The new Melitta Latticia OT is the quietest bean-to-cup I've tested

One of the perks of reviewing coffee machines is that you get pretty pampered when it comes to quality brews. My kitchen counters have a constant cycle of new machines to try out, most recently a snazzy new Sage model that blew my socks off and a Jura machine that costs well over £1k. Although I often have to send these gorgeous machines back, they've certainly raised the bar when it comes to premium machines, and what makes the best coffee machine in the business. 

A Melitta bean-to-cup coffee machine can cost you anywhere from £350 to £1,000. At an RRP of £569.99, the Melitta Latticia OT would seemingly hit that Goldilocks standard of not too cheap, not too spenny, just right. Even better, at time of writing you can pick it up the Melitta Latticia for £429 from Currys. The proof's in the espresso though... and the latte, and the cappuccino, which is why I tested the OT for a few months before writing this review.

The Melitta Latticia OT lacks some of the swankier features you can get in the range's more premium models, but it's easy to use and hard to get wrong. Technophobes, look no further. This machine takes your coffee bean, grinds and tamps it, and turns it into a coffee of your choice with the touch of a button. And it does so sensitively, with a surprising level of complexity in your finished espresso. Can't say fairer than that - especially if you opt for some bulk-ordered beans to keep running costs low.

Melitta Latticia OT

• Name: Melitta Latticia OT F300-100
• RRP: £569.99
• Dimensions: ‎53 x 25 x 36.5 cm
• Noise: We measured 74dB
• Capacity: 1.5L water tank, 250g bean container
• Wattage: 1450 Watts
• Warranty: 2 Years at Retailer Discretion 
• Included: milk steaming tube, instruction manual
• Grind settings: five
• Options: Café Crème, Cappuccino and Latte Macchiato, Hot Milk, Hot Water
• Adjustable features? Adjustable outlet up to 135mm, stepless drink volume adjustment
• Colours: Black, silver

Millie Fender

Millie Fender is Head of Reviews at Ideal Home. Formerly our expert for all things kitchens, she now reviews everything from pizza ovens to robot mops. 

Millie used to work in a coffee shop, so she's been able to bring her barista skills to our coffee machine reviews in the two years she's been at Ideal Home. She tested the Melitta Latticia OT for a few months in her South London flat. Between her partner, who prefers long black coffee, and her penchant for a classic latte, it was tested very thoroughly. 

Setting up

The Melitta Latticia OT comes in a hefty box, and uses lots of polystyrene to keep it secure in shipping. Good for peace of mind, bad for recycling. My first impression of the machine is that it's definitely more plastic-y than I'd like in a £500-odd machine, which made me wonder if what you're paying for is the grinding and brewing unit inside the machine. 

To control the machine, you need to turn it on using the right-hand power button. It takes about 30 seconds to a minute to heat up, and then you can select your drink from the menu. It's got fewer options than your local Starbucks, but all the essentials are covered. And it's more adjustable than you might first think, because the stepless dial to the left of the menu will allow you to fully customise the length of your drink, meaning you can turn that café crème into an americano with no trouble. 

Another adjustable feature is the strength of your coffee. To change this, you can press the button that shows a coffee bean and flick through one, two or three bean icons on the top of the unit to indicate the strength level. I opted for two, keen to taste the middle-ground. 

To top up the 2-litre water tank you can lift up the container with the in-built handle at the rear of the machine. Carrying this to the sink is easy enough, and then it's just a case of sliding the unit back into place. The Melitta Latticia OT can be used with a water filter, but these need to be bought and replaced every few months. 

The machine has a 250-gram capacity for beans, which works out to roughly the size of your average bag of specialty coffee. You can adjust the grinder through five grind sizes, which is a lot less variation than you'll get in more traditional coffee machines such as the Sage Barista Express Impress. A downside is that it won't alert you when your beans are running low, it'll simply make a high-pitched whirring noise that lets you know it's grinding thin air. 

Making black coffee

I was keen to try this machine with some quality beans, so I used Modern Standard's Momentum Espresso to test my black coffee. My partner runs on Americanos, so he approved of my bean selection, and commented on our first day testing the machine that he was surprised at how complex the coffee tasted. Other entry-level bean-to-cup machines we've tested have produced a muddy and bland drink, which is a result of poor-quality grinding and inconsistent pressure. The Melitta Latticia OT gave me no such issues. 

Speaking of grinding, the Melitta Latticia OT one of the quietest machines I've heard. It's low-pitched and non-disruptive. Especially compared to my De'Longhi Dinamica Plus, the one downside of which is the noise, the Melitta only created 74dB.

