I have moved from pour overs or drips to a kettle, grinder and French press. No internet of things or Bluetooth. Best change ever. Edit: I have a grinder that I am absolutely happy with.
to be fair that explains it a bit. I dont think it would be too smart to call two different things the same. There would be a lot of poeple who would assume you can only use the bloom option when you use their bloom coffee.
I feel like the Melita was created with wedding/housewarming gifts in mind. It has the all-in-one kitchen machine which can make-french-toast-and-chop-onions-at-the-same-time feel to it.
It actually looks really cool with the whole setup. Like you just take the basket and put it under that grinder. But yeah it's just not worth it with the flaws. They should take notes from the beem and add control options. Like a scale underneath the grinder and coffee pot. Temperature control. And DEFINITELY a stepless grinder. Make it 300 Euros and it would be solid.
That's it! I was thinking "this looks like an all-in-one for someone who doesn't fiddle with ratios" but you phrased it way better. Also agree with And Again saying that it looks good for the hotel/AirBNB market.
Or just a gift to give someone who you think would like getting into coffee as sort of an introduction to grinding coffee at home and better ways of brewing coffee. TBH, I wouldn't mind getting one for myself when I move into my new apartment (my current apartment doesn't really have the, uh... necessary amenities for making coffee), but I think I want to take a step back from coffee and focus on tea once I do.
I can ruin good coffee with an inconsistent pour over all by my lonesome and for free. If you’re going to sell me a coffee robot it better do a feckin’ perfect pour over.
It seems to me that the Melitta seems to be aimed at current capsule coffee users who want to jump to something different, but still keep the same level of convenience... but I’m not sure how large that market segment is 🤔
I'm definitely in the market, to be honest. I despise the capsules because of the incredible amount of waste, but to be entirely honest, I'm too lazy in the morning to make the coffee myself.
I doubt pour-over is anywhere near to something a capsule machine user would prefer. Frankly speaking, I'm using a fully automated coffee machine - I love the coffee, but I never liked French Press and filter coffee, since it lacks the flavour profile pressure extracted coffee has. And I'd assume that this applies to the users of such a machine as well. In the end, coffee is down to taste but in everyday life more or less down to convenience. And I don't find this machines convenient at all.
@@maio290 i believe it is the quite the same target audience, inexperienced coffee enthusiasts who value simplicity more than the weird science in the brewing.
Is sis yumor? I häv se feeling it meiht be jumor, but i cannot admit, becourse as a German I wood not be allowed to understand yumor or even laaf about it. Se anti-yumor police would immediately com and pick me up for reedjucätion cämp.
The engineer's response: Marketing wanted an all-in-one machine for $yyy, that's what they got. If you want a good machine, we can certainly design one, but don't tie our hands.
Now that Melitta has released the EPOUR, which is basically the EPOS without the grinder, it may be worth taking a look at that and comparing it to other "pour over machines".
@@robertsandgren9389 Yea Europes prices are usually much higher on products. Tech products in Sweden are many times about 20% more expensive than in the US.
Currently they are providing 19% discount in Germany as a x-mas discount. But still it is around 200€. I like the design and functionality but it is too expensive
James, though I am endlessly impressed by your capacity to find unusual & fun coffee things to talk about, you could read furniture assembly manuals and I would still love putting your video on while I'm getting my own coffee going. You're practically therapy, my friend.
Absolutely agree brother. I put anything on by him at night while handling chores like dishes and cleaning up while the wife is getting the baby to sleep. It’s my only quiet time and I look forward to it every night.
I'm replying 3 years later, but I agree. His videos are therapeutic to me. It calms me down when I'm under stress. I also came to know that many of his viewers don't even drink coffee as much. Which means James Hoffmann is just that good at making youtube videos.
Thanks James. We are testing this brewer right now and feel the same conflict. Probably the best distribution solution on the market, but lacking control in flow restriction, brew ratio, temperatur. And the grinder is just like... "I want my wilfa." Also material wise we felt like all this epos plastic is not really epic.
The plastic frame of the Epos would also really explain the static, if it had an aluminium, grounded frame there would be a lot less problems with that.
Hey James, you will probably never see this since it is an old vid, but the Beem actually looked like it was broken to me. The spout looked like it was punched in that metal plate with the intention that it would spin while the outer rotor turned simultaneously. I never saw that inner disc where the spout was actually moving which may be why it did not get the water distribution correct.
That's possible, but considering who he is, this wouldn't be a case that someone at Beem took a gander and send one of their PR mouthpieces to explain this wasn't typical or expected and maybe provide a return? Brands love influencing influencers so I'm sure he's on their book even if he doesn't do deals
I'd wonder if the BEEM wasn't a defective unit. It looks like it should have a secondary rotation in the dripper, though maybe you simply didn't include footage of it rotating. It LOOKS like it's supposed to be doing more than we're seeing.
'Seattle Coffee Gear', 'Whole Latte Love', 'French Press Coffee', etc. should all learn from this video. THIS is the way how product reviews and comparisons should be done on UA-cam. They pretend to be coffee experts but all they do is list only the basic information that can be easily found on the products' websites. I know their main priority is just to sell the products but it's 2019 and they should try much more than that if they want to label themselves as a "coffee expert".
I agree, however giving an honest review of a product might be detrimental to their business. Unfortunately, it's up to the consumer to do their own research and to trust who they deem the coffee experts.
When you see Seattle Coffe Gear do a review of an electrical percolator, going ‘coffee goes into the basket, plug goes into the outlet and the thing makes coffee’, you just know that their main objective is selling stuff. Not so much reviewing.
I think the Melitta EPOS might be for people like me. I WANT to be a coffee geek but I don't have any of the gear and just drink the free coffee at work. I'm what you might call an "aspirational coffee snob". This is the kind of thing I might ask for for Christmas or spontaneously buy after bonus time.
Regarding why the Beem keeps rotating after shutoff, did you notice if the direction changed? It may be untwisting the internal tubing after the brew dance...
