Best bean-to-cup coffee machine 2024: top picks for coffee lovers from De'Longhi, Sage, KitchenAid, Dualit and more

The best bean-to-cup coffee machines make great coffee with minimal effort on your part. Or at any rate, minimal effort other than handing over quite a lot of cash.

In a way, bean-to-cup coffee makers are like the high-end equivalent of the best pod coffee machine as they make high quality coffee with minimal inconvenience. They do this by combining an espresso maker, coffee grinder and milk frother into a single unit. Not generally a very compact unit, it has to be said, but a unit nonetheless.

As takeaway coffee prices have skyrocketed and more people have decided to invest in good quality coffee, bean-to-cup coffee machines have improved immeasurably. Where some of the older machines produced weak espresso, today’s systems grind and extract espressos with serious levels of scrumptious clout, and they froth milk to perfection at the same time.

These are the best bean-to-cup coffee machines you can buy today, from the large to… the not quite so large.

WRITTEN BY

WRITTEN BY

Bethan Girdler-Maslen

Beth is Home Editor for T3, covering style, living and wellness. As a caffeine addict, Beth loves talking all things coffee and has the latest recommendations and advice to dish out, preferably over a cup of joe. She's tried her fair share of bean to cup coffee machines, from Sage to Siemens, so she's the go-to person if you need tips on how to buy the best one for you.

The top three

Best bean-to-cup coffee machines ranking 2024

The best bean to cup coffee machine overall

When it comes to ease of use and unswervingly accurate consistency, we don’t think you’ll find a more suitable domestic espresso maker than this sterling contender from the house of De’Longhi. Like many bean-to-cup-machines on the market, this one is semi automatic so it involves a modicum of user input. However, its pièce de résistance is undeniably the spring-loaded tamping lever which applies precise pressure to the coffee grounds ensuring perfect extraction time after time. Once you’ve selected a suitable grind setting on the unit’s built-in burr grinder and tamped the grounds as above, it’s simply a case of choosing the best pre-infusion temperature and then tapping the single or double-shot button. It really is very difficult to get anything wrong with this machine and that’s more than can be said for the majority of espresso machines. What’s more, this model also produces cool espresso and standard cold brews, along with tea if that is your preference. A true all-rounder, in other words.

The La Specialista Opera comes with a large two-litre water container, a full set of double-walled glass cups, two sizes of basket, a heavy-weight pro-spec portafilter and a fabulously easy steam wand that produces a wonderfully silky finish. Granted, you can’t remove the grinder insert to add different beans, but if you can afford the outlay and are a discerning coffee connoisseur, we recommend this model without any reservations because it's one of the very best domestic espresso machines we've ever reviewed.

Read our full review of the De’Longhi La Specialista Opera

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The best runner-up bean to cup coffee machine

The best bean to cup coffee machine you can buy today is the Sage Barista Touch Impress. Launched in 2023, this innovative bean to cup machine has thought of everything and is hard to beat. With multiple drinks to choose from, the Sage Barista Touch Impress easily tackles lattes, cappuccinos, hot chocolates, flat whites and other caffeinated drinks.

The most impressive part of the Sage Barista Touch Impress is its Auto MilQ settings. As everyone tends to drink different milk these days, the Sage Barista Touch Impress can perfectly heat and froth dairy, oat, soya and almond milk to perfection. Our reviewer has tested it thoroughly using dairy milk, oat and lactose free milks, and the Sage Barista Touch Impress cleverly adapts to the temperature and froth that each milk requires, so you get the best results every time.

The Sage Barista Touch Impress also has an integrated bean hopper and grinder, tamping system, steam wand and much more, so you're fully equipped to make all the coffees you like. Its touchscreen display is easy to swipe through and while it doesn't have a huge library of coffees, unlike the Siemens EQ900, it has all the basic coffees that you'd want, including tea, hot chocolate and babycino options.

Overall, the Sage Barista Touch Impress makes the best coffee our tester has ever tasted and it'll take a lot to knock this bean to cup off the top spot.

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The best alternative bean to cup coffee machine

With its excellent on-board grinder and full digital extraction control, the handsome and mostly fuss-free semi-automatic Espressivo Pro not only looks the part but it produces exceptional results without the need for a degree in barista physics. With this machine the computer processor takes care of extraction time along with water temperature and pressure so all you really need to concentrate on is the quantity and size of the coffee grounds and the pressure applied when tamping.

