If you want to make drinks as good as what you could get from a coffee shop at home, there are multiple pieces of equipment you’ll need to get. You’ll have to start with getting a good grinder, since freshly ground coffee beans taste the best. Then, of course, you’ll need to get a quality espresso machine with a portafilter.
All these costs quickly add up, making café-style drinks at home seemingly impossibly out of reach. But what if we were tell you that there are all-in-one espresso machines that lump all these costs into one affordable price?
The La Pavoni Domus Bar is an example of an espresso machine that has everything you need built right in. In this La Pavoni Domus Bar review, we’ll help you determine if it’s worth buying.
This is what we’ll discuss:
- Key Domus Bar features and how they’ll affect you.
- Which settings will benefit the most from this machine.
- How the Domus Bar compares to other similar espresso machines.
- Information on the manufacturer, La Pavoni.
Let’s get to the review…
Quick Summary
The La Pavoni Domus Bar isn’t just an attractive espresso machine – it’s quite possibly one of the most convenient home models out there. In addition to extracting your espresso and frothing your milk, it has a grinder in the top, allowing you to grind fresh shots of espresso and brew drinks in one easy location. Better yet, it’s available for a very modest price, making it accessible for those on a budget.
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Key Features and Why They Matter
Semiautomatic Machine Type
The majority of espresso machines can be described as semiautomatic or automatic. In the case of the Domus Bar, the correct descriptor is semiautomatic.
What exactly does that mean?
In short, it comes down to more control over the espresso. Users will start the brew cycle on the machine and also choose when the brew cycle ends.
This is trickier than it sounds. Espresso must be extracted for the right amount of time, otherwise you end up with inferior flavors. Because of this, semiautomatic machines are harder to learn to use, but often more rewarding for creative baristas.
Read Also: La Pavoni Europiccola Review
Integrated Grinder
We think the best part of the La Pavoni Domus Bar is that it has an espresso grinder built right in. You won’t need to drop extra money on buying a separate grinder because it already comes with one.
Beyond saving you a little cash (grinders can get notoriously expensive), this also saves you space. There won’t be any need to find room for a coffee grinder because it’s built right into your espresso machine. That’s what makes the Domus Bar great for small kitchens.
Cup Warming Shelf
Do you hate when you make a fresh cup of coffee and it just gets cold really fast? There are a few reasons this happens, but one of them is that you poured your coffee into a cold cup.
This is exactly why baristas will sometimes pour hot water into cups until they dump it out later to make room for a drink. With the Domus Bar, you won’t need to add hot water to your cups, because the machine has a shelf on top that will preheat your mugs for you.
Further Reading: Best Commercial Espresso Machines with Built In Grinders
Rapid Preheating Time
Espresso machines don’t just heat up instantly when you turn them on. They sometimes take up to several minutes to warm up completely, which can be a hassle if you’re hoping to make a quick drink on your way to work in the morning.
Fortunately, the Domus Bar can preheat quickly. In just four minutes, this machine will be ready to brew for you, bringing you that much closer to your favorite drinks that much more quickly.
Turbo Steam Device
If you’re a cappuccino or latte lover, then you’ll need the ability to prepare perfectly creamy milk foam to top your drinks off. The bad news is that frothing milk can be a messy endeavor that takes time to learn.
It’s all too easy to make mistakes along the way, burning your milk or failing to generate sufficient foam. That’s why the Domus Bar has a turbo steam device. It’s created to make generating plenty of milk foam easy, ensuring you get consistently creamy drinks time and time again even if you’re a beginner.
Related Article: Best Espresso Machines with Two Hoppers
Removable Water Tank
Water is one of the main ingredients to a good shot of espresso. Without water, you won’t get espresso or even frothed milk.
It’s not surprising or even noteworthy, then, that the La Pavoni Domus Bar has a water tank. What is noteworthy about it is that the water tank is removable.
Imagine if you had to pour more water into your espresso machine without the ability to pull the tank out. You’d have to struggle to pour it in just right without making a mess.
Cleaning would be even worse. You’d have to move your entire machine around to access the water tank sufficiently for cleaning.
Instead of having to deal with those frustrations, you can just pull the Domus Bar’s water tank out and carry it to your sink.
