De'Longhi - Dinamica Espresso Machine with 15 bars of pressure and LatteCrema Fully Automatic Milk Frother - Silver

The De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica with LatteCrema system, featuring an LCD Display screen, is De'Longhi's premiere Espresso machine, designed to bring the taste of a cafe to your home. However, there are good and bad traits of this machine. Pros: Fully Automated Choice of Foam Options Can use coffee/espresso beans Programming Options Choice of Drinks Self-Rinsing Cons: Not Intuitive Watered Down Coffee What Directions? Flat Taste First, the pros of this machine; the ECAM35075SI is fully automated. Meaning, you have eighteen drink choices to choose from (from the "Drink Menu," featuring latte, espresso, coffee, flat white), etc. Or, you can select the popular quick menu buttons that are pre-programmed to brew the following: Long, Latte, Cappuccino, Flat, Espresso, and poured over iced coffee. Additionally, you may select one of the eighteen menu options by selecting the "Drink Menu" and choosing one of the pre-programmed Nespresso/coffee drinks (using the arrows to scroll through the list). Most of the time, depending on the choice, the user may have to install the milk frother attachment (by pulling out the hot water spout and attaching the milk frother), or you may have to fill the water tank. Again, the ECAM35075SI walks you through the necessary steps to brew your drink choice, which is one of its strong points (though we will talk about pre-programmed aroma and coffee strength options that become problematic down the road). One of my favorite features of this machine is the option to set how you want your milk to froth. You can choose a flat, a foamy, or a very foam froth for your latte, cappuccino, etc. The Milk Frother does an excellent job creating a perfect texture and creamy taste. When you finish choosing your milk (for me, I chose milk alternatives such as Rice and Oat milk), the machine will self-rinse itself. Again, a fantastic feature for this machine because it runs a hot water rinse to rid of any milk residue leftover. Likewise, as a consumer who used to purchase pods for both a Keurig and Nespresso machine, and being able to purchase packaged coffee or espresso beans (ground or whole bean) was a breath of fresh air. Truthfully, when made right, the coffee should have a quality taste (more on this later). Additionally, you can change the coffee aroma (by pressing the coffee bean button) for a stronger crema option, and you may change the grind quality of the coffee bean too. Speaking of grind quality, you have to change the bean grind setting while the machine is currently grinding (the directions say not to do this when "not in use," which to me is strange). Unfortunately, the machine does have negative qualities that you cannot ignore. For instance, when customizing your drink options, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI provides a "status bar" along the way, which helps you know when your drink is finished being made (not a terrible feature). However, when you are creating your "own" latte, cappuccino, or a flat white, your Milk will continue to froth, and the glass will keep filling (there is no indication in the directions that you should press "OK" when finished programming your milk portion). Again, finding out the hard way when Milk overflowed out of the glass when I was programming the "my drink" menu was not ideal. The directions did not specifically walk you through how to program your own "drink menu." Unfortunately, the pre-programmed coffees that I selected (let us look at Latte for this example) I found the espresso/coffee was not very strong at all. I understand that with frothing Milk, and espresso mixing are delicate, and you want the perfect aroma/blend of flavor and crema. To me, the machine misses the mark balancing taste with caffeine intake (I included pictures of a pre-programmed latte and my version of a latte). When using the pre-programmed options, I found the mixture of espresso-to-milk flat (milk frothing was done well, but there was no taste). Additionally, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica has an issue brewing plain black coffee. The coffee itself was flat, watered down, and it did not have a taste at all. My Keurig machine makes a better black coffee option, unfortunately. As I previously mentioned, the machine's directions are not very intuitive, and a lot of the learning of the machine is done on the part of the consumer (drink menu options, adjusting quality, playing around with taste and preferences). My suggestion for De'Longhi would be to offer instructional videos to further help consumers with their products, for the exact purpose of informing and helping consumers understand a somewhat complex machine. One tip I would suggest is to have another glass ready while in-use. The De'Longhi ECAM35075SI self-cleans itself each time you turn the machine on, off, and when you are finished frothing Milk. Unfortunately, your drip tray will fill up rather quickly. Likewise, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI will always let you know when you have to empty the grounds container, drip tray, and when to add water. Overall, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica with LatteCrema system provides an extensive choice of coffee options and an excellent self-cleaning function. The De'Longhi ECAM35075SI will walk you through making pre-programmed drinks, cleaning, and emptying/replacing cartridges and water. In general, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI froths Milk for the ideal Latte, Cappuccino, etc., but where it fails is the milk-to-espresso (and water mixing). Unfortunately, the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI fails to mix the proper water-to-milk portions, often leaving a flat or watered-down latte. However, with patience and customization, I was able to create my ideal Latte and other milk-based espresso drinks, which the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica with LatteCrema system excels at. I would recommend the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica with LatteCrema system if you, the consumer, can program your own drinks to your liking (again, I would not suggest the quick menu choices based on the quality of coffee I experienced). Though, once you figure out what you want (with a little grind), the De'Longhi ECAM35075SI Dinamica with LatteCrema system is a viable option.