The great thing about this semi-automatic model is that it cuts out all the possible things that can, and do, go wrong with a fully-automatic bean-to-cup machine – like forgetting to empty the spent coffee grounds container and emptying the used water reservoir the machine uses to purge contaminated water from the group head and when running periodical self-cleaning regimes.

The Espressivo Pro ships with a very large 2.8-litre water reservoir, a reassuringly weighty pro-spec 58mm portafilter and two non-pressurised baskets: one for single shots and one for doubles. It also comes with a hefty 390g tamper that is almost heavy enough to tamp coffee grounds under its own weight.

If you prefer a more hands-on experience when making top-quality espresso and don’t fancy the thought of having to constantly empty trays of dirty water and spent coffee ground baskets, the Dualit Espressivo Pro is the model for you. It makes espressos and cappuccinos with oodles of clout and is much easier to use than any manual machine.

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The best fully automatic bean to cup coffee machine

If you have the financial wherewithal and are in the market for a sterling fully automatic bean-to-cup model that’s a breeze to use and perfect for making a wide range of espresso-based drinks, step right this way.

The stylishly modern KitchenAid KF8 is available in four discreet colours and produces a wide range of espresso-based drinks from ristretto, espresso and lungo to macchiato, latte and cappuccino – and all at the touch of a button. It’s highly customisable, too, providing the option to select overall strength, amount of coffee in grams, milk type (it accepts plant-based alternatives like oat, almond or soy), order of milk or coffee, amount of water per extraction and water temperature.

The KitchenAid KF8 comes with a twist-and-lift bean hopper with capacity for around 200 grams of beans and a very decent burr grinder with a hidden self-tamping mechanism. Once ground, the selected program begins extraction by first applying a pre-infusion for greater water coverage within the KF8’s concealed portafilter. The group head itself can be lowered or raised from 9cm to 14cm to accommodate different sized cups beneath.

However, the KF8 does use a ridiculous amount of water to clean itself every time you turn it on which means you’ll be making quite a few trips to the sink to empty the dirty water tray and dispose of the spent coffee ground pucks. Nevertheless, the quality and variety of coffee-based drinks this handsome brute produces is well up there with the best of the competition and well worth the extra legwork.

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Best budget bean-to-cup coffee machine

We understand that £500 isn't exactly a budget option, but when it comes to bean-to-cup coffee machines, it doesn't get much better. Not only is this a brand new launch from Ninja, but it's also the brand's first-ever coffee machine, and we're genuinely impressed by the quality for an entry-level model.

With its 3-in-1 functionality, it’s a fantastic choice for anyone seeking a versatile coffee machine that covers all bases. It also comes packed with innovative features and thoughtful design elements, including Barista Assist Technology and an integrated hands-free milk frother. The machine is incredibly easy to use after setup, with a variety of automatic maintenance functions to keep things running smoothly.

Whilst the initial setup can be a bit fiddly and it requires a portafilter funnel during grinding, these minor inconveniences are more than outweighed by the machine's overall performance and value. Given its price point, it’s hard to find a better option.

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Second best fully automatic bean-to-cup coffee machine

We used to be rather dubious about this kind of fully automated bean to cup machine but Jura has really upped its game in recent years. The E8 makes great coffee at the press of a button – which was the idea of bean to cup machines all along. What a lot of types of coffee too; you can scroll through more than a dozen options, but handily, the machine quickly learns to display the drinks you actually use first on its screen.

The milk frother only has one setting, unlike our number once choice, the Sage Barista Touch Impress, but as long as you like richly and densely textured cappuccino, there's nothing to complain about. Lovers of latte and café au lait may yearn for a less frothed option, however. The milk frother also requires daily cleaning involving cleaning tablets, tubes and a plastic vessel. This initially seems like a pain, but our reviewer found that it's just a matter of inserting a tube, adding the tablet and pressing a button, and they soon got used to it. The process certainly gives peace of mind that the milk system is always clean, if that is a big concern for you.

Whereas older fully-auto machines of this type were notorious for producing weak coffee, the Jura E8 knocks it out of the park every time. Considering how rapidly it gobbles up coffee beans, it should produce strongly flavoured drinks and we're glad to say that it does. It's a great machine, and pleasingly compact too – read our full Jura E8 review for the full low-down.

