I thought the Philips Baristina for AU$419 was the coffee machine deal of the year — now it’s AU$359 and I’m eating my shoes
I told myself in the days leading up to Prime Big Deal Days in Australia that I probably wouldn’t see any rock-bottom prices on some of my favourite products, including coffee machines.
Well, Amazon has me rethinking everything with a, quite frankly, huge price drop on the stellar Philips Baristina — now just AU$359.
I only wrote about the oh-so cute coffee machine earlier this month, when it was AU$444. Shortly after that it dropped to AU$419. Both excellent prices. Now Amazon has dropped the price further, it simply has to be the espresso machine deal of the year in my book.
I’ve made no secret of my love for the Baristina, and if only my partner didn’t drink such huge mugs of coffee, I would have one perched on my kitchen countertop. It’s my pick for the best budget coffee machine in Australia — even at full price — thanks to its ease of use, made possible by its rather genius ability to move the portafilter from one side of the unit to the other.
In short, it combines the best of bean-to-cup machines with the convenience of capsule models, as it handles all aspects of the coffee-making process while putting on a show.
Once you’ve inserted the portafilter into its first position, the Baristina will grind the correct dosage of beans before automatically moving it across to the brewing position. It’s quite remarkable and entirely unique.
As its price would suggest, there are a couple of compromises you need to make. Firstly, it can only brew a 40ml espresso or a 110ml lungo — there’s no extensive menu of drink options to choose from here — and you can’t adjust the grind size, which could potentially introduce a bit of an obstacle.
By this, I mean that you’ll likely need to conduct some trial and error with coffee bean varieties if you find your espresso tastes over- or under-extracted.
And for all the milk-based coffee drinkers out there, you need to know that there’s no way to steam milk. However, a colour-matching Philips Baristina milk frother is available separately.
In my mind, these are minor niggles that are either non-issues or can be easily resolved. The combination of good looks, intuitive features and consistently well-extracted espresso more than makes up for them. If your kitchen is crying out for an affordable coffee machine, the Philips Baristina is ideal.
Want more suggestions?
If you’re in the market for a coffee machine, but the Philips Baristina doesn’t seem like the model for you, you’re in luck, as there are multiple coffee machine deals in the Prime Big Deal Days sale. If it’s some quick recommendations you’re after, look no further.
I told myself in the days leading up to Prime Big Deal Days in Australia that I probably wouldn’t see any rock-bottom prices on some of my favourite products, including coffee machines. Well, Amazon has me rethinking everything with a, quite frankly, huge price drop on the stellar Philips Baristina…
