Smart Automation: Coffee

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I’m in the market for a new coffee machine. It can be “dumb” or smart, but I would like to do some sort of smart automation with it (either built-in or with a smart plug for dumb).

I really love the coffee my parent’s Philips 4300 brews, but it requires more “tending” than I would like because of the way it cleans. At the start of the cycle, it cleans and grinds fresh coffee beans. I think the grinding of the fresh coffee beans is what makes it taste good. Then, you push a button again to actually make the coffee into a clean mug. Then, I think it cleans again after? I forget.

But, anyway, that clean process in the beginning of the cycle is what’s preventing me from getting this. Have any of you found a coffee maker that does a similar thing (automatically grind fresh coffee beans and creates different coffee drinks) but without the cleaning process in the beginning? I wouldn’t mind it at the end. I’d like it to make my espresso automatically in a morning routine.

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There is a machine called the Spinn that works off an app, and has an inherently different system than the Philips and other superautos, so you might be able to automate it as you desire. It's reviews are not as good as the Philips.

The Philips 4300 you referenced is one of their superautomatics. I have a similar model with fewer options than the 4300, but they all work the same.

When you first press the power button in the morning, the machine primes the line by heating water and sending the heated water through the line to disinfect it and kill anything that might be in there. This small bit of water is caught in a cup (or the drip tray) and disposed of.

After the line is primed, the machine is ready to make drinks. You press a different button to tell the machine the type of drink you want (expresso, double expresso, americano, etc), put your cup under the spout, and the machine grinds the coffee, and brews the drink.
If you don't brew another drink for 20 or so min, the machine will power down, during which it will again prime the line to rid it of any coffee that might be in the line.

I'm not aware of any brand of superautos that does not prime the line at startup, nor would I want to drink coffee from one. Automating the entire above process is difficult because the water that comes through during the priming is not for consumption, so there needs to be a different container under the spout during priming than during brewing.

Another challenge is that there needs to be water in the reservoir (it lasts about 6-8 cups and you could top it up the evening before), beans in the hopper (lasts about a week, and you could top it up the evening before) and sometimes you will find the dregs box needs to be emptied. This is a barrier to automation if your preferred drink is a double, and the dregs box fills up after the first - it will stop and not brew the second until you empty the dregs box. Dregs box empties every 8-10 single brews.

I have considered a switchbot for the initial power up, so that when I arrive at the machine it is ready to brew and I would only need to select my drink and put my cup under the spout. However, I decided, for numerous reasons, it is not worth it, and the superauto machine is inherently sufficiently automated.

Instead, I've developed a morning routine that takes almost exactly the 2 min duration the superauto needs to prime the line at power up + brew time for my preferred drink. It includes me being right at the superauto at the break between the two to put my coffee cup under the spout. This also facilitates me being near the machine so I can add water/beans or empty the dregs box if needed.

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I have a Bialetti mocha pot that's part of my morning routine.
The Philips 4300 is very tempting.
It doesn't seem to occupy too much counter space.
Of course, I'd keep the Bialetti in case of a power outage. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the info! I’m still considering the 4300 or 5400 and was just not going to automate anything. But I am curious, what exactly does your automation do? Sorry wasn’t clear to me. Maybe because I need my morning coffee still :joy:

Edit: You meant morning routine as in as a person doing things in the kitchen… not an automation routine :woman_facepalming: I need my coffee.

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Yes - I was referring to my non-automated morning routine! LOL.

I agree that the grinding of the fresh beans immediately prior to brewing is part of what makes coffee from superautomatics taste so good. No idea if it is similar in the Spinn, as that machine also grinds immediately prior to brewing. I followed the Spinn for a few years when it was vaporware (announced and presales, but no actual product). I ended up purchasing a superauto, went through 1000's of cups of coffee on that, and reached the time to either have complete overhaul service or buy a new one, and the Spinn was still only shipping a few select units to early kickstarter supporters.

So I bought the Philips Carina 1200, and am VERY pleased with it. The 1200 is less than half the cost of the 4300, and basically the same machine with a few fewer options. Unless you need one of the options the 4300 has, consider the 1200.