Now that so many people are working from home, a lot of people are looking for a high quality coffee machine for home since they’re not caffeinating up at their favorite café. If you’re considering this machine, then you likely know what a good cup of coffee tastes like. And, you’re also probably wondering what you get by spending this much versus less. Well, until now, I’ve been using another manufacturer’s espresso maker that retails for around $800, so can give you some comparison. The bottom line is this De'Longhi Dinamica makes excellent espresso drinks, looks sleek, and would be a great add to any kitchen. Overall I give it 4.5 stars, losing a half star because it could use better documentation. PROs • Set up is simple and the machine comes fully assembled. Like many espresso makers, a litmus strip is included to adjust the machine to your water’s hardness. • The LCD outputs text so you don’t have to decode blinking lights like our other coffee maker. • There’s a bean hopper bypass that lets you make a cup of coffee with pre-ground beans different that what’s in the hopper. This is useful, for example, if you want to make a cup of decaf. And, if you make a Long coffee using the bypass, the machine will run the brew cycle once, then prompt you to add more grinds for a second cycle. With our other machine, you have to manually run through two cycles to get a Long when using its bypass. • Drink strength or aroma has 5 levels of adjustment versus 3 for our other machine. This allows for a finer customization. I was able to find a better balance between acidity, fruitiness and bitterness with the same beans on the De'Longhi versus our other machine. • There’s a greater variety of drinks available on the De'Longhi compared to our other machine. There are dedicated buttons for Espresso, Iced Coffee, Long, Cappuccino, Latte and Hot Milk (no coffee). Using the Drink Menu button, you also can pick from Coffee, Lungo, Ristretto, Double Espresso+, Cappuccino+, Cappuccino Mix, Latte, Macchiato, Flat White, Espresso Macchiato, 2 Espresso, 2 Lungo and Hot Water (no coffee). When Iced Coffee is selected, the coffee is made slightly stronger to offset the dilution from the ice. The Hot Milk option is nice in case you want to heat or froth milk without having coffee. Our other coffee machine does not froth milk without coffee, though it does have a hot water option. • Both the De'Longhi and our other machine have rinse cycles upon startup and shutdown to clear out the brewing mechanism, or infuser as De'Longhi calls it. Though you can let the water pour into the drip tray, we prefer to catch it in glass so we don’t have to empty the drip tray as often. What surprised me was the rinse water from the De'Longhi is much clearer than the water from our other machine (see photo). Perhaps this is just because the other machine is older and so dirtier with grounds, even though we clean it weekly. We’ll see if the De'Longhi’s rinse changes, but for now it seems more efficient in extracting coffee from the beans. • Standby time before the machine automatically shuts off is adjustable from 30 min to 3 hrs. This gives you a generous range so that you don’t have to restart the machine in between cups of coffee. Our other machine has a fixed unspecified standby timer of about 30 minutes or so. That means if I have a 1 hour Zoom meeting, I need to restart the machine again for the next cup, which not only takes a minute to do, but wastes water because it goes through its rinse cycles. • The De'Longhi is easier to maintain than our other machine. It does not require periodic lubrication, and its infuser is recommended to be cleaned monthly. Our other machine requires monthly lubrication and weekly cleaning of its infuser. Also, the internals don’t get as dirty in the De’Longhi. When the infuser is pulled out of the De’Longhi, there are not many grounds spilled over in the inside. With our other machine, we have to sweep the inside weekly of spilled grounds. This probably goes hand-in-hand with why its rinse water is also dirtier. • De'Longhi’s milk container can be stored with milk in the fridge. This