Whenever I write one of my many coffee machine reviews, I truly do my best to keep recommendations under $1,000. But every so often, I happen upon a premium coffee machine that’s so good that I’m forced to bend the rules. Case in point: the Philips Café Aromis Series 8000 (which retails for a very hefty $1,799).
Meet the reviewer
Paris Blanchfield is Better Homes and Gardens’ shopping editor. She hasn’t stopped talking about Good Measure’s ‘Mont Blanc’ coffees since her year-long stint in Melbourne, and is currently trying to kick a daily $7.50 iced coffee habit.
Over the last week, I’ve been putting the Philips Café Aromis through its paces; switching from hot lattes to iced cappuccinos (complete with cold foam), and testing out the cold brew function that had initially spiked my scepticism. What follows is my honest review of whether this premium coffee machine can truly justify the equally premium price.
What I really thought about the Philips Café Aromis Series 8000
As I mentioned in the title, I didn’t want to like a $1,799 coffee machine. In fact I thought there was no way that the functionality could possibly justify the price. But as I came to find out, albeit reluctantly, there is genuinely a lot to love about this ultra-fancy machine.
For a little context, whenever I test a new coffee machines, I joke that “it might be good, but there’s no way they’d ever replace my Ninja Luxe Café.” And until last week, this remained true; the Ninja Luxe Café had defended its #1 spot on the podium (and place on my countertop) for the last 12 months. But to my surprise, the Philips Café Aromis was the model that finally dethroned it.
While I absolutely wouldn’t recommend this model for anyone on a budget, it genuinely is one of the best (if not the best) machines I’ve ever used. Gone are the days of constantly cleaning portafilters, having knock boxes take up my precious bench space, and wondering why my home brew tastes so different to takeaway coffee. This machine makes any drink you might fancy with the press of a button and takes care of the cleaning tasks we all collectively dread.
| PROS | CONS |
| Can make 50+ coffee recipes at the touch of a button | Very high price point: retails for $1,699 |
| Automatic dosing, grinding, and tamping | Considerable 45.2 cm length may be too large for some coffee stations |
| Dedicated hot and cold milk frothing compartments | Very short milk spout – spills can, and will, happen if you don’t nail the mug placement |
| Removes used pucks from portafilters (no need for a knock box) | |
| Cold brew setting | |
| App compatibility, with smart user profiles |
Philips Café Aromis taste test
With the Philips Café Aromis coffee machine boasting 50+ recipes, each a simple button-press away, I haven’t had the chance to test out every single one (at least not yet). The drinks I have tried, however, have all tasted just as good as the barista-made takeaways I used to indulge in: rich, silky, and incredibly well balanced.
Despite the fact that my coffee beans hadn’t been properly sealed (and were erring on the ‘stale’ side), every drink variation, from espresso shots and lattes, to iced cappuccinos and cold brew, was hitting the spot. The only adjustment I had to make was for the cold brew strength, and that’s just a matter of personal preference.
Transparently, I’m always a little sceptical of fully automatic machines – if I can’t manually adjust the grind or dose, how am I supposed to get the flavour just right? But to my surprise, however, I actually liked the default settings on the Philips Café Aromis, which are automatically tailored to the beans you use. And if I did want to make some adjustments, doing so was as simple as adjusting the slider on the touch-screen display.
Overall, is it worth it?
Short answer: it depends.
The reason I love the Philips Café Aromis coffee machine so much is because I’m pretentious about my coffee (or perhaps the term ‘annoying’ is more accurate); I always opt for fancy iced recipes, and drink 2+ caffeinated drinks per day, everyday. If I didn’t have a machine that could easily craft my favourite drinks, keeping myself topped up with $8.50 vanilla iced lattes would run me over $100 per week.
In this sense, a $1,799 coffee machine isn’t a crazy investment – especially when I know my takeaway savings would essentially pay it off within 17 weeks.
However, if you only ever drink black coffee or espresso, don’t enjoy trying out new recipes, and just want a machine that nails the basics, this isn’t the model for you.
| Get it if: | Skip it if: |
| You want your at-home coffee to taste barista-made | You want control over the grind, tamping, and temperature settings |
| You want the machine to take care of dosing, grind settings, and tamping for you | You have barista experience (and enjoyed making coffee the hard way) |
| Your regularly order cold brew coffee, iced cappuccinos, and other specialty drinks (or you’re just super fussy about how your classic coffee recipes are made) | Your go-to drinks can be made on any machine |
Where to buy:
Ready to adopt a smarter, more economical way to fill your daily caffeine quota? Here’s where to find the Philips Baristina (and the additional milk frother).
Philips Café Aromis 8000 Series
$1,799 at Harvey Norman
