Whatever your preference, single or double espresso, cappuccinos, or lattes, the De’Longhi ECP3630 15 Bar Pump Espresso Machine ensures barista quality results at home so you can enjoy your favorite coffee house beverages at home. The advanced cappuccino system with hot milk or cappuccino selector, mixes and steams milk to a rich, creamy froth for evenly textured drinks. Other features include a double layer drip tray, removable water tank, and fill stainless steel housing.
Espresso Machine & Coffeemaker Combos
De'Longhi Bar Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Machine, 15", Stainless Steel
$4.50
| Asin | B00YCP6ZNU |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 9.62"D x 7.25"W x 11.87"H |
| Weight | 9.8 pounds |
| Manufacturer | De'Longhi |
Peter Oliveira –
I am a college student who works as a barista and absolutely loves coffee and espresso. When I first saw this machine at Target, it immediately caught my eye. If you are in a tough financial situation like many college students are, or if you are looking for a beginner machine that won’t cost an arm and a leg, this would definitely be the one. Although this doesn’t have a barometer, for the price point you can’t really complain, especially since it has a pretty good steam wand.
First, I’ll get the leaking issue out of the way. The original unit I received did have the same issue many other reviewer’s did in that it was just leaking a ton of water on my counter. Once I did a return and exchanged it for a same unit though, I noticed the issue was gone. I’m not sure what kind of quality control issues Delonghi is having, but I hope they get it fixed as soon as possible.
Next, I’ll get the cons out of the way. Since this doesn’t have a barometer, you have to kinda just put your trust in the machine and simply taste and experiment as you go until you find the proper grind consistency for a good, layered, shot. Once you find it though, you’ll be happy you did, as shown in the photo above. Second, since this is a manual machine, you’ll have to either use a scale(another reason to buy one) or some other form of measurement to measure your shots for consistency. There is a 2 pack of espresso-measuring shot glasses on amazon that sells for only $12 that I would highly recommend for this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NWGC82N/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QWM2KQN1W5HKTG4977CG
The scoop/tamper this thing comes with is garbage. I hate to say it but since it is plastic and has a weird lip-type thing near the base, it is difficult and actually somewhat painful to hold it in such a way that you can comfortably tamp your espresso. Also, lets be honest. If you are brewing espresso, it’s kinda common knowledge that the best results are gonna be from measuring your beans by weight. Not volume. Just get a kitchen scale if you don’t have one already. My kitchen scale is easily one of my most useful kitchen tools, and if you use it properly, it’ll probably be the same for you too.
The portafilter is a pain in the butt to put on. IDK how Delonghi designed this thing, but in my experience, this portafilter always requires the strength of Hercules to put on straight, even when it’s empty. IDK how this got overlooked, but because of that, even with all my force, I usually end up with the portafilter at a slight angle before I brew.
Final issue: The steam wand. The steam wand is very powerful and is amazing at steaming milk, however the issue I had with it is the control. The steam wand will do 2 things: shoot out steam for steaming milk, or simply shoot out hot water for americanos. Differentiating it between these 2 actions is definitely not an easy task at first, and it is definitely more confusing than it needs to be IMO. If you are having trouble with it, here’s how it works. Turn the dial in front of the machine all the way left to steam milk (wait for ON light to turn on), if the dial is in the ON position, the wand will do a weird thing were it keeps going back and forth between steam and hot water, and then finally turn the dial all the way right for hot water. Once your dial is in the proper position, turn the dial on the side of the machine all the way down to activate the steam wand. Design team definitely could’ve made the steam wand easier to use.
If you are considering this machine, I would highly recommend it. If this is your first espresso machine, keep in mind there are a few extra items you’ll need if you wanna use this thing to it’s fullest potential.
Kitchen scale. If you don’t already have one for other kitchen applications, brewing good espresso is gonna come from consistency above all else. Measuring your beans by weight is already a massive step towards upping your espresso game. You should also be measuring your final product by weight, but you can also measure your shots with the glasses I posted above.
Tamper. You can find the Delonghi one on Amazon for about $20, and once I bought this, I immediately noticed a HUGE difference in the quality of my shots. Since you are supposed to tamp your espresso with approximately 30 lbs of pressure, the only way to comfortably and accurately do this is with an actual tamper. The tamper Delonghi sells on amazon is the perfect size for this and fits like it was designed by NASA or something.
