Cappuccino, frappuccino, mocha, latte, flat white, long black — coffee drinking isn’t simple these days. With so many options, making such an array of different coffee styles at home for family and friends feels like it would be a complicated process. Enter the Melitta LatteSelect Fully Automatic Coffee Machine, a machine that could be the answer to your complex coffee woes.
There is something satisfying about creating your favourite cup of coffee at home, right from the bean, with just a push of a button. From a simple Espresso to a milk-based Latte Macchiato, the Melitta Latte Select allows even the most amateur home barista to easily achieve their desired coffee style.
At first glance, it seems that it wouldn’t be out of place in a small independent coffee shop — the black and chrome front is adorned with a row of glowing, touch-sensitive buttons, which, with a single press, can start the process of creating your perfect cup.
What’s great is that the whole coffee machine is just as simple. Remove the top cover, and you’ll find the bean hopper. If you like differently roasted beans for different types of coffee, that’s no problem, as the hopper is divided into two — with a simple flick of a lever, you can select which kind of bean you want to use. Got some fabulous pre-ground coffee you want to use? Just tip that into the separate coffee chute, and away you go. It really couldn’t be easier.
The 1.8-litre water tank is also accessed from the top of the Latte Select machine, which is good or bad, depending on where it lives in your kitchen. Positively, it can be removed entirely from the top using the convenient handle, filled and slipped back in. More problematically, though, if it’s located under a wall-mounted cabinet or shelf, with the machine height at 350mm, there could be very little space to lift the tank out easily. Melitta has added wheels to the back of the Latte Select to make moving it much easier, so while a little awkward, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.
The container feeding milk to the Latte Select is separate from the main machine and connected via a flexible tube. The machine is quite happy making an espresso without the milk container attached, but fill the dispenser and leave it plugged in, and you can make several drinks without having to measure out the right amount of milk for each one. Once you’re done, disconnect it and pop it in the fridge, ready for the subsequent use.
Keeping the machine clean is easy, as it does much of the hard work itself; it flushes the pipes with hot water, steam cleans the milk tube, and rinses itself down. Anything that needs cleaning manually, from the brewing unit to the drip tray, is easy to slide out, and the machine will let you know what needs to be cleaned or descaled and when with a message on the LED panel.
So, it’s easy to set up and easy to maintain, but what about the most crucial part: the coffee? There’s good news there, too — not only can you select your coffee of choice and take it as it comes (which is still pretty good), but you can also tweak it to perfection with personalised recipe settings.
With six profile settings available, you can customise each available recipe to your specific tastes, balancing precisely the amount of coffee, milk, and water you want down to the millilitre, and saving it to your profile with the touch of a button. Once saved, you can select your creation in the future by tapping the ‘my recipe’ option, and the Latte Select machine will create your personal favourite.
Despite many positives to the Latte Select coffee machine, it’s not perfect, so there are a couple of things to note. It’s a chunky machine — at 475mm deep and 345mm wide, it might not be ideal if you’re tight for counter space, especially as you need access to both sides of the coffee maker.
And if you like your mug of coffee to be steaming or even just want to use the Melitta for hot water for your tea, you might be a little disappointed at the water temperature. Even at its highest setting, your coffee comes out at around 70c, which is about what Starbucks serve their regular coffee at. Extra hot isn’t an option.
The Melitta Latte Select Coffee Machine Verdict
The Latte Select is a versatile, easy-to-use coffee machine that can make a wide range of different styles of coffee with just a one-button operation. It has the added advantage of being able to make two cups (or one much larger cup) at a time by way of the ‘x2’ button. If you want tea instead, the hot water button means no need to boil a separate kettle, adding even more versatility.
What might put you off is the price tag — at £1,000, it’s quite an investment, but if a good coffee option is essential to you, then this is a worthwhile one. Despite the price, we like it, and it’s finding a permanent home in the Huff Media office. If you feel the same but can’t quite stretch to a four-figure sum, keep an eye out for deals on the Melitta website, as we’ve spotted the Latte Select as low as £500 direct from the manufacturer
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