Making espresso

The Melitta Latticia OT has three settings for different levels of strength. You toggle this simply by pressing the bean button until you have your desired strength on the main display. 

I tried an espresso on the highest and lowest setting to see if there was a noticeable difference in strength, and I was quite surprised at how different the coffee tasted. 

Both were strong (it's an espresso, after all) but there was a lighter fruitiness to the weaker of the two coffees. The stronger one tasted very deep and almost a little burnt. 

If I had one gripe about the coffee with this machine, it's that it comes out very hot, which is usually a sign that it's been brewed at too high a temperature. You can change this though, you just need to give the instruction manual a thorough read-through to find all the hidden controls. 

To adjust the brewing temperature you need to toggle through various buttons, pressing a set number of times, before you can choose from three options. 

Making milky drinks

To make milky coffee in the Melitta Latticia OT, you need to take the milk tube and insert it into the right side of the dispenser. You then can place the other end of the tube in a glass of milk, or opt for a Melitta milk dispenser which will cost more, but look a lot better. It's a shame this isn't included seeing as the integrated LATTEperfection system is a main selling point of the machine. 

Despite my improv milk dispensing system, I was pretty impressed with how well the milk came out. It was sturdy and long-lasting without being overly frothy. 

Another good feature with this machine is that you can make two drinks at once. To do this you just need to place two cups under the dispenser and double-press the coffee you want to make. 

How to clean the Melitta Latticia OT

The Melitta Latticia OT comes with some great care and maintenance settings, such as the option to set your water hardness (which will adjust how often you get the reminder to de-scale) and alter the automatic switch-off time. 

As with most machines, it will flush the system out before and after every use. I did find that a small amount of water came out before each shot of coffee or milk cycle, but at least I knew that this was clean water and not old, leftover coffee. I usually put a cup underneath the dispenser when I use a bean-to-cup machine to stop the drip tray from filling up too fast. Especially for machines like this, where the drip tray goes along the entire underside of the machine, they can be quite unwieldy and annoying to empty on a regular basis. 

Despite my mug technique, the drip tray still had to be emptied around once per day. I asked Melitta about this, and they said "The machine will rinse on start up and shut down into the back of the tray and each time a drink is brewed. You should expect to empty the tray up to every 6 drinks depending on the size of the drink you make."

When it comes to cleaning, there is an automatic indicator that shows when it's time to run the cleaning cycle. This is to prevent a buildup of oils and residues that can damage the machine long-term. It's a four-stage process that makes you feel slightly in the dark because of the lack of instructions on the face of the machine, although perhaps I've been spoilt by my De'Longhi which walks you through the whole process thanks to its interactive screen.

Cleaning the milk tube feels a bit icky. I was sure to run it through water every use because I hate the idea of old milk clogging it up. You have to get quite involved to clean the milk dispensing unit, and it's recommended you do it every few days. Other machines like the De'Longhi will do this automatically by pushing hot water through the milk dispenser after each use. 

How does it compare? 

I'm not one to part with hundreds of pounds very easily, but it's a fact of life that a coffee machine is one of the greatest investments you can make for your kitchen. There is no way I'd have shelled out for a sophisticated bean-to-cup before I started reviewing these machines, but knowing what I know now, this is a machine I'd save up for. 

At an RRP of £569.99, I'm not going to pretend the Melitta Latticia OT is affordable. Like another of our favourite luxury bean to cup machines the De'Longhi Rivelia, it's certainly pricey. However, when you put it in a lineup with comparable products, it does sit at the affordable end of the best bean-to-cup coffee machines, especially if you manage to pick it up on sale. 

I've tested the De’Longhi Dinamica Plus ECAM370, a more expensive option that offers smarter controls and a more extensive menu of coffees to choose from. At £849 (at time of writing) I guess that makes sense. On the other end of the scale, the Beko CEG5311X Bean to Cup Coffee Machine has an RRP of about £349.99. It's equally simple to look at (although a little more sleek than the Melitta Latticia OT) but doesn't come with a milk dispensing section, meaning you'll need to steam your milk by hand. 

Should you buy the Melitta Latticia OT

The Melitta Latticia OT gets a solid four-star rating from me. It's priced well, and makes an impressive brew. It lacks some of the refinement you'll get with a pricier machine, and I was disappointed it didn't come with a milk dispenser. 

On the plus side, it's one of the quietest coffee machines I've tested, and if you're willing to do some fiddly button-pushing it's very adjustable for your specific coffee preferences. I also really enjoyed being able to simply turn a dial to choose the size of drink I'd like, which is a lot more simple than having to navigate a touch-screen design.