@@bengamedev1872 A hypothetical electric car does not rotate its wheels a specific, measured amount based on programming. It may be rotating back to an "index" on a stepper motor because the programming assumes that all brews start from index.
More likely an AC motor without the extra cost of the stuff to ensure it only goes one way every time. It'll probably just go whichever way it feels like every single time.
Melita just wants a Nespresso for pour over and that means you need a machine with a grinder and people need to understand what they are instructing the machine to do. So giving me cups instead of ratios is how to do it. It certainly is not a machine for anyone on this channel
Ismael right these aren’t really for the coffee guy. It’s for the mom of a coffee guy who’s seen pour overs in shops but didn’t want to do it at home solo
@@adanmq Jajajajaja ahora con la cuarentena tienes que hacerte tu propio cafe? XD Los videos de James son geniales, siempre aprendes algo o te ries muchisimo.
@@CannedLaughter00 Jejeje. Si, soy muy fan xD. Siempre me lo hago. Bueno para no llenar esto de off-topic. Espero que todo marche bien en la cuarentena. ;)
Or for the guy who has a little money to burn and wants to show off his fancy new coffee machine in the kitchen, because it has *moving parts*. I would really be curious how much the coffee from these machines differs from a plain and simple 40-quid drip machine. And if I have 200 quid to spend for a pourover, I'd just get a V60 with a good scale and a decent grinder.
I might sound like a mad man but these machines look like they take the fun out of pour over. They might be more consistent and require way less effort but they don't look like fun...
The mere concept of a pour over-robot wrecks my head. Pour over is a work of art; a craft. You learn it, you practice it and you perfect it. A machine can do automatic drip or semi manual drip and make acceptable coffe, or it can aid us in making sublime espresso. But a machine doing a fucking pour over? The madness.
I would think anyone buying an automatic pour over coffee would not want to have to control and set the tiny stuff, they want something they can push a few buttons, walk away and come back to a cup of coffee. In that sense I think the Melitta ticks all those boxes. Its just the people of this channel would not be interested in such an item because they are not the target market.
I want the best coffee I can get with the least effort possible. I have other things/people/animals to look after in the morning, so streamlining the coffee making is key. Maybe I need one of those machines that brews directly into the basket and poops out the little coffee pucks.
The Melita brewer is obviously not for me but I imagine it can be good for people who don't know and/or don't want to know how to brew, but they enjoy good coffee. Some people don't care about grams and grind size and just want a decent cup of pour over coffee. Sometimes as much automated as it comes. I know a lot of people like that around me. By the way, I enjoy every video that you make.
I think the Melitta makes perfect sense. Some exec said, 'This year we're gonna sell a bean to cup espresso machines.' Their assistant informed them that 'Sir we're a pour-over company.' Exec replied 'Perfect!' And we all end up with a perfectly stupid 'bean to cup pour-over machine'
It could also be a Greek word ( Έπος, pronounced epos) from which the English term epic is derived, suggesting it's extremely good or "epic" at the execution of its purpose. Which sounds rather ironic to me after this review.
Just as an addition, the Epos is now avaible as an option without the grinder these days. I don't know when they introduced it, but they did! And i have to say for me personally they nailed the design, even though it would be great to have the frame out of metal instead of plastic.
Yeah its called EPOUR :) considering buying it to replace my Philips grind and brew that I've been using with James tweaks for best extraction. But then I need a grinder:) Does anyone have a good grinder recommendation for under 100 pounds?
This "Beem", is like the home robot vacuum machines, that just in a randomises pattern, tries to clean your floor, but never seem to catch that very dirty indeed, spot just at the centre of your livingroom. Its brilliant in any way, but so, so, utterly frustrating 😅
This is basically my problem with that cheaper machine. If I need something to pour water over coffee incompetently I'm more than capable of doing that myself.
Pour over robots make you save between 1 and 2 minutes over a standard pour over. I fail to see why you would like to spend for this substantially more than you would for a nice variable temperature kettle just to save about 90 seconds.
Benjamin Hohlmann a world-renowned Coffee sensory expert and also expert pour over brewer (YT Channel Kaffemacher) reviewed the Epos and did several blind tastings with coffes brewed via manual pour over and with the Melitta Epos (ground with same top notch grinder not the Epos grinder). He was not able to consequently tell which one was his own manually brewed coffee. His result: brewer top, grinder shit, together no good recommendation. But since now the Epour is out (only brewer without grinder) this should be one of the best Filter Coffee mashines on the market. Sadly its not possible to control temperature and the temperature is quite high. So could be problematic with very dark roasts.
these things: automatically makes pourover fancily, costs $200+ a $16 drip coffee maker from target with the heating pad removed: automatically makes pourover slightly less fancily.
I have now been using the EPOS at the office for a couple of weeks and I think it does a beautiful job - quick and easy to use. And having a grinder "build-in" is super at the office - easy to use and consistent. so it defiantly has place.
I know this video is pretty old now, but it's worth pointing out that Melitta does now make essentially the Epos except it's just the pour-over robot. It's called the Epour (how clever...).
Wife and I bought the Melitta for the Parents in law, they had no grinder and only bad filter coffee maschines. The point that it comes with a grinder brought them away from using preground coffee, so plus in my book. No the Melitta is not for me, not now, not ever but it was for someone else, who only drinks filter coffee and does not care about the whole shabang that filter coffee can be. It fills the niche of a high end option for the coffee drinker that does just want that, drink coffee and nothing more and that it does quite good, in my opinion.
As someone who isn’t that much of a coffee person, you’re infinitely interesting and fun to watch. To the point I might have to start getting more into coffee and espresso.
The Beem's features are really exciting, it's a shame it didn't perform well. The Poursteady team stopped by my office a couple years back, their machine performed well in the areas the Beem appears to be missing.
I really liked the Mellita and I think there is a huge market for it, in my particular case I think its a perfect gift for many in my family specially grandma and mom, who love coffee but dont have the dedication for a complex system nor I the patience to explain. This is a perfect practical machine to have them drinking better coffee in a simple way, in an all in one machine.
