With the price of cafe coffee getting more and more expensive, the increasingly smart choice is to make your morning brew at home. But, after getting used to the taste of espresso, an instant coffee isn’t going to cut it, so investing in a coffee machine is a popular option.

According to a recent survey, 65 per cent of Aussie households own a coffee machine, but for those who don’t, there’s an overwhelming number of decisions to make before you take the plunge (yes, that was a coffee pun) and buy one. Should you go for a pod machine, a manual or an automatic? Are the expensive options the best, or can you get away with spending less?

And, crucially, which machine makes the best cup of coffee?

Helpful as ever, consumer advocacy group CHOICE has narrowed down the market for us with extensive testing of some of the most popular brands and machines. Surprisingly, there are a few that they say we should avoid buying and CHOICE coffee machine expert, Adrian Lini, tells Yahoo Lifestyle why.

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How CHOICE test coffee machines

Testing coffee machines is quite a process and, as with all CHOICE testing, they really put the products through their paces.

For espresso machines, the expert tester primes the machine to remove any residual factory smells and tastes. They then make 12 shots of espresso coffee (not for testing), one after another.

For automatic machines, they make 20–25 shots of espresso to make sure the built-in grinder is at the correct setting.

Then it’s on to the tasting.

“Our experts blind-tasted a 30ml shot of espresso from each machine, and assessed them by checking the colour and thickness of the crema, aroma, flavour, mouthfeel and aftertaste,” Adrian tells us.

Presumably, with a sky-high heart rate, they then rate each coffee.

Adrian explains that while taste is important, it’s not all the testers are looking for.

“It’s a combination of the taste, ease of use, frothing milk and coffee temperature consistency,” he says.

Each machine receives a taste test score, shown as a percentage and a CHOICE expert rating, which comprises the other areas.

Pod coffee machines to avoid

The worst pod machine was a Breville product, scoring only 45 per cent for taste, and 56 per cent overall. The testers said the Breville Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ Coffee Machine Starter Kit “can’t make a decent coffee.”

At $379, it was described as being a “high-end price for a low-end coffee.”

Damningly, the three other pod machines at the bottom of the list were also Brevilles.

Coming in joint second last were the Breville Nespresso Vertuo Creatista BVE850 and the Breville Nespresso Essenza Mini Capsule Machine, both with a 60 per cent CHOICE expert rating.

The Breville Nespresso Vertuo Pop + Aeroccino 3 Bundle was only rated slightly better, with 61 per cent.

“While these bottom dwellers are all Breville models, you shouldn’t write off the entire Breville brand,” a tester said. “The company makes plenty of great machines (especially semi-automatic and manual types), but these certainly aren’t in that league.”

Adrian isn’t a fan of pod machines, full stop. “I would steer clear of a pod machine. Pod machines tend to be expensive, cost more per coffee because you need to buy disposable pods, which you have to discard after each use,” he says.

Lowest rated manual and semi-automatic coffee machines

In this category, there are some machines that even the professionals find hard to use. The worst is the $299 Sunbeam Café Barista EM5000, which scored just 30 per cent on the taste test and didn’t impress anyone on the milk frothing front.

The next worst is an Anko model sold in Kmart and Target: the Anko Compact Espresso. While previous coffee machine tests have rated Anko products well, this budget $79 machine only got a 57 per cent CHOICE expert rating and a 55 per cent taste score.

“Our coffee experts weren’t impressed with the espresso it produced,” a CHOICE tester said, adding, “To price a coffee machine so cheaply, the manufacturer seems to have skimped on the build quality.”

Another Breville was the next on the list: The Breville Duo-Temp Pro BES810BSS.

Despite scoring well for milk frothing, it received a woeful 45 per cent in the taste testing.

The worst automatic coffee machines

Surely with a press and pour-style machine, you can’t go wrong? Not the case, says Adrian and CHOICE has a bottom three in this category too.

Coming in last is the pricey $1599 Gaggia Anima Prestige machine.

“It scored a poor 40 per cent on the taste test, and when we made four coffees in a row, it couldn’t maintain a consistent temperature,” said one expert.

The Saeco Royal OTC SUP060 scored just as dismally with 55 per cent despite its $2369 price tag.

“If you’ve got $2000 burning a hole in your pocket, you can do better than this Saeco machine,” a CHOICE tester said.

The Gaggia Cadorna Prestige was the final machine to disappoint the pros, leading them to suggest you might want to cross Gaggia’s automatic espresso machines off your wish list altogether.

It only managed a 45 per cent taste test score and an overall 55 per cent expert rating at $1899; they expected much more.

Why these coffee machines scored so low

When you make coffee at home, you want it to taste good every morning, but for the CHOICE experts, this was the issue.

“Among the lower-scoring coffee machines, we found they aren’t consistent with both temperature or pressure,” Adrian tells us. “Some machines we tested are too hot right off the first shot, which results in burnt coffee. Other machines get too hot once you make more than one in a row. These inconsistencies make it difficult to get a delicious espresso.”

Kmart customers praise low-ranking coffee machine

The experts might not like these models, but not everybody agrees.

Unsurprisingly, the Kmart machine gets a lot of love online and receives scores of five-star reviews on the Kmart website.

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“Easy to use, no nonsense machine,” says one happy customer.

“The coffee tastes great. And with the good price I can’t ask for more!” says another.

“For a cheeky home coffee, it does a good job. Far better than instant coffee, and I can make a better coffee than I’ve had from “real” cafes,” says a third.

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