Melitta EPOS Coffee Maker – Test, Tips and Comprehensive Analysis

The new flagship of Melitta's filter coffee machines is called Melitta EPOS. EPOS as in "electric Pour Over System". Or Epos as in epic? We'll explore that in this in-depth test. The Melitta EPOS is a filter coffee machine with an integrated coffee grinder.

First things first – the rotating brew water distribution of the Melitta EPOS has set a milestone when it comes to distributing coffee water. No other filter coffee machine distributes the brew water better than the Melitta EPOS. In doing so, Melitta makes an enormous development step precisely where the biggest problem lies in this coffee machine segment. The machine brews with high precision. The extractions are very consistent and accordingly good is the taste.

For that, I take off my hat as a filter coffee enthusiast. To really understand the Melitta EPOS technology in detail, I conducted my most comprehensive coffee machine test to date. 20 hours and over 100 extractions have flowed through the filter.

Unfortunately, the Melitta EPOS doesn't perform as well in all areas as it does with brew water distribution. That really annoyed me during the test. If they had worked as consistently in the area of the grinder and control as they did with water distribution, then the Melitta EPOS would be the best filter coffee machine on the market. Instead, it's a first-class brewer with an average grinder with insufficient control options.

But read for yourselves and watch the first test video if you want to learn more. A more detailed video will be released next week. Enjoy.

Distribution of Brew Water – The Showpiece

The Melitta Epos distributes the brew water evenly over the entire coffee bed throughout the entire brewing process. This is the most important task when brewing filter coffee and coffee in general. This allows the brew water to extract roughly equal amounts from all coffee particles.

In doing so, the Melitta Epos accomplishes something that no other filter coffee machine does quite as well. The vast majority of filter coffee machines drip into the center of the coffee cake. At this point, enormous turbulence is created and a large proportion of what is soluble at all is extracted from the surrounding coffee particles. However, it's important to note that not everything that is soluble in coffee is also delicious. If too large a portion is extracted from the coffee powder, the coffee drink tastes bitter. In this case, we speak of an overextraction.

In the case of the coffee machine that always drips to the same spot, we simultaneously have an underextraction. This occurs at the edges of the coffee filter, where the coffee powder is not sufficiently flushed with water. There's a lack of inflow and turbulence. Too little extraction leads to a sour, sometimes aggressive and unpleasant taste.

The result in the cup is unbalanced, bitter and sour to a high degree, which overlays the positive taste of the coffee. It's almost absurd that the vast majority of old and new filter coffee machines still use such technology.

At the same time, this is why hand-brewed coffee almost always tastes better. The brewer can then control themselves how they pour the water.

Like Hand-Brewed – EPOS as in "electric Pour Over System"

After the brew starts, it takes 5 to 15 seconds before the brew arm begins to rotate and distributes the brew water over the coffee. Three holes release the water offset at intervals of 1.5cm. That Melitta calls the rotating water distribution an "electric Pour Over System" is quite amusing in light of the fact that Melitta Bentz once brewed by hand. "Melitta – brew electrically like Melitta" would have sounded strange, though. At the same time, the machine's name contains a reference to the trendy hand-brewer scene that likes to throw around anglicisms. Filter coffee is hip and young. EPOS also sounds like epic, which in some computer games is the highest item category.

And indeed. The Pour Over System brews almost like hand-brewing and even better. The machine brews consistently and controls the water quantity. Moreover, it brews alternately with single and triple water pours. And the triple is something no hand-brewer can manage.

The coffee powder is wetted very evenly. The triple jet creates considerable turbulence in the brewer, ensuring that the entire coffee powder is uniformly extracted. The hand-brewer achieves this by stirring the coffee. The triple jet in conjunction with the even pouring provides equivalent service here.