Thank you for not making me buy the Melitta EPOS coffee machine. There is a Melitta machine where you don't have the grinder part. To me it seems like a good buy. Cheaper, smaller, but - hopefully - still great coffee. Any thoughts?
This seems like the thing that gets bought for bougie office lounges and the like, where people have more pretention than sense (and where they’re trying to get a single thing that won’t get walked off with, coordinated style is more important than, you know, good coffee.)
Thanks James. For the longest time I thought that an automated pourover was the same as an automated drip coffee, but this video has done the most to flesh out the differences. E.g. I wasn't minding the "spinny spinny" aspect or the "filter envelope" aspect 😂... It will be interesting to see if these machines can make it into the mainstream market!? p.s. I lol'd at GIANT DARTH VADER WITH GOLD ACCENTS.
These look like a coffee brewer I might get as a gift for my parents or siblings. Someone who wants to like coffee, but isn't willing to put in the work for a good cup themselves. It would be an expensive gift, but I can see a market for it there. Especially for the Melitta.
Darth Vader Easter egg at 15.9? Aesthetically the Melitta looks like an art deco industrial building or something out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, it's very odd. With a little embellishment it would make a great prop as a futuristic processing plant from where you'd line up to collect your Soylent Green.
no-trick-pony_lockpicking These brewers have rotating/moving shower heads, whereas the Moccamasters have a stationary shower head with several holes that disperses the water (often inconsistently). The Moccamaster does not have an variable settings for temperature, dose, or water output - you put in the amount of coffee you intend to brew, and if left ‘on’ the brewer will use all the water in its reservoir.
@@nichj487 Thanks for your reply - I see the differences in functionality now, but how does the coffee those machines produce compare (James review wasn't particularly good on the two..)? How much better or worse are they then what a Moccamaster produces or some 20 buck domestic filter brewer?
Another great video. I think you dont see the forrest for the trees. I am potentially interested in these kind of machines... I want the best - and I am lazy. So I have to look for the sweet spot. The Melitta thing gets close to it.
I do understand the all in one concept. It’s aimed, primarily, at beginners who want to get into making ‘proper’ coffee the ‘proper’ way, but who don’t want a bunch of separate, space taking, and possibly unmatching pieces of equipment to fiddle with. You’re right that most people watching your channel would probably have a grinder anyway, but remember that you chose to review a product that probably wouldn’t interest many of your viewers; the company didn’t ask you to. Personally, I just enjoy watching you review things, regardless of their usefulness to me personally.
eh...maybe. I can only speak for myself, but I tried the beem as I really wanted something that would do the actual pouring for me while I went off and did something else. Sadly that was the single thing it could not do well (I didn't expect it to grind my beans as it doesn't do that).
I agree. As a noob, i see that V60 is one of the easiest methods to get into, but one reason I haven't gotten one for myself is that I feel it's also one of the most frustrating to dial in to one's taste. It seems to me there are too many factors that go into a good cup that I don't have the experience to discern how to tweak when a brew isn't to my liking. A machine like this would appeal because it takes some of the decision-making out of the user's hands.
@undercrisis Fair points. Although as you begin to discover what you like and don’t like, you’ll also find videos on UA-cam giving advice on how to correct/adjust or maintain the brews to your taste. The more automated the process is, generally, the less room there is for tweaking. There are of course highly programmable machines, like the Sage Precision Brewer that I believe James said he uses at home. Anyway, have fun, and happy slurping! ☕️
I know this is an old video, but if you can program the EPOS to make coffee for you in the morning, it having a built-in grinder is a plus, as that way the coffee is freshly ground for you.
but the thing with setting a time for freshly brewed coffee is that it's done when you enter the kitchen, I think. So what you're actually doing is setting a time for your grinder, not for the actual coffee brewing, since you have to manually transfer the brewing cone to the top of the machine
So it's an upside down kettle with an electric motor? Even IKEA can't be bothered. My name is Drunken Ballentyne.....it's a NO from me...and for that reason I'm not going to invest...And I'm oot!
I don't understand why anyone would buy one of these when you could essentially achieve the same thing with a quality drip machine and get better results. The only difference I see between these and a drip machine is more points of failure, and if it doesn't even make coffee as good as a quality drip machine, of around the same price, then what's the point?
To me the Melita seems really convenient. At 4:30-5:30am I just want a coffee made at home that I don’t have to spend 10min grinding and pouring and pulling out a scale, a grinder, a V60 don’t have to stop for on the drive to site to find a 7/11 for a crap coffee that cost’s $2-3.50AUD and uses disposable cups. My housemate lost my porlex mini grinder so I’m very keen to maybe get a Melita and have easy morning nice brews. It might not be fully controllable and perfect but if I wanted that I’d do it all manually myself where I can control every aspect of the brew.
These are just cool, I don't drink coffee very often but if I'm buying a coffee machine I want something like these lol. As weird as this sounds, as a non coffee drinker, the Melitta with the grinder is actually interesting to me. But ... my $20 spice grinder and $10 pour over with a kettle is fine.
I don’t understand James issue with the grinder🤷🏻♂️ It’s a coffee machine with a grinder. To make the morning coffee making easier. Seems a good product to me
Doesn't the EPOS represent a big step up for people who are literally at "pre-ground starbucks for their Mr. Coffee machine"? It provides a single package to grind beans and brew better than a simple drip/filter machine. Like I know some people who wouldn't ever want to weigh their beans or do the pour-over spinnyspinny by hand but they might be convinced to use this device.
The grinder on the EPOS drives the price up for something is never use since I don't need another grinder. For half price, without the grinder, if buy it
I really like the Melitta, I would buy it because I don't have very much time to do all the process for a good coffee in the morning before work, this would be better than my Nespresso. I know is not perfect but do a better job and much easier for me.
Tl;dr Removes all the fun of making good pour over for large quantities of money. Bought by accident by rich people who feel like they should be “into coffee”
Au contraire, sir. In my opinion, if someone is really into pour over coffee, I don't think they'd want it automated, and would already own a grinder. I think EPOS is approaching it the right way with a built-in grinder. I only own a French press and buy my beans ground. EPOS speaks to me. I think it's slightly better than a coffeemaker.
