We wrote recently about the commonly occurring question we get about who makes Starbucks coffee machines, and the answer (sort of) was the Thermoplan Mastrena. We thought we’d talk a little more about this superb machine, probably the most seen model in the world, thanks to the sprawling success of the American coffee shop giant. Although most have us have seen a huge commercial coffee machine in Starbucks or Costa Coffee at some point in our lives, it’s highly unlikely that you’ve seen anything of the sort outside of those environments, and certainly not as a home coffee machine.
Starbucks Can Have What You Can’t (Sorry!)
There’s a a few key reasons why you won’t see a Mastrena in a friend’s home, not least that Starbucks have almost exclusive access to them. It’s not quite true to say you can’t get one at all – you’ll occasionally see them popping up on eBay or other second hand channels, and you can even get new models if you know the right people (so we hear)! However, for mere mortals like ourselves, we have to settle for mass market models instead.
Mastrena Superautomatic Espresso Machine Cost
Fortunately (and this brings us to the second point), most people don’t want to spend multiple thousands of pounds on a coffee machine, which is probably a conservative estimate for a so called ‘Starbucks coffee machine’. To get a great machine, as you’ll see in our bean to cup coffee machine reviews, you’ll usually be spending around £500, a fraction of the cost of the Mastrena. So, do you get what you pay for? Well, to a point.
Home Coffee Machines That Don’t Cost The Earth
If you’re looking to get started in the bean to cup world, and have never really got started with grinding beans to order until now, the Delonghi Magnifica ESAM4200 is a very affordable choice, and will more than satisfy the caffeine demands for most homes. If you’re a little more experienced, perhaps upgrading to a better machine, there’s the Caffeo Solo or the Barista Express (the latter endorsed by none other than Heston Blumenthal). Even for those real coffee buffs, there’s plenty available without getting into the four figure range, our favourites being the Melitta Barista TS and the Jura Impressa F8 reviewed here.
The Last Word
We’ve deliberately not gone into huge amounts of detail here about the Thermoplan AG Mastrena super-automatic espresso machine, because it doesn’t really fit the market this site is designed to serve. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not suggesting it’s a bad choice of machine, especially if you’ve got a multi million pound bank balance, where a low five figure investment will go unnoticed. For most of us though, spending the sort of money that would buy us a car on a coffee machine is borderline madness. There’s plenty of machines that are perfect for our needs, take a closer look at the reviews section to learn more.
