The Melitta Caffeo Solo & Perfect Milk (E957) is a very narrow (20 cm) bean-to-cup machine that adds an automatic Cappuccinatore milk frother to the basic Caffeo Solo.
The Melitta Caffeo Solo & Perfect Milk (E957) is a very narrow (20 cm) bean-to-cup machine that adds an automatic Cappuccinatore milk frother to the basic Caffeo Solo. It has a conical steel grinder with 5 grind settings, 3 strengths and 3 brewing temperatures, and Double Cup for black coffee. UK owners like its coffee and its simple controls. The recurring downsides are a small water tank and bean hopper, milk that often comes out only warm, and a light build. An independent expert test also found milk frothing poor and espresso pouring too fast. It suits small households with little worktop width who mainly want black coffee and occasional frothy drinks; buyers who want hot microfoam or several milk drinks in a row should look elsewhere. New stock is now scarce in the UK, and at least one seller's unit ships with an EU plug and a UK adapter. Long-term reliability data was not found.
Strengths
Very slim 20 cm-wide body fits narrow worktop spaces.
Owners widely praise the taste of the coffee and the simple one-touch operation.
Good adjustability for the class: 5 grind settings, 3 strengths, 85/90/95 °C, 30-220 ml and Double Cup for black coffee.
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Automatic milk frothing straight from the bottle, plus hot water and warm milk; some owners find it convenient and effective.
Energy-saving mode, auto-off and 0-watt switch.
Things to consider
Small 1.2 l water tank and 125 g hopper; frequent refilling is the most common owner complaint.
Milk is often only warm and there is no froth or temperature control; an expert test rated frothing poor.
Expert test found espresso extraction too fast with a slightly watery finish.
Show all (6)
The milk unit must be cleaned by hand, and the drip tray and rinsing water need frequent attention.
Light build with thin side panels.
Largely discontinued in the UK; one listed unit comes with an EU plug and a UK adapter.
Who is it for, and who is it not for?
Good for
Small kitchens where worktop width is limited.
One- or two-person households who mostly drink black coffee or espresso with an occasional cappuccino.
May not suit
People who want hot, fine microfoam or control over milk temperature.
Households making several milk drinks in a row or two milk drinks at once.
Buyers who want a UK-plug unit with easy high-street availability and returns.
The Caffeo Solo & Perfect Milk is Melitta's E957. In the UK it was sold as E957-101 (black, GTIN 4006508208128) and E957-103 (silver, GTIN 4006508208135); Coffee Friend UK currently lists a silver E957-203.
It has an automatic Cappuccinatore: the tube goes into the milk container and the machine froths milk, then adds coffee. It can also dispense warm milk and hot water. There are no settings for froth amount or milk temperature.
Conical steel grinder with 5 grind settings, 3 strength levels, brewing temperature 85/90/95 °C, pre-brew function, water quantity 30-220 ml, and Double Cup for two black coffees at once.
The brew unit is removable and there are automatic cleaning and descaling programmes. Trusted Reviews found that the Cappuccinatore has no automatic cleaning mode and must be removed and washed by hand. It also found the brew unit needs weekly cleaning and the cleaning and descaling programmes are 'a bit involved'.
Currys buyers most often praise the taste of the coffee ('lovely coffee', 'makes great coffee', 'very tasty coffee'), in both the black and silver versions.
Several owners say the milk comes out only warm or that the frother is weak. Trusted Reviews rated milk frothing poor, with a bubbly finish rather than fine microfoam.
Trusted Reviews (2019) found espresso poured in about eight seconds, far too quick, with foamy crema that dissipated quickly and a slightly watery finish, though the temperature was right. Its verdict was that coffee and especially milk quality 'aren't up to scratch'.
The E957 has largely gone from UK shops. Currys and Appliances Direct have delisted it, Amazon UK has no listing, Harts of Stur shows it out of stock, Redber shows it as backordered, and Melitta UK's refurbished units are sold out. Coffee Friend lists a new silver E957-203 in stock.
Based on the specs and owner comments, it suits one- or two-person households with limited worktop width who mainly drink black coffee and occasional cappuccinos. It is less suited to people who want hot, fine microfoam or several milk drinks in a row.
Conical steel grinder with 5 grind settings, 3 strength levels, brewing temperature 85/90/95 °C, pre-brew function, water quantity 30-220 ml, and Double Cup for two black coffees at once.
The brew unit is removable and there are automatic cleaning and descaling programmes. Trusted Reviews found that the Cappuccinatore has no automatic cleaning mode and must be removed and washed by hand. It also found the brew unit needs weekly cleaning and the cleaning and descaling programmes are 'a bit involved'.
Currys buyers most often praise the taste of the coffee ('lovely coffee', 'makes great coffee', 'very tasty coffee'), in both the black and silver versions.
Several owners say the milk comes out only warm or that the frother is weak. Trusted Reviews rated milk frothing poor, with a bubbly finish rather than fine microfoam.
Trusted Reviews (2019) found espresso poured in about eight seconds, far too quick, with foamy crema that dissipated quickly and a slightly watery finish, though the temperature was right. Its verdict was that coffee and especially milk quality 'aren't up to scratch'.
The E957 has largely gone from UK shops. Currys and Appliances Direct have delisted it, Amazon UK has no listing, Harts of Stur shows it out of stock, Redber shows it as backordered, and Melitta UK's refurbished units are sold out. Coffee Friend lists a new silver E957-203 in stock.