I think it’s one of those things that is way more expensive and large than they need to be. A V60 setup is very cheap and works very well as well as a nice little kettle and a hand grinder. Not expensive. You can ramp it up but the return on investment is minimal. That’s one thing I love about pour over, it doesn’t take up lots of space and doesn’t require use of another outlet. It’s not supposed to be plugged into anything and it allows you to have control over the water dosage and technique as well as the grounds. Not something I would buy!
Aa for the question from James, is there an audience for this? I definitely know lots of Finnish people who'd love the convenience of this - mainly to get better quality drip coffee compared to your standard mediocre ones & option to try different beans than standard preground😀
A bit late to the party, but I do think this would work for me and I'm seriously considering springing for one. The only grinder I have at home is a hand grinder to go with my Aeropress, so this would be nice.
Welp, I'm 2 years too late, but I think if you had tested the Mellita with the same giand as the Beem that would have been a better test. As you pointed out, people that watch this channel already have a grinder, so the one that comes with the Mellita is sort of a vestigial tail if you will. Really what you're comparing is the pour over process. The grinder is irrelevant. You can use it or not.
The first time I watched this video was just as I was getting into nicer coffee and all the complaints about the Melitta seemed valid enough. But now, a few months into experimenting with nicer coffee (and only having invested in a hand grinder and an old school plastc Melitta pour over), I can see something like the Epos appealing to me. I'm not super fussed about being perfectly exact with everything and with me not having an electric grinder yet, having it all in one appeals, and I don't mind most of the kit being setup as ratios. However, the grinder is the one thing I'd want more control over. Even with my limited experience, I've seen just how much of a difference it makes between different types of coffee. A very odd design decision.
curious why you haven't done a manual melitta pour over or it against the hario or chemex...it's pretty utilitarian, but does it make good coffee? I mean they did invent the pour over.
I dunno, sometimes brewing coffee does get me a little pre-wet. 😉 In all seriousness: I'll bet that their target markets are the intermediate coffee nerds who don't want to do all the fussing that we love to do. The ones who know that pour overs are trendy, but have no clue that a flat bed isn't referring to a type of truck. And that is a legitimate market, but it's also easy to cut corners when your market isn't as informed.
Roboto 1 is too slow to sufficiently agitate the coffee, but it agitates james well enough. Interesting video.
yeah it was a relatively high extraction LOL
I should have worn the Sufficiently Agitated shirt... (but it was too cold)
the devil
Q
I have moved from pour overs or drips to a kettle, grinder and French press. No internet of things or Bluetooth.
Best change ever.
Edit: I have a grinder that I am absolutely happy with.
"that does the spinny spinny"
Always enjoy your technical language
You forgot the best part: his little dance. Almost a 'cabbage patch'. @1:48
How else would you call a spinny thing on another spinny thing?
@@Gildaaaaaaas A double pendulum.
Ossieman speak
"Especially when ... their coffee line ... is called ... ... ... o.O "bLOoM"" -- I'm dying
to be fair that explains it a bit. I dont think it would be too smart to call two different things the same. There would be a lot of poeple who would assume you can only use the bloom option when you use their bloom coffee.
The joke and his delivery got a an actual full belly laugh out of me.
Melita totally missed the boat on this one. Pre-wetting! Really! Bloom! BlooM! BLOOM! SMH
And their flavour descriptors are.... floral-bodied....
I lolled super hard
I feel like the Melita was created with wedding/housewarming gifts in mind. It has the all-in-one kitchen machine which can make-french-toast-and-chop-onions-at-the-same-time feel to it.
It actually looks really cool with the whole setup. Like you just take the basket and put it under that grinder. But yeah it's just not worth it with the flaws. They should take notes from the beem and add control options. Like a scale underneath the grinder and coffee pot. Temperature control. And DEFINITELY a stepless grinder. Make it 300 Euros and it would be solid.
I thought it was aimed for the hotel /Airbnb market.
That's it! I was thinking "this looks like an all-in-one for someone who doesn't fiddle with ratios" but you phrased it way better. Also agree with And Again saying that it looks good for the hotel/AirBNB market.
Or just a gift to give someone who you think would like getting into coffee as sort of an introduction to grinding coffee at home and better ways of brewing coffee.
TBH, I wouldn't mind getting one for myself when I move into my new apartment (my current apartment doesn't really have the, uh... necessary amenities for making coffee), but I think I want to take a step back from coffee and focus on tea once I do.
I can ruin good coffee with an inconsistent pour over all by my lonesome and for free. If you’re going to sell me a coffee robot it better do a feckin’ perfect pour over.
LOL'd :D on point
All of the likes for this comment right here.
„Maybe I like the misery....“ 😉😉😉
That's what I thought.
I can pour
Indeed, and I can enjoy the (rather silent) process while doing so.
It seems to me that the Melitta seems to be aimed at current capsule coffee users who want to jump to something different, but still keep the same level of convenience... but I’m not sure how large that market segment is 🤔
Quite large. At least, say, 15 folks I imagine.
Alex Jobe I was thinking 17, but let’s go conservative: 15 it is 😂
I'm definitely in the market, to be honest. I despise the capsules because of the incredible amount of waste, but to be entirely honest, I'm too lazy in the morning to make the coffee myself.
I doubt pour-over is anywhere near to something a capsule machine user would prefer. Frankly speaking, I'm using a fully automated coffee machine - I love the coffee, but I never liked French Press and filter coffee, since it lacks the flavour profile pressure extracted coffee has. And I'd assume that this applies to the users of such a machine as well.
In the end, coffee is down to taste but in everyday life more or less down to convenience. And I don't find this machines convenient at all.
@@maio290 i believe it is the quite the same target audience, inexperienced coffee enthusiasts who value simplicity more than the weird science in the brewing.
Somewhere in Germany a team of engineers was quietly but eficiently shot at dawn
This made me laugh...far louder than I had anticipated, in a public forum... 😬
...by an automated firing squad...which forgot the blindfolds...and then humans had to dispose of the bodies and clean the rifles.
