ALDI Stirling Designer Collection Espresso Machine (2014-2019)

So many design faults, then it broke – We bought this Stilring Coffe Machine as a temporary replacement when our 12y-old Saeco workhorse broke. The stirling turned out to be more temporary than we bargained for. But before it broke (after abo t6 weeks of use) due what I presume was due to the water leaking iside teh machine and then and out through the large round selector knob,… Read more

casuing it to short circuit when powered on.

But beside its terribly short lifespan, it also had some serious design flaws. Some of tehm include:

1 - The overflow: A strange rubber nozzle drips the excess pressure from the top into the drip tray. The problem is twofold: when pulling out the drip-tray to empty it, it is impossible to do it without a significan spill on your bench, and under the machine. This overflow discharges every time you stop a function, which brings me to the next point:

2 - The pressure-release: unused heated water will discharge as soon you put the function dial back to centre/zero. This means that every time you make one cup, you have to wait about 10-15 seconds for the water to heat up, when you are done, you loose the heated up water and have to wait again for a new lot of water to be heated up. This is also true for the steam - where it will take up to 20 seconds before any steam comes out. Again, as soon as you turn off, you loose all the pre-heated water, which discharges into the drip-tray. We never managed to make more than 3 coffees with frothed milk before havign to empty the drip tray.

3 - The steam pressure: needless to say that while it may well be 15bar pressure, the volume of steam that comes out of this machine makes the frothing of enough milk for 2 cups of coffee a painfully slow process.

4 - The group-head and coffe-grinds cup in the group head are designed in such a way that all the pressed out coffee is pushed through a single pinhole, within a double-floor design. After a few uses - and cleaning the pinhole with the supplied unblocking wire tool - the pressure still resulted in water leaking from the top seal for the group head and dripping over the group-head and handle into the cup below together with some coffee grinds, at the same time as the coffee would be coming out.

Overall I am stunned that anyone is allowed to sell a potentially hazardous, poorly designed and poorly built electrical device, irrespective of the price. Yes, it makes coffe and froths milk, albeit slowly, but it will also flood your kitchen bench, and be a potential electrical hazard.

This machine is utmost rubbish. It is a rebranded design of anotehr well known brand that sports teh same design and faults.

First Impressions – As I've only had this for 1 day I can only comment on my first impressions. Firstly the price was right at $149. Operation is totally manual and simple. Water is held in a removable tank with the connection valve on the bottom; this could be a problem later on if the valve fails after many plug-out/plug-in operations. For this reason I will… Read more

fill the tank insitu.

Most parts seem to be quite solidly made apart from the milk steaming spout which feels flimsy.

Two more immediate criticisms are that there is not enough height for a standard (squat) mug to be placed under the coffee dispensing nozzles and similarly there is not enough free height under the milk steaming spout to easily place the Aldi supplied stainless milk jug. The latter is possible but only by twisting the jug over at quite an angle.

Finally, being manually operated, the correct time at which to close the coffee valve can only be judged by observing the level in the drinking vessel. As a mug fills the entire free height it is quite difficult to see the shot at the bottom. Presumably if a small cup for a black espresso is used then visibility would not be a problem.

As for the quality of the coffee produced I will have to reserve judgement until I have tried various coffee roasts and grinds to see if I can produce a good strong smooth crema.

>>>> UPDATE - after 3 weeks of use.<<<<

The machine was used mostly on pre-ground espresso coffee. It has continued to produce excellent coffee with no problems on the coffee side.

I find the milk frother to be very slow to heat the milk sufficiently so have reverted to using my separate Caffitaly frother. I think the relatively low volume of steam generation is the cause.

Recently I have started using a coffee bean grinder and the crema volume has increased significantly over pre-ground coffee. Coffee is now on a par with a good cafe bought brew. Overall this combination has been a huge upgrade from the capsule machine I had been using for convenience. The extra work is little but the results are significantly better.

great coffee on a budget – I got this on clearance for $100. Two of us used it daily for 2 months. We have just started using it again. So far we haven't had any issues. It makes a great coffee. More work than a pod machine but worth the hassle. I did find that I had to remove the optional attachment on the milk frother to be able to heat the milk enough before it frothed to much  Show details

Great machine – Easy to use and clean. Taste will depend on the coffee you use. Just be aware that large coffee mugs will not fir under where the coffee comes out. Otherwise a great machine for the price. I bought this machine after seeing my daughters. I had one of the pod machines from Aldi and hardly used it, this one I use every day.  Show details

Makes Decent Lattes – Makes a decent latte. It has an inbuilt steam wand which takes a bit of learning but once you get the hang of it you can get really nicely thickened milk and do great Lattes. The extraction of the coffee works well, its a little noisy but the results are OK. I wont say the best I have seen but pretty decent. I see a few people have had issues but I am not bothered as Aldo have a long guarantee period.  Show details

Very disappointing! – We bought our coffee machine from Aldi Sanctuary Lakes on 25th May 2019 and it is already broken! Water spurts out weakening the coffee and the pressure seems to decrease rapidly twice while using it. The grate has never fitted properly. Unfortunately I can't find my receipt which is strange for me because normally all my receipts are kept in my filing cabinet. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, never again will I buy from Stirling. Show details