Coffee and Steam Thermostat
Another key to making the best possible espresso-based drinks is brewing the shot and steaming the milk at the correct temperature. Experienced espresso enthusiasts know that different temperatures can produce subtly different flavors.
With that in mind, you can easily see why it’s important to know what the internal temperature of your espresso machine is. The Domus Bar simplifies this by providing you with coffee and steam thermostats. You’ll know what the temperature of your brewing and steaming water are with just a glance.
Visible Water Level
You know already that the water tank in the Domus Bar is removable. Now it’s time to cover its visible water level gauge.
If you weren’t able to see the water level of the machine’s reservoir from the outside, you’d be left regularly having to open it up and check. Obviously, that would become inconvenient quickly.
With the Domus Bar, however, you can determine whether or not you need to add more water just by taking a look at its visible water level. No need to open it up to check.
Additional Resource: Best Espresso Machines Under $1,500
Comparable Alternatives
As a superautomatic espresso machine, the Miele CM 5300 isn’t a perfect parallel to the Domus Bar, but it does have one important similarity that caused us to pick it: it’s an all-in-one machine. Like the Domus bar, the 5300 has everything you need to make high-quality drinks built right into it.
It has a grinder and brewer inside it. Of course, it can also make hot milk and foam for you to top your drinks with.
The key difference, of course, is that it’s a superautomatic machine. At the push of a button, it will do everything for you, from grinding your beans to frothing your milk.
Here are a few other compelling features:
- OneTouch for Two function that will brew two drinks at the same time for you.
- Automatic milk pipework cleaning after every milk-based drink.
- System lock function that will prevent others from tampering with your settings in between uses.
- Ability to brew with whole coffee beans or coffee grounds.
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The Rocket Appartamento doesn’t have an integrated coffee grinder, but it’s got a few other features that make it similar to the Domus Bar. For example, it has a beautiful stainless steel exterior and flexible semiautomatic design.
Furthermore, it has a cup-warming shelf on top. Use it to keep your mugs warm and to store them near your espresso machine.
There are other reasons to choose the Appartamento, too:
- No-burn hot water and steam arms that won’t hurt you if you accidentally touch them.
- A low water light that will come on when you need to pour more water in.
- Heat exchange boiler which can brew espresso and steam milk at the same time.
- Intriguing cutouts on the side panels to give it a visual appeal.
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The Quick Mill Monza Deluxe is another superautomatic espresso machine, meaning it takes care of all steps of the drink-making process for you. This beautiful stainless steel machine comes packed full of qualities that you’d otherwise only find in models costing a few times as much.
For instance, it has a crisp LED display that you’ll use to make your drinks. It also has an automatic pre-infusion that you can program to boost the flavor of each beverage you create.
These are some other appealing features it has:
- Password protection to keep guests or children from tampering with the settings.
- Auto shut-off so it won’t run too long if you forget to turn it off.
- Four different display languages to choose from.
- A cup guide that shows you exactly where to place your cup.
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About the Brand
Are you wondering if you can trust La Pavoni? The answer is yes, you certainly can.
La Pavoni is an Italian espresso machine and grinder manufacturer with over one hundred years of experience in the business. They’ve continued to innovate and produce reliable machines since they were first created.
If you were to ask a knowledgeable barista to make a list of the best espresso machine brands in the world, we have no doubt that La Pavoni would go somewhere on that list.
Ideal Machine Applications
With its single group and output capacity, we think the La Pavoni Domus Bar is the best fit for those looking to add a professional-quality espresso machine to their homes. It could easily fulfill your cravings for coffee shop-style drinks right in your own kitchen.
What Customers Say
Our customers have consistently said that their La Pavoni machines are trustworthy models that help them create the best drinks possible. Additionally, this brand makes some of the bestselling espresso machines we have available, so it’s clear that people love these machines.
Pricing Considerations
We at Majesty Coffee price our machines very carefully to ensure that they’re as affordable as possible. That way, we can be sure that all budgets are taken into consideration and that espresso is accessible to just about anyone.
We offer the La Pavoni Domus Bar for $959. We also have the Quick Mill Monza Deluxe for $2,695, the Rocket Appartamento for $1,690, and the Miele CM 5300 for $1,499.
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Tony Barlow, with over a decade of experience in the coffee industry, is the go-to technical sales expert at Majesty Coffee. He's passionate about helping businesses find the right espresso equipment for their needs.
