Mr Coffee Cafe Barista review: a versatile espresso machine for many users

Why choose Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker over other machines?

Mr. Coffee is a brand that has been around for a while and its coffee makers are known to be pretty reliable. Also, this particular machine does not only brew espresso, but it also makes cappuccino and latte automatically.

One thing that I love about it is that I can use any type of milk I want, be it skimmed, full fat, flavored or plant based. And, thanks to the removable milk container, I can take the milk leftovers and store them in the fridge, ready for the next use.

There are a couple of things I would like you to remember from this Mr Coffee Cafe Barista review:

• Affordable price for a wonderful espresso machine
• Robust functionality that allows users to brew phenomenal espresso, cappuccino and lattes
• A classic espresso machine that has been on the market for several years already
• Ability to use any type of milk for frothing (skimmed, full fat, flavored, plant based, almond, soy)
• Perfect to learn how to become a professional coffee barista

Who is Mr. Coffee Care Barista Espresso Maker perfect for?

We’d like to emphasize in this Mr Coffee Cafe Barista review, that Cafe Barista is a great coffee maker for a wide variety of users. I found it especially excellent as I was learning and advancing my knowledge how to brew delicious espresso and cappuccino. As I was researching or testing for this Mr. Coffee Barsta Espresso Maker review, I found this machine to be very simple to use yet with a great feature set. It also yielded very delicious coffee

I feel that Mr. Coffee Care Barista Espresso Maker can be a perfect choice for those who are looking for an espresso machine that has any or all of the following characteristics:

✓ Flexible and multi-functional coffee brewing (espresso, cappuccinos, lattes)

✓ Extremely easy and convenient to use

✓ A simple to use yet high-performing espresso machine to brew top quality coffee

✓ Ability to froth warm milk for cappuccino or latte (all by itself!)

✓ A small/medium-sized espresso maker that should fit well in a variety of spaces

✓ Families and individuals who value a strong brand and high quality

✓ Great design that does not take much as much space as other espresso machines

✓ An excellent choice for novices and users with medium knowledge of espresso brewing

Who is Mr. Coffee Barista Espresso Maker NOT perfect for?

Again, I would love to also remain honest in this Mr Coffee Cafe Barista review, and I would love to list a couple of instances where Mr. Coffee Barista Espresso Maker might not be a perfect choice:

✗ Desire for ownership and flexibility in brewing (ability to program everything myself)

✗ Preference for an advanced coffee system

✗ Not paying attention to coffee flavor or quality

✗ Consistency in quantity and quality of coffee

✗ Desire for fine coffee grounds (I recommend using light roasted coffee beans)

✗ Quiet

✗ Plastic free appliance

For more advanced users, I would recommend considering Breville BES870XL Espresso Machine or DeLonghi ESAM3300 Magnifica.

Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker Review and Evaluation 🕵️

→ Appearance

Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker is a wonderful semi-automatic espresso and cappuccino maker. I feel like it could look effortlessly well in any kitchen. The body of the machine is mainly plastic, with brushed metal accents.

Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista is sold in three different colors to choose from: silver, red and white. I personally prefer the silver model because I think that the silver touches look clean and professional.

I was really surprised how compact Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker was. It’s about 13-inch tall, with sides measuring about 11 and 9 inches. Though my kitchen is small or medium size, it fitted perfectly in.

In the front of the machine, I have a milk tank and the coffee spout, as well as the control panel buttons. The removable water tank is located at the back of the machine. I did not necessarily like its design, as I had to pull it up to refill water. That, unfortunately, required a bit more space than the original design.

→ Features and technical specs

Voltage: Mr Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso maker is made for 120V, and can be used in Canada and the US only.

Basket size: The machine comes with two filter baskets: one for single shots and one for double shots. However, as I was using them, they sometimes clogged up. It was necessary to keep them clean.

