Lavazza just launched its first-ever at-home bean-to-cup coffee machine, but don’t worry, it’s still as easy to use as its pod machines

by Furnishly | Sep 10, 2025 | Design Inspiration

The Italian coffee brand Lavazza has launched a brand new bean-to-cup machine: the Assoluta, which will set you back £699.95 via the Lavazza website.

If you’re a fan of Lavazza coffee, then this machine has features to get the most out of the beans that you buy from the brand, including an app to help you fine-tune the grind settings.

While Lavazza already has plenty of bestselling coffee machines on its roster, this is the first product it’s launched in the best bean-to-cup coffee machine category, which explains the vastly increased RRP. Here’s how it might be able to upgrade your morning coffee at home.

Machines from Lavazza that we’ve previously tested here at Ideal Home have put user-friendly features at the forefront of their designs. One example is the Lavazza Desea (as per our review), which is an exceedingly popular pod machine that features an integrated milk frother, providing people with an affordable one-touch latte at home.

Ease of use is clearly a priority with the Assoluta, too. The headline feature is the ‘Perfect Bean Match Technology’ which is a program that can be accessed via the Lavazza app to help users match their coffee beans with the ideal grind settings on their new coffee machine. The kicker is you can only use this feature with Lavazza beans, which ties you into buying those particular beans if you want the added tech hand-holding.

The touch control panel on this automatic machine appears straightforward with eight presets to choose from: Espresso, Lungo, Lungo XL, Free Dose, Cappucino, Cappucino XL, Latte Macchiato and Frothed Milk.

So rather than grinding and tamping your shot of espresso as you do with something like the Ninja Luxe Cafe, this machine is a lot more hands-off. Perfect for those who want to roll out of bed and press one button while still enjoying the freshness of coffee beans, but less ideal for those who really want to get into the specifics of a manual bean-to-cup machine.

This machine might suit you if you currently spend more than you’d like on takeaway lattes or cappuccinos, with an automatic milk frother which Lavazza says ‘creates sumptuous foam with ease’, so that you can recreate your favourite frothy drinks at home.

If you’re a fan of your current Lavazza pod coffee machine and want to upgrade to a bean-to-cup version, or if you’re simply in the market for something easy to use, this machine is certainly going all out to market itself as simple to master.

Can you see the appeal of investing in a luxury machine like this for your kitchen?

Smeg’s new Mini Milk Frother is the cheapest way to get the brand’s look in your home – it’s a perfect fit for small kitchens

by Furnishly | Aug 6, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Italian appliance brand Smeg has unvelied a new ‘mini’ milk frother, designed to bring its much-coveted look and emphasis on quality into your kitchen for less.

Designed to pair perfectly with one of the best coffee machines, this new compact offering is significantly cheaper, at £99.95 from Smeg, than the brand’s original Multi Milk Frother (£179.99 from Smeg).

So what can this small but stylish milk frother do? I tried it to find out.

This milk frother has the standard functions you’d expect. It can produce hot milk, hot milk foam and cold milk foam only. Unlike smarter milk frothers, like my favourite Dreo All-in-One Milk Frother, it doesn’t have modes for plant milk or for specific drink types.

Instead, it has a sleek design that fits right in with the rest of the retro pastel Smeg kitchen items – from the brand’s timeless kettle and toaster range to the newer oven air fryer (which we reviewed last year).

I think its biggest draw alongside the look of it is its compact size. Milk frothers are usually either unsightly or oversized – this 20cm high product is neither. Instead there’s just one button, which you use to cycle through the modes, plus the simple Smeg lettering on the outside.

Within the frother, you’ll find a removable whisk attachment (which I think is much better than a built-in one for cleaning) which clicks into place magnetically.

I used the frother to make a milky coffee and you might be unsurprised to hear it works exactly as intended, producing a nice foam that I poured on top of my espresso.

It’s one size fits all when it comes to the exact level of froth this product produces – you couldn’t produce the extra foam needed for a cappucino, say. Still, if you just want a standard coffee with foamed milk, it works just fine.

In terms of spending, if you’ve wanted to add the Smeg look into your kitchen for a long time, this new launch is now the cheapest place to start, with the brand’s personal blender being the second most affordable option at £109.95 via Smeg.

And with such a vast colour range of pastels to choose from, it’s got to be one of the prettiest milk frothers, if not the prettiest, of its kind of the market at the minute. Can you see yourself being persuaded to give it a go?

I’ve been debating buying a frank green iced coffee cup for weeks – I’ve just saved myself £25 by picking up this gorgeous alternative instead

by Furnishly | Jul 11, 2025 | Design Inspiration

I’ve been on the hunt to find the perfect iced coffee cup this summer, because there’s no way you’ll catch me having my morning latte hot in this heat. In this search, I’ve pinned down a couple of personal non negotiable criteria.

