xBloom Studio – The Ultimate Coffee Machine – Drip Coffee Maker with Integrated Grinder, Scale, and 3 Levels of Automation, Midnight Black

I absolutely love this coffee maker. It is so unique and has multiple functions. Yes the initial price might seem daunting to someone newer into coffee. However, the value for what you get is great, you get a good burr grinder which is not cheap on its own and a decent scale in addition to the auto pour function. The pods are so easy to use and I love that it can be utilized with your own beans. The best pour over coffee that I have had is with this xBloom.

The Xbloom is designed for everyone who's into coffee in mind. If you're well versed in the coffee world, then you can geek out all you want. For beginners? The entire process is simplified for you with a card. The Xbloom comes with a built-in grinder, which does a very good job. I put the grinder up against my personal ZP6. While the flavor clarity is not as high as the ZP6, it still produce a great cup of coffee. The result is still impressive nonetheless. The machine offers all kinds of controls that you can think of, like grind size, grinding speed, flow rate, agitation, brew ratio, temperature, bloom time, etc. All of which you can access using the Xbloom App, which you can also create your own profiles that tailor to your taste, or dialing in certain beans. So far, the Xbloom does not disappoint. At the bottom of the drip tray, you'll find a built-in scale, which is quite convenient to use. Although, the scale is a bit awkward to use because of how low it is, and how cramp it is at the bottom. But, considering the value for what I get? I really cannot complain. Quite literally everything you need to brew a good cup of coffee is all built into the machine. I bought this Xbloom for my girlfriend, who is not a coffee nerd. She enjoys drinking coffee, not so much making it. I brew my own coffee with a V60, but since we do not live together, the Xbloom is the substitute for my V60 to her. At first, the machine is not at all user-friendly for her. However, I showed her how to use the included 3-pour card recipe, and that simplifies the entire process for her. All she needed to do is to tap the card on top of the machine and press go. A delicious cup of coffee is ready for her in 3 minutes. I really mean it when I mentioned this machine is for everyone. Whether you're a coffee nerd, or just an average coffee drinker, the Xbloom will provide you with everything you need, and more. For $500, you get an all-in-one set up in an extremely compact package. I highly recommend the Xbloom and hope that this review helps you make your decision.

This is an amazing machine, and in my opinion, represents a revolution in coffee making. For just under $600 you get a programmable largely automatic machine that has a multi-speed grinder, a scale, a sophisticated water heater and dispenser, and multiple basket/filter holders. You can go the xBloom coffee bean xpod route, or just as easily use your own beans (likely fresher, better, and less expensive). Thousands of recipes for your beans and style of pour over are available through xBloom, the xBloom Studio discourse community (reddit, etc.) and Chatgpt (e.g., xBloom Master app). Or you can easily make your own recipe for whatever beans you have and and type of pour over you want to make using, for example, the xBloom Master app (accessible through Chatgpt). I sincerely doubt most pour over baristas, home or commercial, can reliably and repeatedly equal the results provided by this machine. True, it only makes one cup of coffee at a time (which is also true if you are making a pour over cup using conventional methods). With the xBloom Studio just choose your beans of the day, get the Omni-filter basket ready with a filter, pick your recipe on the xBloom app, start the brewing process on the app, dump your beans in the grinder port, and come back in 3 or 4 minutes for your perfectly made cup of coffee. The coffee this machine makes is remarkable, and it takes just about all the hassle out of the pour over process. It provides far superior coffee to a conventional filter coffee machine (and I hear in comparison to a Fellow Aiden as well), and in most cases a better cup of coffee than a pour over you make yourself. I've only had my machine for two weeks, and so I can't speak to medium or long term reliability. I'm hoping the machine will hold up since it is complicated. No problems yet though except for once the app had trouble executing (solved by unplugging the machine and powering back up). Reports regarding a difficult to use app or overly-complicated machine are IMHO biggly exaggerated. What the machine does is complicated. You'll need to spend a little time figuring out how to use it, how to add and edit app recipes, etc. Just not a big deal for people who pay attention. This is not a plug-and-play machine -- until you become familiar with it and learn how to use it. Then a whole new world of pour over excellence will be yours -- every morning in 3-5 minutes while you brush your teeth. My espresso machine has not been used since the xBloom arrived. It's a genuine game changer. Kudos to the developers of this machine. xBloom paper filters for the Omni-filter fit much better than Kalita 155 paper filters, and are well worth the extra marginal cost.

Finally I have found a great way to make fresh coffee with so little work on my part! It grinds, heats water, filters and pours all precisely and automatically. Wow! The xpods are easy to use and environmentally friendly. I am in heaven. I can also brew my own recipes with ease.

So, we have a very interesting machine here. Essentially, it is a 'pour over' machine. That is just a fancy technique to make 'drip coffee', but it works. The Machine: A bit plasticy, but well-finished. Very modern looking and most controls feel well-made. The scale is accurate and easy to use. The user-interface is poor however, and used three knobs to set the various parameters. The phone app is much better and easier to use, but it is still far below the levels of an Apple interface. In practice, you wind up getting used to this and over time, it is not an issue. But expect a day or so of frustration. The 2 biggest demerits: 1) the water reservoir is ridiculously small. Figure on 3 cups of coffee before it needs to be filled again. and 2)My machine gave me a 'low water' error that was with a full machine. It has not resurfaced, but still happened, so I report it here. Workflow/Coffee: The machine is magical on how it makes coffee. You have a pretty amazing range of settings and can do something no other machine does: Make a mug of good coffee. No other machine seems to be able to attain the volume needed. But the XBloom happily makes a 12OZ cup from 20GM of beans. Easy as pie, and the coffee is great. I have not measured the temps yet, but the 200DegF spec seems accurate. The XBloom coffee pods have been a bit of a let down so far, since they really lean towards light-roasts. Unless you buy a specific dark-roast, all of the medium roasts are essentially a light-roast. XBloom is not the only company to do this, however. Summary: A darn nice machine that has insane flexibility. I can't give 5-stars until they address the very small water reservoir, expand the selection of coffees, and streamline the app. Outside of that...100% Recommend this brewer for coffee-scientists!!