Hello luvva! Swoon. We know that our tech reviews should be steeped in research, robust testing, durability, usability, objectivity and more, but just every so often a piece of tech comes along that you fall in love with. Beauty is more than skin deep but what a stunner. We confess, we cant wait to wake up every morning and gaze at this view. The new machine is a love child so beautiful its hard to leave the house.
Addicted to:
+ Sleek design and those curves
+ High quality, colour choices
+ Strong coffee
+ Easy to clean
+ Easy to use
Watch out for:
– Choose your pod carefully – v strong coffee (Mio pods not Nespresso)
– Big machine
– That your dinner guest doesn’t try and leave with it!
The Collaboration
We can’t deny that Italians have a certain sense of style, they can even make mopeds look sexy (yes, looking at you mint green Vespa!) so why has there never been a coffee pod machine good looking enough that you wish it had wheels so you could take it out for a spin?
The Mio launched on the 1st November. It’s the first of its kind collaboration between much loved coffee brand Lavazza and design buffs at SMEG (who brought us the D&G toaster and the British Union Jack fridge!) SMEG excel in focusing on the way their product communicates with its surroundings and how us mere mortals who interact with it.
Assembly
Easy Peasy. The machine only has a few removable parts, the water tank which is a breeze to lift out and fill. The drip tray which pending the size of your cup or mug you can remove to ensure it there are no splashes. Lastly the front section slides out easily to remove the used pods.
Making Coffee and the taste!
Its a doddle. We simply lift up the silver leaver on the top of the machine and drop a Mio pod into the socket. Lower the lever and then we switch the machine on by simply pressing one of the two buttons which kicks of the heating cycle and gets the lights flashing! We decide on an espresso and pick the button to the left. If we wanted a ‘Lungo’ – (a larger serve of coffee) then we could have picked the other button. It has to be said sometimes our preference is somewhere in between. That’s no problem as we just hold down the button and let go when we feel enough additional extraction has got us to the perfect point. Happiness in less than 30 seconds…
The secret to Lavazza’s A Modo Mio capsules lies in how it celebrates quality Italian coffee. Unlike other capsule machines, which extract an espresso shot in 12–16 seconds, the A Modo Mio machines extract for 20–25 seconds for an overall richer, creamier and more barista-like coffee.
The Coffee Pod – Mio Range
The chaps at Lavazza include an adorable sampler pack with the machine. With over ten different flavours to choose from, our pack of nine covers most of the bases from Passionale – a blend of Brazilian, Asian and Central-South American Arabica, its intense and big (intensity score 11). Yep it will blow your head off! Next we try ¡Tierra! Bio Organic from Central and South America. These precious beans are organically grown and have a softer toasty expression (intensity score 7). Having used Vittoria and Nespresso machines on a regular basis, this coffee is much richer, bolder and has a freshness which we haven’t experienced before. Word of warning Lavazza also make capsules for Nespresso machines so choose carefully at your preferred supermarket or they will not fit the machine.
Verdict – 9/10
With its unique design and advanced technology, the Lavazza A Modo Mio SMEG machine combines, style, class and choice of coffee range. Whilst not part of the review we also think they do one of the best milk ‘frothers’ in town too!
Available in Smeg’s three most popular colours – Cream, Black and Red – the new Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg machine retails for $349 and is available exclusively at The Good Guys, Harvey Norman and through Lavazza Australia’s new eCommerce store