Is sis yumor?
I häv se feeling it meiht be jumor, but i cannot admit, becourse as a German I wood not be allowed to understand yumor or even laaf about it. Se anti-yumor police would immediately com and pick me up for reedjucätion cämp.
@@Kref3 props for excellent phonetics ;)
The engineer's response: Marketing wanted an all-in-one machine for $yyy, that's what they got. If you want a good machine, we can certainly design one, but don't tie our hands.
Now that Melitta has released the EPOUR, which is basically the EPOS without the grinder, it may be worth taking a look at that and comparing it to other "pour over machines".
At least in Sweden, the price of the Epour is Extremely similar to that of the Epos, though. Seems a bit strange but that might just be here.
Or compar to how a regular drip machine (such as a Moccamaster) makes coffee. Which one tastes better?
@@robertsandgren9389 Yea Europes prices are usually much higher on products. Tech products in Sweden are many times about 20% more expensive than in the US.
Currently they are providing 19% discount in Germany as a x-mas discount. But still it is around 200€. I like the design and functionality but it is too expensive
@@robertsandgren9389 here in Germany EPOS is 379€ and EPOUR 250€
James, though I am endlessly impressed by your capacity to find unusual & fun coffee things to talk about, you could read furniture assembly manuals and I would still love putting your video on while I'm getting my own coffee going. You're practically therapy, my friend.
Absolutely agree brother. I put anything on by him at night while handling chores like dishes and cleaning up while the wife is getting the baby to sleep. It’s my only quiet time and I look forward to it every night.
I'm replying 3 years later, but I agree. His videos are therapeutic to me. It calms me down when I'm under stress.
I also came to know that many of his viewers don't even drink coffee as much. Which means James Hoffmann is just that good at making youtube videos.
Thanks James. We are testing this brewer right now and feel the same conflict. Probably the best distribution solution on the market, but lacking control in flow restriction, brew ratio, temperatur. And the grinder is just like... "I want my wilfa."
Also material wise we felt like all this epos plastic is not really epic.
The plastic frame of the Epos would also really explain the static, if it had an aluminium, grounded frame there would be a lot less problems with that.
The most impressive tech in this video are those new LED strips behind the shelves - looking good James!
Hey James, you will probably never see this since it is an old vid, but the Beem actually looked like it was broken to me. The spout looked like it was punched in that metal plate with the intention that it would spin while the outer rotor turned simultaneously. I never saw that inner disc where the spout was actually moving which may be why it did not get the water distribution correct.
That's possible, but considering who he is, this wouldn't be a case that someone at Beem took a gander and send one of their PR mouthpieces to explain this wasn't typical or expected and maybe provide a return?
Brands love influencing influencers so I'm sure he's on their book even if he doesn't do deals
I'd wonder if the BEEM wasn't a defective unit. It looks like it should have a secondary rotation in the dripper, though maybe you simply didn't include footage of it rotating. It LOOKS like it's supposed to be doing more than we're seeing.
'Seattle Coffee Gear', 'Whole Latte Love', 'French Press Coffee', etc. should all learn from this video. THIS is the way how product reviews and comparisons should be done on UA-cam. They pretend to be coffee experts but all they do is list only the basic information that can be easily found on the products' websites. I know their main priority is just to sell the products but it's 2019 and they should try much more than that if they want to label themselves as a "coffee expert".
Those guys are sellers, so they do the "Product Showcase" videos, this guy does not sell the machines, so he does the "Product Review" videos.
I agree, however giving an honest review of a product might be detrimental to their business. Unfortunately, it's up to the consumer to do their own research and to trust who they deem the coffee experts.
there is a difference when you pay for the product and when product pays for you
You cannot disparage your products that you sell. You have to expect that if they do reviews they are really doing demonstrations.
When you see Seattle Coffe Gear do a review of an electrical percolator, going ‘coffee goes into the basket, plug goes into the outlet and the thing makes coffee’, you just know that their main objective is selling stuff. Not so much reviewing.
I think the Melitta EPOS might be for people like me. I WANT to be a coffee geek but I don't have any of the gear and just drink the free coffee at work. I'm what you might call an "aspirational coffee snob". This is the kind of thing I might ask for for Christmas or spontaneously buy after bonus time.
Regarding why the Beem keeps rotating after shutoff, did you notice if the direction changed? It may be untwisting the internal tubing after the brew dance...
Luke McHale if tubes twist wont they get blocked?
@@bengamedev1872 A hypothetical electric car does not rotate its wheels a specific, measured amount based on programming. It may be rotating back to an "index" on a stepper motor because the programming assumes that all brews start from index.
More likely an AC motor without the extra cost of the stuff to ensure it only goes one way every time. It'll probably just go whichever way it feels like every single time.
Excellent theory, I also love the term “brew dance”
Also it’s probably returning to/checking its home position so it starts in the same position every time it runs its program
1:47 “It has a little kind of pouring nozzle underneath that does the spinny spinny” just made my day 😂
Melita just wants a Nespresso for pour over and that means you need a machine with a grinder and people need to understand what they are instructing the machine to do. So giving me cups instead of ratios is how to do it. It certainly is not a machine for anyone on this channel
Ismael right these aren’t really for the coffee guy. It’s for the mom of a coffee guy who’s seen pour overs in shops but didn’t want to do it at home solo
Hola Ismael!. veo que tenemos más intereses en comun aparte del 3D xD
@@adanmq Jajajajaja ahora con la cuarentena tienes que hacerte tu propio cafe? XD Los videos de James son geniales, siempre aprendes algo o te ries muchisimo.
@@CannedLaughter00 Jejeje. Si, soy muy fan xD. Siempre me lo hago. Bueno para no llenar esto de off-topic. Espero que todo marche bien en la cuarentena. ;)
Or for the guy who has a little money to burn and wants to show off his fancy new coffee machine in the kitchen, because it has *moving parts*.
I would really be curious how much the coffee from these machines differs from a plain and simple 40-quid drip machine. And if I have 200 quid to spend for a pourover, I'd just get a V60 with a good scale and a decent grinder.
