Miele CVA620

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Everlasting
Cleaning & Maintenance	Fair
Value for money	Fair

Advantages:	Smell, authentic taste,
Disadvantages:	Initial cost,cleaning

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Salutations all. First of all I just want to say sorry for not writing an op for so long and hello to everyone I have not spoken to for a while and welcome to new members of the community. It is quite fitting, I believe, that I am writing this opinion at precisely 5.32am. It is early morning and many commuters up and down the country are (well usually,not on bank holiday obviously) scurrying up and down, their eyes drooping, looking to wake up in the morning and get their caffeine fix. They are of course desiring a nice, hot cup of coffee. Having recently moved house, my parents splashed out and bought one of these gorgeous pieces of kit for the kitchen so I thought I’d analyse it and give you my two cents worth.

**What does it look like?**

As you can see, it is a silvery, steel colour with lustre (a black version is also available). It is very aesthetically pleasing and will compliment almost any kitchen. It is sleek and subtle. It has a hot water dispenser on the left, an adjustable milk frother on the right and the adjustable coffee dispensers in the middle. On top it has a knob and 5 buttons and a display panel.

The front of the machine pulls open like a cabinet and inside there is a water tank, plastic waste unit, brewer unit, drip sponge and vessel for placing in the beans themselves. Everything easily clicks into place and can be removed easily. There is a drip tray as well which is silver in colour and is easily lifted out to be emptied.

**What does the thing actually do?**

Ok this is the daddy of coffee makers. You add your fresh, whole coffee beans into a container at the top of the machine (the machine simply pulls open like a cabinet). This lovely gadget, actually grinds the beans fresh for each cup of coffee. All you need to do it add milk! There is also a hot water spout for tea and coffee and a milk frother for the authentic cappuccino taste.

**User friendly?**

I think the best way for me to explain this is by describing how easy it is to make a cup of coffee:

1. Pull open front (like a cabinet)
2. Fill the water tank with fresh water from your tap and put in place
3. Add coffee beans to bean hatch (it can hold 500g of beans at once, enough for about 70 cups!)
4. close front
5. Turn on by twisting know to right
6. Wait for pre-warming and rinsing (this is done automatically)
7. Press coffee size button (there are 3 options…large, medium and small)
8. Add milk (after frothing if desired. Frothing is easy, you simply warm some milk, place in a jug, place end of frother in milk, turn on frother and slowly rotate jug and watch froth rise) and sugar.
9. Enjoy!

**Taste of coffee**

This of course depends on which beans you put into your coffee machine. It also depends on the amount of coffee per serving and the fineness at which you want to grind your beans (these can be easily adjusted). I used the café nero beans which can be purchased for £5 from any café nero. The first thing I would like to comment on is the aroma. It is truly divine. It is worthy of any Italian coffee house and hits your nostrils immediately. The smell travels up through your sinuses and fills your head with pleasure. Now to add the frothed milk for that perfect cup. As I brought the cup closer to my lips I did believe I was actually in café nero. Now the taste is simply heavenly. It hits your taste buds from all angles just like your fresh coffee from the coffee house. The taste lingers on your mouth and I can honestly say it was no different (perhaps better) than the coffee I have drunk at café nero. During consumption your head is soothed, your mind relaxed, caffeine enters the bloodstream and soon you are awake and ready to face the day.

**Useful Features**

1. This clever machine records how many cups of coffee have been made!
2. One touch coffee making (simply press a button)
3. 3 sizes of coffee to choose from
4. Can customise temperature of emerging coffee (by going to options)
5. Can make two coffees at once
6. Has two spouts for increased dispersal
7. Can customize fineness of grinding and quantity of coffee used in each cup
8. Automatic rinse cycle
9. Drip tray for spillages
10. Energy saving mode allows for more efficient use of electricity

**Price**

According to ciao this seems to be hefty £1280 but I think if you shop around it can be purchased for nearer £900. Although this is a lot of money if you think one café nero coffee costs roughly £2. And you drink maybe 3 cups a day, this machine will have saved you its price in less than a year!

**Pros**

1. VERY user friendly
2. Easy to view LCD panel
3. GORGEOUS fresh coffee
4. Looks attractive
5. Hot water for hot chocolate and tea is useful
6. Milk frother

**Problems**

There are a few minor problems that I feel are worth pointing out:

1. Cleaning the machine-Along with the machine you will receive a video which doesn’t tell you how to make coffee, oh no, it’s a 15 minute video on cleaning the machine! The brewer unit, water tank, milk frother, drip tray and waste unit must be cleaned EVERY DAY! Now initially it seems like a tedious task and it is but soon you realise it is a few minutes work a day and it is worth it for the reward! The unit must be greased (grease included with pack) and descaled (simply add provided tablet and run rinse cycle) every 500 cups of coffee.
2. Can take a few minutes to warm up. If your in a rush for that morning coffee the few minutes it takes for the machine to warm up can be frustrating
3. The water tank must be filled every day. Ideally I would prefer a coffee maker where it is attached to a water pipe and there is no need to replenish a tank every day. It sounds like nothing but it does become tedious.
4. Beans mean everything. Bad coffee beans can ruin the entire experience!

**Improvements**

Only 2:

1. An automatic hot chocolate and tea making function
2. To be connected to a main water pipe (no need for tank).

**Conclusion**

So in conclusion I believe the pros clearly outweigh the cons. Simply buy some good quality coffee beans and enjoy. The one touch use is brilliant. The machine is practically “idiot proof”. Its sleek design is superb. The downsides of cleaning and price can be easily overcome (the cleaning-find someone else to do it! And the price, well there are numerous companies willing to give you credit nowadays and with the amount you will save well it’s worth it!). This is indeed a user friendly machine built with the consumer in mind. The brand, Miele, is reliable and screams quality. The staff are fantastic and of the problem my family has encountered with a Miele appliance the service was top notch. So if you’re a true coffee lover this is definitely for you. Recreate that coffee house experience all for less than 10p a cup.

I'd like to finish with a quote:

"The coffee is prepared in such a way that it makes those who drink it witty: at least there is not a single soul who, on quitting the house, does not believe himself four times wittier that when he entered it"
--Charles de Secondat Montesquieu

Thank you for reading-All feedback is appreciated!

Im back and writing again so sorry if the review is a bit rusty (long time no write, and I havent taken english for AS level)

By Rishi