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The best premium bean to cup coffee machine

With the Oracle Touch, you can make espressos, cappuccinos, lattes and more, but it's not quite as fully automated as some of the machines further down the list. That's because The Oracle Touch uses a portafilter, like on a proper espresso machine, with different sized baskets for single and double shots.

First, our reviewer had to grind the beans into the portafilter, then fit it into the central spout (the 'group head', if we're being technical) to make the coffee. Meanwhile, you heat and texture the milk with the extraordinary steam wand. This looks like something you've spent months mastering, but thanks to temperature sensors in its tip, and some freaky steam dispersing tech, all you have to do is plonk it in your little milk jug, hit go, and wait about 30 seconds.

That's the genius of The Oracle Touch. It seems like a barista-operated machine, it produces coffee like one, yet all the clever stuff – dosing, tamping, extraction, milk texturing, is done for you. Yes, unlike the other machines here, you then have to give the milk a bit of a swirl and then add it to the coffee, but that's hardly an unbearable hardship is it now?

The Oracle Touch lets you get a bit creative, if you wish. The excellent grinder can be adjusted – using a finer grind with older or less potent beans, for instance – and there is almost limitless control over the extraction time, while you can easily set individual settings for your favourite drinks. Maintenance is also pretty easy, apart from descaling, which is a minor nightmare. That's another good reason to use filtered water, so the element doesn't fur up as fast.

Compared to the Barista Touch Impress which is from the same brand, the Sage Oracle Touch is slightly more fiddly and finickity but if it's premium you want, you'll get it with this machine. Read our full Sage Oracle Touch review for more.

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The best bean to cup coffee machine for size and ease

By their very nature, bean to cup machines are big – much bigger than any other type of domestic coffee machine. But this one isn’t. In fact, it’s probably the smallest and most compact model on the market. And it’s got that attractive Smeg logo on it, too. Moreover, Smeg’s designers have scaled back on the company’s usual retro look and given the BCC02 a more contemporary design that should fit well in any style of kitchen.

Despite its compactness, the Smeg manages to pack in a 1.4-litre water container, a decent-sized bean hopper and a small but efficient frothing wand. The interface is comprised of just five buttons and there’s no LCD screen to distract you. Simply select from espresso (small), ristretto (very small), Americano (medium sized, with water added to bulk the drink out) and hot water. The fifth button dispenses a weaker version of the above for those without a leather palette.

The only issue some users may have with this machine is that it dispenses Italian-size shots which are really short. However, you can get around this by dispensing two espressos in quick succession. True, the magic frothing wand isn’t as hands-free as Sage’s setup but with some practice it produces a very decent head that is more silky than frothy.

The key facet with this machine is that it really is a doddle to use. In fact it’s almost as simple as any of the machines featured in our best pod coffee machine guide. And that makes it great choice for anyone who loves espresso but doesn't want the malarky involved in getting it. The Smeg BCC02 is available in three colour details – black, taupe and red. Take your pick.

Want to know a bit more? Check out our experience-based article on what it’s like to use the Smeg BCC02.

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The best small bean to cup coffee machine

Coming in at around a grand, the Sage The Barista Touch is the smaller brother of Sage's The Oracle Touch. As such, it's arguably a more universally appealing product, though it does have a few corners cut compared to the big boy.

First up, there's only one boiler. The good thing about this is that it heats up even quicker than the Oracle (three seconds), which is itself no slouch. The down side is you can't make coffee and steam milk at the same time. Which, to be honest, is not a heart-breaking deficiency.

As with the Oracle, beans are ground directly into the portafilter, but here you have to manually tamp the coffee down. You then slot the portafilter in place, select your drink via the touchscreen, and off you go. The milk frother is possibly even better on this machine than on the Oracle, so you're not losing anything there, and there's a similar level of control over grind consistency, extraction length, shot size and more.

For a certain type of user, and for our reviewer who tested both of these machines, the Barista is an even better option than the Oracle, although I tend to think of it more as an espresso maker that has a grinder built in than a true 'bean to cup' machine.

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The best De'Longhi bean-to-cup coffee machine

The De'Longhi Rivelia held its spot in this guide for quite some time before its successor took over. The De'Longhi Eletta Explore is a standout choice for coffee enthusiasts, particularly those who value versatility and exceptional brews.