Based on the specs and owner comments, it suits one- or two-person households with limited worktop width who mainly drink black coffee and occasional cappuccinos. It is less suited to people who want hot, fine microfoam or several milk drinks in a row.
UK owners mostly like the coffee: it is described as tasty and easy to get at the press of a button, and the slim body suits small kitchens. The commonest gripe is the small water tank, and sometimes the small bean hopper, which needs frequent refilling. Opinions on the automatic milk frother are split. Some find it convenient and effective because the tube goes straight into the milk bottle. Others say the milk comes out only warm, or call the milk function weak or 'a waste of time'. An expert test agreed the frothing is poor. Smaller complaints are a fast-filling drip tray, high water use for rinsing, noise, a cheap look and a deep footprint.
What buyers like
Makes good-tasting coffee20 reviews
Simple and quick to use12 reviews
Milk frother convenient and works well (tube straight into the bottle)9 reviews
Easy to clean or self-rinsing5 reviews
Good value for a bean-to-cup machine3 reviews
Compact, takes little worktop width2 reviews
Common complaints
Water tank and/or bean container too small, frequent refills8 reviews
Milk not hot enough or frothing weak6 reviews
Drip tray fills fast / lots of water used for rinsing2 reviews
Noisy1 review
Looks cheap1 review
How was this summary made?
Summarised from 32 reviews. The summary is drawn from opinions that recur in the reviews read; each theme shows how many reviews mention it. These counts are not a rate and do not apply to every unit.
32 unique text reviews, deduplicated by author+date+text: 8 from the black (s8) and 8 from the silver (s9) Feefo pages (page 1 each), plus 16 E957 entries from Currys Feefo API page 5 (s10). Excluded as rating-only: 4 on the Feefo pages, 8 in the API page and 5 PriceSpy ratings. ratings_total = Feefo review counts 64 + 47.
Show reviews (14 of 32)Read the texts as published by the store
14 original reviews can be listed on this page. The number of reviews analysed may differ.
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L***2/513 October 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: Looks Good
Improvement Points: Perfect milk facility a waste of time poor output.
K***3/59 October 2020CurrysE 957-103 Silver
Good Points: Easy to use and makes very good coffee.
Improvement Points: Milk frother only makes the milk warm, not hot. There is no option to adjust the temperature. It is also very noisy. Not worth the price.
I***4/59 November 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: Easy to use and very tasty coffee.
Improvement Points: Water reservoir is a little small and the coffee could be hotter.
C*** l***4/516 August 2020CurrysE 957-103 Silver
Good Points: Great value, for a bean to cup machine. Good hot coffee and milk frothier works perfectly!
Improvement Points: Small water reservoir compared to other machines.
T*** C***3/515 July 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: It’s a stylish looking machine and does take away the need for barista-standard milk frothing talent as it does it automatically.
Improvement Points: It’s a very large machine but the chambers for coffee beans, grounds, water jug etc are all small. Water needs to be changed daily and it is temper…
T*** C***5/530 June 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: Good looking machine that makes coffee exactly as you like it. Very effective milk frother.
Improvement Points: The water reservoir and bean hopper could both be larger.
T*** C***4/524 June 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: This makes a really good cup of coffee and allows perimeters to be adjusted to suite individual tastes. Quick and easy to use/maintain.
Improvement Points: Very long, only 100mm (4”) of space in front, when placed on a standard 600mm kitchen work top.
T*** C***5/516 June 2020CurrysE 957-103 Silver
Good Points: Default settings produce perfect coffee. Very easy to set up and use. Milk frother/steamer works very well, can just drop the feeder tube into a milk bottle.
Improvement Points: Minor gripe is that waste water gets into the coffee waste container creating coffee sludge. Would be nice to be able t…
T*** C***4/57 June 2020CurrysE 957-103 Silver
Good Points: Great bean to cup coffee machine and really reasonable for the price. It's easy to use and makes a great coffee and the milk frother works well.
Improvement Points: You just need to make sure to clean out the milk hose when you're done, but this is easy to do.
P***5/521 September 2020CurrysE 957-101 Black
Good Points: Coffee at the press of a button love it
Improvement Points: The only thing I would change is I’d make the water tank bigger
R*** J***No ratingNo dateCurrysE 957-101 Black; date of purchase 28/01/2022
Good Points: Simple to use and makes great cappochino. Smaller than our previous model so takes up less workspace
Improvement Points: Seems to use a lot of water for regular internal cleaning so...
P***No ratingNo dateCurrysE 957-101 Black; date of purchase 27/01/2022
Good Points: Easy to fill and top up. The milk frother is awesome, you just pop the pipe into your milk bottle, no jugs needed. Then afterwards you just run the frother section under the tap. Makes...
C***No ratingNo dateCurrysE 957-101 Black; date of purchase 28/01/2022
Good Points: Freshly grinded coffee that tastes amazing! I fully recommend this coffee machine, as high value for money.
It s easy to use and fairly easy to clean.
There is a panel informing me when...
A***No ratingNo dateCurrysE 957-103 Silver; date of purchase 05/01/2023
Good Points: Very easy and quick use. Makes lovely coffee and cappuccino at home. It will not beat barista style but it was good purchase anyway. I’m happy with my coffee maker as It does not take...
This page is compiled from manufacturer, store, review and video sources; every piece of information links to the source it was read from. Technical values are as stated by the manufacturer or store; user experiences are summarised from the reviews read and do not apply to every unit. We do not test products ourselves.