Brewing – Consistent as Clockwork

Overall, I've done around 100 brews with the Melitta EPOS. Really impressive is the consistency! The EPOS rotates like clockwork. This is also striking in the test video. To test the brewing unit by itself and not be limited by the built-in grinder, I brewed measured coffee portions of 30 grams of coffee with 500 ml using an external professional grinder. The measured strength of the coffee extract (TDS % = total dissolved solids) is remarkably consistent. In 20 brews, I measured only a marginal deviation of 0.02 TDS. I don't know any professional hand-brewer who performs better.

Conclusion on Water Distribution

The water distribution on the coffee powder is the best I've tested in a filter coffee machine so far. That's really a joy and the brews are extremely consistent.

There's only one deduction for me at this point. Although the machine's description states that brewing is done with individual brewing profiles – this is only partially the case. The EPOS delivers precisely, rotates consistently and also controls all three brew water outlets relatively evenly – with all brewing profiles. It does brew the smallest coffee amount of 2 cups or 250 ml of water with a slightly shorter pre-infusion of 90 milliliters and 45 seconds. However, this is long and unfortunately cannot be programmed differently. All other water quantities are pre-brewed with a water quantity of 120 milliliters and a time of 50 seconds.

Also, the outermost water outlet is activated very early with water. This means that with smaller coffee quantities (2 cups), at the beginning of brewing, the outermost brew water outlet doesn't wet the coffee grounds, but the filter paper. But coffee is supposed to be extracted, not paper, and there's a risk that the water flows past the coffee.

Nevertheless, the distribution of the brew water is convincing and deserves 9 out of 10 possible points!

Flow Rate

Another important criterion for a good brewer is the flow rate. If water is poured too quickly, it sits on the coffee bed and there's a lack of turbulence. In this case, the extraction is also too low, so not enough is extracted from the coffee bean.

If coffee is poured too slowly and water is flushed in repeatedly in pulses, impact turbulence occurs repeatedly over a very long period, resulting in a very high release of coffee particles. The coffee is then in contact with water for too long overall.

The Melitta EPOS finds a good middle ground. During pre-infusion it pours a bit too much water, but thereby ensures that really all the coffee is wetted. Subsequently, it brews very consistently with a water pour of approximately 100 milliliters per 20 seconds. That's a good value. The crown would be if this water quantity could also be controlled, especially so that pre-infusion happens differently.

Why a Pre-Infusion or So-Called Blooming?

First of all, it's very positive that the Melitta EPOS has a pre-infusion function. Instead of continuously pouring from the start, this is activated by default when the pre-infusion button is lit. A pre-infusion is especially useful when coffee is fresh. Good coffee is always fresh and with a built-in grinder, it's also freshly ground.

In this case, the coffee powder still has a decent amount of CO2 bound from roasting. Through a pre-infusion with high temperature, the CO2 can escape and is subsequently not in the coffee. This makes sense because CO2 gives the coffee drink an aftertaste of carbonation. Additionally, the escaping CO2 disturbs the coffee bed. This leads to irregular extraction and should be avoided. Therefore, a pre-infusion is especially useful for fresh and dark roasted coffees with more CO2. Blooming is what the pre-infusion is called because the coffee literally rises like a blooming flower.

A pre-infusion is present, a plus compared to many conventional filter coffee machines. The flow rate is good. Since unfortunately neither can be controlled, there's a 2-point deduction but still a very good conclusion with 8 out of 10 for the flow rate.

Brew Temperature of the Melitta EPOS

The set brew temperature is at the upper limit. At the water outlet, I measured relatively consistent temperatures of 98 degrees. In the cake, the brew temperature was consistently 94–95 degrees. These high temperatures are only a bigger problem if a coffee is darker roasted.

With darker roasted coffees, there's already a lot of bitterness present. The high temperatures amplify this impression even more. With high-quality, rather lighter roasts, the high temperatures are not a problem.

If there were a temperature adjustment option, the brewer could make certain adjustments themselves and adapt the temperature to the coffees being used. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Hardly any filter coffee machine has this option. But the Melitta EPOS also bumps up with its price of around 300 € into the highest price segment. In this light, the wish for such a function doesn't seem far-fetched. And if you want to develop a brewer for all coffees and customer groups, then adjusting the brew temperature is almost necessary.