is much more more convenient than our other machine whose milk container must be washed after every use. • Lastly, the De'Longhi is quieter (though not necessarily quiet) compared to our other machine. Plus, its bean grinding sound is not as harsh to the ear. CONs • Documentation is a let down. There is no description of what the drinks mean or how they are made by the machine, which may or may not be what you’re used to from a café. For example, what’s the difference between a Double Espresso+ and 2 Espresso? And then there’s a Cappuccino Mix in the manual, but does not show up on the machine as an option. Many cafes use a double shot of espresso as the standard when ordering an Americano. Coffee, which is the equivalent of Americano in the De'Longhi, however, is made with a single shot. On the other hand, Long is made with two shots using two brew cycles, but has less overall water than a Coffee. De'Longhi really needs documentation or a website explaining what their drink definitions are so I can compare them to my favorite café. • Speaking of drink definitions, the directly selectable drink buttons on the machine only have icons, no labels. It’s easy to forget what they mean. We’ve had to print out a menu and keep it by the machine to remind us. The buttons start making the drink as soon as you press them. Since there are no button descriptions, it might have been better if the first press brings up the button’s label, and a second press starts the drink. Our other machine has labels. • The milk frother works better than the one on our other coffee maker, but the milk or foam does not get as hot as I’d like in either one. This is likely to avoid getting scalded milk in the internal mechanism. If you’re serious about milk foam, you’ll want a separate steamer or frother that gives you more control. • The water container has a max fill line but really needs a min fill line as well. A couple of times now I've started making a drink thinking there’s enough water, only to have the machine pause and ask me to add water. So is the De’Longhi as good as my favorite café? The coffee itself is excellent and on par after some experimentation with beans, aroma strength, and grind setting. I certainly prefer the froth and foam from a café, though. What about compared to our $800 machine from another brand? Arguably yes, though neither makes a bad cup. What you get by spending more for the De’Longhi is a higher level of customization, a greater variety of drinks, a more modern appearance, less maintenance, and no irritating grinder noise. If it’s in your budget, it’s well worth getting.

REVIEW: DE'LONGHI DINAMICA WITH LATTECREMA™ Best Buy Tech Insider Network We had been using single serve coffee pods machines for about 10 years. Once we got the hang of Dinamica and used our own beans, we found it to be better than the best we have had previously. The De'Longhi - Dinamica Coffee Maker and Espresso Machine is fully automatic. The Dinamica could not be any easier to operate. For most drinks, even complex ones, you just press a button and walk away. I can’t speak as to how it might compare to a craftsperson with 50 years of experience making espresso’s by hand, but for us, it is pretty much the best coffee or espresso we’ve had and certainly the best we’ve made at home. There are several errors and important omissions in the quick start guide. I highly recommend the De'Longhi - Dinamica for its taste, convenience, and quality. BEST FEATURES - Fully Automatic Everything - Built-in Burr Grinder and a Decent Sized Hopper - High Quality Overall Build - Step-by-Step Automatic Recipes - Self-Cleaning, With Auto Shut Off and Eco Mode - The Bypass Hopper Is Nice for Pre-Ground Decaf Or Flavored Coffee. - Removable Storage for The Milk Overall, the Dinamica consistently produces great coffee drinks with rich flavor and a smooth finish. SETUP: There are several easy steps in setting up the unit, from testing water hardness, to several pre-rinse cycles. Also, be prepared to toss out many cups of coffee (per the instructions) during the set-up process. My frustration was not that the setup