By Patrick Avenell

Sunbeam is undertaking a major change in its coffee machine strategy this Christmas, releasing its first fully automatic espresso machine. Sunbeam has been the most vocal supporter of the manual, or solo traditional, coffee category for the last decade.

There is one machine in Sunbeam’s new fully automatic range: the Caffe Bellissimo (EM9300), which will go to retail at RRP $999.

This unit, which is presented in a modern cube form factor, with a detachable milk accessory, is all white, except for the silver pouring head and the blue LCD display.

The machine can take either ground or whole beans and can make short and long coffees, lattes and cappuccinos. There’s a 15-bar pump, dual thermoblock system, 1.4-litre removable water reservoir and in-built conical burr grinder.

Click here to sign up for our FREE daily newsletter

Programmable options include espresso pour volume, coffee strength and temperature, milk settings and grind settings.

The dual pouring head means two coffees can be prepared simultaneously and there is also a hot water function.

Sunbeam reports that this machine was designed jointly by the Australian office and by the external machine manufacturer.

Importantly, this machine is not part of Sunbeam’s successful Café Series home appliance range. It has different branding and does not conform to the Café Series’ design aesthetic. Sunbeam reports that it is still committed to the manual coffee machine market and is releasing new and updated models for Christmas.

The new Sunbeam Caffe Bellissimo (EM9300).