Customer Ratings & Reviews

I LOVE this espresso machine! This is my first espresso machine and it is so easy to use and is so much fun. The grinder is great and the wifi connectivity is such a cool feature. Its such a sleek looking machine too!

Beautiful and delicious coffee. The machine is good quality

First off, I absolutely hate the fact that it has a companion app that is quite invasive. The shot size is adjusted through the app. The manual says you can adjust it by holding the brew button down, but it didnt work with mine. Even after setting the size to 3oz for a double shot, it does not produce that amount. The espresso comes out at a drinkable temperature, which isnt a good sign. The milk steamer sounds like a jet engine. I have no idea why it is so loud. But imagine if your kitchen was a flight-line, thats how loud my unit is. Grounds constantly fall through the gap between the dispenser and the portafilter. Its a mess to cleanup every time we use it. Next to no crema is produced. Lackluster shots at a premium price. Will be returning.

Excellent coffee maker. We are really enjoying this coffee maker. Would recommend it to all my friends.

The café’ bellissimo is a well-designed expresso machine. It has a simplified design regarding the buttons. They make it easy to select how much you want the grinder to grind and how much expresso to dispense. The selections are single or double for both the grinder and the number of shots of expresso. The grinder is on top of the machine and can be turned one direction or the other to select course or fine or some variation in between. It comes with the hopper for the beans, tamper, milk pitcher, cleaning kit, and standard pieces you would expect such as the portafilter and 4 filters. There were no missing pieces. Everything that was supposed to be in the box was. The drip trey, bean hopper, and grinding burr can be removed for cleaning. The pressure the machine uses is supposed to be 15 bars and the machine performs as such. The expresso made from this machine is as good as I was hoping it would be. It also has a steam wand built in. You select the steam option by turning the knob in the center. It had no problems frothing milk for me to use in making a café mocha. You can also use the center knob to select hot water. All of the components are well made and I would expect them to last a very long time. The machine itself as well as the portafilter and tamper have an elegant appearance and will look great on your countertop. Overall, this is a well made easy to use espresso machine. I did not run into any problems when using the espresso machine. There is an app for it which is supposed to help you get it connected to wifi. I wasn’t able to get the machine connected as the app would not go past the password screen during wifi setup. The next button remained greyed out. This was a problem with the app not the expresso machine itself. It may be addressed by the time this review posts, but at the time I went through the setup, the app wasn’t fully working. I’m sure this will be addressed with an update since I was using an early version of the app. Nevertheless, the espresso machine worked well. I would recommend the Café Bellissimo to anyone wanting to get a well made elegant looking espresso machine that should last a long time.

Super quick and tastes just like Starbucks. Even my 15 year old daughter makes ice coffee

Very excited with my new café machine. at first it took me a while to understand it .just what I need in the morning routine.

Not worth your money. I already had 2 and the espresso does not brew well just drips and tried different ground levels. Also the app never connects!!!!

Machine is good, but the buttons' font is wearing off.