Grinder. Obviously brewing fresh is going to be a huge improvement to any coffee game in general. Don’t cheap out on your grinder. If you want to be as cheap as possible, you can go for a manual burr grinder and just grind your beans by hand. This will also be best for keeping the noise level down. I don’t personally have too much experience with manual grinders, but just look for ones with many good reviews (see if you can find reviews of verified professionals) that mention espresso and grind consistency. If you do have the extra cash, I recommend an electric burr grinder. Never use blade grinders, as they provide no way to give consistent grinds. Probably the cheapest electric burr grinder you’ll be able to find that gives good espresso is the OXO one. I believe it sells for approximately $110. This is the grinder I personally use and while there are better ones on the market, you won’t be able to find any at the same price point.
Steaming pitcher. Believe it or not, you will need one of these if you want to do things properly. You can find some pretty cheap ones on amazon at around $10. You’ll want a steaming pitcher for 2 reasons. 1, for easier and more accurate milk measuring as well as pouring your milk for latte art if that interests you. 2, and the more important reason is this: Milk burns at 170F and breaks at 158F. Because of this, you need to be able to quickly gauge your milk’s temperature so that you know when to stop steaming. Using a glass measuring cup may look ideal, but it will take so long for the heat to transfer to the outside of the cup that you may have already broke or burnt your milk by the time the outside of the cup feels hot. This is why steaming pitchers are so thin and are metal. Faster heat transfer means more accurate gauging of temp so you know when to stop steaming your milk.
While it will take you some practice, with the proper tools and technique, this is in my opinion, probably one of the best espresso machines to start with or for anybody if you are confined by size or price.
T Smith –
After making espresso triple shots for my morning brew exclusively for the last few decades or so, I’ve seen
these basic machines go through their life-cycles, working great to start, pushing back the inevitable with descaling,
then eventually the pump fails toncut the mustard and no amount of cajoling can make it caffeinate your AM
any longer.
I had a basic Krups that lasted about 5 years and thought that was a real pity.
My next machine was a Braun that required a different manual of arms to operate, but brought superheated
steam into the kitchen. It advertised a pump that pressurized the the pre-espresso a life-changing amount.
That one failed to keep it up after a couple of years, but we partially restored it with various attempts to descale.
After 8 years about, itwas dissected for fun and a nervous looking DeLonghi took its place on the trials counter.
It lasted a gear, the pump began to make a shattering sort of sound and the output tasted of dying machine.
It was replaced, of course, with another DeLonghi. This was the EC155. It worked very wellfor a solid two years,
December 2016 gift until stopped making sufficient pressure to form espresso, just sort of dribbling hot liquid from the pressure cup in a sad parody of its younger self. It had been a mighty contender, frampling well tamped filter basquets
of very fine grounds and producing awesome amounts of crema.
Enter the EC3420. It promises a host (one or two?) of new, fantastical featurs I’m not sure how we have thus far lived without. But now that it’s on the counter of espresso machine deat, how well does it perform compared to the last,
$35 less expensive, but very adequate machine? I don’t really cotten to the three categories suggested anove, “Blending Power”? Not sure what that means. I compare its vagueity to “Streaming Experience.” Ill defined, and not wholly
applicable. Instead, let’s look at what was promised and also what is expected of such machine:
⚫︎ heating the water to make espresso it takes a very long time, minutes. Ok, Ill wait for the first cup, but even then it doesn’t heat enough water for a double, much less a triple. The first double winds up less than optimally hot! The manual says it won’t probably be right until at least thesecondcup. What? I’m supposed to waste water and time and electricty getting this thing ready to make one good shot? The cheaper machine was ready to do its best when the ready light came on, this one is not ready….
