The Philips Baristina is a perfect espresso machine for beginners — and it’s more affordable than ever in the Prime Day sales
Looking for a coffee machine that serves up a delicious espresso but won’t break the bank? Look no further than the Philips Baristina. This adorable, cost-friendly bean-to-cup machine currently holds the spot for the best budget coffee machine in Australia, and it’s now even cheaper in the Prime Day sales — just AU$418.99.
My colleague Cat Ellis couldn’t have been more positive in her Philips Baristina review, and she loved the fact it combines the best of bean-to-cup machines, with the convenience of capsule machines.
It handles all aspects of the coffee-making process — grinding, dosing, tamping and brewing, so you barely need to lift a finger. What’s more, it puts on a bit of a show, as it will automatically slide the portafilter into position once it’s finished grinding and tamping. It’s unlike any other coffee machine I’ve come across.
When Philips announced the Baristina, it certainly piqued my interest. My colleague Cat was able to get her hands on a unit first though, inflaming my jealousy.
What drew me to the compact machine was its simplicity. Once you’ve loaded in some beans and filled the water tank, just push the portafilter handle into its slot and slide it to the right. Select which drink you want — it can only brew a 40ml espresso or a 110ml lungo — and the machine will get to work grinding the perfect quantity of coffee into the filter basket and tamping it down.
Ensuring the whole process is as hands-off as possible, the machine will then slide the handle to the left and dispense the coffee into your cup.
It even helps with cleaning, as once your coffee has finished pouring, the handle will release so you can pull it free and knock out the grounds.
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I also love the look of the Baristina, in either its white or black guises it’s very modern. Do note that there’s no steam wand on this machine, but there is a matching Baristina Milk Frother. I do have this and use it daily to froth oat milk, perfect for lattes and cappuccinos. It’s also on sale right now during Prime Day.
The only negative Cat could find with the Philips Baristina is that it doesn’t let you adjust the grind size, so you’ll have to choose beans that work with the machine’s default settings. There’s no real guidance on this in the user manual, so it may require some trial and error. If your coffee tastes under- or over-extracted then you’ll need to try a different bean.
Otherwise, there’s very little to find fault with the Baristina. It looks great, works a charm and brews a delicious espresso, all for an affordable price. What more could you ask for?
Looking for a coffee machine that serves up a delicious espresso but won’t break the bank? Look no further than the Philips Baristina. This adorable, cost-friendly bean-to-cup machine currently holds the spot for the best budget coffee machine in Australia, and it’s now even cheaper in the Prime Day sales…
