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If you’re looking to upgrade your at-home coffee game then you first need to consider what style of machine you’re after. Your main choices are manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic, with the latter providing the most hands-off approach, brewing a coffee for you from the touch of a few buttons.
If you’re like me and don’t want to spend time dialling in the optimal settings — and waste a whole load of coffee beans while experimenting — then a fully automatic machine is the way to go. The Philips LatteGo 4400 Series is a fine example — it’s what I use at home and can’t recommend highly enough, especially since it’s now down 38% at Amazon, that’s a saving of AU$456.
Admittedly, many fully automatic coffee machines offer a similar experience: select a coffee-based drink recipe, make some adjustments regarding strength and volume and press the start button.
Where this Philips machine stands out from the crowd is its ease of use, compact size and customisable profiles that allow both my partner and me to save our own preferences. Is it any wonder it’s cemented a place on my kitchen counter?
When we want a coffee each morning, we just select our individual profiles, choose a drink, and we’re sipping a delicious cuppa in minutes.
There are 12 preset drink recipes available, covering a spectrum from espresso and long black through to milk-based drinks and even iced coffees, ensuring everyone is satisfied. The more expensive LatteGo 5500 Series offers a greater selection of recipes and has four customisable profiles, but in my two-person household, the 4400 is fantastic.
The only downside I found when carrying out my Philips LatteGo 4400 Series review was related to the LatteGo milk-foaming system. This sees a milk carafe being attached to the machine, for it to then deliver hot foamed milk into your cup or mug. I personally wasn’t all that thrilled with the level of foam produced, and it certainly won’t appeal to hardcore cappuccino fans. I now do away with this system and use the Philips Baristina Milk Frother separately, which delivers results more to my liking.
As for the actual coffee-making part though, I simply cannot fault the 4400 Series. Navigating through the menus is as easy as can be, and I’m consistently satisfied with the results.
Amazon is listing this 38% saving as a limited-time deal, so you’ll need to act quickly if you want to snap it up.