The first is my pick of the best coffee machines on hand to make the coffee (obviously), but the second is a cup that’s insulated properly, so that I don’t end with a watery mess. A straw is also a feature I’m looking for, so I can sip along as I sit at my desk.

That’s why this bottlebottle iced coffee cup (currently on sale on Amazon for £7.59 down from £9.99) is ticking all of my boxes. Plus, it’s a dead ringer for a frank green cup (£34.99 on Amazon) that I’ve been hovering over clicking ‘checkout’ on for weeks now. Here’s how the two measure up.

You can pick up the bottle bottle cup in two different sizes: 500 and 800ml, while the frank green version is smaller at 425ml. Both feature metal straws, which you can use time and time again, but the Amazon alternative here can also be used as a water bottle thanks to its size.

One of the iced coffee mistakes I’ve been trying to avoid is investing in cups without dual-wall insulation. As much as I love my on-trend pistachio cooler from Nespresso, the plastic does sweat a fair bit in the heat.

Both of these cups have double walls, so the iced cubes inside won’t be melting in a hurry. The frank green version is also ceramic lined, which should help with heat distribution too.

I haven’t made any Amazon Prime Day purchases yet, but this coffee cup is the thing I’m going to invest in before deals end at midnight. Given how many iced coffees I’m getting through a day in this heatwave, it seems like an investment that will quickly pay for itself. Are you looking to shop any deals to improve your coffee set-up?

This Jamie Oliver iced coffee hack just saved my mornings in the heatwave – it couldn’t be easier to do

by Furnishly | Jul 3, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Very little gets between me and my morning coffee – but in heatwave temperatures even the biggest ice cubes can melt fast, leaving a lacklustre iced latte as a result.

That’s where this iced coffee hack courtesy of Jamie Oliver HQ has saved my iced coffees this past week, by freezing cubes of coffee for my drinks rather than water. Especially when using one of the best coffee machines to whip up the cubes, this is one of the easiest hacks I’ve ever tried in my kitchen.

Here’s how it works via this TikTok from Jamie Oliver.

The first part of this hack is spreading any syrup you might be having in your coffee with a handheld milk frother. I know, I know, having syrup in your coffee is very controversial (a sin for coffee purists), but I think it’s a fun treat in the summer.

I tried this step myself with a gadget I’ve recently obtained, Salter’s bargain handheld frother for just £14.99 via Amazon. As per the video, you’re meant to start by allowing the syrup to pool at the bottom and then slowly bringing the frother up from the bottom to create lines. I have to say this was a huge fail on my part, maybe because my syrup was too thin, so I moved onto the important part – the coffee.

I made my own frozen coffee cubes, which I’d prepped 24 hours earlier. I brewed an americano using my current machine, the Ninja Luxe Café Pro, which I previewed in my first look at its features. It’s very easy to use and brews a lovely coffee.

The cubes came out well, having a lovely glaze to them. I popped them in the cup and added over cold frothed milk made using the automatic milk features on the Ninja coffee machine.

It was a total success and my coffee stayed cold for much longer than usual, even through my morning meeting. One thing I would say if you’re looking to avoid one of my previous iced coffee mistakes is to invest in a better cup for keeping your drink cold for longer. The one currently at the very top of my wishlist is this one from Frank Green via Amazon for £34.95 – it even features a metal straw!

All in all then this is a Jamie Oliver hack I can definitely recommend for this summer. Will you be trying this one at home to cool your coffee down?

‘Astonishing value for money’ – ProCook’s sellout coffee machines are back in stock and I’m recommending them to all my friends

by Furnishly | Jun 24, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Investing in your at-home coffee set-up can be seriously expensive, but it doesn’t have to be with the restock of ProCook’s coffee range. The brand’s range of machines, two of which I’ve tried, are now available to buy from the ProCook website again after being sold out for months.

While my ProCook Barista bean-to-cup espresso machine review and pod coffee machine review have the full details, the bottom line is that if you’re in the market for the best coffee machine to transform your mornings at home, this is a brand seriously worth checking out.

The cheapest in the range is the ProCook Espresso Machine for £199, (this doesn’t have a built-in grinder), then there’s the bean-to-cup version for £399 and the Elite version for £599. You can find a closer look at the products that have been restocked below.

These machines initially came out back in February and after being hugely successful with customers, sold out in the spring. I’ve been wanting to recommend these machines to friends looking for an affordable bean-to-cup machine for months now, so I’m certainly glad to see all three of them currently available to buy.

The customer reviews speak for themselves too. The Barista Elite has a 4.5 rating at the time of writing, with one reviewer saying ‘Overall, this machine has exceeded my expectations. It’s user-friendly, budget-friendly, and delivers barista-style coffee at home.’

Another said that the Barista version is ‘Astonishing value for money compared to brand leaders’, and added that they’d had ‘superb results’ from using it.

Could you be tempted into setting up a barista-worthy coffee station in your kitchen with one of these machines?