Good machine + good price = Great deal!
I've used this machine for two years now, and would buy it again in an instant. I'll add these comments to those previously written:
* Crema varies with coffee bean; shiney fresh beans give more crema and have more (but subtle) flavors. I don't get the best crema with Starbucks beans. Peets is great though, so is Nicholas. Even the generic beans ($5/lb when on sale at the local grocer) work OK. Remember, these espresso machines extract more flavor from coffee beans (than perk or drip machines); it's the nature of the pressure (vs temperature) process.
* For a great double shot (actually, 4 oz), I fill the fresh-grounds filter to level (not heaping) with whole beans, grind them for 8 seconds in a cheapo spice grinder, and tamp them (not too hard, not too soft). The tamped grounds come up almost to the #2 line in the filter. I run the pump for 30 seconds after liquid starts coming out of the nozzel. The machine has been turned on and heating for only about...
Perfect (for me)
Ok, so here was my conundrum. I'm a soldier deployed to Iraq and during midtour leave visited Italy and became addicted to espresso. I drank it over there many times a day and really liked the effects. The bad news is that I had to come back to Iraq for 7 more months and I'm too lazy to walk to the Greenbeans Coffee Shop (yep, we have one) and I didn't really want to pay .75*6=4.50 every day. So, I knew I had to get a machine.
Now, given that I am in Iraq, the main things that I wanted were convenience and easy to clean. Given that I'm too lazy to walk to 50 or so yards to the bathroom to clean the thing, pretty much I have to rely mostly on water bottles.
I'm not a huge coffee snob and I just learned about crema, so quality might not be a consideration.
I bought this model, paid the exorbitant shipping costs and I've had it about a week. I seriously don't see any negatives. I am surprised to read other reviews about the temperature because my...
Works fine for me!
I'm not sure what the below reviewer is complaining about with the machine's heating element. I've had this for two weeks now and have made many great tasting cappucinos with it (I don't like straight espresso).
The espresso shots come out perfectly hot (but not too hot) and the steamer froths and steams milk beautifully. My only gripe with the steamer is that I need to run it once, let it heat up again and then run it through a second time in order to get my desired results. The whole process is no more than a minute or so which is very tolerable considering the price.
I had read reviews on other sites that mentioned that this machine (actually an older model) did not produce decent crema. Well, I had no experience with making espresso in the past (I'm a home roaster for regular coffee) but my first try produced a great cup of espresso with a nice caramel colored froth on top. And this came from store bought, pre-ground espresso coffee!
Cleanup...
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