This is the Meraki Espresso Machine. You might have seen it before because their marketing strategy seems to be like this.
It’s a new all-in-one espresso machine that launched on Kickstarter with a backer price $1200 and an MSRP of around $1800. At the time of recording this video, the campaign has reached nearly $1.4 million dollars from over 1200 backers.
Timemore, known for their excellent grinders and accessories, is a strategic partner and investor for Meraki, sharing the supply chain and design for the grinder element of this machine.
The machine packs a lot of interesting tech and features, but suffers in the overall build quality department. And while this is technically a prototype unit, it is nearly representative of the final production. I was given a changelog with notes on what will be addressed for final production and I’ll also be sure to cover any relevant bits throughout this video.
I’m going to share my thoughts on having used this machine everyday for about 3 weeks, the pros, cons, workflows, and overall whether or not I think it’s worth it and hopefully my experiences here help you make an informed decision if you’re in the market for this machine.
SPECS
So starting off with the specs. I want to say it's a primarily 5-part espresso machine almost reminiscent of a castle in design. The rear features an easily visible and removable water tank with a 2 liter capacity, the left side has the Timemore designed conical burr coffee grinder featuring 38mm conical burrs.
The center grouphead features a relatively quiet rotary pump design with a flat surface for NFC chip-enabled recipes or what Meraki calls, Coffee Sense. Front and center you have the circular touchscreen display where you can change the different settings of the machine and yes, connect yet another device to your home wifi network.
Below that you have the paddle which, similar to the La Marzocco Linea Mini, mostly acts as an on-off switch and not a flow control paddle. Underneath all that you have the actual group head where you would like in the included 58mm portafilter.
On the right side you have the steam wand tower consisting of this large, visually-GS3 style steam wand on a ball joint allowing it to rotate relatively freely. Similar to the main group head, you have a paddle to actuate the steam, again just as an on off switch with no adjustability during active use.
Finally, the 5th piece of this puzzle is the bottom drip tray which also includes 2 built-in scales, one for the grinder and one for the brew group.
A lot of thoughtful elements of design can be seen going into this machine, but its build quality and software hinders it from being an easy recommendation.
So with each element of this machine now identified, let’s actually talk about how it performs.
WATER TANK
There’s not much to say on the water tank. It’s straight forward, mostly transparent with this rigid design, easy to see and know when to refill, and offers a rounded design much like the rest of the machine.
It’s easy to install and remove, and the lid sits firmly enough with a silicone gasket seal although it is also worth noting that both the lids for the hopper and water tank will be further improved on for final production.
The entire tank does come off of the machine for easy cleaning and refilling.
GRINDER
On the left side you have the Timemore designed conical burr grinder which is stepped on this model but will be stepless on production units. It’s quite a nice compact design and it’s actually pretty quiet as well.
The grind adjustment mechanism is easy to use with this sliding paddle, a trend throughout this machine, and the entire hopper can also be removed with a little twist that automatically locks all the beans in, a nice feature.
Underneath the grind chute you have a base with a built in scale and a magnetic dosing cup that fits over a 58mm portafilter perfectly. This is an excellent integration of grind by weight technology that doesn’t require a separate $400 smart scale, looking at you La Marzocco.
The grinder itself performs very well, and the Timemore designed conical burrs are excellent for medium roasts and more chocolatey notes, but even perform quite well for decent clarity light roast shots. It doesn’t compare to using a dedicated large set of flat burrs, but for an integrated grinder, I am very satisfied with the results.
STEAM
Moving over to the right side you have the steam wand which has a separate half liter sized boiler with very powerful steam but a rather bulky design. The ball joint here is a little stiff but still moves freely, and should be improved for final production.
The paddle to actuate the steam is also a little flimsy feeling and I hope it will be improved further. However it does have a slight tactile bump towards the end to know when you’ve reached the actuation point which is nice from a user experience perspective.
Honestly, I would like the paddle to be removed altogether and maybe some kind of side lever would be cool, but that’s just my preference.
My absolute favorite integration here is the built in temperature probe at the tip of the steam wand which is just a fantastic idea. I’m hoping it actually holds up across long term usage, but in the time I’ve used this machine, it’s been very cool to actually see the milk temperature straight out the fridge, to steaming to that perfect 130-140 fahrenheit range.
You’ll want to purge directly into the drip tray after, and I’ve noticed that while on other boxy, flat faced machines you can use the steam wand to clean off your puck screen if you use one, on this machine, any milk or liquid residue getting into the rounded crevices and corners are ever so slightly more annoying to clean.
DRIP TRAY
The drip tray comprises the width of the machine, and actually is quite different from some other drip trays I’ve used in the past.
It has a 3-piece design to it which I’ve found almost acts like a splash guard, preventing much water from being splashed back when you purge the steam wand.
This machine also has that classic bright plastic piece that floats when the tray fills up with too much waste water, which generally I don’t like because aesthetically it cheapens the machine, but does have its function.
Interestingly enough, the top surface of the drip tray is the largest metal component found on the machine apart from the group head. Other components here remain made of plastic.
COMMAND CENTER
Finally, the central tower or what I’d like to consider the command tower of the machine, comprising the brains, touchscreen display, and group head.
