Melitta Purista F230 Bean to Cup Coffee Machine

Summary

The Melitta Purista F230 has a simple, very elegant design that pairs black with stainless steel, and you can tell at a glance that it’s built from good-quality materials. Melitta makes it in three finishes.

It’s a compact machine, ideal if you’re short on worktop space, although a few bean to cup machines are slimmer still.

It’s easy to use because there are very few controls. A dial sets how much water goes into your coffee, and a row of buttons handles a single coffee, two coffees, strength and your saved favourite. A service button gives you the temperature setting plus the cleaning and descaling functions.

A small LED display shows icons that tell you when the water or beans are running low, when it’s time to descale and so on. On the right-hand side there’s also a selector for the grind, with 5 settings.

This machine is aimed mainly at people who drink their espresso black, because it has no built-in milk frother.

There’s an easy fix for that, though. Melitta’s Cremio II accessory froths milk on the side.

Another plus is that it can make 2 coffees at once, which saves time on busy mornings or when you have friends round.

Cleaning the Purista F230 is straightforward. It rinses itself automatically when you make coffee and reminds you every so often when it needs descaling, for which you’ll need a Melitta descaling tablet.

An important detail for maintenance is that the brewing unit is removable, so you can clean it whenever you need to. That isn’t possible on every bean to cup machine.

I liked this model a lot, but I think it’s quite expensive compared with the earlier Melitta model it replaces. I also missed a milk frother, because I love a cappuccino and, for me, that’s essential.

We tested the Purista F230 in Spain, and it’s the same machine sold on Amazon.co.uk. There it’s listed as the F230-102 in black and sold by AO rather than by Amazon itself, so the finish may differ from the silver-fronted unit we used, but the machine inside is the same. Its overall score of 9.1 comes from our earlier test protocol, which used different criteria (design, power and build quality) and came before we started rating bean to cup machines on coffee quality, grinder and capacity. It doesn’t include the timed espresso series, grinder noise readings or capacity count of our current protocol, so it isn’t directly comparable with the scores of the machines we’ve tested since.

Analysis and verdict

What’s in the box with the Melitta Purista F230

• Coffee machine
• Instruction manual
• Water hardness test strip

Design – Score: 8.9/10

The Purista F230’s design is simple. It isn’t as modern as some other models, but it’s very practical and easy to use, and the LED display shows you what you’ve selected with the buttons.

It’s also pleasingly compact. At just 20 cm wide, it will suit anyone without much room in the kitchen, although a handful of bean to cup machines are narrower still.

There’s no milk frother, so it only makes espresso-based black coffees. Cappuccinos and other milky drinks are off the menu, but if you love them, we’ll explain further down how to make them with a simple accessory.

At the top left there’s a dial for choosing how much water you want, from 25 ml to 220 ml. The more water you add, the longer and milder the coffee; the less you add, the stronger it is.

Next come the buttons for choosing the type of coffee and changing a few settings.

Above this row of buttons sits a small display with LED symbols that light up to make the machine easier to use.

Finally, to the right of the buttons there’s a larger round button that switches the machine on and off.

On top, the bean hopper is on the right and the water tank is on the left. You lift the tank straight up to take it out.

Open the cover on the right-hand side and you’ll find the grind selector, with 5 settings.

Build quality – Score: 9.4/10

1. Coffee spout

The Purista F230’s coffee spout has 2 outlets. I think that’s a real advantage when you’re making several coffees, because you can brew 2 at a time and get the job done in half the time.

It also slides up and down easily and takes cups up to 13.5 cm tall.

The spout is silver, like most of the front of our unit, which gives it a sober, elegant look.

Melitta also makes this machine in other finishes: black with silver trim and all black. The version listed on Amazon.co.uk is the black F230-102.

2. Bean hopper

The bean hopper isn’t very big, which makes sense given how compact the machine is. It holds 125 g, about half of what some larger machines take, but those are considerably bulkier.

The hopper sits at the top right, as mentioned, and feeds a stainless steel grinder that stands out for being noticeably quieter than similar models. That’s welcome if you make your first coffee early while the rest of the house is still asleep.

Unlike many machines, the grind adjustment isn’t inside the hopper. It’s a dial on the side of the machine, behind the door, and you get 5 settings to find the one that suits your taste.

3. Water tank

The water tank holds 1.2 litres, which is pretty good for a machine of this size.

It’s very easy to remove: lift the lid at the top left and pull it out by its handle. It’s always best to take it out and fill it at the tap so you don’t splash any other part of the machine.

Our unit didn’t come with a water filter (the Amazon.co.uk listing describes the tank as coming with one, so check the box contents). Melitta’s Pro Aqua filter is worth adding because it cuts down limescale and stretches the time between descales. In fact, if you use it and replace it a few times a year, you’ll only need to descale the machine once a year, which also helps it last longer.

4. Drip tray

The drip tray is made of stainless steel, with a scratch-resistant plastic insert where the cups sit. It slides out easily for emptying and is attached to the grounds container.

5. Grounds container

The container that collects the used grounds after every coffee sits behind the drip tray and comes out with it, so you can empty both in one go.

It’s best to leave it empty and clean after each use, which takes very little effort. Melitta also recommends putting it in the dishwasher every 15 days for better hygiene.

6. Removable brewing unit

The brewing unit comes out completely through the right-hand cover, so it’s easy to clean. We appreciate that, because we’ve found that not every bean to cup machine lets you do it.

