The most impressive home coffee maker I tested is now 38% off
You know those coffee machines in fancy hotel breakfast bars that take perfect photos espressoperfectly brewed drip coffee and frothy lattes and cappuccinos in seconds? I always imagined a team of tiny baristas working behind the wall, but it turns out the technology is real and packaged in a take-home version for your kitchen.
I speak of the TK-02the most impressive home coffee maker I’ve put my fingers on without caffeine. And I also mean the fingers, because this fully automatic brewer makes all these drinks (and many more) with the same effort it takes to flip a light switch.
I test kitchen tools for a living and my countertops are an ever-changing array of newfangled cooking, baking and beverage technology, but the TK-02 has drawn by far the most awe (and envy) from friends and family who pass by.
The $1,600 do-it-all brewer has been making my morning drip coffee and afternoon lattes for four months and I’m hooked; ruined for all other, hopelessly analogous brewing forms. When I heard it was so on sale for $1,095 when you sign up for a bean subscription or $1,195 for the non-subscription machine during Cyber WeekI couldn’t keep the news to myself.
What it does
Not all options appear on one screen, but you scroll down for more.
The TK 02 is an all-in-one automatic coffee maker, espresso machine and live-in barista (basically) that grinds beans and brews fresh coffee with filtered water in seconds. The TK-02 taps the milk frother in the machine to add frothy cow’s milk or nut milk to the mix for Italian coffeehouse drinks.
And it makes pretty much any coffee drink you can think of. The sleek machine brews espresso, iced coffee and smooth Americanos along with frohier coffee drinks including lattes, flat whites, macchiatos and cappuccinos. If you prefer classic American drip coffee, you can brew piping hot cups of it in about 2 minutes. And when you or a guest drink tea, you are filled with hot filtered water through a special spout.
The TK-02 makes creamy espresso shots without any manual labor.
Easy to operate. Very easy
That phrase gets thrown around, but the TK-02 deserves the nickname. I found the digital controls completely intuitive without excessive settings or features, and the navigation is clear and exactly what you want in the morning too. I never consulted the manual, which isn’t the case for every multi-function coffee maker I’ve tested.
I found changing the brew strength and grind size to be extremely easy and intuitive.
In addition to activating your coffee drink, the built-in computer helps manage settings including grind size and the amount of coffee the machine brews when you request drip. If you want your lattes stronger, simply turn up the espresso to milk ratio and save the new settings.
There is (of course) an app to make coffee remotely from bed. I haven’t found the app myself to make coffee, but occasionally for managing brew settings, grind size, and going through cleaning supplies and replacement filters.
Cleaning
The TK-02 lets you know when the water needs to be refilled or the waste bin or drip tray needs to be emptied.
The daily maintenance is much less than that of a manual espresso machine or even most drip coffee makers. The TK-02 performs an automatic warm rinse after you make your morning coffee and alerts you when the machine needs a more extensive cleaning or an even cleaning. more serious descaling, both of which also happen automatically. You can easily view the cleaning schedule to see how close or far the next one is and order the necessary materials from TK-02 or elsewhere.
The individual parts are dishwasher safe, except the upper part of the frothing chamber in which the milk hose is located. But the frother gets its own warm-up after every few uses and mine has stayed clean in the few months I’ve been using it.
I start most mornings with a flat white or two.
All coffee machines suffer from splashes and stray piles of ground coffee, but I didn’t find the TK-02 to make a noticeably big mess. If shmutz was visible, it was no problem to take the parts out and reassemble them after rinsing them in the sink or running them through the dishwasher.
Most impressive of all? The size
Perhaps most impressive is how the folks at Terra Kaffe managed to pack all these smart coffee makers into such a compact machine (17.5 x 10 x 14). Similar products I’ve come across, usually at the aforementioned upscale breakfast bars, are double or triple the size. Even an average espresso machine is the same size or larger.
Is the TK-02 coffee maker worth it?
$1,100 is a hefty sum for any coffee maker, but if you feel like splurging on one, the TK-02 offers great value.
Making coffee in a drip machine is simple enough and most high quality espresso machines are easy to operate, but having one machine that produces drip coffee, creamy shots of espresso, lattes and hot water for tea at the touch of a button is a dream.
The TK-02 made me quickly become a devotee. Still, it’s hard to recommend it for the sticker price of $1,600. Not because of performance issues, but because there’s no telling how long it will last. The machine comes with a limited warranty of two years or 5,000 brews, but if I’m spending more than $1,500 on a kitchen appliance, I expect more than two years of service.
Priced at $1,095, where it currently stands for Cyber Week, the TK-02 is easy to endorse and a splurge I’d make for myself or as a gift for a coffee lover who’s been particularly good this year. And it’s a splurge. Even on sale, this is by no means a worthwhile purchase, nor is it intended to be. But the TK-02 offers excellent coffee-making skills and undeniable convenience that you will feel from day one.
Although I wouldn’t run any machines against the best coffee I’ve had – for example the foam doesn’t get as dense as some I’ve frothed by hand – most of what I made was pretty damn close. Certainly better than what I would make, especially when I’m in a hurry and have no interest in dispensing espresso shots or taking the time to whip milk into foam.
