NOT SURE which coffee machine to purchase? If you're a fan of milk-based coffees, the Lavazza Deśea could make up your mind.

I live in a house of four avid coffee drinkers, so the opportunity to replace the two or three cafetières that live perpetually unwashed next to my kitchen sink is one that all of us relished. I've tested it for around a month — here are my thoughts.

Pros:

• Great coffee, especially if you’re a cappuccino or latte fan
• Looks great on the countertop
• Capsules are reasonably priced
• Makes a wide range of coffees and other milk drinks

Cons:

• Not cheap
• Not compatible with the majority of coffee pods
• Can overheat milk
• Power cord is too short

Lavazza Coffee Machine Review: Quick Summary

• Lavazza Deśea Coffee Machine, £199 – buy here

Don’t have time to read the full review? Here’s a quick summary:

There’s little not to like about the Lavazza Deśea. It looks great, and adds a certain level of elegance to your work surfaces. It’s also extremely easy to use, quick to clean, and makes great tasting coffee. 

While it's inconvenient that the Deśea is limited to capsules from Lavazza's own-brand range, the A Modo Mio (“my way”) capsules made by Lavazza are reasonably priced, have a good range of intensity levels, and are compostable.

The standout feature of the Deśea (which means “wish” in Spanish) is its ability to make milk-based coffees such as Cappuccinos and Lattes. This feature, which uses technology patented by Lavazza, sets it apart from other coffee machines, and will be a big selling point to people who want foamy coffees without the fuss of a separate milk frother.

Lavazza Deśea Coffee Machine: Full Review

The machine is extremely easy to set up, but bear in mind that the power cord is only long enough to reach a power socket on your worktop. I wanted to station it on a small table next to my kitchen window and plug it into a socket just above my skirting board, but the cord wouldn’t stretch that far. I guess I could get an extension cord, but I’m lazy.

The Deśea comes in three colours, all coffee-inspired — there’s Black Ink, which echoes the strong, deep colour of espresso; Brown Walnut, which is apparently inspired by Cappuccino; and White Cream, which is a latte-reminiscent hue. 

The machine we reviewed was in the White Cream colourway, which in my opinion is the best-looking — it’s got a nice shine to it, and I like the way that the Lavazza logo is embossed into the side; it’s an image that conjures images of Italy; after all, Lavazza is “Italy’s favourite espresso” (or so it claims).

The Coffee

The range of the coffee you get from the Deśea is impressive. I tend to have a milk-based one in the morning, then a black coffee after lunch — not many machines give you both options at such quality. 

The only complaint I’d have about the milk-based coffees is that the machine can heat the milk a smidge more than you’d like, but five or ten minutes of cooling is enough to get it down to optimum drinking temperature. 

There’s a range of capsules available that fit the Deśea, and they come in a range of intensities. Finding your favourite might take a bit of trial and error, but I’ve been buying the classic Qualita Rossa, which is made from a blend of Brazilian Arabica and Robusta, and has an intensity level of 10. The most intense coffee pods it sells (unsurprisingly called "Intenso") are rated 13.

Obviously each capsule will have its own flavour profile, but the Rossa is described as having notes of chocolate and dried fruit, with a “full and sustained taste”. Since I've read that, I feel that I can taste those things — although I say the same when I drink wine, and I’m usually lying.

• Lavazza Qualita Rossa coffee pods, £4.40 – buy here

The Price

At £199, the Lavazza is at the top end of what you’d expect to pay for a coffee machine. It’s certainly not a small amount of money, but it justifies its price tag with its sleek design and wide range of good coffees, and in the long term, it represents good value for money.

One thing that has often put me off getting a Nespresso machine (despite the prospect of Charlie Bucket-esque trips to the Nespresso “boutique” in Covent Garden) is the fact that a 10-pack pack of Nespresso pods costs £3.50 — a cost of 35p per coffee. The Lavazza packs, meanwhile, are £4.40, but include 16 pods — working out at 27.5p per coffee. 

I know seven and a half pennies per coffee sounds like nothing, but if I drink two coffees a day for a year, that’s a saving of about £55. Not even George Clooney’s salt and pepper smile can hide a saving like that.

• Shop Lavazza coffee pods here

Lavazza Coffee Machine Review: The Verdict

The Lavazza Deśea slots very neatly into your day-to-day life, simplifying the morning process of making a coffee — especially if you're partial to a cappuccino or latte. It sits stylishly on your counter and makes coffee with elegance.

It's £199 price tag is undeniably steep, but due to the competitive price point of Lavazza's compostable coffee pods, you'll be saving money compared to buying coffee out in a matter of months. However, the fact that the machine only takes Lavazza's bespoke pods does restrict the selection of coffee you can buy.