How the Melitta Purista F230 works

I found this machine really simple to use. Let’s go through it in detail so you can see for yourself.

Automatic cleaning system

Every time you switch it on and off, it runs an automatic rinse, sending hot water through the coffee spout.

That keeps the pipes clean and makes the machine easier to look after.

Control panel

The Purista F230 doesn’t have a touchscreen like some other models we’ve reviewed. Instead it has a display with LED symbols, buttons to choose your coffee and a dial to set the amount of water.

Here’s what each button does:

1. Espresso

Makes a single black coffee.

2. Double coffee

Makes 2 espressos at once, which saves time, especially when you have guests.

3. Coffee strength

You can choose between 3 strengths (the machine uses more or fewer grams of coffee per cup). Each press lights up a coffee bean on the display: 3 beans is the strongest setting and 1 bean the mildest.

4. Favourite coffee

This saves your coffee with your preferred settings (strength, amount, temperature and so on). Press the button and the machine makes it exactly as you like it, with no fiddling.

5. Service button

This gives you access to cleaning, descaling, coffee temperature and other settings. We recommend having a look at the manual, which explains every option in detail.

6. On/off button

This is the button furthest to the right. A single press switches the machine on; to switch it off, hold it down for 3 seconds.

7. Water volume dial

This dial on the left lets you choose the amount of coffee easily. Bear in mind that the more millilitres you set, the weaker the coffee, because the dial controls the amount of water used.

The panel also tells you when it’s time to descale or clean. You’ll need the right products to keep the machine properly maintained. Melitta sent us both its cleaning and descaling products so that we could try out these functions.

Either way, I recommend following the steps in the manual or in the mobile app, which walks you through what to do.

Accessory for the Melitta Purista F230 (not included)

The accessory in question is the Melitta Cremio milk frother. It’s sold separately and heats milk or makes hot and cold milk foam, and the cold foam is what impressed me most.

If you don’t like your coffee piping hot, or fancy something cooler in summer, cold milk foam is a really appealing option.

With this accessory you can make cappuccinos or any other coffee with frothed milk very easily, without buying a machine that has its own frother. I think it’s a very effective, practical solution, because the Cremio takes up very little space.

Who we recommend it for

Who is the Melitta Purista F230 for?

• People who want to make 2 coffees at once
• Anyone after an espresso machine for freshly ground coffee
• People who want a bean to cup machine that’s easy to use
• Anyone who needs a machine that doesn’t take up much room in the kitchen

Who isn’t the Melitta Purista F230 for?

• People who want a machine with a milk frother
• Anyone looking for a budget machine
• People who also want to use pre-ground coffee

Our test

Test 1: Design – a standard worktop under a wall cupboard

The first thing you notice about this Melitta is that it does without a milk frother altogether, so we set it up on a standard worktop with a wall cupboard above to see how an espresso-only machine fits into a real kitchen. We measured the actual width with the water tank in place, and the 20 cm Melitta quotes is accurate, although it isn’t the narrowest machine we’ve had on the worktop. We also checked that the spout height adjusts to take cups of up to 13.5 cm without removing the drip tray, which is handy for taller glasses even though there’s no frother here.

After a month of use, what stands out is that the water tank, which you lift out by a handle at the top left, still fits snugly, and the water volume dial (25 to 220 ml) keeps its firm feel with no creaking plastic as you turn it. Melitta doesn’t publish the height and depth beyond the 20 cm width, so we can’t give exact figures for those, but we can say there are no visible scratches on the steel or on the cup rest, which is made of scratch-resistant plastic.

Test 2: Power – extraction, plus milk foam from an external accessory

We had to adapt the method here, because the Purista F230 has no built-in frother. Melitta focuses on black espresso and leaves milk to a separate accessory, the Melitta Cremio Hot. Even so, we followed the same routine as with any bean to cup machine. We timed the warm-up from cold, made several espressos in a row using the twin spout to brew 2 at once, and compared the 15 bar pressure on the spec sheet with what actually ends up in the cup.

We don’t have warm-up or extraction times in seconds that we can publish for this model, so we won’t make them up. What we did notice is that the crema stayed consistent cup after cup, and the conical burr grinder was noticeably quieter than others we’ve tried, which is welcome if you make coffee before the rest of the household wakes up. For milk, we tried the Cremio Hot both cold and hot and it did its job, but as an external accessory it can’t count towards the machine’s own power score, and we can’t give a pressure figure measured at the cup.

Test 3: Build quality – hands-on with the parts and the removable brewing unit

Instead of a portafilter, the part you handle every day here is the brewing unit, so that’s where we started. We took it out through the right-hand side cover to check how it fits, then went over the drip tray, water tank, casing and buttons by hand, noting what’s steel and what’s painted plastic. The drip tray combines stainless steel with a scratch-resistant plastic cup rest, and the 125 g bean hopper (half the size of some larger machines we’ve tested) sits flush in the casing with no loose parts to rattle.

After a month of use, the brewing unit still slides in and out with no extra resistance or odd noises, and we found no exposed screws or heat-marked plastic around the spout, which keeps its sober silver finish. The grounds container, which comes out with the drip tray, copes well with daily use, although Melitta recommends a run through the dishwasher every fortnight. We don’t have hardness figures for the materials to publish, but nothing has shown any sign of fragility in that time.

If you’d like to know more about what to look for, have a look at our guide to the best bean to cup coffee machines, where you’ll find the best models we’ve tested and help choosing the right one for you.