was particularly difficult, but instead, that the directions were sometimes confusing and incomplete. In some cases, these inconsistencies might damage the machine. THE BREW: Once we went with our own beans, the coffee went from merely OK to FANTASTIC. I’ve settled on the Ristretto as my go to espresso drink, while my wife loves the Cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. The iced coffee was “the best” she ever had. Even something as simple as a basic cup of coffee has an elevated flavor profile when using this machine. The drinks do not have an especially tall crema, but that does not matter to me. I’m more interested in the overall taste, which is incredible. The built-in steamer is well-designed and easy to use. The convenience of being able to remove the milk reservoir to store in the fridge is very user friendly. The adjustable foam setting on the steamer is very cool. WRAP UP The De'Longhi - Dinamica Coffee Maker and Espresso Machine is nearly perfect, but could use some improvement in the manual and how the user interfaces with the machine. It should be cheaper to operate the Dinamica long term over most single cup pod brewers. The pods for many high-end single cup brewers are in the $1-$2 each range. Now that you can make fresh ground single cup coffees without any fuss, why would you ever go back to a “pod based” solution? A pound of premium locally roasted espresso beans is well under $20 / pound for gourmet beans or under $10 for brand name espresso beans. In a household with a few coffee drinkers and a few cups per day each, the Dinamica should pay for itself in only a few months over pod machines. Additionally, there is no more guilt over the environmental waste of pod systems. I would recommend the De'Longhi - Dinamica Coffee Maker and Espresso Machine to anyone who wants some of the best coffee available in an automatic home unit. READ ON FOR INSTRUCTION RELATED MINUTIA AND FOR TIPS SOME OPERATING TIPS - The Bean Hopper does not know when it is getting low on beans (only when totally out), so you must keep it topped off. Otherwise, if you wait until you get a weak drink, you then must toss the next few drinks as they will also be weak until the grounds chambers are filled up again. - According to the full manual it takes 2 drinks for the change in grounds to be noticed. This implies to me that there are probably 2 cups of “yesterday’s grounds” waiting to be used each morning in the various chambers. Sure, 1 day old grounds are still better than 8 month old grocery store grounds, but unless you are drinking 3 cups of coffee one right after the other, then you are probably not having fresh (that second) ground coffee. This is just a guess on my part as I did not take apart the machine. But it might also explain why it still pours weak coffee even when it is out of beans in the hopper with nothing left to grind. This is easily solved by keeping the hopper topped off. - You must select the strength of brew before pressing a recipe button, which seems counter intuitive to both my wife and I. - Keep an empty cup under the spigots all the time, so it can self-clean, rinse, or whatever without making a mess or filling up the drip tray. - For Double Volume (or 2 singles) wait for 2X to appear then press OK. You only get a fraction of a second for this and it only does this on some recipes but not others. - When selecting a recipe from the Menu Button, it is the MIDDLE drink on the menu you are selecting. This was not clear to us, there should be an arrow indicator for example. WARNING: Only use plain beans, nothing caramelized, or flavored, etc. It will clog the grinder. WARNING: Don’t add pre-ground coffee with the machine “off” ERRATA / CONCERNS - QUICK START GUIDE Page 4: Shows that once you press the main power button in the back of the unit, you can select a language. This is not true, as you also must press the front power button. Page 5: Seems to indicate you can change the grinder setting anytime you want. However, the full manual says in several places to ONLY change the grind settings while it is grinding (OR YOU MAY BREAK THE MACHINE). I