Therefore, the Melitta EPOS scores rather averagely here. 6 out of 10 points is what I give for the temperature rating.

Does the Coffee Taste Good?

Ultimately, a coffee machine should primarily make good coffee. The Melitta EPOS does this sometimes with flying colors. Especially with high-quality coffees directly from the roaster, which were not ground with the built-in grinder but with an external grinder to the desired grind size, the results were excellent. I've had some of the best filter coffees I've ever had from a filter coffee machine.

The machine shows its strengths at higher brewing volumes. Especially at 750 ml, the machine performs superbly. In this case, you should use coffee amounts of around 46 grams. With this high amount of coffee, the outer opening of the brew arm only briefly wets the paper. The machine achieves pronounced turbulence with its continuous rotation. It does this very precisely. That's a joy!

It performs less well with smaller coffee quantities. Especially 250 ml/2 cups, I'd rather advise against. Better to brew by hand in that case. Also, I can't really recommend using dark coffee roasts. The bitterness in the cup at high brewing temperatures was not pleasant. Or to put it differently: the machine couldn't show its strengths here. I provide some filter coffee recommendations from roasters in Germany, Switzerland and Austria in my article on coffee selection.

Overall, the filter coffee machine makes good coffee and 8 out of 10 points go to the Melitta EPOS account. I can't avoid the deductions because the control options are too limited to fully leverage the machine's capabilities in terms of temperature and smaller water quantities.

Build Quality and Appearance

The broad shape, the filter holder on the u-shaped arch, that looks good. The Melitta EPOS breaks away from the typical tall and narrow shape of filter coffee machines and looks more like a fully automatic coffee machine in appearance. There are EPOS versions in silver-black and gold-black. It's supposed to be elegant.

Unfortunately, the materiality doesn't match the appearance. As soon as the machine is in front of you, it becomes clear: it's completely made of plastic. And that doesn't really feel high-quality. The plastic units give when you press them lightly. The machine doesn't really feel stable. You can use plastic, but here expectations and reality meet. For the price, the presentation online, coffee filter bags that no longer come in bulk packs but in elegant envelopes – I'd like to see a stronger expression of that in the machine too.

In addition, there are larger structural defects and problematic control – regardless of the fact that there's not much to control.

Where brewing happens, water flows and drips. Both at the grinder and the brewer, the gaps at the base are designed so that water can seep in from above. You wouldn't give any more jobs to a plumber who works like that in the wet area of a bathroom. I found no way to dry out the moisture again.

The buttons provide no haptic feedback, instead they light up when activated. They trigger very easily, which has caused me to accidentally activate the grinding button several times and the grinder has eagerly ground away.

The plastic lid of the beautiful glass carafe has fallen into the opening several times and I had to fish it out of the pot. If it sits on the carafe, that doesn't happen, but when putting it on, falling in can easily occur. That could certainly have been prevented with a slightly different shape.

The water tank is removable and can be filled directly at the tap. The markings are very precise and allow for accurate filling.

Overall, the picture remains that the Melitta EPOS doesn't match its first-class brewing unit in terms of materiality. In addition to the subjective impression, structural difficulties (gaps) carry weight. The limited control, which we'll discuss further when reviewing the grinder, also falls short. 5 out of 10 points are what I must give here, also in the context of the very high RRP of 299 €.

Price-to-Performance of the Melitta EPOS

Of course, 299 euros is a lot of money. On the other hand, you get a coffee machine and a coffee grinder. As a consumer, however, the decision is taken away from me whether I even want that.

Personally, I would buy the Melitta EPOS without a grinder for 180 euros and would find the price appropriate. For control options, temperature control and the ability to save profiles, I would have also put 300 euros on the table – without a grinder.