The Café Bellissimo is my first espresso machine with a built-in bean grinder, so it takes up a fair amount of space on my countertop but serves the purpose of two appliances – three if you count the integrated milk steamer/frother. The unit comes with a few other accessories like a solid stainless-steel tamper, stainless-steel milk pitcher, de-scaling tablets, a water hardness test strip, and a cleaning kit. The machine’s build quality seems very good and although the body of the machine is plastic this does allow it to be relatively lightweight for its size, and it has a nice, matte metallic dark-gray (not quite black) finish that complements the copper accents on the unit. The top surface of the machine doubles as a warming station for your cups and has a round depression on which to store the tamper. The water tank for the unit is tall and narrow. It has a hinged lid that flips open for filling, but if the machine is stored under your cabinets, you may need to pull it out from beneath them or lift the tank out of the machine to fill it with water. The minimum fill for the water tank is about 20 oz (2.5 cups) and the max fill is about 100 oz (12.5 cups). The bean grinder in this machine uses conical burr style blades for producing an even and consistent grind size, and the hopper has a capacity of about 3 cups of whole roasted beans. The size of the grounds can be adjusted by simply rotating the bean hopper and set to fineness levels from 0 - very fine to 15 - coarse. This wide range in grind size allows you to use the resulting grounds for more than just espresso, whose optimal size is 7-9, so larger grounds could be used in a French press or drip coffee machine and very fine grounds for Turkish brew or dusting cakes. For me, the optimal grind size for my beans to make espresso was 8; I experimented with using different sizes but found that finer grounds clogged the machine during brewing and larger ones didn’t compress enough with tamping so the portafilter would not fully lock. My only small complaint is that the grinder can be a bit messy, as stray grounds tend to end up everywhere. I did like that when grinding, an LED under the grind head illuminates so you can watch the grounds fill the basket, and the portafilter can be seated in the grinder cradle for hands-free operation. The portafilter also has a rubber foot pad just under the front lip of the basket for stabilizing it against the edge of a countertop, as this made tamping the grounds level with firm, even pressure really easy. Connecting the machine to my home WiFi using the Smart HQ app was simple and straightforward, and it even downloaded a firmware update for the machine right away. I appreciate that the app has a de-scale countdown reminder (in liters) but there aren’t a lot of functions for the machine – pretty much just setting the grind time and water volume for single and double shots as well as the default hot water dispensing volume. The manual also indicates hot water temperature and water hardness levels can be set, though I couldn’t find those settings in the current app (neither Android nor iOS versions). Alternatively, you can set the water volume for espresso shots by pressing and holding their brew buttons respectively and releasing when the desired volume has been dispensed, or adjust the grind time for a single shot by pressing and holding the ‘Grind’ button, however, the grind time for a double shot can only be changed in the Smart HQ app. If you do sync the machine with the app, it can also send you push notifications when the water tank is empty and when the bean hopper has been removed. Since the machine is only semi-automatic, and there are a lot of manual time-sensitive steps a person has to perform at the machine, I understand why the app doesn’t have more “smart” functionality like voice controls or auto-brew timers. Using the milk steamer is also pretty simple, though if you adjust its position you do need to be careful to only handle the wand by the rubber grip as the metal gets hot enough to cause burns and only hold the milk pitcher by its handle as the cup itself will get very hot during steaming. I like that the milk pitcher has marked volume levels on the interior for measuring. Achieving the perfect “silky milk” texture for creating latte foam art is certainly a skill in and of itself, but I’m content just having some hot milk and foam to add to my espresso for a cappuccino or latte. Just make sure you clean the wand after using it to steam milk and flush it with a bit more steam immediately, so you don’t end up with cheesy spoiled milk bits clogging the nozzle. As a side bonus, the steam wand also dispenses on-demand hot water at a piping hot 180°F (82°C) which is super convenient whether you are adding it to your shot for an Americano or just making tea. Cleaning and maintenance is a breeze as the drip tray that catches most of the stray grounds from the grinder and drips from the brew head and steam wand, as well as collects water released during depressurization after each use, has a red float indicator to let you know when it is full and slides out easily for emptying. Stored behind this tray is a smaller accessory dish in which you can store 1 additional filter basket, cleaning brush, and cleaning pin for clearing debris from the steam wand and pressurized baskets. Depending on your usage, you’ll need to run the “clean” mode to de-scale the unit of mineral deposits every 3-6 months. Once you get the process down and have set the amounts you want for grounds and water volume, pulling consistent, great tasting espresso shots is relatively easy after that. The double-walled pressurized portafilter baskets are useful for those that don’t want to fuss with achieving perfect tamping technique or for use with pre-ground espresso powder, while the single-wall baskets require a bit more skill and effort but allow for greater control and adjustments. The portafilter has a dual spout dispenser on the bottom, so while it can’t sit flat on your counter, you can get two separate single shots when brewing a double shot by placing a shot glass under each spout.