⚫︎Water jug: the reservoir is nice and large; I’m guessing that you could get 3 or 4 triples out before needing to replenish. It lifts right out for filling or cleaning or just to admire it, but it’s so tall you can’t lift it underneath the inevitable over counter cabinet, you’ll bave to move the machine, usually not too big of a deal
⚫︎Cup-warmer: oh, wow, a new feature. Not good, not good at all! It could warm the average ‘cup’ in about 6 hours. It reached an astonishing 88°F in my 68°F kitchen. As for heat transfer, the warming surface is sheet steel, not a heavy gauge, so it doesn’t have much mass to gain energy to transfer, so heating even small, tiny little cups in a cool room isnot effective. I believe it is transferring heat from the water charge heater, wasting it in an ineffective feature that instead robs needed heat energy from the main purpose of the machine, making a decently warm espresso!
⚫︎CREMA: the EC155, the cheaper cousin, uses a different basket and strainer that has fewer and less fine holes in the strainer. It produces two or three times the amount of CREMA or cream and brown colored coffee foam. I like the foam, I think it adds to the end product, along with sufficient heat and extraction (and properly fresh ground good quality beans) I would count it as one of the legs of a great espresso. So far this machine, the EC3420, is barely producing good CREMA.
⚫︎Hot water delivery through a nozzle for tea and such. That seems to work ok though once again, especially with the volume of an entire mug as tea or hot chocolate are typically served, this is not a sufficient hot water producing machine. It is labeled to consume 1100 Watts, but I have seen water heaters operate at 1100 Watts that produce water that is suitably hot for the task, and this machine does not.
I have to rate it ★★ two stars out of five ★★★★★ for poor performance of its basic function, to make a decent, warm, CREMA covered espresso.
Yani L Brankov –
This is a full-blown espresso maker. It cheapens out on some materials, mostly in the enclosure. Those are lightweight plastic parts which may not last long years, but all in all the machine is well worth the price.
On the other hand, the main espresso making parts are solid stainless steel: boiler and group head. They are the same or better than in 2x-3x more expensive models.
The machine makes pretty good espresso out of the box. It can be easily upgraded to improve further. If you already own a fine burr grinder, for an extra $25 you can get a quality bottomless portafilter. It helps to extract coffee and produce real crema just like a professional machine. Without a fine grind control, the pressurized basket is a good plan-b.
The tray under the filter is removable which exposes a lower inner tray. It allows for quite taller cups like cappuccino or latte. It’s a bonus considering how restrictive many other machines are.
Nicolas –
Disclaimer: I am writing as a first-time owner of an espresso machine.
The machine feels solid and works as I expected. The coffee tastes good and forms a nice crema, and the milk wand works well too.
The only difficulty with cleaning is with two-part filters that clip into the portafilter handle: The inner filter plate has a small rubber tab on the seal that you pull to pop it out of the filter cup, and that tab is difficult to get a grip on. But you can soon find a technique to work around that.
Note that it is a manual machine, so you need to start and stop the brewing process yourself. I prefer it like that rather than a fixed amount of brew.
Complaint: I purchased the machine in “Used – Like New” condition from Amazon with the assurance that it “Looks and functions as it if were new. Minor packaging damage observed during inspection.” In fact, the packaging was in excellent condition, with all the documents, etc. but the machine itself was clearly used because the milk wand had dry milk on it. Also the combo tamper/scoop was missing entirely from the box. It does work correctly though and doesn’t have any damage or wear.
campromise –
We did not want to get an expensive espresso machine that we thought might have features we would not need, such as the water filteration, since we have a system for our water already. We didn’t need a machine with a coffee grinder since we have a good electric burr coffee grinder. So we settled for this De’Longhi Bar Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Machine, 15″, Stainless Steel, on sale for $111.00. Now that we have used the machine, I will tell you what is great about it…. 1. It is a simple machine, easy to use, not complicated. 2. There is no involved cleaning regiment required. 3. It is quick and easy to do 2 delicious coffees quickly in the morning. 4. This machine produces beautiful crema on our espresso shot.
The things I wish this machine came with, but for the price, we can work around it… 1. I am not real happy with the frother wand. I now know those that come with 3 holes and on a ball joint are most desireable . 2. This one would have been one of the best, but it is 6 x higher in price, it is the Breville Barista Express Impress, Stainless Steel at $699.00. It does have the better frother wand, the automatic tamper on the side of the machine, and grinder grinds right into the portafilter.