hope we did not break anything following the quick start in this respect. Page 6 (and others): Show a heaping scoop of grounds in the pictures, but the main manual in words says multiple times to never use more than 1 LEVEL SCOOP. Page 8: Implies you can spin the grinder between settings whenever you want as often as you want to “zero in” on the perfect espresso. However, the main manual states you can only adjust the settings, 1 click at time, only while it is grinding, and then it will take 2-3 drinks before you would notice a change. In other word click once, brew a 2-3 cups, test, click again, brew a few cups, etc. This is reinforced by the manufacture’s own online videos. Page 10: Talks about the water filter. Why is this so far back in the quick start guide? By this time, we would have cleaned the machine, and made 20 or so cups of coffee to get the perfect brew (way back on page 8). The filter does not look the same as the picture, it was unclear what the settings were for (later from the full manual it is just a date code reminder, nothing to do with hardness as I first assumed). Page 11: Water Hardness Testing. Our test strips did not look the same as the picture when the results came in. Some of the squares changed colors earlier than the others, and some of the squares seemed to have a mix of colors. In the end we bought a new test kit so we could better determine the results. In reality, there are no shortcuts, you must follow the proper steps in setting up the unit. All the steps are important. ERRATA / CONCERNS - THE FULL MANUAL Page 3, labels all the buttons (pictures and numbers) but never tells you what they mean. Instead, you must work your way through the manual and hope the button is referenced. For example ,the 3rd row of buttons at the end is shows only as “B10”. To me, this looks like a “coffee mug”. Thus, this should be the button I press to get a “cup of coffee”. On Page 7, we find that B10 is a “Long”. Though, we still don’t exactly know that means, yet. On page 11, we find that B10 is about 160ml and a “3” in strength. A google search says that a Long Espresso is “twice as much water pulled through the same beans resulting in a milder [weaker] espresso”. Why in the world would I want a primary button for weak espresso? Additionally, a standard measure of espresso is about 40ml, so this “long” is 4X the water. Page 12, shows a menu option of “Doppio”, but I could not find it in the machine menu. Instead on the machine it is labeled something like “Double Espresso +”. What is the definition of “Double Espresso+”. We don’t know because it never explains what that is. A Doppio is a “double shot” so what is the “+”? How is this different than an Espresso with 2x being pressed? I don’t care that they renamed Doppio to something else, but maybe they should explain what is in each recipe. Again. the “+” is not defined. Page 12, and several other places has a picture of a heaping scoop of ground. But the words make it clear you must use a level scoop. Again, these are all minor nits about how the instructions were written, and how buttons are laid out. It makes a great cup of any Coffee drink as long as you get used to which buttons to push and in what order. We would have liked the option to reassign buttons, rename, or create our own “brand new” recipes, such as Red Eye or Black Eye, or even a simple “Add a Shot” button some of the existing recipes. There is a “my menu” button, but it seems you only have limited control over strength and volume over the standard recipes. Additionally, with multiple users in the house, it would be nice to have more than one custom menu. We look forward to fine tuning the brews for the perfect cup of coffee. We have zeroed in on the perfect grind (it seems 5 is the best for us) and changed temp to HOTEST we will start to fine tune other settings as we get more brave. Honestly, though, the default settings were already far better than our POD machines. Now we are just making minor adjustments to go from “A to A+”. Overall, this is a great unit, don’t wait, just get it and enjoy some of the best coffee you have had at home.

