Everyone appreciates a great cup of coffee. You may start out your coffee addiction innocently enough with a simple coffee maker and milk frother, but next thing you know, you’re browsing online for an espresso machine. Naturally, the next step would be to choose a great one at a great price. Luckily, we’ve located three incredible deals on some of the best espresso machines in the market: The Nespresso Pixie, Philips Saeco Small Vapore, and Gaggia Velasca Prestige. Varying in price, features, and coffee-making capabilities, read on to find out which one suits you and your budget best.
NESPRESSO PIXIE WITH AEROCCINO MILK FROTHER – $205, was $279
If you love hot or cold foamy milk with your coffee, then the Nespresso Pixie with Aeroccino milk frother is perfect for you. The Nespresso Pixie itself is surprisingly compact and lightweight for an espresso machine. We’re usually accustomed to seeing big hulking monstrosities when we think coffee machine, but this one only weighs 8 pounds and is just 4.33 inches wide. It’s not going to take too much space, making it perfect for urbanites with small kitchen countertops.
The ground coffee inside the Nespresso capsules goes through a 19-bar high-pressure pump to extract all the flavors and aroma for the perfect cup of coffee every single time. You can choose between two programmable single-serve cup sizes; espresso (1.35 ounces) and lungo (2.75 ounces). There’s a 24-ounce water reservoir that’s removable and easy to refill. When the tank is about to run out of water, red backlights along the machine’s sides will light up to alert you. The Nespresso Pixie also automatically shuts down after nine minutes of inactivity for lesser energy consumption. Lastly, this deal includes the Aeroccino milk frother which makes hot or cold milk foam and a complimentary set of 16 Grand Crus capsules.
Amazon reviewers showered this espresso machine with praise, saying it’s very powerful for such a small contraption and that it simply makes great coffee. However, a few lamented that the coffee just isn’t as hot as they would have liked it to be. Better control over the temperature of the coffee would have been nice.
The Nespresso Pixie and Aeroccino milk frother bundle usually retail for $279, but with Amazon’s $74 discount, you can get yours for $205. And if you pay via the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and get approval, you’ll get an additional $50 off instantly, bringing the price even lower to $155.
PHILIPS SAECO XSMALL VAPORE – $381, was $599
The Xsmall Vapore is equipped with ceramic grinders that will grind beans fresh on the spot at the touch of a button. On the top part of the machine is a bean hopper with a 6.5-ounce capacity for storing your coffee beans. The grinders can be adjusted to fine-tune the granularity of the coffee beans, from the finest grind for a full-bodied espresso, to coarse for a lighter-flavored coffee.
Philips claims that the grinders never overheat, ensuring long-lasting performance while staying virtually quiet when they operate. The Xsmall Vapore also contains a removable brew group that can be detached easily for regular cleaning, and a coffee brush for removing ground coffee waste. This guarantees freshly brewed espresso consistently with no staleness.
This espresso machine has a quick heat boiler that immediately brews the ground coffee beans. The Vapore also features automatic circuit cleaning. It is designed to clean itself with water every time you start up or switch off the machine. The device can also be programmed to create a customized brew according to your personal preference through the memo function. It comes with a metal drip tray grate, an upgrade from the plastic tray grate of the previous model. It also has a retractable water reservoir on the left side where you store the water. When the reservoir is nearly or completely empty, a red light turns on.
The one-touch user interface features a knob that switches between functions. Finally, the milk frother allows you to create perfectly heated foamy milk for cappuccinos and lattes.
The Xsmall Vapore has received a lot of love from various Amazon users, who applauded it for being a bang-for-your-buck machine that creates an incredibly strong espresso. With Amazon’s current deal on the Xsmall Vapore that saves you a whopping $218, this espresso machine is definitely a bargain at $381 instead of $599. What’s more, you can get an additional $50 off instantly upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card, reducing the price even further to $331.
GAGGIA VELASCA PRESTIGE – $902, was $1,099
The Velasca Prestige isn’t as bulky and cumbersome as most coffee machines. It measures 13.5-inches high and 10-inches wide and weighs just 19 pounds. It has a stainless-steel façade that looks sophisticated and opulent.
This machine features a detachable milk carafe that can automatically froth milk for cappuccinos and lattes. It froths the milk twice to ensure the ideal temperature and texture is achieved. The machine also has a “Carafe Quick Clean” button that you can press to rinse the milk circuit after each use.
The machine has a simple interface with just a few buttons. All the basic coffee blends have their dedicated buttons, including cappuccino, latte, and espresso, and the device is programmable so that you can customize your drink. The interface has five strength settings, three temperature settings, and three pre-infusion levels (determines how long the ground coffee gets soaked for a mild or stronger flavor).
The Velasca Prestige has an integrated ceramic burr grinder that can be adjusted to any of 10 grind settings, which gives you control over how strong you want your coffee to be. The finer the grind, the stronger it is. The bean hopper can store 10.5 ounces of coffee beans. The machine also has a bypass doser for storing pre-ground coffee. Its front-loaded water reservoir can store 54 ounces of water and can be easily pulled out in case it needs refilling. Its brew group is removable for regular cleaning and is dishwasher safe.
Amazon users have given the Gaggia Velasca Prestige espresso machine a lot of love, granting it a strong 3.9-out-of-5-star rating. They commented on how easy it is to use and clean, and how it makes better espresso than most coffee shops. But for $902, it is still somewhat expensive. Just imagine the accumulated cost of a coffee per day and how much you can save yearly (not to mention the amount of paper cup wastage), and you know that the Velasca Prestige is a great investment in the long run. Unleash your inner barista with this compact and one-touch espresso machine for $902 on Amazon, a huge $196 off its original price of $1,099. And if you order via the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and get approval, you’ll get an additional $50 off instantly, bringing the price even lower to $852.
Want more options? You can visit this page for the best espresso machines of 2019. Or if it’s cold brew you want, check out our best cold brew makers.
