Buy Espresso Coffee Machines

Review by J. A. Eastman:

I got a sample of this product in my new Hamilton Beach Brew Station. The first time I used it, I could not believe how great it is.

Things I like:

Dissolve in 4 cups of water, pour in coffeemaker. Dissolves easily.

Run through the coffeemaker, then wipe and rinse parts. I said “wipe”, not “scrub”! First one I ever used that I could do that. I was very impressed.

Two subsequent run throughs with clear water. The cleaner is tinted with a blue color, so that you can see if you have got it all rinsed out.

Then you are done. That’s it. No more muss, fuss, or mess.

It does say to use it once a week. I find once a month is plenty for us, but that would depend on coffeemaker usage. Fabulous product.

Review by E. Kaufman:

It works just like promised. Illy recommends this product for their coffee machines, which is why I bought it. It is pretty easy to use. Just follow directions. Note the proportions, though. My coffee maker’s water reserve needed only one half of the packet.

Review by L. Hamilton:

Like most who purchased this product, it was my first espresso maker. And I found out quickly that hunting for these things can be overwhelming! I purchased it at my local Target for .99 for convenience in case I had to return it — with all of the mixed reviews out there, I was incredibly weary of choosing one! However, I will most likely not need to do so. It is perfect for all of my needs!

PROS:

1. Incredibly easy to use! Directions and trouble-shooting pages in manual are simple and helpful.

2. Compact size, looks nice sitting on the counter.

3. Easy clean-up. All parts that need to be cleaned detach easily.

4. A standard sized coffee cup will fit under the spout — not so with many models!

5. The steam feature is simple, fairly powerful, and works well. No problems here.

6. As long as you get a good batch of coffee grounds, this machine can turn it into delicious espresso!

CONS:

1. I have been experiencing a small leak onto my counter after use. I haven’t caught it in the act yet, but if I return to the kitchen a few hours later, there is a wet spot near the machine. I read another review that mentioned the same thing, so it might be a universal issue with this product. However, it is a small leak, and not enought to cause a real problem in my opinion.

2. I would suggest making 2-3 cups before wasting any milk product on your first trial. This model does not have an automatic drip feature and you will need to manually tell it when to stop pouring. If you are not used to this, you might end up with a few nasty batches on your first try. No biggie. Just watch the color of the drip. It starts out as a medium brown, and changes to a much lighter brown if left alone. I would recommend shutting it off a second or so after it changes to the lighter brown. I have made perfect batches every time by this method. This all takes place over several seconds, so keep an eye out.

YOU MIGHT NEED TO KNOW:

It mentions this in the manual, but make sure to get the right size of grounds. About the consistency of salt. I would recommend griding your own either at home with a grinder or at the store at a grinding station. They taste better for one, and you won’t waste your money on a mystery bag that doesn’t work well with your machine.

Also, it does not come with a frothing pitcher. You will need to buy one separately. I purchased mine at Bed Bath and Beyond — a Krups one, stainless, about ? It fits fine. Just make sure you don’t get one that is too deep, or the froth wand will not reach the milk. It is a countertop model after all. If you don’t want to use as much milk you can turn the pitcher at an angle.

That’s it! Definitely more pros than cons. I feel that for the price I paid, I could not have hoped for a better quality machine. I would highly recommend this model if you want something easy and you don’t require tons of frills. If you want something more frilly, go ahead and spend 0 to 00 on one. But I purchased an espresso maker to SAVE time and money (so long, Starbucks!), and this one’s just right for me!

Review by K. Krueger:

I received this for Christmas from my loving wife who noticed a slight cloud over my weekends since my espresso maker went out several months ago. I had the Mr. Coffee model previous to this one. It served me well for over a year with regular use before I learned the hard way about not overpacking the grounds.

After taking this one around the block a few times I have to say I’m extremely impressed with the design improvements they’ve made. Overall, this machine is a tremendous value for under 0 (mine was on sale). You would really have to be a coffee snob (and have a lot of disposable income) not to love what you get for the money (I’m a poor coffee snob.)