Nevertheless, you have to say that you get a lot of performance for your money here. And if you follow our brewing recipes, you'll also brew very good coffee with the Melitta EPOS.

Our impression: 6 out of 10 points.

Bonus Points for Something Special?

If I particularly like things about a filter coffee machine that haven't found a place in the previous text, they come up here. This includes the fact that with the Melitta EPOS, the hotplate can be switched off after brewing by pressing the "Brew" button for a long time. Coffee kept warm doesn't taste good and Melitta also mentions this in the operating manual. That attention is also drawn to this and an automatic shutdown after 40 minutes is carried out is positive.

There's also a "manual extraction control". Those who want to brew themselves are of course better served with a hand filter and a pour-over pot. But the fact that the function exists is still nice. You can manually adjust the rotation direction of the brew arm, but not the control of the holes. It's also not possible to save manual brewing.

An option with a thermal carafe and no hotplate was not available at the time of purchase. I would have rated that positively because a thermal carafe maintains the coffee taste over a period of 45 minutes better than a hotplate.

For the option of turning off the hotplate as well as the manual extraction control, the Melitta receives two bonus points.

Conclusion on the Rating of the Melitta EPOS Filter Coffee Machine

The Melitta EPOS plays on two fields. On the one hand, it's a filter coffee machine and on the other hand, it's a coffee grinder. I decided on separate ratings and will follow this principle for further tests of filter coffee machines with grinders. This makes it easier to assess the machine's performance in both areas.

Integrated Coffee Grinder of the Melitta EPOS

In itself, the grinder of the Melitta EPOS delivers decent performance. A good grinder is characterized by uniform grain size (particle distribution). If you select, for example, the medium grind size, as many coffee particles as possible should correspond to this grind size or a desired grain size. Particles that are smaller are extracted much more intensively (overextraction). Particles that are larger are extracted less intensively (underextraction). We performed a check with micron sieves by hand and obtained satisfactory results. A ground coffee sample was sent in and we're still waiting for the results.

The grinder allows a total of 3 ½ control options.

1. Grinding Amount Through Cup Selection.

When selecting 4 cups, for example, a quantity of slightly more than 30 grams is ground. The amount depends on the nature (density, moisture, roast, age) of the ground coffee. Therefore, at least a slight correction of the grinding amount is almost always necessary.

2. "Strength" Beans

By selecting one, two, or three beans, the grinding amount can be slightly changed. By increasing to two or three beans, more coffee powder is used than with "one bean".

3. Grind Size Adjustment

The grind size can be adjusted in three levels. Fine, medium, and coarse. No further adjustment options can be found in the operating manual.

Additionally, the grinding amount can be increased and decreased overall by 10%. The control is so cumbersome that even the proofreaders of the operating manual probably didn't catch an error. It says in paragraph 3.5 under the grinding amount fine adjustment section that when LED 2 is lit, the grinding amount is reduced. It should be LED 1. I pointed this out to Melitta in an email and it was confirmed accordingly.

Why This Can Be Quite Problematic

If your coffee tastes good, then all is well! If your grinder delivers the right amount at the right grind size for the coffee you're using, then you can skip this chapter. Unfortunately, that would be a matter of luck and as early as the next day, with a different coffee, you could face the following challenge.

I brewed with the setting 4 cups, bean strength 2, and grind size medium. To check the results, I weighed the coffee amount after grinding and also precisely measured out the water quantity.

The brewer showed remarkable consistency. Both in taste and in measurement with the refractometer, the coffee was quite strong. In the measurement, this can be explained by the high TDS. TDS stands for "total dissolved solids" and represents the concentration of dissolved coffee particles. Typically, filter coffee has a strength of about 1.2 to 1.5%. Depending on the coffee used, it will taste stronger or weaker. In our case, the coffee was very strong and the acidity was slightly unpleasant.

To reduce the strength, we can do two things. Either adjust the grind size coarser or use less coffee. You should never do both at the same time because otherwise the results are difficult to reproduce.