Capable of making an impressive range of both hot and cold beverages, it also boasts convenient, on-the-go features that make it perfect for busy individuals or commuters. Whilst it does come with a higher price tag, the Eletta Explore undeniably ranks as one of the best offerings we've seen from De'Longhi to date.

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The best bean to cup coffee machine from Melitta

The elegant Barista TS Smart comes with two coffee bean hoppers – one for dark roasts and the other for lighter blends. It also has a separate container for pre-ground coffee that may seem unnecessary but is actually quite useful, since it serves as a backup for when the beans run out.

This models makes 21 different varieties of coffee – from espresso to long black – in five different strengths, from extra mild to extra strong. It also provides the wherewithal to save up to eight separate preferences so different members of the family can select their own blends without having to start from scratch. Millennials, meanwhile, will be pleased to know it can all be controlled from an app.

The Melitta’s touch-and-slide interface is a cinch to use: first select the type of bean you want, then slide the strength bar to your preferred level of oomph and choose the size of cup required. Now tap the icon that best describes your desired coffee type (espresso, latte etc) – remembering to connect the milk dispenser if having a latte of cappuccino – and retreat for 60 seconds while it does its grindy, poury thing.

Where some bean to cup machines seem incapable of producing a truly strong espresso (you know, the type that provokes an expression of shock followed by lip-smacking awe), this one excels, especially if the strength bar is slid all the way to the right. We sampled a number of different coffee styles and they all hit the mark.

If you enjoy sipping on a variety of different coffee styles and have a worktop big enough to house its ample proportions, then this is the machine for you.

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The best bean to cup coffee machine from Breville

The Breville Barista Max+ leaves a generally positive impression although at only slightly under the £500 mark, it’s not a cheap and cheerful machine. That aside, the coffee-making capabilities of the Barista Max+ are pretty decent and you don’t need a barista’s degree in order to master the controls.

The so-called intelligent grind and dosage process does offer a helping hand, as does the LED screen and subsequent readouts. The sizeable machine lets you make brews from scratch and it does this with ease too.

We love the ability to vary coffee grinding intensity, the one or two cup push button options and the excellent steam wand-cum-milk frother. If you get good use from it the price doesn’t seem too bad either, although there’s rather more plastic in evidence than the plethora of stainless steel we were expecting.

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Best bean to cup coffee machines: honourable mentions

• Siemens EQ900 - it's HomeConnect app unlocks coffees from around the world
• De'Longhi Rivelia - almost kicked the Eletta off top spot... but just fell short
• Smeg Espresso Coffee Machine EGF03 - super stylish, if a little complicated
• Philips Series 5500 LatteGo - a strong contender from Philips
• Jura J8 Twin - exceptionally pricey but very impressive

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Bean to cup coffee machines FAQs

What is a bean-to-cup coffee machine?

A bean to cup coffee machine is a type of coffee maker that incorporates a grinder, espresso maker and milk frother in one. To be more specific, the machine and its integrated bean hopper and grinder will hold and grind your coffee beans, before extracting the coffee with its water tank, and then will heat and froth your milk.

There are three types of bean to cup coffee machine: automatic, semi-automatic and manual. As you might be able to guess, an automatic bean to cup coffee machine will use its grinder to grind, dose, tamp and extract your coffee automatically, while a manual machine means you'll have to make your shot yourself using the lever. A semi-automatic machine is a combination of the two, so some aspects of the coffee making process will be done for you, while you'll have to do others yourself.

How to choose the best bean-to-cup coffee machine

Most bean to cup machines place the entire coffee making process, from bean grinding to milk texturing, behind a towering façade of plastic, metal and chrome. You just push a button, and out comes a cappuccino, a bit like with an office Flavia machine.

In the past, bean to cups often also delivered drinks that tasted like they'd come out of an office Flavia. This was due to various failings in tamping (compressing the ground coffee before water is forced through it), maintaining the correct water temperature during the extraction process and some really quite appalling crimes against milk.

Today's best bean to cup machines are way better, with the best of the lot being Sage's. These use a totally different approach, with a proper portafilter like on a cafe's espresso machine, so they are less simple. But it's still hardly rocket science, and the ends justify the means.

