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I’m a coffee snob. I have at least one double espresso every single morning, and usually one mid-morning or after lunch. I’ve tried a lot of machines to get the prefect espresso including manual machines like a Rancillio, as well as fully automatic machines like a Jura. So when I had the opportunity to try out a Philips 3200 LatteGo EP3241 I was pretty excited, but to be honest I was scceptical if the Philips would be able to do as good a job. While machines like Rancillio’s Silvia mean you have to do everything yourself and it definitely takes practise to get your coffees right, fully automatic machines like the Jura line will do everything for you, but they can be prohibitively expensive. The prospect of the Philips 3200 LatteGo EP3241 is a fully automatic machine at a more affordable price, so I was interested to see if it can deliver the goods for my snobby sipping preferences.

Let’s look at what this machine can do and its promise.
This is an Automatic Espresso Machine?
Automatic espresso machines handle all the work of making espresso for you: they grind the beans, tamp the grounds, heat the water and extract the espresso under high pressure. They will also clean themselves and give you automatic feedback and instructions. It takes all the work out of enjoying espresso and espresso-based drinks.

The machines don’t use pods or plastic cups; you get fresh ground espresso from exactly the beans you want, made fresh at the moment.

Many automatic espresso machines will also have some kind of milk heating and frothing ability; some use a traditional wand steamer while others have containers and tubes that do it automatically.

As I noted, many automaticc machines can be expensive. The Jura lineup will set you back about $2000. The Philips 3200 LatteGo EP3241 by comparison is about $999CAD. That price difference alone made me wonder if a machine like the Philips could possibly hold a candle to those other premium machines.

I’ll get to the details on the espresso in just a sec, but first I want to touch on one of the key components of this machine and that’s the LatteGo milk system. The ‘system’ is basically just a special container that you fill with milk, clip to the steam wand, and then let it do its work.

The LatteGo frother mixes milk and air at high speed in the chamber, then pours a splash free creamy milk froth layer into your cup at just the right temperature, promises Philips. The container is just two parts; a lid and the cup, and Philips said it’s designed with minimal tubes and small parts to make it easy to clean.

You can rinse it under hot water for a quick clean, or toss it in the dishwasher.

The Philips 3200 makes 5 espresso drinks.
Coffee lovers have their favorites and the Philips 3200 LatteGo is designed to make the core beverages at the touch of a button.

The machine makes Black Coffee, Espresso, Americano, Cappuccino and Latte macchiato. It will also dispense hot water.

To make a drink, choose your beverage from the control panel and press start. We’ll start here with an espresso.

The machine will grind the beans, and make your espresso shot on the spot.

If you want a double, just tap the double shot option and it will make two individual shots, unlike some machines which just use the sam amount of beans but with twice the water.

You can customize your drink too… if you do want a longer shot, you can tell the machine to add more water; you can also adjust the strength of the brew too, and the amount of milk in your drink.

When you turn the machine on it will heat up and automaticaly rinse the machine witout you needing to press any more buttons
The espresso was great; the shots brewed up pretty fast and I loved that the double shots were perfect doubles, not just double long shots. The espresso came out hot and creamy with a nice crema on top. I was actually really impressed with the overall quality of the espresso.

My fist cappuccino was a bit lacklustre, since it was mostly milk and hardly any foam. It actually came out more like a small latte. There are markings on the milk container to guide how much milk to use for each drink but you can addd more or less as you wish.

You can Adjust heat settings on this machine. There’s no dedicated button for it, but a tap sequence I have detailed at TGC.com lets you set heat to high, higher or hottest.
A machine like this is no fun if you’ve got to work to keep it clean. With just a handful of parts, the Philips 3200 is super easy to keep clean.

But honestly, I am struggling to find something about this machine I didn’t like. When it comes time for me to get a new automatic espresso machine I am absolutely going to make it a Philips 3200 with the Latte Go. And at $999 CAD its substantially more affordable than a lot of other similar machines.