Firstly the group head here is an aluminum alloy which will later be changed to stainless steel for production which is a welcomed improvement. The included portafilter is fine, nothing to rave about but features a nice wooden handle and metal end cap accent, which is much nicer than typical plastic handled portafilters.
The plastic paddle here acts as an on/off style switch, and does not have any flow control capabilities, though that would have been very cool to see. However, the paddle itself does feel cheap and doesn't have the best tolerances, and I’m hoping it will be improved for production.
That being said, you really don’t need to use the paddle at all for both steam or brewing since everything can be controlled from the touch screen display.
I found the display to generally be intuitive to use and fairly responsive, and it even has a small built-in speaker for a tiny jingle when the machine is turned on or off.
From here, you can control the grind weight output, and depending on where you have your grind size set to, it even tells you if you’re grinding relatively coarser or finer.
You can also control your brew by weight output and when you go to actually brew, it tells you if you’re pulling something more like a ristretto or regular espresso which is a really neat touch.
The menu is a little confusing at first trying to figure out which icons do what. On this machine you can connect it to wifi, yes I know not another wifi enabled device, but hopefully that leads to meaningful software updates over time because right now, this machine certainly needs it.
From some text misspellings to just the wrong timezone being used even on wifi, the software could definitely do with a little refresh. I think a big opportunity for one area is to sort of ditch the coffee sense integration which is essentially just an NFC tag that tells the machine what beans you’re using and the flavor notes and some recommended settings, and doesn’t actually change the programming of the machine.
It would be cool if they could tell the machine the dosage, output, and water temp to use, then tell you if you should grind coarser or finer depending on the flow rate to match their ideal recipe, and that could even be an option in a firmware update if possible.
They could also opt for a digital library where you search for the roaster and their recommended settings with this machine instead, another potential usefulness of the wifi connectivity. But, in its current state, its a bit underwhelming.
You can also set a time for the machine to wake up and start pre-heating, although it should be noted that the machine goes to sleep in about 15 minutes or so which is a really short period of time, and I’m hoping this can be adjusted via a software update as well.
I’ve found that about 30 minutes is the most ideal amount of heat up time, although you can get away with less since there is such a small amount of metal elements to this group, much of the heat is not being siphoned away.
From here you can also adjust your water temperature and choose to just dispense some hot water which conveniently can be used to quickly brew up a cup of coffee for something like a Cometeer capsule.
WORKFLOW
The workflow here is excellent for a beginner or someone that doesn’t want to deal with the annoyance of scales but still wants that level of consistency. Having both grind by weight, brew by weight, and steaming with a temp probe is an incredibly nice quality of life featureset to have.
The machine also includes a plastic tool tray, tamper, spinning distributor, and a few other bits which I found are fine and nice to haves but I much prefer using a needle distributor and my own tamper anyway.
The tool tray itself has a nice design, following the same rounded aspect of the machine, but is a bit lightweight and therefore slidey. It definitely needs some silicone or rubber feet underneath.
With this machine I can set the dose, hit the grind button, prep the portafilter, lock it in and hit brew. I can step away to grab milk from the fridge and begin steaming milk without worrying about the brew at all which is a really nice feature.
From there I steam the milk, purge and clean the wand, pour in the milk with some attempted latte art, knock out the portafilter, and it's ready to go again.
I haven’t tested a huge volume of drinks back to back, but doing up to 4 in a row so far have not given me any issues and the consistency has been excellent.
The scale itself is designed cleverly to have a drainage and silicone piece for any excess water so as to not damage the scales itself, and the densely perforated cover prevents any splashing and keeps the surface relatively dry.
So with all that being said, who is this machine for, and do I think it’s personally worth it?
CONCLUSION
The Meraki all-in-one machine is really nicely thought out with a truly unique design from the chrome E61 boxes on the market. It’s relatively small and compact, features all the tools needed for a beginner, has scales built in, brew by weight, grind by weight, strong steam with a temp probe, and comes in at under $2000.
Aesthetically, it’s definitely unique and sticks out a bit in a kitchen as an unusual looking appliance, but the matte black finish is a nice change from a chrome box.
It’s a really compelling set of features that I only feel are dragged down by some software issues, which can be fixed, and overall build quality which is mostly plastic.
Personally, I would be willing to pay up to maybe $2400-2500 dollars if they could’ve really nailed a full metal housing rather than plastic pretty much everywhere. Given the shape and rounded design, I’d imagine it would be both difficult and incredibly costly to get a full CNC’d aluminum housing, but I’d hope there’s some in between where this can feel more premium with a justifiably higher price.
But at the $1800 price point, you’re comparing this machine to the likes of the Breville Oracle Jet, which they even kind of hint at with the silhouette featured on the Kickstarter page.
As with any new company it's also important to be aware of long term after-sales support, which is currently unknown.
Yes, you could get a capable cheaper machine and possibly a better grinder separately for the same or even less money that would perform better, but to have all this built into one product with nice quality of life enhancements gives it a strong value proposition.
I think the perfect audience for a machine like this is my parents - who will be receiving this machine from me. With a pretty simple to use one tap to grind and one tap to brew, I think they’ll finally be able to enjoy making morning lattes consistently without the use of scales and measuring times, and maybe they can finally shelve their old espresso machine that’s been collecting dust.
So, that is going to be my take on the Meraki Timemore espresso machine. I’m interested to see where they go in the future and if they release other future products.
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