This fancy automatic espresso machine made me drop my Dunkin’ habit – and it’s on sale

If you’re looking for a way to seriously up your home coffee game and you have some budget to do so, look no further than the De’Longhi Rivelia — a sleek, fully automatic espresso machine that makes it foolproof to make lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, iced coffee, and much more. I’ve been testing one out for a couple of weeks now, and it’s been a game-changer in my daily coffee routine (and has greatly cut down my trips to Dunkin’ and Starbucks). Right now, it’s on sale for 20% off for Amazon Prime Day<!–>, one of the biggest discounts we’ve seen yet.

Also: The best Prime Day deals live now

I’ll start by saying my husband is a self-admitted coffee snob: He orders fresh beans from our preferred roaster several states away (shoutout to Sunergos in Louisville, Ky.) and grinds them for our daily pot (made in a Technivorm Moccamaster–>). He was skeptical about trying out the Rivelia, but was immediately won over. It grinds your beans of choice (and offers 13 grind settings), and then doses, brews, and froths your drink for you, customized to your liking. He noted that most of the things he would worry about with a machine like this — like retained grounds or general cleanliness — are made obvious in terms of what you need to do with the machine’s prompts, and it’s going to make for a better cup for most people.

In my testing, the Rivelia is easy to set up and use. You’ll find one button for coffee drinks (coffee, espresso, Americano, etc., all with iced options too), and one for milk-based drinks (lattes, flat whites, cappuccinos, espresso macchiatos, cortados, etc.), with 18 total options. Selections are made on an intuitive touchscreen. When you’re ready to make a drink, add your preferred milk to the frother container, and hit the button for the drink you’d like. You’ll see options to change the size (including a travel mug size, a nice inclusion) and intensity of the drink. 

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Another nice feature is the ability to create individual profiles, so the machine remembers your preferred drinks and specifications. You can even set it so that certain drinks show up first under your name depending on whether it’s morning, afternoon, or evening. 

The Rivelia comes with two bean hoppers that you can easily switch between, if you want to have the option for regular and decaf, or different blends. You can calibrate the machine to each of those beans to make the best cup. 

It also (for better or worse) tracks how many drinks you’ve made, breaking it down by coffee vs. milk drinks, in case you do want to add up how much you save by brewing at home.

The only thing I don’t love is that when you turn it on and off, it immediately releases some hot water to heat up and then to rinse the system. There is a reservoir to catch this, but it was jarring the first few times. You also have to buy one of De’Longhi’s water filters every so often.

To be clear, this is a luxury machine, with a price to match. But if you’re in the market for something like this, this deal for $300 off is a great time to buy, as it will likely be the lowest price we see until the holiday season. It’s definitely going to be a mainstay in my kitchen and coffee routine. 

Looking for the next best product? Get expert reviews and editor favorites with ZDNET Recommends.

How I rated this deal 

A De’Longhi representative noted that this is one of the biggest discounts the Rivelia has seen so far. At 20% off, it gets a 3/5 on our ZDNET deal rating scale. If you’re in the market for a machine like this, this is a good time to take advantage of the Prime Day discount.

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