Beverage size: I was a little bit disappointed and surprised as I was not able to get a consistent amount of coffee in my mug across various brewings (though I used the same amount of water). Sometimes, it was coming out to be one full mug, while the next time, it was two-thirds of a mug. The filter baskets can be easily removed and set into place. The largest mug or cup size that I can use with this machine would be 6 inches tall, but I can also use shorter cups, in which case I can bring the cup closer to the spout by placing it on the additional drip tray.

Weight: Unlike other espresso machines such as DeLonghi or Breville, Mr Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker is much lighter and easier to lift. It weighs about 10, and I was able to lift it or move it around.

Unit size: The machine measures 11.2 inches in depth, 8.9 inches in width, and 12.6 inches in height, so it is much more compact than other espresso machines in the market.

Water reservoir: My Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker came with a sizable 54oz removable water reservoir. I was not very excited about its design, though. I could remove the water reservoir only by pulling it up. This took some more vertical space in my small kitchen.

Additional perks: Though this espresso machine is less sophisticated than Breville or DeLonghi, there are a lot of sophisticated built-in features. As I was testing this espresso machine, I felt that those features contributed positively to flavor, texture and fragrance of my coffee:

✓ Mr Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker uses 15-bar pump system to brew more delicious espresso.. Though a lot of machines come with 7-to-9 bar systems, 15 means that the machine is able to yield more pressure on brewing coffee (thus extracting more flavor). I was able to enjoy rich and deep espresso coffee.

✓ Frothing milk was quick and easy, due to trouble-free automatic milk frother. I was surprised that Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker froths milk by itself. All I needed to do was to fill up the milk tank with any type of milk that I like (soy, almond, fat free, etc.), and to press either the Cappuccino or the Latte button on the control panel. After preparing my beverage, I can easily remove the milk container with the remaining milk in it, and put it in the fridge, keeping it ready for a later use.

✓ Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista is really easy to use by pressing a button on the control panel. If I want to make myself a latte, for instance, all I have to do is press the button that has the word ‘Latte’ written next to it, and the machine does the rest (first, it steams the milk, and then it brews the coffee). The button needs to be pressed once if I want a single shot of espresso in my latte, and twice if I want a double shot. Easy peasy!

✓ The machine comes with a fridge-ready removable milk reservoir. Unlike the removable water reservoir, which I was able to remove by pulling up, I was able to remove the milk container by pulling it out, like a drawer. I used it to store the unused milk in the fridge.

Further, this machine comes with several really useful and helpful add-ons! As mentioned earlier, it comes with a 54oz removable water reservoir. I do not love its design as I have to pull up (as opposed to slide like a drawer), thus taking up a bit more vertical space. Additionally, there’s a really great recipe book. It explains how to brew some really awesome coffee drinks. My most favorite ones (I am an addict now) include like Espresso Martinis, Raspberry Cappuccinos and Choco-Nutty Lattes.

If this is not enough, there’s also a measuring scoop with tamper at the other end. This tool came handy when I was filling the filter with coffee. After using the scoop to fill the filter basket with coffee grounds, I can immediately use the tamper to press the coffee into the basket, making it ready for brewing. In addition, there is an adjustable drip tray. The machine has an additional dripping tray located under the milk container, that can be accessed by sliding it out sideways. The additional dripping tray creates a higher support for small cups.

→ Performance

Brewing time: The brewing time will depend greatly on the type of drink I want to make. If, for instance, I want to make a cappuccino, the machine will need a longer time to prepare my coffee than if I want an espresso. I can also lengthen the brewing time by pressing the espresso button for a total of three seconds. The machine will keep the water running through the portafilter until I press the button again.

Flavor: I know that this machine is substantially less expensive than Breville or DeLonghi. However, I thought that coffee it brews is phenomenal. Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista makes espresso, cappuccino and latte at the touch of a button. All I have to do is to decide what I want to drink, to choose my milk (plants based milk is also suitable) and choose the size of my coffee (this machine makes single and double shots coffee).

