Kmart Anko Espresso Machine CM5400D-SA

Very poor product – Coffee tastes like burnt plastic. I put up with it thinking it might get better but it didn’t. I took it back and while I was waiting at customer service a woman approached me and said she had one and it also tasted like burnt plastic. I seriously don’t know how this product made it to market.

Not good don’t like cold coffee – I bought one of these machines in lockdown when my other had a fault and no one open to repair, it worked perfectly, sold when my other was repaired, then bought a caravan and wanted another as it’s very light and doesn’t take up much room, it is a pain press the coffee button wait 15-20 minutes before the coffee disperses then push the milk… Read more

button wait 15-20 for the lights to stop flashing and by the time this all happens I get a cold cup of coffee and have to heat in the microwave, I tried to contact who I bought from which was an online shop, but didn’t get a response!

Makes a perfect coffee! – When our last coffee machine finally died after years of service, we headed back to Kmart for an upgrade and were pleasantly surprised by the new features including led lights, automatic cut off switch and sleek design. The only downside is the cheap looking water reservoir. But the crema on hubby's expresso and the foam on my cappuccino is cafe… Read more

quality and the coffee ground holder is now fully stainless steel and feels like it should cost way more.

Two Year Update of Kmart Coffee Machine – Just made my morning coffee and thought I'd share how the Kmart coffee machine is going after probably nearly 2 years use. As per my previous post, I went down various 'Rabbit Holes' exploring home coffee machine/making etc (I'm retired so got the time). Every now and again I think 'Maybe I'll get a nice little Italian Gaggia Expresso Coffee… Read more ·  1

machine or similar?' and every time my reply is 'But this little Kmart machine is still doing okay'.

I'm retired and most every morning I make my morning coffee on this Kmart Coffee machine and it comes out just how I like it. I did spend a bit of time in the begining exploring different grind settings/techniques etc but in the end settled on: - fresh grind beans and fill the filter basket and tamp - warm milk in the coffee cup in the microwave - froth/silk consistency milk with little Ikea milk frother or similar - add/fill the cup with fresh extraction coffee into the warm/frothed milk and stir to blend it in

I know it's simple, not fancy, I don't use the steam wand because I find the little ikea milk frother does a good enough job and I get a nice tasting cup of coffee using fresh ground beans and it doesn't take long to make.

And while I'm doing that, a croissant out of the freezer is heating up nicely in the air fryer (Kmart too).

I appreciate that with some time and effort I could probably get a better coffee with a quality Italian machine, but so far, this little Kmart machine is providing a nice coffee and is a simple process.

When I go on car trips/camping, I still use my Bialetti Moka Pot on a small butane stove and it makes a nice coffee.

I see they still do a similar machine in Kmart for around $99.

I've shared a photo of this mornings coffee and croissant. All the best,

Great introductory machine – Bought this machine as an intro to espresso making after using a Nespresso pod machine for 5 years. It does the job of a basic espresso machine, coffee is good when using the right beans and grinding to a super fine mix. No issues with the steam wand, just need to purge it for a second before steaming the milk. Some have reported a plactic taste… Read more ·  1

but I didn't experience this. I ran a tank of water through it before my first brew which may have eliminated this. If it lasts more that a month it will be worth the money, it was only $69. There have been many weeks where I have spent more than that on coffee from cafes. Build quality is on par with the price, it's plastic. Easy to use if you read the instructions.

Makes a good cup of coffee – For $95 I wasn't expecting anything good but the review's on choice stated it is up there with $1000 machine's for coffee taste so I thought I would give it a try. I used the Columbian coffee beans from Aldi as I swear by them for a sweet nutty flavour with very good crema. To my amazement it actually brewed a very nice tasting coffee with good… Read more ·  1

crema. The milk frother is on steroids it work's very fast and is excellent if you know how to use a milk wand. I ran straight vinegar through the water tank at maximum level before use so I didn't get a burning plastic smell or taste. For $95 it really went over my expectations. If the coffee won't brew it's usually because you need to release all the pressure from the steam side before you can brew another coffee, this is so you don't burn your coffee grinds with to high a temperature. The photos of my coffee was a double shot without any milk in a roughly 300ml glass. That is all crema. In my opinion this one out performs the $119 silver/stainless Anko coffee machine due to a higher brewing temperature and a very powerful steam wand.