But after it is all said and done, we are pretty happy with the results we get from this machine, where we really enjoy each cup of coffee, whether it be an espresso, a long coffee, or a cappuccino. But to tell you the truth, the coffee is so good only because of whom I share it with. <3
Katie –
**** UPDATE AFTER 4 YEARS OF USE****
Well it’s May 2020 now, and I purchased this machine back in 2016. It has now been through 2 apartment moves, and STILL works like a dream… but recently it developed an inconsistent leak. I’ve woken up twice now to it having leaked on the countertop overnight. Not too much, and it hasn’t done it every night. But still enough to be worried I’ll someday have to replace it. For $100 or so dollars though, and especially after being used almost every single day for 4 years, this machine has STILL been one of the best and most reliable things I have ever purchased in my life.
I still have to get my coffee beans ground at 1 notch more corse than espresso, however I’ve had a trusty coffee/spice grinder that gets a perfect grind every time (and its also cheap and over 8 years old).
I’m pretty sure my last move (across 3 states) was the reason it has now started to leak, and I’m sad that I will one day have to part with it… but I’m writing this review because I truly just can’t recommend this product enough. I have not been paid or given anything to write this or any reviews, I just want the amazon world to know it’s a great machine for the price.
Happy coffee making, espresso drinkers out there!
______________________________________________________________
I never write reviews for anything I purchase on Amazon (yet I read reviews for everything I purchase), and I’m so glad I chose this machine when looking for a new espresso maker. Personally, I am really hands on with my coffee in the mornings. I am not a "push a button and go" kinda girl, so if you are looking for that, maybe look elsewhere? This machine can be a bit finicky at times.
It’s so easy to use, and relatively mess free. It is a bit loud, but that doesn’t bother me. It works like a breeze, and produces consistently great pours with beautiful crema markings. The milk frother works wonderfully with any type of milk (I only use almond or coconut milk). Being a barista years back I learned some milks are really hard to get a nice velvety foam, and this machine does just that with almond milk! It’s not latte art quality, but juuuuust close enough that it could be.
Here’s my advice after owning this machine for a few months now…
1. Start off with some Illy ground espresso in the can (like a previous reviewer had mentioned) so that you can have good tasting espresso while you get used to how your machine works. Tamp your espresso lightly!! Don’t cram it in there or it will ruin the flow!
2. Once you get used to how the Illy grounds work with your machine, then you can move on to local coffee shop beans. The reason being that the coffee grounds have more oils in them and are ground a bit more fine so it doesn’t come out in a flow, but more of a drip. I typically put my cup right where the drip comes out, and it flows evenly for a perfect crema. Ask your barista for their particular choice in espresso beans when you go to your local roaster. I prefer Peet’s Coffee or Philz Coffee’s Aromatic Arabic, but make sure you ask them to grind 1 step more coarse then the typical espresso grind to make it a little easier on yourself..
3. Always wipe your machine after use. I know I can be busy at times and forget to take out the tamp and empty the used espresso out, but try to always wipe the milk frother after use, and wipe down your machine. It comes apart easily so you can really get in there. At least 3 days I do a full rinse of the machine. I know I should do it after every single use, but I have had no problems thus far.
4. Last but not least, make sure you get a ***small*** milk pitcher and tamp (I bought mine from the seller New Star Foodservice since it was priced right and well made). I know you get a 2 in 1 scoop and tamp with this machine, but look for something slightly heavy and stainless steel.
paula w meredith –
As I said we have had it for a few months. Since April 14 2024. I really love it. I had it on hold in my cart for a few months. And had been thinking about it prior. Our drip coffee maker was making a lot of funny noises and sounded like a model t. We have a place near us that makes really good cappuccino, that we would to for lunch a Latin restaurant. Is very good coffee. But to this expresso maker review it is very easily a great little machine I have not had a problem with it at all all you do is add water and well ground coffee. I ordered Ill coffee first went thru that quickly. I must admit that we drank a lot of coffee that first week. Tried different coffee brands and settled on el bustello. The fit of parts, the easy way to take it apart and clean, the steaming the milk. We use whole grass fed milk. We,l,make each three cups of cappuccino every morning. So you see it is well used. Hope it doesn’t wear out but so far it is great and sturdy. Love it. Would I buy it again. Yes. Would I recommend it yes.