"It's not baaad… it's just - there's goodness left on the table." Gonna use that in my day to day now.
I might sound like a mad man but these machines look like they take the fun out of pour over. They might be more consistent and require way less effort but they don't look like fun...
davidevoid especially the Epos, which boils things down to generic, arbitrary settings so nothing is optimisable. So frustrating!
@@dak5159 Yeah! How on earth did it even get passed the design phase? Three grind settings, no real choice over ratios... ugh!
The mere concept of a pour over-robot wrecks my head. Pour over is a work of art; a craft. You learn it, you practice it and you perfect it. A machine can do automatic drip or semi manual drip and make acceptable coffe, or it can aid us in making sublime espresso. But a machine doing a fucking pour over? The madness.
I just don’t like the idea of having to deep clean a coffee machine. So I use a pour over.
My first thoughts exactly. Half the reason I enjoy the pour over is the routine, the other half is the superior taste of other brew methods.
I would think anyone buying an automatic pour over coffee would not want to have to control and set the tiny stuff, they want something they can push a few buttons, walk away and come back to a cup of coffee. In that sense I think the Melitta ticks all those boxes. Its just the people of this channel would not be interested in such an item because they are not the target market.
I want the best coffee I can get with the least effort possible. I have other things/people/animals to look after in the morning, so streamlining the coffee making is key. Maybe I need one of those machines that brews directly into the basket and poops out the little coffee pucks.
"... that does the spinny spinny." I live for these.
I want James to fully design a drip machine, I don't care how much it costs
15:08 nice easter egg :D
Its 15:09 and its Darths thug life photo! Whoot whoot!
@@joshuasauer2560 no no no it's 15:10 LOL
The Melita brewer is obviously not for me but I imagine it can be good for people who don't know and/or don't want to know how to brew, but they enjoy good coffee.
Some people don't care about grams and grind size and just want a decent cup of pour over coffee. Sometimes as much automated as it comes.
I know a lot of people like that around me.
By the way, I enjoy every video that you make.
I think the Melitta makes perfect sense.
Some exec said, 'This year we're gonna sell a bean to cup espresso machines.'
Their assistant informed them that 'Sir we're a pour-over company.'
Exec replied 'Perfect!'
And we all end up with a perfectly stupid 'bean to cup pour-over machine'
The Mellita is so wonderfully aesthetically over designed and I think I love it.
Here I sit drinking my v60 that I made the Hoffman way, and a new vid pops up. Happy day.
Ahh, the homely sound of servo motors and high-frequency square waves in the morning. It could almost save you time, possibly!
The moment you said EPOS I thought it would stand for electric pour over system. A bad name but I think that’s what it means
I was thinking Electric Pice of Shit... but you know... potato potato
@@bogdanrylski4330 looool
It could also be a Greek word ( Έπος, pronounced epos) from which the English term epic is derived, suggesting it's extremely good or "epic" at the execution of its purpose. Which sounds rather ironic to me after this review.
Epic
Piece
Of
Sh!t
exorcizes pagans on sunday
yeah I'm that bored
Just as an addition, the Epos is now avaible as an option without the grinder these days. I don't know when they introduced it, but they did!
And i have to say for me personally they nailed the design, even though it would be great to have the frame out of metal instead of plastic.
Yeah its called EPOUR :) considering buying it to replace my Philips grind and brew that I've been using with James tweaks for best extraction.
But then I need a grinder:) Does anyone have a good grinder recommendation for under 100 pounds?
@@v0idgrim wilfa svart aroma
This "Beem", is like the home robot vacuum machines, that just in a randomises pattern, tries to clean your floor, but never seem to catch that very dirty indeed, spot just at the centre of your livingroom. Its brilliant in any way, but so, so, utterly frustrating 😅
Newer "Internet of Things" Roombas map out your house and send that info to iRobot to be sold.
looks designed for a gift."Sarah likes coffee, let's get her this!"
I'll stick to my 10 dollar v60
rayner chia exactly what i was thinking 😂
This is basically my problem with that cheaper machine. If I need something to pour water over coffee incompetently I'm more than capable of doing that myself.
Coffee brewing appliance and accessory designers review James Hoffmann.
They would be right to be harsh
I would love a sit down chat between James and some kind of design specialist in the coffee appliance/implement world.
James Hoffmann .... or they might be informative and understanding, and the whole thing will end on a single tear of gratitude.
Pour over robots make you save between 1 and 2 minutes over a standard pour over. I fail to see why you would like to spend for this substantially more than you would for a nice variable temperature kettle just to save about 90 seconds.
Why oh why doesn't every company consult with James before releasing their coffee products?
Benjamin Hohlmann a world-renowned Coffee sensory expert and also expert pour over brewer (YT Channel Kaffemacher) reviewed the Epos and did several blind tastings with coffes brewed via manual pour over and with the Melitta Epos (ground with same top notch grinder not the Epos grinder). He was not able to consequently tell which one was his own manually brewed coffee. His result: brewer top, grinder shit, together no good recommendation. But since now the Epour is out (only brewer without grinder) this should be one of the best Filter Coffee mashines on the market. Sadly its not possible to control temperature and the temperature is quite high. So could be problematic with very dark roasts.
That channel's comment, from when this video was released, is right above yours for me.
Hi James, it seems that Melitta released the epour as an additional model but just without the weird grinder.
these things: automatically makes pourover fancily, costs $200+
a $16 drip coffee maker from target with the heating pad removed: automatically makes pourover slightly less fancily.
And probably does it better too!
I have now been using the EPOS at the office for a couple of weeks and I think it does a beautiful job - quick and easy to use. And having a grinder "build-in" is super at the office - easy to use and consistent. so it defiantly has place.
oh man i bought this so quick.
13:15 I laughed so hard about James' face :D
I know this video is pretty old now, but it's worth pointing out that Melitta does now make essentially the Epos except it's just the pour-over robot. It's called the Epour (how clever...).
Maybe James wants to check out the epour with a grinder of his choice :) I would be very interested in it!!
