvenient to store.
specifications
- Smart automatic coffee machine
- Operation: color touchscreen or mobile app
- Coffee reservoir: 270 grams
- Power: 1450 Watts
- 15 bar pressure
- Water tank: 1.8 liters
- Grinding: 5 different levels
- Automatic coffee programs: 21
- External stainless steel milk bottle
- LED cup lighting
- Water filter
- Instruction manual in Spanish
- Warranty: 3 years
- Dimensions: 372 x 259 x 467mm
- Weight of 10.6 Kg
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