Jessielee887 –
I have been meaning to write a review on this machine for a long time. I consider myself not just a heavy coffee drinker, but someone who appreciates the many forms you can make it. After a while drinking espresso drinks, like Americanos and lattes, I decided to invest in something for my home because I was spending too much money at coffee shops. Like most normal people, I don’t have $500 plus to spend on one but I also was not interested in buying something completely cheap and wasteful for $35 like you will see some of these machines.
When I purchased this machine it was about $200, and it looks like the price has dropped since then, but I will say that for someone on a budget, this was a really great purchase that gets you very close to what you would produce from a high-end machine if you learn to use it to practice. It took me a little bit of time to figure out exactly how to get my espresso the way I enjoyed it, but when I finally did I used it every single day for probably more than six months. It does not take very long to prepare when you turn on the machine so the water is hot and ready to go within a minute or two. It does come with a plastic tab and I do recommend getting some accessories to go with it so you get as close to high-quality espresso as possible. Through trial and error you will find how hard to pack the coffee, because if it is too compact you will not be able to run the steam through it as the pressure is not strong enough. It will come out dripping instead of flowing and when it comes out that slow it tends to be extremely bitter and usually ended up down the drain. Eventually you will find the Best way to pack the coffee, how much time to run the machine, and how to properly clean it. If at first you are not enjoying the product you were making I highly recommend continuing to practice until you find what suits your needs.
When you turn on the machine after preheating, you flip the switch to make the espresso. It does not have an automatic off switch, meaning you can pull the coffee as long as you want depending on your preference. I discovered that the best way for me to make what I want was by using a particular size cop and when I reached the top of the cup that typically was the strength of espresso I wanted. It is a little difficult to clean, but it does have a function to run water through it to clean it and flush out remaining espresso grounds.
I use this every single morning for probably at least six months. I made everything from quad shot Americanos to hot and iced mochas and lattes. The machine comes with two different kinds of cups to insert into the portafilter. I believe one is a 2 cup deep and the other is one cup. I always used the deeper cup so I could make strong espresso. One fun little tidbit about this machine is when you open the lid where the water reservoir is, there is a place to store the cup that you are not using. Removing the water reservoir and feeling it is completely simple. Occasionally if you do not press it into the machine well enough it will not seal and you will not be able to pull the water through, just make note of that when putting the water reservoir back in.
One of the biggest pitfalls of this machine is the steam wand. It is very short, you can adjust length of wand to be made either for hot milk or cappuccinos. My big complaint about this is that it is a very small one. I had to buy the tiniest stainless steel frothing pitcher, because the steaming wand was so short you could not even reach the bottom otherwise. This resulted in your steamed milk exploding all over. In addition, there is a rubber seal inside the steaming wand and at some point mine just started to completely shoot off because the steam coming out was stronger than the seal so essentially, the steamy one was useless to me. Additionally, the steaming wand seemed to have trouble producing steam versus shooting out scalding hot water. It seems like you had to run it for quite a while before you would get steam only. This was the only part of the machine that I found to be too cheap to use. It was by no means a dealbreaker for me because I found that heating and frothing milk with a separate appliance was actually better quality milk anyway. If I could purchase a machine just like this and skip the steaming wanted to save money I would much prefer that. Next, is the temp that comes with the product. It is cheap plastic, and serves virtually no purpose. It is very cheap to just buy one here on Amazon. In the six months or so that I can use my machine every single day I never had to do a deep cleaning. However, I packed it up and moved across the country with it and when I attempted to use it one day it came out terrible. I’m hoping that although it was not used for quite a few months that it still has the ability to work by breaking it in again. If it doesn’t, I still feel as though I got my moneys worth because of how much I did use it when it was working fine before I moved.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with this machine, keeping in mind that it is on the lower end of price but it produces relatively high quality espresso for being $200.
To summarize:
-Trial and error at the beginning is the best way to find your preference in strength and taste of espresso.
-Part Of trial and error is figuring out how much coffee to put in and how hard to Tamp it.
-If you remove the water reservoir to refill, make sure you press it back in very hard or it may not seal and you will not be able to suck up the water.
-When pulling a shot, it does not turn off automatically. You need to watch it, and a few seconds before you decide the quantity of espresso is enough, you then turn it off, because it will drip for a few seconds longer.
