lamy_ray

To Froth or not to Froth - a systematic comparison between delonghi and expressi (milk froth) – I heard and read everywhere ranging from youtube, word of mouth and now here that the Delonghi Nespresso Series Aerochino is not that good. I took that in mind and compared that…

with the $20 expressi one from Aldi as the reviewer below me suggested and this is what I found.

1. Temperature

The ideal temperature for milk for cappuccino is between 62-68 degrees C. Any more than 78.5 and the milk will start to burn. I tested both with a thermometer and the Delonghi provides an average reading of 65.5 across 5 trial compared to the expressi of 69.1 (with 79 being the highest and 61 being the lowest (large variation and not consistent).

That is why every time I use the froth function on the expressi, there is a lot of burnt milk sticking to the bottom.

In this case, Delonghi wins.

2. Cleaning

Cleaning both of these is not very hard as they are very similar. But I would like to point out that the delonghi has a magnetic latte and cappuccino milk froth which can easily come off for cleaning compared to the expressi's mechanism which can break after repeated use. I guess you pay for what you get.

As mentioned above, I have to clean the expressi more compared to the delonghi because milk always get burnt at the bottom.

In this case, delonghi wins

3. Design

There are pros and cons for both. I like the delonghi's design but I like how Aldi made it stainless steel. I love stainless steel. Because the design is entirely subjective. I will not make a judgment on this.

4. Mechanism

As mentioned in (2), the delonghi has a magnetic mechanism for its milk frother to maximise it's lifespan. Come again, even if the expressi breaks, it is inexpensive to replace.

The delonghi aeroccino has two function for heating/frothing its milk. This came as a big surprise to me when I opened up the package. If you press once, you will get hot froth milk (~ 70-80 sec) for your cappuccino. If you press and hold twice, you will get cold froth milk for your latte (60-70sec). Genius!

This definitely goes to the Delonghi.

4. Price

You can't compete with Aldi's price that's all I can say. You pay for what you get but even if the expressi breaks, its inexpensive to replace (if there are stocks available of course).

This round goes to the Aldi expressi but like I said, you pay for what you get, and I'll let you decide on that.

So yeah, I was dreading my new Delonghi citiz & milk which takes up lot of room on the bench and pondered whether I should've bought the citiz only. But after systematically experimenting with both, I'm glad I got the citiz & milk.

Hope that help guys.

Unbelievable Price! Aldi, Please Explain? – Getting my hands on this machine is a pain as they are so popular in demand and limited in stock. I've seen opportunist snapping up a few machines to throw on ebay at double the…

purchase price.

With a little bit of luck and a weird twist of fate (irrelevant), I managed to get my hands on the last unit within a 10km radius from my area. Perfect as I was looking everywhere as a gift to my partner's mum who really wants one.

I am really impressed with the machine as it is very similarly built (functions as well) to the Delonghi Nesspresso Citiz ($399 before the current $50 cashback) and for more than 1/4 of its price, Aldi has a lot of explaining to do.

The thing which disappoints me is the coffee. I tried all the ranges both as short black and cappuccino and it does not compare with the Nescafe coffee in the nesspresso range.

We lined up the aldi expressi, delonghi nespresso citiz and a delonghi fully automated coffee machine for a blind taste test and the votes were from least to most desirable respectively.

At the end of the day, we all concluded that the expressi machine is great machine and unbelievably great value for money but is let down by the coffee pods.

So my recommendation;

If you are a true coffee connoisseur - you wouldn't be considering those coffee capsule machine anyhow. Get an actual coffee machine.

Anyone else who would like something better than instant coffee and close to cafe quality. Put your name on the Aldi waiting list and be prepared to wake up early and grab one when it opens. Well done to Aldi! Price + Quality Limited stock + Coffee Taste not that good