TLDR; I recommend this semi-automatic espresso machine for those that are new to espresso or don’t want to shell out tons of money for a fully automatic espresso machine. The GE Cafe Bellissimo Espresso Machine is a semi-automatic espresso machine. That means that even though it automatically grinds the beans and heats your water, you’ll have to tamp the grounds yourself. Tamping is an important step in espresso creation. It minimizes the empty spaces by creating a more dense mass of coffee. This forces the water to flow through and extract via contact and agitation with all of the goodness contained in all of the coffee grounds, reducing the chance of water channeling and under-extraction. The outer casing is primarily made of plastic, and comes in three colors (matte white, matte black and steel silver) and all have gold accents to them. Although it is primarily plastic, the unit itself has quite a bit of heft to it. The main mechanical parts that you have to deal with is the bean hopper and most importantly, the portafilter. The portafilter itself has four different filter inserts: (1) single shot, single wall (2) single shot, double wall (3) double shot, single wall and (4) double shot, double wall. Shot sizes are either single or double with the variation of wall/layer type. Double layers provide more consistent results between varying grind sizes and bean types and generally result in more crema. Single layers are more sensitive to grind size adjustments and bean types but allow for more adjustability. Assembly is very, very simple. Aside from making sure to remove all packaging and securing tape, all you really need to do is attach and lock the bean hopper (no tools required). From here, the bean hopper grind setting can be adjusted in the same fashion as its attach instructions. Add water to the large reservoir in the back, add your favorite beans, and you’re ready to go. Every espresso made from this machine is a two-step process: grind, then brew. If any liquids get away from you, it has a standard catch basin on its base like most other coffee makers that you can drain when it gets too full for you. The unit is very simple to use, in my opinion. It has large buttons on the front that clearly show their purpose (Power, Grind, Single (shot), Double (shot)). There is a knob on the center that activates the steam wand to either dispense water or steam, or remain off. Assuming the reader is getting familiar with semi-automatic espresso machines (YouTube it), I’d like to talk about its ability to get “dialed in” to your espresso preferences. Obviously every person is different and the GE Cafe Espresso caters to those needs. It starts with your filter choice (single/single, single/double, double/single, double/double, see explanation of inserts above). Then begins with the grind size, which you can set from 10 (most coarse) to 1 (fine, fine, fine!). Then follows with the amount of grounds (18-20g for a double, 13-15g for a single) to dispense into the portafilter. You can program the unit to grind the same amount every time. After tamping follows brewing and more specifically, the brew ratio. Brew ratio is defined as the ratio of coffee grounds in the portafilter to liquid espresso. So, 15g of grounds yielding 30g of liquid espresso is a 1:2 ratio. Similar to programming grind times, you can program the same amount of liquid to dispense every time you use the unit. These are your four tuning knobs to get your espresso the way you prefer. Speaking of dialing in, this is best facilitated with the SmartHQ app from GE. Here you can see program values for grind time and liquid dispensed for both brewing as well as hot water from the steam wand. This is a much better alternative to programming the unit itself as there is no LED/LCD display to reference. Setting up your Cafe Espresso from the SmartHQ app is relatively simple, and the overall setup is very similar to many other devices or appliances that need to connect to your Wifi network. The app gives you clear instructions and my advice is to just be patient with the setup process. Once I was all set up, the unit began to perform a firmware update on itself according to the app. Also called out in the app is the amount of liters remaining before you need to perform cleaning/descaling. A quirk you’ll most likely run into in the beginning is the inability to lock the portafilter to the group head (the brewing side). This is because there is just too much ground for it to fit in the first place. This will lead you to believe that the machine is just too light in weight to handle that kind of locking force and you end up moving the whole unit from its feet. Once you dial in the amount of grounds you need for your perfect espresso, you should not have this problem at all. If I have a single complaint, it is that I feel the liquid espresso is just not hot enough when it begins to flow from the portafilter. The hot water from the steam wand has no issues with heat, though. Also, it’s probably handy to keep a clean rag nearby to wipe down the machine after every use. Cleaning the portafilter after every use can be annoying, but so is every other semi-automatic machine, so my complaint is moot. I’m an Americano kind of guy and this machine checks all the boxes needed to get one out of the door. I’m very happy with the results that come out of this machine. Again, a lot will have to do with getting it dialed in to your preference.