To sing this machine’s praises, I’ll highlight the improvments they’ve made:

1) You no longer have to remove the water container to fill it up. It’s an awkward shape to try to fill from my refrigerator. So I just use my frothing pitcher and pour directly into it. This also chills the pitcher – which is good for the frothing I’ll do soon.

2) I LOVE the top tray. I store my espresso cup, tamper (from the old machine – the new one is the only downgrade I’ve noticed), brew basket, and espresso pitchers on it. Did I mention I love the tray? It’s a great design perk.

3) It still heats up quickly. A little faster than before for frothing.

4) They upgraded the design of the filters. Smaller holes that all converge into one hole on the bottom. Note: Don’t put these or the brew basket in the dishwasher – you’ll tarnish them.

5) The bottom of the brew basket is really cool, the single hole from the filter drips onto a silicone (I’m assuming) cone in the basket which appears to guarantee an even drip between two cups of espresso. This only matters if you’re pulling separate shots. It may be overdesigned, but I think it’s cool.

6) There’s more clearance under the brew basket! You couldn’t fit a coffee mug under there before (which is why I have the two espresso pitchers). One (or two) fewer thing to clean!

7) The drip tray has two larger holes in the middle. When your espresso is done (and the machine is off) you can take out the brew basket (it’s bad for the valve to keep it there) and set it on the holes to drip and cool off before cleaning. It’s a brilliant improvement. Also, the drip tray has a spout on it to make it easy to pour out.

The frothing wand swings! Very cool.

Here are my tips (echoing other reviews).

-Read the directions first! It’ll last longer if you do.

-Make sure you use the correct roast and ground size and don’t overpack.

-Play with the brewer until you figure out how long you want to brew (I count to ten).

-Ditch the single filter. You’ll never use it.

-Get some demitasse cups.

-Get a frothing pitcher and use 1% milk.

-Ditch the rubber tip on the frothing wand. It’s useless unless you want to easily grow bacteria.

-After frothing, blow a little steam out the wand so no milk dries and clogs it. Wipe the wand with a damp towel shortly after steaming (it’s easier to clean when it’s hot).

That’s about it, folks. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this one. Even if it only lasted a year, I’d buy another one to replace it and I’d still save money over the more expensive models.

Enjoy!

UPDATE AFTER ONE YEAR: I use it off and on and it’s still working well. The frothing works as well as it did day one. The espresso function works, but I made the mistake of pregrinding some beans at the grocery store with the “Espresso” setting. The machine struggled to force water through even with minimal packing (Next time I’ll try the next largest size). It also seems like the seal isn’t as tight as a year ago. That said, it still pulls a decent shot. For the money, I’m still pleased.

Review by M. Steed:

I have had this machine since February and use it nearly every day. This is definitely one of the best coffeemakers I have ever owned, and I haven’t had one single problem with it.

When I was deciding whether or not to buy it, some of the negative reviews had me a little skeptical. But I am SO glad that I took a chance. It was absolutely worth it for me.

I honestly don’t see how some of the reviewers have had some of the problems that they have. Reviewer ‘Joan of Arc’ seemed to have quite a bit of leakage problems. It must have been a defective machine, because ours hasn’t leaked one time — not even a little drop. I’ll go over a few of the issues she and some others had:

- The removable water reservoir (or “bucket” as she called it) for the coffeemaker is easy to remove and replace. If you don’t want to take it out to fill it with water, just pour water into it. It is marked clearly and is easy to read even when stationed on the machine. No problem.

- The showerhead over the filter basket swivels outward to allow you to change the coffee filter. When you’re done, you just swivel it back into place. I don’t see how you can forget to do it, because the lid is designed so that you can’t even close it if the showerhead isn’t moved back into place. It really isn’t even something you have to think about.

- Some people have had problems with the carafe lid. It doesn’t open fully, but opens wide enough for me to clean it with little problem. We haven’t had any problems with it dripping or leaking at all. It’s like any other carafe that I’ve used over the years.