If you want great espresso drinks with minimal fuss, this is the machine for you. It has an on demand bean grinder/storage, automatic milk frother, and can make a variety of drinks with the touch of a button. I highly recommend if you want fancy coffee in the morning without having to spend a bunch of time making it. Pros: -Bean storage and grinder. I use separate beans for espresso and pour over coffee so not having to have 2 stand alone burr grinders is a huge plus for me. -Perfectly frothed milk. I previously had a manual frother and it's difficult to get the froth you get with this machine. -Great tasting drinks. Really doesn't get any better. -Versatile use. Easy to make other drinks such as hot chocolate with the milk frother. -Easy to clean. The drip tray and ground holder come out together, so you just dump both and slide them back in. -Not overly loud. My stand alone burr grinder is way louder than the one used in this machine. Cons: -Doesn't work right with pre-ground coffee. I had a bag of pre ground espresso beans that I tried to use, and it just doesn't work. When I tried to make a latte, it prompted me to pour in the grounds, and after I did it immediately told me to turn the milk frother dial to "clean" (which shoots hot water out to clean the spout). I tried several times and couldn't get passed this point. Not a big deal for me, since I never plan on using pre ground coffee, but not good to have a feature that flat out doesn't work. -The milk frother is a little sloppy when it cleans. Hot water kind of just sputters out, and while most of it gets in the drip tray, some does not. Be prepared to have a little water on your counter. -Definitely a little complicated to set up. Takes a bit to get used to with all the parts and different features but once you figure it out it's pretty easy (except for tech challenged significant others). -Takes away the artistry of coffee making. Sometimes I enjoyed the art of frothing the milk and trying to make designs in the froth. But I've gotten over it. I just want a delicious drink when I wake up. -A little large. As you can see from my pictures, it takes up over the half the counter lengthwise. Overall, definitely worth the investment if you like delicious drinks with little hassle.

The De'Longhi Dinamica is extremely easy to use -- on par with the simplicity of a Nespresso or Keurig, but it offers much more versatility. It also has the advantage of using freshly grounded coffee beans which neither Nespresso or Keurig does (at least without griding it yourself and buying reusable pods). I loved that the Dinamica could grind beans, as this definitely makes drinks taste fresher, and there’s even an option to add pre-ground beans. The Dinamica uses a touchscreen with single push recipes for a single or doube espresso, double espresso, long espresso (something in-between espresso and americano), iced coffee, steam, hot water, and brew strength. Each button has a simple, icon indicating its function. Warnings also flash above the touch screen menu to let you know if the machine needs more water, more coffee beans, or anything else that is amiss. Along with the espresso machine the package includes a water filter, a cleaning brush, a sample bag of espresso beans and a single use descaling solution. After setting up the machine and pulling 5 epsresso shots to "break it in", I was ready to start crafting drinks. With a single button push, you can pull an espresso shot; one extra button push pulls a double espresso shot. I used the included sample beans and filled the hopper on top. The first espresso tasted watered down. This is generally because the grind is too course, it's not tamped enough, or a combination of both. The defualt setting for the grind was "7", so I turned that down to "4". I was irritated as the instructions call for you to adjust the grind during the grinding process (grinder running). The coffee tasted better, but still not "barista grade". Messing with it for the next 30 minutes I found that "2" or "3" was the best setting, and while the espresso was decent, it wasn't anything to get excited about. Double espresso, when everything is set correctly should take about 25-30 seconds to pull. The Dinamica was doing it in 10-12, even at the finest setting. The espresso was also barely above luke warm. Even after raising the heat settings, I feel it wasn't hot enough. I haven't really found a way to make a great espresso -- just an adequate one. The "long" recipe, which makes a coffee drink with strength similar to an americano, had decent results, but again was not hot enough even at the highest setting. I was happy with the TrueBrew Over Ice ice feature. The drink was not watered down or weak. Recipes using milk, such as cappucinos, lattes, and macchiotos made this less noticeable, but presented it's own problems. While the LatteCrema system made decent foam/froth from pretty much any milk, the steamed milk was lukewarm. There was no setting to adjust -- you were just stuck with lukewarm drinks. There are a lot more features to cover, but at this point I don't really see a point as this is not an appliance I can recommend. While it's easy and convenient (even when it comes to cleaning) -- and someone with no clue how to craft coffee drinks can make muliple drinks with ease using the Danimaca, at it's MSRP it's simply not a good buy in my opinion. While not as versatile and contrained by pods, the Delonghi Nespresso makes as good or better coffee drinks and presents a far better value. As the premium offering in Delonghi's ECAM espresso machine line, the "Super Automatic" De'Longhi Dinamica with LatteCrema™ Fully Automatic espresso machine has too many shortcomings. For me, convenicence can not make up for quality espresso on a top of the line (and the price relects that) product.