Fully Plastic/PVC Built Machine = Cancer for Everyone – Hello. Please do not reply to my comment with a "Sorry, please reach out to...." This espresso machine is built ENTIRELY with PVC and hardened BPA PLASTICS ( means cancer / death ) When you do this, especially in an espresso machine which comes with a pressurised temperature control electronics, you basically keep melting rubber into our… Read more

coffees through PVC tubes and pipes, our bodies absorb tons of these particles, which then act as ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, and carcinogenic compounds.

Breast, Uterine, Prostate CANCERS, Fertility IMPAIRMENT, Pregnancy disruptions, you name it.

Kmart is targetting the Australian families' health directly, and they probably know that they do ;) Just to provide you with your plastic-built, cheap Espresso Machine.

A Link for your reference and some of the scientific claims; https://www.coffeedetective.com/plastic-taste-coffee-makers.html

Toxic plastic smell and taste. Returned and swapped for the stainless steel – I had to return this because it had a strong toxic plastic smell and the coffee tasted of it too. No amount of cleaning or running water through it helped. Not sure if it was a bad batch because I've seen a handful of people say the same thing but there's so many good reviews for this too. I exchanged it for the $119 stainless steel one and that one works great. Show details

Worst Espresso Machine I've Ever Used – This machine has been nothing but a headache for my housemates and I. It is so inconsistent. Either pulls the longest and weakest espresso you've ever seen/tasted, or it spends ages dripping out a half-decent espresso, sometimes it drips once or twice and I think it might explode but you'd never know as there's no pressure indicator. Also… Read more

frequently overheats and won't work until it has cooled down (like, half an hour to an hour later).

Both I and one of my housemates have lots of experience with proper barista espresso machines so I know it's not me, it's definitely the machine. The coffee it produces tastes half decent on a good day (rare) and like water on most days.

Everything about the machine and accessories is light and made mostly of plastic. The tamper is so light an ant could lift it, so it doesn't really do much in terms of actually tamping the grounds down to get a proper puck. Sometimes I try to knock the used puck out and it just falls out in a pile of sludge.

Clunky and Unsafe – This product is discontinued, but can still be bought at Kmart stores. I've had about 6 manual coffee machines over the years, and this one is a clunker. Makes a barely acceptable cup. Fails safety considerations; steam wand has just a tiny piece of plastic to safeguard against burning, no auto shut-off for machine or pump. Need to take the… Read more

outer sleeve off the steamer for a quality crema, only use the outer sleeve if you want very frothy milk instead of smooth. None of it is intuitive to use - not a lot of thought gone into design. My advice - pay a little more for a better product. This one is worth more like $75.00 than $95.00 paid.

four star because of the price – i have a decent espresso machine which cost 8 times as much. so comparing the two is a little unfair. I bought this one to use on a boat so has to be small light and cheap as it wont get used much. It's all three of those Here's the deal At 95 dollars you get what you get. it's not as good as those that cost more, but it's good for the price… Read more

Quirks follow The dial on the front is temperature, not pressure. I was confused. The left half of the dial is temperature for the espresso, the right is frother I found when first trying it out that the espresso would not work if there was lots of pressure left in the frother, had to run the frother to reduce the temperature in the frother , then espresso would work. Might be because I was getting used to it and trying everything at once It doesn't auto stop the espresso, you have to stop it so count the seconds or something The frother is a crazy animal, I got too many bubbles, and the wand seems too short to me, but maybe i'll work out the best temperature and froth setting etc in due course. It's also a weird wand shape, no bulb on the end. Watch out for the stopper at the bottom of the water tank, has to be removed before anything will work. There's no milk jug with it, go figure. ebay 10 bucks if you want to do it right It's very light. moves around on the benchtop.

in summary if you need a cheap coffee maker it works . It will serve the purpose I bought it for I think

Great value coffee machine - easy to use – Update 26 Sep 2022: I've gone through a little journey with this Anko Espresso Coffee Machine - see below - I've now come full circle after exploring bottomless portafilter baskets, grind size, tamping, measuring weight of beans e.g. 18.5 grams of beans for a typical espresso, etc, etc. I've had some fun experimenting with all these… Read more ·  1

tools/techniques that people use with professional grade espresso machines.