- ‘Joan of Arc’ mentioned that it was easy for her to forget to put the 1st lid on the espresso side before putting down the second lid. I’m not exactly sure what she was referring to, but I think she meant the water reservoir cap and lid. Again, I don’t see how you could forget to screw the cap back on after you fill it with water. I suppose it’s a learning curve. The first few times I used the machine, I referred to the instruction manual to make sure I did everything right. Now I can crank out good espresso and cappuccino in minutes without really even thinking about it. It just takes a little practice, like with anything else.

- Some people wished for a frother that was a little more accessible to make it a little easier to froth milk in a larger pitcher. That would have been a nice feature. It isn’t too difficult to use, however, and seems to work just fine. The milk is always steaming hot, and the froth doesn’t get cold for us.

- The coffee and espresso COULD be a LITTLE hotter. I don’t like scalding hot coffee anyway, so it doesn’t bother me too much, but for someone that does, it might be a small issue. Again, it doesn’t seem like a deal-breaker, though.

- A clock or timer would have been a nice addition as well, but not having it doesn’t affect the quality of the machine. It would have made a good product even better.

We have used both the coffee side and espresso side many times, and have yet to have any problems. I think some people may have received defective machines, but any product can be purchased defective. Some issues can easily be resolved with a little practice in getting used to the controls and operation of the whole machine, but once you do, it’s more than easy to make good quality coffee and espresso.

I would definitely have to say that I got a great deal on a sleek, stylish machine that also works very well and makes good quality coffee. If you ‘get what you pay for’, then I made out like a bandit. Perfectly satisfied and VERY happy I bought it.

Review by Sabad One:

I purchased this coffee maker a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed many good coffees since. I am Italian, and I find the espresso as good as a good espresso prepared with a moka. This is good enough for me, but don’t expect a REALLY good espresso, the kind you can have in that special little bar in a hidder corner of an Italian city. I did not have any trouble with leaks anywhere, so far (as some reviewer complained about). Only small complain, the espesso sometimes has a “metallic” flavor coming from the high temperatures reached by the water container. But no big deal, overall I am happy I purchased this product so far.

P.S. I posted the review in May 2007 and I am writing this PS one year later, in April 2008. The machine still works perfectly, with no leaks. I have also used the milk frother several times, and it makes a pretty good cappuccino! Maybe I should upgrade my rating to 5 stars!

P.P.S. In February 2009, everything still works fine!

P.P.P.S. In February 2010, this appliance is still working great. Indeed I tried to update my rating from 4 to 5 stars but the web site doesn’t let me do it. Oh, well!

Review by E. kim:

I am a self-confessed coffee junkie. With or w/o the caffeine (pregnancy and such) I love the taste; and the taste of the coffee that I’ve brewed with this machine was great. Loved it, loved it, loved it. The machine was easy to use and looked pretty darn cool sitting there on my counter. The only issue that i have is that the espresso side seems to need some encouragement. The knobs need to be fiddled with a bit in order to get the espresso to start dripping (even after 10 minutes during a holiday party full of thirsty coffee drinkers). Thought that was just b/c my machine was so new, but it’s been doing that ever since the first use. Still, it’s not terribly difficult, and the coffee is oh-so-yummy!

Review by Jeff Chandler:

The second time I used this machine the handle broke off the espresso pot. My wife called into customer service and they said that was unfortunate and as a 1 time courtesy they would replace the espresso pot if we sent a copy of the receipt. We faxed in the receipt showing that the machine was less than a month old. Now 3 months have gone by and I still don’t have the replacement. We emailed Krups a week ago but they haven’t responded. Buy some other espresso machine!

Review by R. E. Easton:

I picked this product up at a local store for mid ’s after getting sick of making my coffee with a stove top espresso machine. I couldn’t see spending 0+ for something conceptually as simple as an espresso machine. I know someone who got a simple Krupps machine for about years ago and it still works just great. But since I couldn’t find anything else in the sub range, I settled on this one.