-- Background -- I love coffee. In my profession, more coffee means more code written, and more code written means more money. Well, it doesn't really, but it makes the boss happy. So the DeLonghi Dinamica LatteCrema Fully Automatic Espresso and Coffee Machine will be priming me for the long day today, tomorrow and the many days down the road. -- Setup -- Setup is a breeze. But first, kudos to Delonghi for securely packaging this machine for shipment. Credit to the saran wrap keeping everything in place. Anyway, setup requires adding water to the reservoir (and you'll be able to attach the water filter), pouring the sample pack of whole bean coffee and burning 4-5 espresso shots as stated in the quick guide. Then you're off to the races. -- First Use -- I'm an espresso straight up kind of guy and I find it enjoyable tasting the rich, bold flavors from different types of roast. My first cup of espresso was exactly that, and so much more! I'm sure a lot has to do with the sample pack roast, but credit to the Dinamica for doing its job; grinding the beans fine, tamping it and finally passing 15 bar of water pressure through the disk to ensure every inch of flavor is accounted for in your cup. This fine tuned level of automation produces the perfect amount of crema with each espresso shot. This is the kind of service I can only get at my local barista, and now it's in my house!! I'm naming her Hannah. She has been able to introduce me to my new favorite, the flat white (and I can even control the level of froth) and my wife cannot get enough of the TrueBrew over Ice coffee hit with a little bit of creamer. Don’t forget the cappuccino, lattes and even plain ole brewed coffee! This thing does it all, man. -- Navigating -- So there is a lot going on in the front panel, but let me simplify it for you. There are three ways to make anything; through the standard “Drink Menu” button, using the preset buttons on the panel or through the "My Menu" button. Basically you can use the “Drink Menu” or preset buttons on the panel to make pre-programmed beverages (these beverage choices can be customized further, by the way) or you can navigate the “My Menu” where it walks you through the creation of a beverage and the opportunity to save your settings for that beverage. -- Clean It Up, Folks -- As far as daily maintenance, you'll need to be disciplined enough to dump the grounds as well as the water catch basin. About that water catch basin...be sure to drain it as often as possible. The machine will go through mandatory cycles of rinse and self clean. Rinse happens upon turning on, and self clean after a period of no activity. Each cycle will dump about 2-3 oz of water from the spouts and what you'll end up with is an almost full glass of water in the catch! Besides, when you go and drain the basin, you’ll be greeted with the used grounds. You can dump those in the trash (or in your garden, if you’re into that kind of stuff). -- Anything Bad?? -- If I had to nitpick, I’d say that the one con is the quantity of coffee you can create in one run. Some of us have gotten used to “grande” or even “venti” sized drinks; this machine will make “tall” ones for you, evident in how tall of a glass you can squeeze between the base and the spout. So what I’ve had to do is (you guessed it) run the same creation cycle twice to get the amount that I want, especially for ice coffee. It takes a little more time depending on what beverage you’re trying to make, but yeah. I know, first world problems. Another thing is the water reservoir. With the amount of rinsing and cleaning cycles Hannah goes through, it almost seems like you never have enough water in the reservoir to get through a couple of days. Expect to top off the tank more frequently than you’d expect. -- It Has To Be Said… -- So I’m going to have to mention the elephant in the room: the price. So what exactly are you paying for? Automation. Automation provides these 3 key points: Convenience - This is a fully automatic espresso machine. All you need to do is pour the beans, water and/or milk and it will do the rest. You can even store the whole milk container in the fridge after you’re done. Consistency - Do you ever go to the barista for your favorite drink, only to be disappointed because they didn’t make it perfect like that last time? Not here, my friend. This machine does everything the same way, every time, no matter which coffee beverage you choose to make. Customization - Ever wanted more milk and less espresso in your flat white or cappuccino, or vice versa? Maybe you want your coffee to have a bit stronger aroma today?? Maybe you want more coffee in your cup (to an extent)?? You can set these levels for your perfect drink and save them off for another run. You can certainly save money on another machine, but you’ll have to do away with at least one of these three points. But you’re here looking because you know you’re ready to drop some hard earned money on a fantastic machine, and this one does not disappoint. I've been using Nespresso machines (legacy and Vertuo) daily for many years and this DeLonghi can replace a Nespresso in features and types of drinks made, and then some. There’s something about freshly grounded coffee and the rich, full bodied flavors that no pod machine can touch.