THE BREAKDOWN: I have been wanting to try a more manual espresso machine for a few years now. I have an automatic espresso/americano machine that has really done a great job over the last few years. It does make a good Americano but it just doesn’t quite have that coffee house taste. This machine is very pleasing to the eye and I have gotten many compliments. The most common one is “did you steal that from the coffee place” or “man, that is fancy”. To their credit it really does look like you took it right out the local coffee shop. The build quality his very good, even though the body is made of plastic it seems well built and sturdy. I think that makes it easier to move around on the countertop for most people. The top of the machine actually has a warming area for your cup and a nice round place to place your tamper. The water tank is plastic and light but holds approximately 100oz of water. That is a really good-sized tank. One drawback for me is, the tank doesn’t have a built in water filter. There is bean storage/reservoir (holds around 3 cups of whole beans) included with a bean grinder. The grinder is a cone shaped burr style grinder. The grind size can be set by just rotating the reservoir to number you like to go with your coffee style. I tried to set the grinder to 7 but it kept clogging the machine and was a hassle. I currently have it set at 8 and have had no further clogging issues. One more thing to note is that when you grind your beans there is a little light that comes on to light up the basket/portafilter. This thing drops coffee grounds all through the day or anytime the machine is bumped as you can see in my photos. A little annoying but I think that is just part of it. Using the steamer/hot water feature was very simple and straight forward. I had no issues whatsoever using it for filling my Americano with hot water or adding/steaming some milk for a latte. The WiFi connection using the SmartHQ app does work. It allows you to change the grind time and water volumes for both single and double shots. It also lets you set the amount of hot water that is dispensed. There was no way to set hardness levels or see hot water temps in the app like it states in the manual. Cleaning and maintenance were pretty easy and straight forward. I like to dump my tray and rinse it every day, but for those that don’t it does have a red float indicator to let you know when the tray is full. Once I got my machine dialed in, I really created great Americano’s just like the fancy coffee shop in town. It really is easy with this machine. PRO’s: -Very stylish in appearance - Steam Frother - Bean Hopper - Cup warming tray CON’s: -Not all parts of the app are currently working -Grind 7 and below clog up the grind machine SUMMARY: Overall, this product worked as intended, and I would recommend this to a friend if they are in the market for device like this that is portable and gets the job done.

Elegant - that's the first word that comes to my mind when I think of the GE Cafe Espresso Machine + Frother! It's looks amazing and has equally excellent functionality! Design I love the look of this espresso machine! Mine is the model with a black matte finish and brushed copper accents. It looks beautiful and sophisticated. It feels solid and well built. It's not all metal, some of it is plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap or like it will break. The steam arm is very firm to move, not uncomfortable but solid to move. The tamper is very heavy. The portafilter fits well under the grinder and has a very solid fit under the brewer, like it should. The portafilter is also very heavy/solid - like the tamper. The top of the espresso machine has a spot to hold the tamper as well as a warmed surface to warm your cup before you make a drink. The water tank is in the back. It has a lid that flips open easily for filling. You can also lift the tank up and off very easily to fill or clean it. The drip tray has a red float that will come up above the surface when it's full and needs to be emptied. If you pull out the drip tray there is some storage behind it on the left hand side. This has a cleaning kit and room to store one of the shot filters. The espresso machine includes not just the standard single and double-shot filters but one more of each one with double walls. Controls There are four, large, easy to read and easy to press buttons on the front. The left most button is "Power", next is "Grind", and the third and fourth are for "Single" or "Double" brews. Right in the middle there is a large copper dial. The dial looks impressive but is simple in function. It's a control for the steam wand. The middle position is off, the left position is for hot water only, and the right position is for steam. The buttons work as expected. That's mostly all there is to the control for regular use. There are a few other things you can customize. You can turn the beeping off and on by holding down the "Grind" and "Single" buttons at the same time. You can do some other customization but I like the app better for that and will talk about that later. There are lights around the buttons and the dial that make it easy to see what you pressed. Smart HQ App Sometimes I'm annoyed by every device needing an app. In this case, It's worth it for me! For one thing, the espresso machine does get updates. Since I set it up it has had two updates. The one said it could take 30 minutes to finish but I don't think either one took more than 5-10 minutes. The app also lets you know things with notifications on your phone like when it's time to descale (it comes with pellets for descaling) or when the water needs to be filled. More importantly, it give you control over single and double espresso grind time and brew volume as well as hot water volume. Some of that can be controlled by the buttons on the front but not all of it and not as easily or clearly to me. I included two screenshots of the app to show you what to expect. You can't set it to anything but there's a range of options to pick from. Summary I'm no barista, though this isn't the first I've made espresso/lattes etc, but I'm getting excellent results every time. The steaming function works very well and doesn't take long to heat up and start. The brew also starts quickly. When steaming milk I go for 160-170 degrees and never have a hard time hitting that. I've had great results with whole milk and half and half. The grinder is a burr grinder and gives very consistent grinds. The brewer has an Italian made water pump which, again, provides a consistently excellent brew. Kitchen counter space is at a premium for me but the GE Cafe Espresso Machine + Frother has earned spot.

