Every Drink on the Phillips LatteGo 5500
At the end of last year we got ourselves a new coffee maker: the Philips LatteGo 5500. This is a lovely machine. It’s a super-automatic espresso maker that grinds beans, pulls espresso shots, and steams milk all on its own. If you fill it with good beans, it can make delicious coffee drinks at home with little effort.
The 5500 can make a lot of drinks. I couldn’t find a description of what the differences are, so I made my own list. It took months for me to try every drink. This was partially because I prefer iced drinks in hot weather, but also because I didn’t want to waste good coffee.
Front Panel
Drink | Description | Espresso | Steamed Milk |
---|---|---|---|
Espresso | Just espresso | Normal | |
Coffee | A long pour | Long | |
Americano | Espresso and hot water | Normal | |
Cappuccino | Steam milk followed by espresso. It might just by my imagination, but it seems that the milk is being steamed to be more airy than for than the Latte | Normal | Before Espresso |
Latte Macchiato | Steamed milk followed by espresso | Normal | Before Espresso |
Iced Coffee | A long pour, poured slower at a lower temperature | Normal | |
Iced Latte | Steamed milk into ice followed by espresso | Normal | Before Espresso |
More Drinks → Hot
Drink | Description | Espresso | Steamed Milk |
---|---|---|---|
Caffè Crema | This seems the same as the Americano | Normal | |
Ristretto | A shorter (stronger) shot of espresso. It doesn’t seem that much smaller than a normal espresso shot… | Short | |
Espresso Lungo | Slightly bigger than a normal espresso shot | Long | |
Café au Lait | A long pour followed by a small bit of steamed milk | Long | After Espresso |
Caffè Latte | Espresso followed by steamed milk | Normal | After Espresso |
Flat White | A little bit of steamed milk followed by two espresso shots | Normal | Before Espresso |
Travel Mug | Two long pours (or more), with an adjustable temperature | Long | |
Milk Froth | Just steamed milk | None | Yes |
Hot Water | Just hot water | None |
More Drinks → Iced
Drink | Description | Espresso | Steamed Milk |
---|---|---|---|
Iced Espresso | Espresso, poured slower at a lower temperature | Normal | |
Iced Americano | Espresso and hot water | Normal | |
Iced Caffe Crema | Long pour, poured slower at a lower temperature | Long | |
Iced Cappuccino | Steamed milk followed by espresso | Normal | Before Espresso |
Iced Cafe au Lait | Long pour followed by steamed milk | Long | After Espresso |
Iced Cafe Latte | Espresso followed by a bit of steamed milk | Normal | After Espresso |
All of the drinks with Iced in the name ask you to put ice in the cup before you can adjust the settings and press start.
One of the most significant differences between some of the drink variations is when milk is steamed, either before or after the espresso is pulled. All of the drinks which steam milk after the espresso are in the More Drinks menu. This is a bit annoying for me, since I prefer the Caffè Latte to the Macchiato.
(I realize complaining about the order of espresso and milk is pretty snobby, even for me.)
It was a fun experiment. I was most surprised by the Iced Latte setting. I thought it would be weird steaming milk into ice, but it worked great. The foam was nice and cold by the time the espresso was done, but it still kept a fair bit of its froth. This is now my favourite iced drink.