PHILIPS L'OR BARISTA Sublime Coffee Capsule Machine, for Double or Single Capsule, Volume Personalization, Adjustable Tray, 2 Cups, Compatible with Nespresso, Black (LM9012/60)

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Mind, since it takes about 30 seconds to warm up, it would be good to be able to preheat the boiler with a single tap while you pre-heat the cup or make a milky cappuccino froth using the Best Milk Frother, but you can’t have everything. Most Nespresso machine capsule chambers use a simple lever that you pull up, put the pod into its recess and slam the lever down to engage it with the hidden group head. This machine has a much more complex pod-loading system and I love the way it works. You basically lift the top handle and the pod orifice articulates upwards. Now pop in either a small or large pod and close the handle – the machine can detect which sized pod is being used. It’s a lovely action but I do hope it’s never capable of jamming if, for instance, you load in a pod while the used-capsule drawer is full to capacity. This is because it ejects the previous pod when you lift the lever and, if there’s a used capsule in the way of the mechanism, it could feasibly jam. I should add that I haven’t had any issues in this regard. The KitchenAid 2.1L Food Processor offers unrivalled power and sharp knife skills… here’s T3’s full review Removing the drip tray provides access to the bin in which used capsules drop. We found this bin could comfortably hold around a dozen capsules, so depending on how many cups of coffee you drink, it will need emptying every, or every other, day.

One thing to know from the offset is that this coffee machine doesn’t come with a built-in milk frother, so if milky coffees are your preference you may want to opt for the similar, but more expensive, Philips L’Or Barista Original Latte Coffee Capsule Machine instead. My main issue with this machine is that currently, there aren’t a huge number of double-shot XXL pods. Considering this is the stand-out feature of the machine, it would be nice to see this range extended to get the most out of it. I’ve been very impressed with this machine’s performance. It extracts all makes of Nespresso capsules really well, and with excellent levels of crema to boot. The Milky Plant is an all-in-one blender and strainer with one job – to make excellent plant milk– but how does it compete with cheaper alternatives?We also made a 220ml double shot of lungo coffee using a XXL double capsule pod and were equally pleased with the taste of the longer coffee. As is sometimes the case with capsule machines, quite a lot of water gathers in the tray beneath the used-pod drawer. Also, the twin-spout group head drips coffee for a few seconds after extraction. I haven’t found this to be the case with my favourite Nespresso machine, the Grind One, so I guess it’s a design thing. READ NEXT: Our full roundup of the best coffee pod machines Philips L’OR Sublime pod coffee machine review: What’s good about it?

One thing this machine doesn’t have is temperature control, which admittedly isn’t a huge surprise at the price, and there are no milk frothing facilities. There’s no on/off button, either. It can be turned on by pressing any of the coffee buttons on top and will automatically turn off after one minute when not in use.While this machine will happily accept any standard sized Nespresso pod – from both Nespresso and all third-party pod manufacturers like those I recently reviewed in my guide to the Best Artisanal Nespresso capsules– only L'OR produces the larger capsule size(Nespresso, I think you may have been beaten to the punch here and maybe it’s time you developed a similar two-tier system, too). Both the removable drip tray and 27.05 fl.oz/ 0.8-litre water tank are dishwasher-safe; however, they’re just as easily cleaned under running water. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the L'OR Barista Sublime arrives with a taster box of nine different capsules. In our household, we have a preference for drinking caffeine-free coffee, so we were slightly disappointed that the selection included only one such pod. Nevertheless, upon tasting the different coffees over the course of testing, there wasn’t one that we disliked. Launched in August 2022, the L’OR Barista Sublime has been created in collaboration with designer Khodi Feiz. It has a unique double-spouted design, which allows you to make two drinks at the same time, and it accepts the new and exclusive L’OR Barista XXL capsules, which contain twice the amount of the smaller capsules. The new coffee machine is also compatible with L’OR espresso single-shot capsules and most Nespresso Original pods, so it could now be up there with some of the best Nespresso machines, too.