Smeg’s slim coffee machine can fit perfectly into smaller kitchens – plus it has a brand new cold brew setting

Italian appliance brand Smeg has unveiled a brand new espresso machine, this time with cold brew functionality built-in.

The ECF03 Manual Espresso & Cold Brew Coffee Machine is available to buy now from Smeg’s website for £499.95 and is available in a lovely palette of four different colours: Black, White, Cream and Pastel Blue.

Smeg already has a reputation for making some of the best-looking coffee machines on the market. And for those with small kitchens, the slim profile of this machine will definitely appeal. I tried this machine out prior to its general release to see how it shapes up. Here’s what I learned.

The USP of this machine is the cold brew setting, which Smeg says can dispense fresh cold brew espresso in two minutes for a single shot and four minutes for a double shot.

Another quirk of this machine is the opportunity to set the temperature of the shot that you pull with it. The brand say that while lower temperatures are perfect for light roasts, higher temperatures suit darker roasts well.

When I had a coffee from this machine this week pre-launch, the barista was keen to stress the importance of the Thermoblock heating system with this machine. When you use the cold brew function, the machine will bypass the heating system and use ambient water for a smoother-tasting drink.

It’s hard to deny the quality of this Smeg machine after seeing it up close too. It takes up a small footprint on a worktop, comes with a weighty 58mm portafilter and is finished with the classic lettering along the front. The pressure gauge is also great for when pulling those aforementioned espressos.

There’s a milk frother too, located on the front right, which Smeg calls the Professional Steam Wand. It’s not automatic, as with machines like the Ninja Luxe Café, so you’ll have to perfect your latte art skills yourself.

This cold-brew-capable machine is very pricey, at almost £500, but it’s still a step down in RRP from Smeg’s more expensive bean-to-cup offering, the EGF03, which we reviewed and added to our list of the best bean to cup coffee machines.

If you love the idea of barista-style coffee at home but you can’t picture yourself picking up the skills needed to pull an espresso shot or froth milk, Smeg also has automatic options. We reviewed one, the BCC13BLMUK, which our expert awarded four stars to.

How do you think this new espresso machine shapes up? Would you invest in it for the price?