-For consistent espresso I recommend using a cup that you can use as a measuring tool so you know when to turn it off.
-In my opinion, the steaming wand is useless, and you are better off getting a separate appliance if you are going to make cappuccinos, lattes, etc.
-I did not do regular maintenance on cleaning and things turned out OK, but that could be why it does not work very well now that I have not used it in a few months. I’m eventually going to figure out if the espresso machine is completely useless after being retired or if there is a way to break it back in.
-It can stand up to every day use, for how long I’m not sure, but for me it was 6+ months.
-When you attach the Portafilter, take note that it has gone in correctly or it wilL not thread appropriately and it will make a huge mess, dripping out the sides.
-When you thread the Portafilter on to the machine, eventually the handle can become loose from all the tightening and loosening. If the handle were to break I’m sure there are replacements that are easy to get.
-It is relatively compact and I was very impressed with how little space it did take up on the counter.
-If you want to do this "right" you will probably want to purchase other appliances to have the best experience possible.
-If after months without use it no longer is functional, I will probably replace it with a second one similar or identical to this, because as far as I am concerned, I used it very heavily for a long time, which is worth $200.
As many people will say, it does not make sense to buy a machine like this without investing in the accessories that really allow you to enjoy your espresso the way you should be able to. I’ll put the recommended accessories below here:
-Metal tamp (cheap on Amazon)
-Small cup for your espresso. I like using one that is about the size of a small tea cup that you would use with sake or jasmine tea because it is the perfect size to gauge when I am finished making my shot.
-Burr Grinder (I have Baratza Virtuoso for $229). This is obviously not necessary, but there is a reason why it is so expensive. It makes incredible ground coffee to your liking that you can adjust from extremely fine for espresso to extremely course for a French press. It was a big investment.
-Automatic electric milk frother and warmer ( can run you about $30-$40 on Amazon)
-Somethung to use to make boiling water. I prefer an electric kettle with various temperature settings because if you can’t tell, I’m a pretty big enthusiast. But you can just boil water on the stove. I don’t recommend running water through the espresso machine because I think it will come out tasting like old coffee grounds after you make your shot. I have a Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp appliance that was $85 but if he eats various temperatures for different kinds of tea and French press, and addition to boiling. It also has a keep warm function. I love it.
-Espresso knock box for getting rid of used coffee grounds, but that is by no means necessary, you can also just use the trashcan but you might lose the little cup inside if you hit too hard (they are not very expensive, maybe $15, it may not be worth the space it takes up)
-Torani syrups if you prefer flavored lattes. I buy the vanilla syrup because I use it not just in lattes but in making my own homemade whipped cream. It is especially delicious when making iced lattes.
– when I made hot mochas I would use Penzey’s Hot Chocolate Powder. I found it to be much more delicious than any kind of liquid syrup for chocolate, and really made incredible mochas, if not just hot chocolate alone
-I decided to buy something to make homemade whipped cream, and an aluminum 1 pint whipped cream dispenser ran me about $40, but mind you, you need to purchase nitrous inserts. It seems like a lot, but when you love homemade whipped cream enough it truly is worth it. Sidenote, good organic heavy whipping cream with a splash of the vanilla syrup mentioned above is an excellent way to get thick delicious whipped cream. However, for whatever reason, you need to use all of that whip cream within a few days or it does turn sour fast. If you can’t use it fast then I recommend getting a half pint dispenser.
-Nitrous inserts are pretty cheap, inserts are pretty cheap, about $8 for a 10 pack. Each dispenser is good for 1 pint of whip cream.
-Although I was really bad with maintenance, you will probably want to get a cleaning kit to remove hard water buildup etc. over time.
Yes, that is a lot. Yes, the coffee grinder cost more than the espresso machine, yes those are a lot of accessories if you want to go espresso crazy. However, if you can maintain it you can have incredibly delicious drinks and stay out of coffee shops for a very long time. if you use it every single day like I did and pull anywhere from 2 to 6 shots a day that would have amounted to probably $4-$8 a day, if not more, and the best part is that I can always refill the whipped cream after I drink it off the top.
This is a really great way to invest in being an at-home barista who not only takes interest in the art of making these drinks but also is looking to avoid expensive coffee shops. I hope this helps!