Temperature: I really loved coffee that was coming out of this machine, the brewing temperature was between 180 to 195 F degrees. However, the temperature of frothed milk was not hot enough (and, unfortunately, I was not able to adjust). As most other semi-automatic coffee machines, the Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista may have trouble brewing at a constant temperature. Some users complained that the coffee was not hot enough. This machine functions on a thermoblock heating system.

Milk frother: The milk frother is one of the distinctive features of this machine. Basically, I could fill the removable milk reservoir with any type of milk (I just followed my whim…) and the machine did the rest. The milk was frothed automatically and poured in the cup according to the requirements of the drink I chose.

If I want a cappuccino, for instance, the machine will froth the milk first and pour into the cup, and the espresso shots will follow. In the case of latte, the order will be the same, but the milk quantity poured into the cup will be larger.

I can choose to steam the milk manually by holding the Cappuccino or Latte buttons pressed for three seconds. The steaming can be stopped by pressing the same button one more time.

Pressure / pressure gauge: The Cafe Barista does not have a pressure gauge. But it does have an electric pump that creates about 15 bars of pressure.

Noise levels: The noise levels are quite acceptable. There is a buzzing sound coming from the machine during brewing, and, of course, the machine makes the usual noise during frothing, but it is all within acceptable noise limits.

Cleaning: Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista was fairly easy to clean. It came with a self cleaning option that helped me clean the milk frother of any milk residue. The milk container was easy to remove and was top-rack dishwasher safe. The drip trays were also easy to remove and could be washed with soap and water or in the top rack of the dishwasher (note: the metal drip tray covers were NOT dishwasher safe). The water tank was easily removed and could be washed with soap and water. I would NOT put it in the dishwasher, according to the specifications from Mr. Coffee.

Customer-reported technical issues

While independently researching this product, I noticed that there were some users complaints about this product. As most of the other semi-automatic coffee machines out there, this machine may have trouble brewing at consistent temperatures. Also, the espresso it pulls may be a bit on the weak side.

Further, some users report that the machine could get clogged if fine coffee grounds are used. It is thus recommended to use light roasted beans with this machine, as the flavor of the coffee will be better.

→ Health and safety

Mr. Coffee claims that all their current espresso makers are BPA-free. However, the machine has a lot of plastic parts.

The BPA-free status is helpful to know, but it typically does not guarantee that there are no other potentially dangerous substitutes used in the production process.

Reports show that many manufacturers replace BPA with other types of plastic. These types include but are not limited to BHPF (fluorene-9-bisphenol), TPP (triphenyl phosphate), and bisphenol S (BPS). The exact health effects of the BPA substitutes, such as BHPF, TPP and BPS, are unknown at this point.

I was not able to find much detailed information on what kind of materials or chemicals are used, so I am not able to verify. I will be reaching out to Mr Coffeeso I can include it in the Mr Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso maker review.

→ Price to value: is Mr. Coffee Barista Espresso Maker worth the money?

Mr. Coffee Barista espresso maker sells for anywhere between $$$ and $$$$, which makes it an attractive choice for coffee lovers, but especially for cappuccino and latte aficionados. Being a cappuccino lover myself, what I like most about this machine is the fact that it brews the coffee and it steams the milk all by itself. In this way, it takes a lot of work off my shoulders.

Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista is a semi-automatic coffee machine with a good track record that can save me a lot of time, a lot of trips to the coffee shop and a lot of money, too. Hence, I incline to say that the price to value ratio for this machine is really good.

Should I buy Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker? Owly’s verdict! 🔨

Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista is an entry-level espresso and cappuccino machine that does pretty well, considering its simple range of features. It is very easy to use, which makes it a great choice for inexperienced espresso drinkers for whom this is the first espresso machine they have ever used. I love it because it makes coffee drinks fast and without much help (all I have to do it to put the coffee grounds in the filter). At the price range of between $$$ and $$$$, I feel that it is a good investment.

Do you like your Mr. Coffee Cafe Barista Espresso Maker? Did you enjoy our Mr Coffee Cafe Barista review? Let us know in the comments!