Wife and I bought the Melitta for the Parents in law, they had no grinder and only bad filter coffee maschines. The point that it comes with a grinder brought them away from using preground coffee, so plus in my book. No the Melitta is not for me, not now, not ever but it was for someone else, who only drinks filter coffee and does not care about the whole shabang that filter coffee can be. It fills the niche of a high end option for the coffee drinker that does just want that, drink coffee and nothing more and that it does quite good, in my opinion.
As someone who isn’t that much of a coffee person, you’re infinitely interesting and fun to watch. To the point I might have to start getting more into coffee and espresso.
Are you selling Darth Vader “Thug life” mugs and trying to subliminally make me buy one?!
Did you mean "mug life"?
12:42 The look of the mad scientist strikes yet again.
"e v e r y where!"
We need to summon the gif bot
The Beem's features are really exciting, it's a shame it didn't perform well. The Poursteady team stopped by my office a couple years back, their machine performed well in the areas the Beem appears to be missing.
I really liked the Mellita and I think there is a huge market for it, in my particular case I think its a perfect gift for many in my family specially grandma and mom, who love coffee but dont have the dedication for a complex system nor I the patience to explain. This is a perfect practical machine to have them drinking better coffee in a simple way, in an all in one machine.
Thank you for not making me buy the Melitta EPOS coffee machine. There is a Melitta machine where you don't have the grinder part. To me it seems like a good buy. Cheaper, smaller, but - hopefully - still great coffee. Any thoughts?
Hi James, meanwhile the Melitta epour Single is available. It's a good replacement for my Moccamaster.
Does “Epos” not possibly stand for “electronic pour over system” or something of that nature?
I don't think the letters POS should ever be part of a product name acronym.
Epos is a Greek word means Era
This seems like the thing that gets bought for bougie office lounges and the like, where people have more pretention than sense (and where they’re trying to get a single thing that won’t get walked off with, coordinated style is more important than, you know, good coffee.)
Making my morning pour over by hand as I watch this...
Thanks James. For the longest time I thought that an automated pourover was the same as an automated drip coffee, but this video has done the most to flesh out the differences. E.g. I wasn't minding the "spinny spinny" aspect or the "filter envelope" aspect 😂... It will be interesting to see if these machines can make it into the mainstream market!?
p.s. I lol'd at GIANT DARTH VADER WITH GOLD ACCENTS.
EPOS: Electronic Piece Of S***
Seems like someone’s marketing department had some strong feelings 😂
You're my favorite! Thanks for not holding back who you are in these videos. It's truly great.
The Melitta Epour is the standalone version (without the grinder).
well now melitta realy made the brewer without the grinder... but the cost is still 250€...
These look like a coffee brewer I might get as a gift for my parents or siblings. Someone who wants to like coffee, but isn't willing to put in the work for a good cup themselves. It would be an expensive gift, but I can see a market for it there. Especially for the Melitta.
Darth Vader Easter egg at 15.9?
Aesthetically the Melitta looks like an art deco industrial building or something out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, it's very odd. With a little embellishment it would make a great prop as a futuristic processing plant from where you'd line up to collect your Soylent Green.
If you don't want a grind, take the melitta epour! You can create your own brewing- program and deactievate the beeping-.
Now Melitta epour is aviabe without a grinder. Maybe is time for another test?
Serious question: How are those different to a Moccamaster? Do they brew differently?
no-trick-pony_lockpicking
These brewers have rotating/moving shower heads, whereas the Moccamasters have a stationary shower head with several holes that disperses the water (often inconsistently). The Moccamaster does not have an variable settings for temperature, dose, or water output - you put in the amount of coffee you intend to brew, and if left ‘on’ the brewer will use all the water in its reservoir.
@@nichj487 Thanks for your reply - I see the differences in functionality now, but how does the coffee those machines produce compare (James review wasn't particularly good on the two..)? How much better or worse are they then what a Moccamaster produces or some 20 buck domestic filter brewer?
Another great video. I think you dont see the forrest for the trees. I am potentially interested in these kind of machines... I want the best - and I am lazy. So I have to look for the sweet spot. The Melitta thing gets close to it.
Love the Darth Vader mug at 15:09 ! 😂
Great vids by the way!
Hah! I saw that Darth Vader Thug Life coffee mug there. Can't sneak that past me.
Real question: is there any benefit over a moccamaster?
That "... especially when its called...bloom" caught me off guard
I do understand the all in one concept. It’s aimed, primarily, at beginners who want to get into making ‘proper’ coffee the ‘proper’ way, but who don’t want a bunch of separate, space taking, and possibly unmatching pieces of equipment to fiddle with. You’re right that most people watching your channel would probably have a grinder anyway, but remember that you chose to review a product that probably wouldn’t interest many of your viewers; the company didn’t ask you to. Personally, I just enjoy watching you review things, regardless of their usefulness to me personally.
eh...maybe. I can only speak for myself, but I tried the beem as I really wanted something that would do the actual pouring for me while I went off and did something else. Sadly that was the single thing it could not do well (I didn't expect it to grind my beans as it doesn't do that).
@Lisa R I see. That’s a shame. Hopefully it’s good enough at least... 🙏🏻
I agree. As a noob, i see that V60 is one of the easiest methods to get into, but one reason I haven't gotten one for myself is that I feel it's also one of the most frustrating to dial in to one's taste. It seems to me there are too many factors that go into a good cup that I don't have the experience to discern how to tweak when a brew isn't to my liking. A machine like this would appeal because it takes some of the decision-making out of the user's hands.
@undercrisis Fair points. Although as you begin to discover what you like and don’t like, you’ll also find videos on UA-cam giving advice on how to correct/adjust or maintain the brews to your taste. The more automated the process is, generally, the less room there is for tweaking. There are of course highly programmable machines, like the Sage Precision Brewer that I believe James said he uses at home. Anyway, have fun, and happy slurping! ☕️
I know this is an old video, but if you can program the EPOS to make coffee for you in the morning, it having a built-in grinder is a plus, as that way the coffee is freshly ground for you.
but the thing with setting a time for freshly brewed coffee is that it's done when you enter the kitchen, I think. So what you're actually doing is setting a time for your grinder, not for the actual coffee brewing, since you have to manually transfer the brewing cone to the top of the machine
I stick with my $10 Walmart Coffee Maker, $8 Moka Pot, and my $19 French Press lol
So it's an upside down kettle with an electric motor? Even IKEA can't be bothered.