Ours lasted 8 months – We were very happy with the coffees we made until it stopped working. Water leaked out from the whole top section and it no longer made steam, only hot water. Had to power off to stop the water flow. We were impressed with the 3 year warranty but it was very cheap ($149 at Aldi). A good machine for the price if you're lucky enough to get 3 years.… Read more

ALDI happily gave us a full refund no problem, lucky we kept receipt & warranty card. It's our third espresso machine, we had 2 elcheapo Sunbeam ($200) machines before that & both lasted about 4 years. If you love good coffee do yourself a favour and spend your money on a better machine, you get what you pay for. We have now bought a $370 Breville Duo Temp Pro (that was luckily discounted at Good Guys this week) and have been impressed by the coffee we've made so far.

A quality coffee machine – Well… I reviewed this machine 6 years ago saying how good it was. Not once in in those 6 years have I had any reason to change my mind. Now, 6 years later, we finally have trouble with the pump not working any more, and we have to sadly say goodbye to our beloved Stirling Designer coffee machine. Sadly, I see that these machines have been… Read more

discontinued. It was a solidly built little work horse that made excellent coffee. I’ve looked at other machines since, and they’re plastic, flimsy, expensive shadows of our Stirling Machine.

Attracted by the 3years warranty but not great – I was seduced by the 3years warranty expecting higher quality of the product. The first disappointment is the shots are to be controlled manually. I have only used the steaming once. The second is the amount of water flowing directly in water collector that gets full after making 3coffees. On the positive coffees taste good.  Show details

Steam button doesn't work – I wish I had read the reviews before buying this. Makes coffee just fine, but oh, the PROBLEMS when trying to heat and froth milk. First, the steam/hot water button doesn't work - won't stay down so you can't get steam unless you hold it down. And it's doing something whacky with the heating. Machine heats up, heating light turns off. Great. Makes… Read more

coffee. Great. Try and steam milk - heating light comes back on again, and steamer works for maybe a few seconds then stops. Mostly what I end up getting is think milk because it is pumping water into it and not much steam. This is going back to Aldi after two uses. This is not user error, either, I have used many other machines in the past and am well used to the process.

Leaks like a sieve! – I don't use it very often probably a couple of times a week. Its dripping water through the group head as others have said. I rang the helpline to order a gasket, but according to the callcentre they don't know if they have any and they will put my request through to a 'higher authority' and call me back in a few days. Not sure why they wouldn't stock a consumable item like that. Looks like it will probably end up in the bin.  Show details

Absolute Disaster – Have issues from day one....coffee taste was not good, so mostly use my capsular machine for coffee, and the Sterling for frothing milk.... It worked ok for a short while, and is cleaned after each use, but it now leaks water, and doesn’t froth the milk only streams boiling water spluttering everywhere and diluting the milk, it is basically… Read more

not workable..

The function dial is extremely hard to turn and is getting worse each day, definitely not something one could use with rheumatic problems

I love my Aldi sterling sewing machine and overlocker, but the coffee machine is another story !!! very very disappointing, have had to go back to my 8 year old Breville

Striling Coffee disaster – Bought the Stirling at Aldi initially it work well. It started leaking water after about 4 months. We followed the cleaning guidelines yet the leaking still continued and became worst. We have stopped using the machine. We not sure if it is worthwhile to approach Aldi about this faulty coffee machine.  Show details

It's a Dud – Purchased Jan 18. Returned Aug 18 to Tempo Australia due to leaking clear water from front of group head. Just not good enough quality in this day and age. Dissappointing given the machine externally was of very good material quality, and whilst it worked produced great coffee. Nonetheless, I was given a full refund by Tempo Aust.  Show details

Stirling by name but poor quality – I have had mine for 1 year, in the last couple of weeks it began to leak,at first a few drops,now its leaking alot around the group head. I have also experienced the function dial being very stiff especially when changing from frothing milk to brewing coffee.It does brew the coffee well though.Extremely diasppointed,I guess you get what you pay for.I think Aldi should announce a recall on this product...  Show details

To good to be true – I purchased this as I love my coffee have been making coffees everyday and only had it 3 months, now has decided to just keep heating up and spewing water through the trip tray and won’t stop even when the dial is not engaged. Same with the frother it just keeps squirting water out. Unfortunately I’m gonna have to pay for a better quality and lucky Aldi have a 3 year warranty on it so will get my money back.  Show details

I'm gutted! – I'm gutted! Bought this machine in April and I have LOVED it! Easy to clean etc. But dammit.... the little blighter just threw a hissy fit and won't switch off with the front dial. Spewing water all over my kitchen bench as the reservoir just leaked until empty. I'm packaging it up now and will be off to Aldi first thing in the morning. Do not buy this machine!!!  Show details

Good Coffee for 3 month only – We thought we had found the prefect Espresso machine, but the pump system failed after 3 month... God the money back but No coffee anymore.This seems to be a problem with all small espresso machines, So Aldi is no better than Sunbeam. Back to the drawing board to find the perfect Expresso machine.  Show details