It makes a fine cup of coffee if you just want to use prepackaged coffee grinds or you use a basic coarse to medium grind. BUT, when I tried to use a very fine grained “espresso” grind on my beans, almost nothing came out. It seems that too fine a grind stops up the filter holes and the machine just doesn’t have the oomph to force the water/steam through.

Also, it does suffer from

- a very difficult to turn knob (don’t get this product if you have arthritis)

- a caraf lid that won’t stay on let alone stay properly oriented

So basically, it’s good for making a medium to fairly strong cup of coffee (by my subjective measure), but if you really want something strong and sludgy, this machine won’t do the trick unless you want to wait for an hour for it to eventually push enough liquid through.

I guess now I understand why espresso machines aren’t cheap. Years of using a really simple stovetop espresso maker led me to believe that they’re really simple machines. But perhaps when you try to package it up as an appliance it isn’t so straight forward.

Review by kermit rohrbach:

I have read so many negative reviews of this wonderful little moka machine, I must put in my 2 cents. First, this is a stream machine, meaning it makes moka not espresso. If you like Bialetti but want cappuccino instead of cafe latte, then this is perfect. The grind must be close to espresso, finer than for Bialetti, and you must tamp it down, but no tamper included. There is only 1 knob, yes it is stiff, but i don’t have arthritis. The round design makes it easy to handle even though it is very light. It descales with…vinegar! How about that, actually a traditional machine. The panarello works, just put in extra “cup” of water for steaming. Make 2 “cups”, not 1 or 4, and always start with cold machine, or use very, very cold water. Stop the brewing as soon as moka hits 2 “cups” or it starts to steam instead of brew, then switch the knob to steam for the milk. If you don’t, coffee will taste slightly burned. I have owned espresso and moka machines from USD5 to USD1,000 over a period of 40 years. If you like moka, don’t waste money on anything more expensive. But, like any machine, read the manual, and experiment if things don’t work the way you want. Finally, garbage in garbage out. If you want great cappuccino, use good organic coffee and organic milk.

Review by Bill Rhodes:

About a year ago I wanted an espresso machine that was easy to use, however I was unwilling to pay 1k or more for a fully automatic machine. The Capresso turned out to be an excellent value, providing ease of use with semi-automatic ground disposal and a reasonably sized water container.In fact, we have experienced only two problems with the Capresso since we bought it: a torn o-ring and clogging. The o-ring tore because I did not clean the rotation mechanism for several months. The accumulated grounds eventually tore into the o-ring, breaking the pressure seal. However, when I called the Capresso help line to discuss our broken o-ring, the help desk agent immediately sent us two replacements in the mail with no questions asked. Total down time for the machine was a mere two days. The clogging was fixed with a complete cleaning, and if truth be told, it did say in the instruction booklet not to use very finely ground coffee.Our last espresso machine, besides breaking after two years, was so difficult to use and clean we only made espresso on special occasions. The Capresso is convenient enough that we use it all the time. In fact, we have used our Mr. Coffee only twice (note the broken o-ring comment above) since we bought the Capresso.After a year of use, I can still strongly recommend this product.

Review by :

I bought this machine after looking around for the perfect one for quite some time. This Espressomaker is unique because of a clever semiautomatic mechanism that doesn’t require the usual, messy tampering and cleaning innate to traditional machines. This device comes at a fraction of the cost of the fully automated ones, but is almost as easy to use. The only little flaw I noted is that the frother will spill a relatively large amount of water (5cc or so) during the first couple of seconds before the full steam gets going. Usually no big deal, but if you froth a small amount of milk, you may want to “catch” these first cc’s first. Otherwise, this machine is perfect. The pump is very strong 18bar, I think) and the crema is excellent. Baseline: If you want a traditional machine, go for a Gaggia or something similar; if you are a (lazy) millionaire, consider one of the fully automated machines (00-2000). Otherwise, there is currently no alternative to the “Ultima”.