One thing that bean to cup machines are especially good at these days is texturing milk, so they should be especially attractive to those who like lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites and big mugs full of hot, stiff milk. Mmm-mm. In my view, if all you ever drink is milk-less espressos and Americanos, you'd be nuts to buy most bean to cups, but hey – it's your money.

All of these machines will happily have a go at texturing skimmed milk, soya milk, almond milk or any other milk you might want to try. The results may vary, but we're talking about natural products here, so what can one do?

Speaking of natural products, the same top tips apply here as the best 'proper' espresso machines. Use filtered water from a filter jug – especially if you live in a hard water area, this will improve the flavour of your drinks and reduce the frequency with which you have to descale. A lot of these machines include a built-in water filter, but I don't think they're terribly effective on their own.

Use good quality, fresh beans, and store them in something with a screw-top lid, somewhere dry and cool – but not in the fridge. A lot of bean to cup machines have bean hoppers big enough to take an entire bag, but in general you're better off adding a smaller number of beans as you go along, then returning the rest to storage.

Milk should be cold but, despite what everyone says, I can't really detect any catastrophic difference in results between whole, semi and skimmed milk, in terms of the texture. So don't feel you have to change your usual favoured fattiness of milk, just to get tastier cappuccinos.

Finally, if you like to tinker with settings, a finer grind will generally give a stronger flavour, but you will need to increase the amount of water going through it too unless you like very small shots of coffee. If you're getting something bitter and twisted, try a coarser grind, or maybe get the cleaning and/or descaling tablets out and run a cleaning programme, where appropriate.

A friend of mine once left a coffee machine so long between descalings, it actually exploded. Yes, exploded. So I'll just end this little guide with that little mental image a-hanging. (He survived).

Coffee jargon: what you need to know

Espresso The basic coffee drink of Europe. Water is forced through compacted, ground coffee at, traditionally, although nobody knows why, 15 bars of pressure.

Double espresso Either literally two single shots of espresso, or a larger dose of coffee, with more water pushed through it, that ends up being about the same size as two shots.

Lungo Essentially an espresso, but made with a larger ratio of water to coffee, with a longer extraction. The result is probably closer to a cafetiere or pour-over coffee than most drinks that come out of an espresso machine. Not to be confused with…

Americano A shot of espresso diluted with water. Basically a post-war approximation of filter coffee (as drunk by Americans), from an espresso machine. The Europeans called it an Americano as a kind of insult really, implying that it was piss weak and only for Yanks. Lots of people like it these days, though.

Latte A shot or two of espresso with the remainder of the cup filled with warm, lightly textured milk.

Cappuccino Same as the above but the milk is more densely textured. In the UK, this is now traditionally drunk in cups approximately the size of the FA bleedin' Cup, much to the disgust of visiting Italians.

Flat white Nobody knows exactly what this is, not even the person who invented it. It's basically a stronger latte that sometimes is more like a stronger cappuccino. Often in Britain, it's a cappuccino in a vessel smaller than the FA Cup, and so stronger as the coffee is less diluted by milk. So, in other words, it's what everyone else in Europe considers a cappuccino.

Caffé Macchiato An espresso with just a splash, a soupçon, of steamed milk froth. Literally translates as 'stained coffee', which doesn't sound so tasty.

Ristretto We're getting a bit technical here, so the jargon buster must be nearly over. This is a more intensely flavoured shot of coffee, achieved by grinding the beans finer, so water takes longer to flow through it. I think that's right, anyway. I'll ask a proper barista at some point.

How we test bean-to-cup coffee machines

How we test bean to cup coffee machines

When it comes to testing the best bean to cup coffee machines, we call in the latest models from brands like Sage, Siemens, Smeg, De'Longhi, Philips and more, and we test them for at least four weeks before giving our full verdict.

From unboxing and set-up, to design and features, we give the best bean to cup coffee machines a real run for their money and get to enjoy the fruit of our labour: a great cup of coffee. We test the many different coffee options, and review how well the machine grinded the beans, extracted the coffee and frothed the milk.

As we spend so much time with the machine, and if we're lucky enough to keep them after we've reviewed them, we continue to test the best bean to cup coffee machines to see if there are any differences over time. This includes how easy they are to clean and if we notice any wear and tear after prolonged use. We'll then go back and update our reviews so you're getting the best advice on how to pick the best bean to cup coffee machine for you.