AND I have come back full circle to the original 1 cup and 2 cup Pressurised Baskets that came with this machine and can say - 'It makes nice enough espresso coffee for home use'. It may not be able to compete with professional grade machines costing a lot more, but I've been having nice cups of coffee daily from it for the last 8 months, I'm quite happy with it. I've added a photo below of a long black coffee that I made this morning with the 1 cup pressurised basket, you can see the reasonable Crema from a medium grind, it was nice. This machine is okay as it is for a nice cup of coffee at home. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Original post of the journey I've taken: Got this Kmart Anko coffee machine (appliance) 8 months ago (also got one for my daughter for a pressy), we both have found it makes okay coffee (see the crema in the picture I've attached). This was a sort of an upgrade for me, going from either a filter jug or a Mokka pot depending on what I felt like. Off course it's probably not going to compare with a pro-level home machine, but then this only costs AU$95 and it's not intended to be a pro-machine. BUT! we're able to make a nice coffee at home, much nice than an instant powder one, so it works for that. However, it has gotten me into watching a few YouTube's and exploring this World of Home Coffee Barista's, it's a whole other World !!!! which I found interesting. I've also learnt a few things and have started exploring trying to learn some of the techniques that the Home Barista's develop for using their Pro-Level machines.

IF Someone is considering buying one of these Kmart Anko machines, this info may help you get a better experience with your first uses of it:

- The Anko machine use a Pressurised Portafilter Basket - that's the basket that you put the coffee in, - Most any ground coffee from the Supermarket or you local store/coffee shop (if they roast/grind on the premises maybe tell them you will be putting it in a Pressurised basket and they may direct you to the most ideal grind they do), - Try not to get Fine Ground for Expresso, if it's too fine a grind (powder) then it probably won't work so well in the pressurised basket, - You'll see videos and coffee shops using a Tamper (like a Paper Weight) to tamp down the coffee in the basket, you don't need that for a pressurised basket, just fill the coffee up to the level mark in the basket, tap it to settle, clean the rim and it should be okay, - I have found I get the nicest result using a medium grind coffee, but don't be afraid to experiment with different brands to see what you like. - And try and use filtered water to minimise any scale build-up internally in the boiler etc.

The Kmart Anko coffee machine is a reasonable machine for the price that gives you a reasonable espresso type coffee at home without spending a lot of money. Ive been using mine daily for 8 months and it's been fine, and still is fine.

After 8 months of use and watching home Barista's on YouTube, I've got interested in maybe taking the next step and upgrading to a Pro Level machine, maybe, maybe not, but it's fun learning about all the techniques they use. As a result, I've invested a small amount of $ in purchasing some basic tools that the Pro's would use, e.g. tamper, needle distributer to break up any lumps, and a few other things. Basically I've got them to learn a bit about using them, maybe see if I can improve the quality of the espresso I make on the Kmart machine and also have a little fun. The basket size of the Kmart Anko machine is 51 mm if anyone is also wanting to experiment etc with some of the 'Barista' type tools. I appreciate that it's probably a waste of time, and I won't get any better result using a pressurised basket, however I'm currently waiting on a bottomless Portafilter Basket that may allow me to 'dial-in' and get an improvement in my espresso. Maybe Not - I don't care because I'm having fun, learning and basically doing a little research and learning before I make a decision to invest some serious $ in upgrading to a Pro Level machine.

The Kmart Anko machine operates at 15 bar pressure (as do the majority of home espresso coffee machines). The 15 bar pressure is needed to get the coffee extraction within the pressurised filter / basket. Professional machines that use a bottomless Portafilter operate on a lower pressure, typically 9 bar. However that requires a lot of skill to get a nice espresso, i.e. that's why you have highly skilled/trained Barista's at your Coffee Shop. Home espresso coffee machines operate at 15 bar through a pressurised filter / basket to give you the best result and make it easy for the home user. So my results of using an open/bottomless filter (if it fits the Anko machine) will not be ideal, but the practice of applying the process will help me realise if I want to do that every day with an upgraded machine.

Time will tell. I've put a lot of info in this review, but it's mainly been for my benefit to sort of process my thoughts about the Kmart machine and should I keep playing with it and eventually upgrade, or just be content with the Pressurised basket, because that has made okay nice espresso coffee for the last 8 months.

I hope this share helps. All the best,

cheap but very good coffee – UPDATE CLEAN UNDER THE COFFEE HOLDER METAL PLATE (screwed in)IN THE MACHINE if u dont you will become very sick as coffee is building up then going moldy which you will not be able to see without removal. i wasn't expecting much and got one hell of a surprise when i tried the coffee it was so good i used columbine beans and they had been in the… Read more

fridge for about a month and the taste was very fruity exactly like the beans i bought freshly roasted 6 months ago.the milk on the other hand i will have to experiment with it did froth up the milk very fast and it wasn't hot. the body of the machine is plastic but shouldn't really make a difference i had machines with metal bodies that make bad coffee