Wonderful machine - LOTS of options. Delicious hot beverages if all types. Sleep machine with easy-to-understand options. Just wish the water reservoir capacity was higher - or had a direct line feed option.

Nothing is better than a mocha for the caffeine jolt to survive the day but I’ve never had the money to buy a daily espresso drink. That all changed when I got the Delonghi Dinamica espresso machine, which combines a conical burr grinder with a single serving coffee/espresso maker. I’ve used brew coffee pots for over a decade, usually grounds but I owned a small handheld grinder for those times I bought a whole bean bag by mistake and it's been fine. When I opened this luxurious silver machine to say I was overwhelmed and intimidated would be an understatement. It had surface protective plastic like you see on tablets and TVs! The English section of the instruction manual is thicker than any of my other appliances instructions! It comes with a water softener and instructions how to maximize the flavor of the coffee despite having hard water...as well as premium espresso roast to ensure your first cups are the proper quality! Like I said, it was scary and I wondered if I’d gotten myself too far down the coffee rabbit hole. It's actually not bad after you use it a few times so don’t let the unboxing scare you. The right side pulls out and is the water tank, the front tray pulls out so you can empty the water (it runs a rinse cycle everytime you turn it on and off) as well as the ground container. The dispenser nozzle pulls down so you can avoid splashing droplets of espresso if your cup is short. There is a hot water dispenser on the left, which removes so you can insert a milk frother if you like. The control panel is a touch panel of symbols which signify various espresso drinks (however you can also go into the menu to select your drink if you forget which symbol is which drink like me). All the pre-programmed recipes can be updated with your customizations (stronger/weaker pour, hotter or colder). You can also change the strength of the pour on the fly with a button pre- recipe selection. The milk frother is really neat too! It holds enough milk to get maybe three drinks made, give or take and has a dial to control how much, if any, foam you’d like. There is also a cleaning setting to get all the milk rinsed out of the system. Since the hose which pulls milk from the reservoir doesn’t seem to be included you’ll still need to pull that off and clean the reservoir and the hose but that’s super easy, barely an inconvenience. After using it for about a week I find this a convenient and classy addition to my kitchen, definitely plenty of coffee nerd cred when company comes over! I have a few issues with it though, namely that it seems that even on the hottest setting the coffee doesn’t get as hot as my old brew machine. This isn’t an issue for folks who drink black coffee but if you put any cream or creamers from the fridge then it's going to be lukewarm. Next was the rinse cycle that runs whenever you turn it on as well as once it's turned off (manually or after the pre-determine auto shutdown) seems unnecessary. Its a minor gripe but if it cleans out the system after I’m done it shouldn’t need to run again when I start it back up, the two runs of water don’t fill the drip tray but you’ll have to empty it after every two uses at the least, more if you spill or overflow your cup. This is not a machine designed to fill your commuter cup, the nozzle adjusts up and down to allow teacup short to standard porcelain mugs but if you have a large cup or mug then you’ll be out of luck (unless you keep a small one on the machine to pour into larger ones, which I did). Finally, I used the same dark roast beans in this machine as the old one and the coffee seems more bitter now than it did before. With espresso that’s maybe to be expected, I’m not super knowledgeable outside of drive thru mochas. Overall I think this is a cool kitchen gadget, but likely not necessary for 80% of coffee drinkers. This is a machine for people who want to fine tune their personal recipes and enjoy the natural nuances of espresso without paying fast food prices. If you’re that kind of person and willing to experiment with grinds, intensity, heat, and mixtures then you’ll love this bad boy! I can’t fault this for being more than I need but I can’t praise it either. Solid average from me.