So I used less coffee powder. This was also supported by the fact that the coffee powder used above was extracted at the lower limit (18.83% on average). Extraction is what we extract from the bean. Good for filter is a value between 18 – 22%. In the lower range and below 18%, the acidity of the coffee is emphasized. In the upper range and above 22%, the coffee tastes more bitter.

The following grinds were impressively consistent. The grinder ground exactly 30 grams several times in a row very accurately. That's remarkable because hardly any professional grinder delivers that precisely.

The coffee tasted significantly better. It was balanced, sweet, and acidity and bitterness balanced each other well. However, I wanted to fine-tune further, also to test the limits of the grinder.

Since the grinding amount was perfect, the option of coarser grinding remained. So I adjusted the grinder to coarse.

As a result, the grinding amount also increased again. Instead of 30 grams, the grinder dispensed an average of 33.48 grams. That no longer corresponded to my desired coffee amount of approximately 60 grams per liter. Accordingly, the water used could no longer extract enough from the particles. It was too little for the coffee amount and also too coarse. The coffee tasted sour.

The coffee amount could no longer be changed via the "strength" buttons. By reprogramming the strength buttons with a reduction of 10%, the approximately 30 grams were achieved again. However, the grind size still wasn't coarse enough.

And now I was at the end of the grinder's possibilities. A coarser grind size cannot be set. 3 settings for grind size adjustment are very, very little. Modern grinders come with 30 settings or are even stepless.

Forgot to Develop the Grinder Together

The grinder's control options are strongly reminiscent of the Melitta Aroma Fresh – also a filter coffee machine with integrated grinder.

There too, the control options are too limited. But there's another, major and important difference from the Melitta EPOS.

The Melitta EPOS brews with its brew arm with much more turbulence. So much more is extracted through the turbulence. For this reason, the coarser range of the grinder is much more in demand than it would be in the case of brewing with a "classic filter coffee machine".

And that's where things get annoying. In terms of consistency, the grinder is good. But it can't keep up with its more advanced neighbor, the brewing unit. It doesn't provide the right grind size to work flexibly with the brewer. The control options are limited. 10% more or less grinding amount isn't a sufficient size to set the desired grinding amount.

A good brewing experience consists not only of "Pour Over" but of the interplay of precise grind size, coffee amount, and pouring.

Final Conclusion on the Melitta EPOS

It's really difficult to draw a differentiated conclusion about the Melitta EPOS. That's why this article has become so long. When you judge a football team, the team's overall performance counts in the end. Even if someone up front scores the goals – if the defense doesn't pull along, it doesn't help much.

It's a bit like that for me with the Melitta EPOS. The consistent development of the brew arm has really been very successful. I've never had so much fun with the consistency and quality of water distribution. Bravo!

The grinder, unfortunately, can't keep up with that performance. It's a solid grinder in many respects. But it's not the right match to support the brewer's performance. Nevertheless, it must be said: a grinder is a hundred times better than no grinder, because freshly ground coffee is the prerequisite for good coffee. I'm grateful to Melitta for this signal to the market.

The machine's control options are limited. With this, the Melitta EPOS misses further opportunities to become the best filter coffee machine on the market. That's tragic because it was absolutely within reach.

Who Is This Filter Coffee Machine For?

With its compact size and good brewer, the filter coffee machine is a good choice for anyone who enjoys good filter coffee. If you already have an external grinder sitting around, you can use it to compensate for the machine's weaknesses.

I rather recommend using medium to light filter roasts and high-quality beans. That's the right match for the high brew temperature.

I also find the machine interesting for coffee schools and roasters for courses and better understanding of turbulence. The machine's consistency is impressive and you can learn a lot as a hand-brewer too.

Wish List to Melitta for the EPOS 2.0

I wish for:

• PID temperature control
• Display with grinding amount display
• Stepless grinder adjustment
• Thermal carafe and no hotplate
• (Less plastic)