After Trying One Premium Coffee Maker After Another, the Best Answer Was a Machine That’s “Not” Fully Automatic
Hi to everyone across the country who can’t get through work without coffee — I’m Hide, tech journalist and part-time house-husband.
Coffee is something you drink every day, so you want to get it right. After being obsessed since my early twenties, where I finally landed was an espresso machine that’s “not fully automatic.”
Taste matters, of course, but to keep using it, “cost per cup,” “how fast and how much it brews,” and “how easy it is to maintain” are super important! Nail these three and avoid it turning into an expensive paperweight.
The first premium coffee machine I bought, at 21: the deviceSTYLE Brunopasso
I’ve tried all kinds of coffee makers since I first started working. Building websites, graphic design — my work was mostly at a desk, so coffee was essential company.
The Brunopasso in the photo cost over ¥30,000 back in 2007 and was a pretty edgy product that only took coffee pods. Back then, Nespresso and the like weren’t easy to get, so it was groundbreaking.
Coffee pods are ground coffee sealed inside a filter, so you can brew espresso easily
But the tank was small, the running costs were high, and before long I stopped using it. Keeping it at the office where I worked then didn’t help either... this type is a pain without a sink nearby.
Even back then, I chose based on “dumping grounds and cleaning up is a hassle,” so drip coffee machines were off the list. Naturally, after that I started using Nespresso a lot.
With Nespresso I used two U models, tried the Aeroccino milk frother... a total rabbit hole
With the mysterious excuse that “you won’t know until you try the very best,” I bought the Creatista Plus, Nespresso’s top model, for a whopping ¥68,000... By the way, it’s still sitting in our kitchen.
It froths milk while automatically sensing the temperature, and even cleans the nozzle automatically. I don’t hate it...
At that point, I felt I’d hit the limit of the Nespresso approach and moved to drip coffee. First was the GINA smart dripper (¥35,200), which promises great coffee for anyone.
Goat Story’s GINA lets you manage the beans and water in real time with an app to brew great coffee
It makes great coffee, but the battery would be dead when I wanted to use it, or I’d have to open the app — a real hassle. And since I wanted “a companion while I work,” brewing slowly by hand every time took way too long. It’s good if you’re chasing the best flavor, though...
And lately, there’s this, right? The BALMUDA The Brew STARBUCKS Edition at ¥64,900. It’s outstandingly delicious, but it brews only a small amount at a time.
The taste is outstanding... but only two cups at a time is a little few
After sinking deep into the coffee maker rabbit hole like that, where I finally ended up is this: the Cyetus. I happened to be asked to review it and used one where you tamp the grounds yourself, and my first impression was, “Wait, it’s this little effort?”
This type looked like a hassle, so I avoided it before even trying. In reality, it’s surprisingly easy and quick.
It grinds the beans and brews right away, so the taste is excellent, of course. On top of that, the “hot water dispenser,” which you can use for things like caffè americano, is super handy, and it’s easy to clean — the best.
Regular coffee made from espresso lasts longer — I recommend it
A lot of people may not have heard of caffè americano, but it’s espresso diluted with hot water. It’s perfect for desk work.
The cappuccino is café quality too
With drip coffee, even when it tastes great, I’d finish it right away, so brewing again and again was a hassle. With caffè americano, the flavor is bold, but it’s not too bitter or too strong!
It brews two shots at once, which I then dilute with hot water
Brewing drip coffee strong can give it a slightly unpleasant taste, but an espresso-based caffè americano tastes great even when strong. Being able to get hot water from the steam nozzle is handy too.
Handy that it does hot water, not just steam
I always brew a double shot of espresso into a big mug and top it up with hot water. That way, about one mug in the morning and one in the afternoon is enough, which cuts way down on brewing time — practical.
One mug like this lasts me about half a day. Practicing latte art could be fun too
## The 2.3 L tank isn’t just for show — less refilling, too
Something surprisingly few people know: using steam uses up a lot of water. Small tanks run dry fast, and you end up refilling constantly. That’s basically why I stopped using the Brunopasso, so it matters a lot. The Cyetus holds 2.3 L of water, so refills come at just the right interval.