Fabian Alexis Becerra –
** I have to clarify that this does not happen often, in fact this is the second time in my years at Amazon that this has happened to me.**
** The facts:
The machine is used, it arrived without the protective plastic on the steel surfaces, the group head was dirty, had coffee residue, and had scratches on the steel surfaces, cup base, and plastic parts. The cup warmer does not work.
** My opinion (ignoring the situation):
The machine has a nice, neat and clean appearance, they take very good care of the finishes, I think the materials used are of good quality. Personally, I think the silver version is the nicest of the 3 available.
The base where the cup is placed is removable to allow the use of a larger cup or a medium sized glass. It should be noted that the space of the cup seems to be designed for the sizes of commercially used coffee cups and glasses, that is, if you want to use any cup, you will find that the space is insufficient, it is even difficult to place a scale under the cup, this is because the space is designed for a commercial cup, and the cups that are sold for coffee usually respect a certain standard in their size and capacity.
3 filters are included, for 1 and 2 cups, and for pods, the filters are pressurized, so it is advisable to carefully select the coffee to be used, as well as the ground coffee, to obtain good results.
On this point, my personal recommendation would be to change the filter holder for a non-pressurized one, this will force us to change the filters as well, but the results will be better. I leave you an example, but there are many brands, choose the one that best suits your preferences: https://www.amazon.com/portafilter-Delonghi-bottomless-Stainless-Replacement/dp/B09W5QY63R
It comes with a plastic spoon that is also a tamper, we can say that it fulfills its function, but the ideal is to acquire a tamper that is a little more professional, in fact there are very complete kits, but that is another story. I leave you an example, but there are many brands, choose the one that best suits your preferences: https://www.amazon.com/Espresso-Tamping-Station-Distributor-Cleaning/dp/B0CCCY8MVQ
The steam nozzle seemed a little short to me, but it could be because I am used to big machines, I saw on YouTube that it can be replaced with a longer one, perhaps this could be an improvement for those who make intensive use of the steam nozzle.
Cleaning the machine can be complicated, and this is true for all espresso machines, whether home or professional. For home use, it is essential to clean the machine after each brewing cycle to avoid damaging the machine and to prevent coffee residues from accumulating in the group head or milk in the steam nozzle.
To make the cleaning a little easier, the ideal is to attach a filter to prevent the group head from filling with coffee residues. I leave you one as an example: https://www.amazon.com/Normcore-Screen-Espresso-Portafilter-Contact/dp/B09DD7Z8M9/
** General recommendations:
Be very patient, when I started, the coffee was terrible, it takes some time and practice to get to know the machine, discover the little tricks and achieve good coffee.
Be very clean and tidy, cleaning the machine can be tedious, but it is necessary, this will prolong the life of the machine and prevent the accumulation of coffee and milk, contamination and proliferation of bacteria.
Having an adjustable coffee grinder, the grinding level must be adjusted according to each type of preparation, and also to the espresso machine, this guarantees that we can enjoy a good coffee, with body, aroma and flavor.
Taking a barista course, not necessarily a very advanced one, in fact the basic one is a good starting point, it is important to understand the nature of the machine, the coffee, the milk and other additives that are used in this niche.
Take it easy, this is a niche market and there are a thousand and one accessories that you can buy and it is easy to feel overwhelmed, start with the basics, familiarize yourself with the machine and then purchase the accessories that you think are appropriate according to your needs.
Kindle Customer –
I’ve had this machine for 4 months now. I’m in college and a mom to two very busy kids. I need coffee of some kind and prefer espresso by a mile. This thing works. We had a good grinder and scale already so 120 for this and a couple accessories (espresso shot cup, tamp) was worth it to me. And it makes a decent cup. The wand works reasonably well. At this price it does everything I could want. When other machines are hundreds and some a thousand dollars, this is the best machine I think you can get for the price. We have used it everyday since we got it and it hasn’t needed descaled yet but I probably will soon for my own peace of mind but we do only use filtered water in it so I don’t know if that might help. Mine doesn’t leak onto the counter but while your steaming it may leak from the espresso spout, not a ton normally and I usually just put the shot glass back under to catch the drips.