Overall, I've enjoyed living with the Deśea — it's become a piece of kit that my housemates and I use every day.

• Shop all Lavazza coffee machines here

How to use the Lavazza coffee machine

Using the machine is extremely easy. There are two circular menus: one controlling four black coffee sizes and one controlling the machine’s five milk-based recipes (Cappuccino, Cappuccino Large, Latte Macchiato, Hot Milk Froth and Cold Milk Froth). 

To make a non-milky coffee, the process will be familiar to anyone who has used a coffee machine before — pull up the silver lever at the top of the machine, insert a pod, pull down the lever, press the button, allow the machine to whirr and steam, and wait for your coffee to be made. I did find that it tended to be a bit stringent with the hot water, but if you press and hold the button, it will allow you to re-programme the amount it dishes out. You can also top up the hot water using the free dose button.

The selling point of the Deśea is its ability to make milky coffees such as cappuccinos, which it does with elegance. Lavazza supplies you with a rather chic glass mug and a frother, which slots on top of the mug and then neatly into the machine. If you lose either of these, you won't be able to make milky coffees, but you can buy a replacement mug and frother on the Lavazza website.

• Shop Mug Deséa Trasparenza Collection here

To make a milky coffee, simply fill the mug with milk up to the level recommended for the coffee you like (less for a small cappuccino and more for a latte macchiato, for example), add sugar — if that’s your jam — pop the lid on, and press the button. The machine will do its humming and whirring, before heating and frothing your milk. 

Then it will add the coffee, which is a surprisingly pleasing thing to watch— the warm brown colour of the coffee ebbs through the milk like a speed boat going across a horizon. Prego.

Where to buy Lavazza Deśea coffee machine

You can buy the Deśea coffee machine, as well as pods, spare parts and mugs, on Lavazza’s official website. 

• Lavazza Deśea Coffee Machine, £199 – buy here

Is the Lavazza Deśea coffee machine worth the money?

And while £199 is undoubtedly a hefty lump sum to pay from the outset, the Deśea pays for itself many times over in the coffee-shop quality coffee you get from it. I’m extremely financially irresponsible and often buy expensive coffees while out and about — during the working from home era I’ve often gone for a wander on my lunch break to buy a coffee — and I can honestly say (although I’m no connoisseur) that the coffee from the Lavazza machine is as good as the coffee from many of the high-street chains that I’ve been throwing money at for the past few years.

That £199 would probably buy you 80 coffees from a high-street coffee shop, which, if you’re getting one five days a week comes to about three and a half months of coffees. Obviously there’s the cost of pods to factor in, too, but you can safely say that after less than half a year, having a coffee machine like the Lavazza is going to save you money.

How to clean a Lavazza coffee machine

Cleaning the machine is a fairly fuss-free job. There’s a drip tray that you’ll need to empty and clean every now and again, and I like to wash the bin that the pods go into every time I empty it, as it tends to end up with a few drips of days-old coffee in it when you get round to emptying it. Also, as there’s a couple of reflective, shiny silver surfaces, it’s nice to give it a wipe over with a damp cloth every now and again. 

Lavazza recommends that you should descale the machine once every couple of months — but don’t worry too much about forgetting, as your machine will flash a teardrop shaped warning light to remind you.

Descaling the machine is a simple process, but Lavazza has made an easy-to-follow tutorial video, just in case:

Can you use Nespresso pods in a Lavazza coffee machine?

No. The pods used for the Lavazza machine are flatter and wider than those used in Nespresso machines, meaning that Nespresso caps won’t fit in the Deśea. However, unless you’ve found a blend that you absolutely adore, I'm unsure why you’d want to use Nespresso pods in the Lavazza — they’re significantly more expensive than Lavazza-branded ones.

However, it’s handy to be aware that Lavazza does make “Eco Caps” that are made to fit Nespresso coffee machines, and therefore won’t fit in the Deśea. Thinking I’d come across a cracking deal, I made the mistake of buying 60 pods that didn’t fit the machine — luckily, my dad has a Nespresso.

What pods does Lavazza Deśea take?

The Deśea uses Lavazza’s A Modo Mio pods, which, as stated earlier, are flatter and wider than the ones used for Nespresso machines. That means that you have little option but to buy the ones made by Lavazza itself, although that’s not too much of an issue, as they’re reasonably priced, and the ones I tasted were excellent quality.

If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you can make the price of the pods cheaper using Lavazza’s “My Way” subscription service, which will give you a 25 per cent discount on pods as long as you buy in bulk (12 packs of 16 capsules). 

You can also get the machine for just £1 if you buy it alongside a subscription, but you must commit to nine deliveries of at least 10 packs of capsules — a cumulative cost of £397, including the £1 coffee machine. You can choose how often you receive the capsules — anywhere between two and 16 weeks.

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