I thought “Do I really need this much?” but 2.3 L turned out to be just rightIt holds about one bag of beans like the ones you buy at KALDI. Big capacity here too
One refill of beans lasts one to two weeks too, so it cuts down on that hassle as well. Well thought out. That said, that’s just me drinking alone, so with two or three people it might go a bit faster.
Great value — and the most delicious
The value is great too. Like I said, with espresso as the base, you feel satisfied even drinking less. And because it tastes good, you stop drinking it just because “my mouth feels bored.”
Nespresso, which I drank without thinking... I was having five or six cups a day
With Nespresso, it’s hard to tell the difference between beans, and the taste is a bit harsh. You can really tell how coffee tastes when it cools down or when you dilute it with water, and Nespresso gets bad as soon as it cools.
Nespresso lattes look tasty, but the difference in taste shows up as they cool
So you end up thinking “I’d better drink this quickly while it’s hot,” but with coffee from the Cyetus, there’s none of that. With cheap beans, you can fill the hopper for about ¥700, so the value is great. With Nespresso, even if you stop at two cups a day, it’s about ¥200. That’s ¥2,800 for two weeks, so the Cyetus works out to a quarter of that.
At ¥80–90 per capsule, it adds up
If it tastes great and costs a quarter, there’s really no need to hesitate.
Way easier to clean than it looks
Then there’s maintenance. If it’s a pain, you stop using it fast, but the Cyetus is so easy to maintain that it might be easier than drip.
The key point is that the coffee doesn’t pass through the inside of the machine. Yep — with Nespresso and other machines, coffee passes through the internal parts. So unless you run water through and clean them properly, it’s unsanitary and affects the taste.
Come to think of it, with this method coffee doesn’t pass through the machine, so it’s hygienic
With the Cyetus, coffee does touch the parts, but it doesn’t go through the inside. That’s so good. After brewing, take off the handle and knock it against the trash — the puck of grounds drops out, and then you just rinse.
It pops out cleanly, which feels great. The handle is clean in a second with a rinse
A little coffee gets on the brew head, but the cleaning function drips hot water to clean it automatically. That’s all the maintenance after brewing!
Press two buttons at once to enter auto-clean mode. It washes the coffee grounds off the brew head
With Nespresso, the taste declines even if you run water through it, but not with this. With drip coffee, after brewing you have to wait for the filter to cool before tossing it, wash the dripper — there’s surprisingly a lot of work, right? None of that either!
Drip coffee makes so many dishes... brewing several times a day gets pretty painful
This really surprised me. I thought it’d be way more work.
It doesn’t have to be the Cyetus, but the value is outstanding
Honestly, though, the same goes for products other than the Cyetus. I happened to get the chance this time and I love it, but other brands using the same method have the same advantages.
For example, De’Longhi’s EC9355J-M has nearly identical specs. It has an automatic tamping feature, so it beats the Cyetus there.
The EC9355J-M automatically doses and tamps the grounds, so nothing spills — handy
But it’s ¥168,000, way more expensive than the Cyetus. If value matters, choosing the Cyetus even with manual tamping is a solid option. With these features, I think under ¥70,000 as an early-bird purchase is really cheap.
Not for die-hard drip coffee lovers
It’s also not for people who “want to enjoy the time spent brewing coffee.” For them, I think drip coffee is better.
But being able to drink great café lattes anytime at a good price is a different thing altogether. A luxury in its own right. A little off topic, but I’ll also share the absolute best milk I found after trying lots. Café lattes made with this are sublime…
Kirishima Sanroku Milk, which I’ve bought 31 times now. It’s pricey, but it’s shelf-stable, so you’re freed from hauling milk home from the supermarket. It tastes wonderful too
For now, the Cyetus looks like it’ll be busy at our place for a while. If you have a coffee maker you recommend, tell me on Twitter.
