Siemens EQ.3 s500 Coffee Machine Review
If you’re searching for a countertop coffee machine that relieves you from having to acquire any barista abilities, then the £499 Siemens EQ.300 s500 coffee machine could be for you. Buy on Amazon
Design
The Siemens EQ.3 s500 is a mid-sized automatic coffee machine, measuring in at 378mm(H) x 247mm(W) x 420mm(D). It’s a smart looking piece in the kitchen and thanks to there not being any bulges, levers or top mounted controls, it can happily coexist underneath the standard countertop height. Although the 1.4 litre water tank located on the rear left has an easy to grab handle and can be comfortably pulled away from the machine, the bean hopper, with large rubber sealed access door, might take a little more delicacy when replenishing with up to 250g of beans if the space above is confined. Within the hopper you can adjust the grind level to fine, medium or coarse. The ceramic burr coffee bean grinder is definitely the noisiest element of the machine at 67db, with the rest of the operation being fairly quiet. Unfortunately you cannot have two separate bean types and choose between them, as the hopper design is an all-in-one.
The front door of the EQ.3 s500 opens to reveal the drip tray and waste coffee grinds collection basket. All are monitored by the EQ.3 and it alerts the user when things need emptying or filling. In amongst all of this is the impressively compact removable brewing unit, which is something we’ve only pulled out once since the Siemens took residence and that was just for the review. To our delight the brewing unit was clean and not clogged with grounds. It’s very reassuring to know with any automatic coffee machine design that the heart of the machine, the brewing unit, is firstly an all in one piece, and secondly it’s relatively straightforward to rinse clean. Speaking of cleanliness, the stainless steel used on the front is reassuringly easy to wipe clean with warm water, but for the ultimate clean you could spray and polish it with stainless steel cleaner.
Controls
No physical buttons exist on the machine, which is an early indicator that Siemens are pretty confident in their control scheme of choice here. After using it 2-3 times a day for almost three months, we can safely say that the control panel is easy to operate and navigate. Clearly outlined in a row are the one touch 5 pre-programmed drink making modes (espresso, café crema, cappuccino, latte macchiato and milk modes). All can be reprogrammed with regard to the amount of coffee produced or length of time the milk texturing is operational for. Above this panel you have the following options: to make two cups of coffee at once (excluding milk based drinks); a cup warmer function; Calc’n’Clean; the on/off button and lastly a selector for the strength of coffee. A single tap toggles through the strength all the way up to the highest AromaPlus setting.
Operation & Taste Test
Siemens have opted not to have the commonly found separate milk container that feeds into the machine - to our delight! Instead the height adjustable steam wand makes lattes and cappuccinos as straightforward as a single shot of espresso. Just fill your mug with the correct measurement of milk and touch the button, and your cappuccino will be ready in around 90 seconds thanks to that speedy inbuilt Sensoflow heater tech. We see the remarkably efficient performance of the steam wand when making cappuccinos, integrating air into the body of the milk for a velvety texture and a slight foam on top; which, incidentally, we’ve found becomes more generous with organic whole milk. With the latte macchiato using a whole milk makes it denser in body and supports the espresso to create the pleasingly anticipated ripple effect. We’ve been using dairy milk and a whole host of plant based milks with the Siemens EQ.3 s500 and can say that its steam wand design performance is consistently superb and the stock pre-programmed modes never scold the milk either.
On to the coffee performance. With the cafe crema setting, we reprogrammed it for a slightly longer extraction and soon learnt that you want to avoid over extraction by finding the correct level of coffee intenseness for your particular bean. Too low and the coffee is thin of oils and therefore weak in flavour, too high and the nasty bitterness of over extraction will prevail; so it’s important to get this right for both a black coffee and your espresso base for milky beverages. Generally, for stronger roasts, the penultimate intensity level is about right, and with weaker roasts a better result is produced by adjusting the grind level to fine in combination with tweaking the intensity setting. It’s worth playing with the settings to get them right for each roast you introduce to the Siemens; it makes all the difference and the automation then does the rest.
We greeted the EQ.3 s500 with a fairly dull and slightly stale bean roast which we had been putting through our Sage Barista Express with lacklustre results. However, the Siemens EQ.3 s500 espresso performance, with settings ramped, made this roast actually rather tasty as the base of a cappuccino. It produced a modest crema and some layering within the body which we admittedly couldn’t manage with the entirely manual Sage machine. Moving onto some of our favourite roasts from Guatemala, Tanzania and Sumatra Mandheling. Our palates were greeted with espresso results that stand their ground against the Sage Barista Express, unleashing the fullness of flavour and aroma from these roasts, and without the slight background electrical taste which is often an accessory of automatic coffee machines. The consistency and level of flexibility offered from the ability to choose any coffee type, does make the coffee making experience one that is preferable and a whole lot cheaper per drink than a capsule/pod machine, whilst also being hugely better for the environment. There is also no doubt that the performance is a cut above most of the capsule/pod machines, and to top it off the Siemens runs a cleaning cycle at the end of every drinks making session.
Verdict
The most complicated thing about using the Siemens EQ.3 s500 is having to pick out which mug you want to use. This reasonably compact streamlined coffee machine will eagerly make the morning cups of hot java for the family in a rush, has superb milk wand skills with both dairy and vegan varieties, and continues to impress us with its espresso dexterity and straightforward touch user interface that brings the authenticity of tasty coffee experiences into the comfort of your own home. Buy on Amazon
