What is Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew?
An espresso machine can offer you a wide variety of coffee, but the humble filter machine could provide you with a purer experience, providing rich, tasty coffee in large volumes. [19659003] The Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew is a filter machine with an integrated grinder, so you can touch a button and you're ready to go. High quality coffee and simple controls make it the ultimate in comfort for coffee lovers with a filter.
Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew: design and construction
The Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew looks great. Tall and thin (515 x 312 x 302 mm), this model is a bit taller than a traditional filter coffee machine, but not by much. Given the integrated mill, that's pretty impressive.
Melitta has also done a good job in the design. On the side of the machine is the transparent water tank, with marks for coffee cups between two and 10. Melitta assumes that a cup of coffee is 150 ml in this case, giving a total water capacity of 1.5 liters.
Related: How to use a French press
It is a pity that the water tank can not be removed for filling. Instead, you must fill the glass jar and use it to fill the tank. The jug has the same cup marks on the back of the handle, so you can fill it to the correct level from the tap. On the front, there is a neat LCD screen that shows the time, and then the controls clearly labeled.
On the front of the machine there is a door that opens to reveal the filter holder. The Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew uses paper filters, which in my opinion is a good thing. You will never suffer a washable filter that becomes stained with use, and the quality of the coffee through a paper filter is much higher.
Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew – Features
Making coffee could not be simpler. Once you have filled the bean hopper and added a filter, simply touch the cup selector button (moves in increments of two between 2 and 10). Next, tap the power button and the coffee machine grinds and brews your coffee for you.
Be careful not to overfill the water tank, however. The Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew continues brewing while there is water in the tank, and the cup setting is purely for the grinder. Adding too much water will result in watery coffee; very little and your drink can be bitter.
If you prefer, you can use ground coffee: simply touch the ground coffee button and the grinder is ignored.
For those who like coffee ready in the morning, there is a timer option, too. Once you have set the time you want the coffee machine to wake up, you can go down to a fresh, hot filter coffee pitcher.
By default, the Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew plate keeps the coffee warm for 40 minutes. You can override the settings and go for 20 minutes or 60 minutes, instead. The default setting should do the job: overheated coffee can make it bitter.
Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew – Coffee Quality
The Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew has an amazing range of controls. First, you can adjust the grinding of the steel burr crusher: a fine grinding will make the coffee more bitter; a thick earth lighter. Personally, I found that the intermediate configuration did the job.
You can then select the coffee concentration, which adjusts the amount of ground coffee. There are three configurations, but I found the best configuration of the medium.
Finally, it may over-fill or not fill the water tank to change the flavor, although it is possibly easier to adjust the other settings I have mentioned.
Using my settings, the first thing to say is that Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew smells amazing. Thanks to the AromaFresh system, you will soon get a room full of rich coffee, who would not want that?
Coffee quality is excellent. My Peruvian bean test provided a cup of rich, full-bodied, smooth-flavored coffee at 76ºC perfect. The orderly distribution of water through the coffee grounds and the use of paper filters makes it as good as can be obtained from a filter coffee machine.
Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew – Maintenance
Once you have established the hardness of the water (your local water office can provide this information, or you can buy a simple Ph test strip online ), Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew will notify you when it is time to descale your machine. Then, use the descaling solution and press the Calc button to execute the descaling program.
Apart from that, the general maintenance involves cleaning the glass jug and the filter holder, which are dishwasher safe; the coffee filter can be thrown away.
Melitta recommends that the grinder and hopper be cleaned regularly. The bean hopper opens, deftly closing a door to keep the beans inside. Next, you can vacuum the remaining beans, and remove the ring from the crusher and clean it with the supplied brush, sucking up the dirt.
For the hopper, place the machine in its back place (make sure there is no water in the tank) and press and hold the ground coffee button for 15 seconds to open the duct door. A damp cloth and a cleaning brush will keep the coffee duct clean, before reversing the process and closing the duct.
Why buy the Molitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew?
If you like the taste of filtered coffee and want something that can offer high quality coffee with minimal discomfort, Melitta AromaFresh Grind and Brew is the best option. Well-built, easy to use and excellent value for money: it is an excellent all-in-one option.
Related: Best Coffee Makers
Verdict
Excellent coffee, an excellent price and simple maintenance makes it the all-in-one filter machine to buy.