Not working within 6 months – I purchased this machine approx 6 months ago and was very excited as I love Aldi. I keep the machine clean and in great condition the knob started getting very stiff & hard to turn, water started to leak for a few months now and I turned the machine on today and water just poured out everywhere & now not working at all.  Show details

Make Reasonable Coffees – This is the second coffee machine I have owned apart from various stovetop ones and I think it does an OK job. Its not quite as good as I had hoped for but it will do. The extractions I get are not bad - could have more crema but I think I would need a machine capable of producing more steam pressure for that. The steam wand works but just. First… Read more

some water comes out, then you wait a bit and you get steam. It looks quite decent in the kitchen and is easy to use. I dont think I would buy the same one again but it does work as promised.

Aldi Coffee Machine TK- 1818R2A – Coffee was fine, milk frother worked well.. But the machine failed in less than 6 months, would not respond to the brew/steam switch at all, sometimes, at other times the switch would not turn off the pump, causing water to flood the bench. Warranty is 3 years, but Tempo have so far failed to supply the return postage stickers that they claimed… Read more

would be e-mailed in 24 hours. Been waiting two weeks for the stickers and two days for a reply to my follow up e-mail.

Warranty claim procedure is not reliable.

Water Flowing Out Of Tank – I’ve had this machine for around 2 or 3 weeks now, and was so far very happy with it. However, I went to use it today and when I turned it on to heat, all the water from the full tank flowed out into the bottom tray, all in about 30 seconds. I refilled and repeated after emptying and reattaching numerous times, yet it continued to do it every… Read more

time the machine was turned on. Has anyone else experienced this, or knows what could be wrong?

Before today, I had been quite impressed, considering the price and that it was from Aldi. My expectations weren’t high, but having it break after only a few weeks is a bit disappointing.

Ohhh noooo you need tiny cups to fit under – Seemed to be ok, but none of my cups fit under !!! Grrr. Used zarraffa coffee . I did have a small glass . Machine worked ok and coffee tasted fine. But quite annoying I have to go buy small cups. We like a mugs of coffee Seems easy to use and clean . So far.  Show details

Simple Coffee Machine Works Well – There may be fancier coffee machines out there but for the price this one from Aldi can't be beat. It makes a really good cafe style coffee and does the milk too, although that takes a lot of practice to get just right. Its under a fair amount of pressure and I got milk all over my shirt the first time I tried. It is also important to clean the… Read more

wand after using of you get dried milk clogging it up

The coffee making process is quick and easy and cleaning up is simple. too. It's a good basic machine and you really can't go wrong for the price.

Explosive Coffee – I bought this last Saturday and it just exploded coffee everywhere! The force was that strong that it blew the handle out of my hand spraying coffee everywhere all over me and my kitchen.. Pretty bloody dangerous! Also this week my sterling oven blew a light globe its only been used 5 times .. it was a gift and they can’t find receipt so I have… Read more

to get a stat dec to prove it was purchased at Aldi !! Yeah because woolies sell your brand .. or perhaps my daughter walked out with it in her arms .. pretty poor form ALDI

Leaks like the TITANIC Full of Gunge – Boiler wise Great, Looks Great even sort of works but it constantly LEAKS water all over the bench when its used. Cleaning is difficult and the steam pipe has serious flaws in that the heat shield moves around allowing milk gunge under it and the steam tube is generally hard to clean requiring dismantling and inspection of the many nooks and… Read more

crannies that fill with old milk!. All in all a BIG Disappointment. My same priced Sunbeam is FAR BETTER with none of these serious issues!

I have contacted Aldi and advised them of the design Faults and await their response!

Save your money and don't buy this one or take it back if you have already made the same mistake as me.

This is perfect and I love it – It’s my first coffee machine and I love it. Ease clean, Ease use and make excellent coffee. And don’t need to buy expensive. My family make a 3-4 times daily, and I recommend this machine to everyone who love coffee with 3 years warranty. Thanks Aldi for all your products.  Show details

Good Basic Coffee Machine – I am getting good results but this is obviously a budget machine. It pulls a good extraction with lots of crema but it isn't quite in the zone. yet. I have experimented with different tamping pressures and this alters things quite a lot. I can get a decently heated milk no worries but again it required a bit of practise. This is an adequate… Read more

basic unit. Don't expect miracles for the price but it does the job and you need to practise a bit to get it happening.

I feel it is good value with Aldi's 3 year guarantee.

Lovely Coffee Machine – My first Coffee Machine and I am very happy with the machine. I make 1-2 coffees a day I would recommend the machine especially with the 3yr warranty. Pros heats within around 20 seconds. good crema. easy to use. Cons Coffee filter does not stay in the portafilla when you knock out the coffee grinds so we have to scrape out with a teaspoon.… Read more

Coffee beans need a very fine grind, I am using setting 3 on the aldi grinder and even then in 25 seconds the amount of coffee is greater than 30ml maybe 50mm but still tastes great.