Another advantage of the Philips series over the Jura, Spinn, Meile or others is that the spout height is adjustable, and it goes up just far enough to fit a short insulated car type mug under the spout.

My superauto coffee maker was my third home automation investment (after programmable outlets and programmable universal remote) years ago. It just so happens to be a closed system that does not integrate with other automations, but it definitely automated several daily processes (measuring out then grinding coffee, preparing the filter with the ground coffee, filling the reservoir with water, turning on and waiting for coffee, then cleaning out the filter basket so it would be ready for the next cycle).

It's automations increased quality of life tremendously and the coffee tastes MUCH better than the old process!!!

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Right now, my counters are too small to even have a dumb coffee maker lol. Literally only has space for a microwave haha. But, we're moving soon with 5x the amount of counterspace so I want a proper espresso / coffee machine. Right now, I've been just ordering from Cometeer coffee. It's actually pretty good, but it's really expensive tho I don't have a choice right now other than instant coffee :skull: It's drip coffee that has been flash frozen in these capsules and each one has 180mg caffeine. They actually use some of my favorite beans like the Klatch WBC and Red Bay East Fourteenth, but it's $75 for 32 capsules making them 3x the cost (per mg caffeine) than if I just bought those whole beans.

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Once you move and buy a superauto, you will love it!

Just remember to ONLY put in beans approved for use in a superauto. These are typically non-oily beans. I've read that inexpensive beans are often burned during roasting so the bean cracks which lets the oils out and results in an oily bean. Almost all Lavazza beans are non-oily. Whole Latte Love and Seattle Coffee Gear websites both include superauto compatibility information for each whole bean coffee. Easy to find great tasting, non oily coffee for your superauto for about $10/lb.

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Oh thank you! That’s super helpful actually. I guess I’ll have to start learning to drink light to medium roasts. It’ll probably taste good with the machine :slight_smile:

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So eager to see this works with it. It’s one of my favorites :heart_eyes: Probably going to end up using the Lavazza Super Crema more often than not though. https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/equator-coffee-mocha-java-blend

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Most coffees taste great when properly brewed. There are also dark roasts that are SuperAuto compatible. I usually use this one - if you click on "specs" you can see it is safe for superautos.

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If you like that one, you may also like this:

Hope we don't get our wrists slapped for veering too far from Hubitat talk...however, I believe a Superauto coffee maker is an integral part of any smart home....

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Love this stuff, drink it daily, espresso drinks. My fav. I did not like the Super Crema as much.

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Thanks for the recommendation! Haha okay I’ll stop asking about beans now :rofl:

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Will have to try both! I know people rave about super crema. I just worry these bags are so big and it’s only me drinking 2 shots of coffee everyday.

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I honestly can't imagine anyone being disappointed w/the Lavazza Espresso Italiano. But I get it, you don't want/need 10lbs of beans sitting around getting old. :wink: Enjoy your new coffee experiences. :slight_smile:

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The Lavazza & Berrie House come in 2.2 lb bags (you can also buy 12oz whole bean Lavazza bags). The Marmomas is a 1.1 lb bag.
My rough math is that 2 shots/day would take about 2.5-3 months to go through a 2.2 lb bag.

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Yeah, I was more joking about his getting five flavors in 2 lbs bags to test out... :slight_smile:

We probably conservatively average 2 1/2 double-espressos a day (wife gets one double, I get the other one or two). Each double is ~18g. So...

2000/(18 * 2.5 *45)=.98

So month and a half for us on the 2 kilo bag. Amazon does sell the Lavazza Espresso Italian in 750g (1.65lb) bags, and you can also find it in 340g (12oz) bags. I've been buying the 2 kilo bags for a while now. I used to worry more about my coffee being "fresh" and bought as small amounts as possible. However, a year or two ago we did some espresso taste tests w/neighbors and none of us could consistently ID the fresher of two coffees. So at least in our case, the difference is too subtle to worry too much about.

I can hear the shouts of "Those savages, let them drink Folgers!!" reounding from the hilltops. :wink:

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