Philips 4300 Series Fully Automatic Espresso Machine - Classic Milk Frother, 5 Coffee Varieties, Intuitive Touch Display, Black, (EP4321/54)

I'm not a coffee snob at all, but I can be picky about it in my own way. I've been riding the Keurig train for quite some time now, the last 2 years with the K-Cafe, which was great for me. But the the reality was it created a short, strong coffee rather than an actual shot, and while good, my espresso drinks based off it were coming up short. On top of that the environmental impact and cost of the kcups I preferred was taking its toll.I wanted something simple. Coming from Keurigs, my wife and I had zero interest in grinding and tamping and all of that other maintenance. And we also wanted a frother that was simple, but would still would give us flexibility.After some research, we honed in on the Phillips with the panorello wand, and specifically the 4300 as the digital display was key in making life easier. It took days for me to decide whether the cost was worth it. In the end, doing the math of what we were spending on kcups vs a switch to espresso beans, we determined we'd break even in a year. So we pulled the trigger.Now on to the machine: It's wonderful, and visually, it looks impressive on my counter. Set up was a snap. There are multitude of instructions, but it was quite self-explanatory at the same time. It took about 10 to 15 shots for me to dial in a good cup of espresso (so please do not think you're going to get anything resembling a drinkable shot in the first 5 or so pulls). The variety of options from the grind, to the temp, etc...really help you make it just right. The screen prompts for making the drinks and cleaning the machine make sure you don't miss a beat. And while the sound of the machine rinsing before it turns off scares the heck out of me each time, I appreciate it. I have to do a full clean, so I am intimidated by that, but I imagine it too will be straight forward.The profile feature is clutch too. My go to is a ristretto cappuccino (I'm hit or miss with creating a good foam on the milk with the wand, but getting better), and my wife's is a short cup of coffee or an occasional flat white, and without a doubt we both agree its much better than anything we've ever had at someone else's house. It even competes with speciality coffee houses and easily blows away the mass produced shops (you know who I'm talking about).While things can change, I'm so happy with this purchase. While the initial cost and longer effort towards maintenance is more, the process of making my coffee every morning is even easier than it was with my Keurig, the quality/taste has gone way up and the 1+ year long term costs are less. Absolutely recommend.

This is the second Philips automatic coffee maker I own. The first was Saeco Talea Giro Plus which worked without any flaws for 13 years!! Kept waiting for it to fail so I can buy a new one. Finally the coffee grinder stopped working and It may have been my fault as I used some grinder cleaning beans that you put in instead of coffee beans to clean grinder... I looked for a new Philips coffee maker that uses the same internal mechanism as the Saeco. I bought the Philips 4300. It is an awsome coffee maker. My wife and I spent a whole day making and tasting over 30 cups of coffee trying all of the options a d settings. Welove the ability to program his and her settings for espresso, coffee crema, americano and other types that it offers. After setting it up, the ability to have always a consistently tasting perfect cup of coffee in seconds is amazing and is something I look forward to every morning. I am a test engineer and I tested all options and features for both fit and ease of use. I am impressed with another coffee maker from Philips.

Crema or a velvet (tiny bubbles) texture is what sets apart super automatic machine coffee drinks from drip, pour over, percolated and plunger type coffee making methods. This texture along with a rich, bold complex flavor from medium roasted quality coffee beans is why we pay dearly for thee machines. Look at the difference in the brewed coffee pucks above. The ones on the left are from a newer Phillips 4321 and the ones on the right are from a 7 year old Delonghi Perfecta that’s made over 10K cups of coffee. One of the hallmarks of a proper brew is a solid, relatively dry puck. You are bound to get a good tasting drink if quality beans were used. The mush on the left is unacceptable and a sign that something is wrong. I tried tech support at Phillips and they said run 20 cups through it to see what happens. Right, at $40 a lb for my coffee I’ll cut my losses and return it. It’s not looking good for this Phillips machine. Back to Delonghi!