My name is Drunken Ballentyne.....it's a NO from me...and for that reason I'm not going to invest...And I'm oot!
2:35 that epic hair flip moment
I don't understand why anyone would buy one of these when you could essentially achieve the same thing with a quality drip machine and get better results. The only difference I see between these and a drip machine is more points of failure, and if it doesn't even make coffee as good as a quality drip machine, of around the same price, then what's the point?
Epos is the Greek noun that “epic” derives from. The Iliad is an Epos, etc.
To me the Melita seems really convenient. At 4:30-5:30am I just want a coffee made at home that I don’t have to spend 10min grinding and pouring and pulling out a scale, a grinder, a V60 don’t have to stop for on the drive to site to find a 7/11 for a crap coffee that cost’s $2-3.50AUD and uses disposable cups.
My housemate lost my porlex mini grinder so I’m very keen to maybe get a Melita and have easy morning nice brews.
It might not be fully controllable and perfect but if I wanted that I’d do it all manually myself where I can control every aspect of the brew.
So many great meme-able quotes...
"EVERYWHERE!!!!!!"
"I want to like it... But I don't!!!"
Kinda delivered like Gary Oldman in Leon the professional.
Yeah I'm glad you said something, hesitatingly I think this is James's most quotable video so far...
@@wm.jordandent9242 It's pretty up there for sure.
These are just cool, I don't drink coffee very often but if I'm buying a coffee machine I want something like these lol. As weird as this sounds, as a non coffee drinker, the Melitta with the grinder is actually interesting to me.
But ... my $20 spice grinder and $10 pour over with a kettle is fine.
casually came across the vids. the production quality is crazy for 150k subs. 500k by summer, calling it
I don’t understand James issue with the grinder🤷🏻♂️
It’s a coffee machine with a grinder. To make the morning coffee making easier.
Seems a good product to me
Thanks for taking two for the team. They're a hard pass for me. Sweet sweater dude.
Doesn't the EPOS represent a big step up for people who are literally at "pre-ground starbucks for their Mr. Coffee machine"? It provides a single package to grind beans and brew better than a simple drip/filter machine. Like I know some people who wouldn't ever want to weigh their beans or do the pour-over spinnyspinny by hand but they might be convinced to use this device.
Love James, I hope to see a range of Endorsed Coffee makers and grinders one day. These two got him a bit rattled lol.....
The grinder on the EPOS drives the price up for something is never use since I don't need another grinder. For half price, without the grinder, if buy it
I really like the Melitta, I would buy it because I don't have very much time to do all the process for a good coffee in the morning before work, this would be better than my Nespresso. I know is not perfect but do a better job and much easier for me.
Tl;dr
Removes all the fun of making good pour over for large quantities of money. Bought by accident by rich people who feel like they should be “into coffee”
Au contraire, sir. In my opinion, if someone is really into pour over coffee, I don't think they'd want it automated, and would already own a grinder. I think EPOS is approaching it the right way with a built-in grinder. I only own a French press and buy my beans ground. EPOS speaks to me. I think it's slightly better than a coffeemaker.
I think it’s one of those things that is way more expensive and large than they need to be. A V60 setup is very cheap and works very well as well as a nice little kettle and a hand grinder. Not expensive. You can ramp it up but the return on investment is minimal. That’s one thing I love about pour over, it doesn’t take up lots of space and doesn’t require use of another outlet. It’s not supposed to be plugged into anything and it allows you to have control over the water dosage and technique as well as the grounds. Not something I would buy!
This is my perfect machine.......hahaha noooooope.
Aa for the question from James, is there an audience for this? I definitely know lots of Finnish people who'd love the convenience of this - mainly to get better quality drip coffee compared to your standard mediocre ones & option to try different beans than standard preground😀
A bit late to the party, but I do think this would work for me and I'm seriously considering springing for one. The only grinder I have at home is a hand grinder to go with my Aeropress, so this would be nice.
Welp, I'm 2 years too late, but I think if you had tested the Mellita with the same giand as the Beem that would have been a better test. As you pointed out, people that watch this channel already have a grinder, so the one that comes with the Mellita is sort of a vestigial tail if you will. Really what you're comparing is the pour over process. The grinder is irrelevant. You can use it or not.
The first time I watched this video was just as I was getting into nicer coffee and all the complaints about the Melitta seemed valid enough. But now, a few months into experimenting with nicer coffee (and only having invested in a hand grinder and an old school plastc Melitta pour over), I can see something like the Epos appealing to me. I'm not super fussed about being perfectly exact with everything and with me not having an electric grinder yet, having it all in one appeals, and I don't mind most of the kit being setup as ratios. However, the grinder is the one thing I'd want more control over. Even with my limited experience, I've seen just how much of a difference it makes between different types of coffee. A very odd design decision.
EPOS - Well I imagine the E is for electronic. Can anyone work out what POS stands for?
The inclusion of a grinder would make sense if it automatically dispensed to the pourover without having ot move it
curious why you haven't done a manual melitta pour over or it against the hario or chemex...it's pretty utilitarian, but does it make good coffee? I mean they did invent the pour over.
My wife likes your spectacles.
I like them too! It's something refreshing about them, and they look like they came from a plastic soaked in weak coffee :D
@@Scorpic13 haa
I dunno, sometimes brewing coffee does get me a little pre-wet. 😉
In all seriousness: I'll bet that their target markets are the intermediate coffee nerds who don't want to do all the fussing that we love to do. The ones who know that pour overs are trendy, but have no clue that a flat bed isn't referring to a type of truck. And that is a legitimate market, but it's also easy to cut corners when your market isn't as informed.