I go through espresso machines like my son goes through video games. New styles with interesting features, I want it. So I was surprised GE entered the espresso world with 2 new units in the Cafe Series, prized for their modern, large appliances and professional quality. Having had Super Automatic units just recently, I was looking for something with more user input. I chose the Cafe Bellissimo with a now familiar setup in this arena; grinder separate, but built into the machine. Unlike other brands with all sorts of buttons and dials meant to increase choice, but ultimately confound with excessiveness; this unit looks quite simple, sleek, modern in every way, down to the stylish copper touches in the base, dial, and handle. I worried it may be too simple as possibly hindering your ability to get desired custom results with your brews. Like many new appliances today, it has WiFi and connects to your phone with an app. Fortunately, it allowed me to program the brew sizes for the single and double buttons, program the grind timer for single and double brew baskets, and also the hot water extraction for tea. It has reminders to add coffee or water or when the unit requires cleaning. The only thing you can't do is change the brew temp for light, medium, or dark roasts which, if you stick to medium, you should be fine. The grinder is exceptionally good at producing a fine enough grind for espresso, something you don't see too often. Out of 15 possible settings, I anticipated coarse grind and set it to 5 only to find nothing coming from the spout; I had to set it on 11 to get the ideal grind at the lowest grind time of 9.5 seconds on the single basket. I like the airtight bean hopper and UV protection, really keeps beans fresh. The included solid aluminum tamper does a great job fitting the filter basket minimizing spillage. I'm impressed with the full size portafilter at 58mm, feels the correct weight when compared to the handle on my commercial unit. The weighted composition allows it to retain heat and get up to brew temp faster. The built-in tamp rest on the underside really comes in handy when compacting the grounds. It comes with a double spout, but is tight enough to fit a single cup. Also included are 2 commercial filter baskets and 2 double layer (cheater) baskets that ensure a better cup irrespective of improper grind or tamp pressure. The convincing matte finish looks metallic, especially the copper base, alas the body is made entirely of plastic; not to say it's cheap, just deceiving. The steam wand is made of polished stainless steel, though somewhat difficult to clean, does a good job. The water tank is huge and levels are clearly visible ensuring a close eye on your supply. Brewing espresso at the generous 9.5 seconds grind time gives you a rich, creamy consistency all the way through the pull. The crema is amazing for a home machine; super automatics come close but, not close enough. Results will vary of course, dependent on the espresso blend. Steam for cappuccino or latte is available within a few seconds after turning the copper dial. It does an admirable job producing steam for a unit without a dedicated steam boiler. The included steam pitcher has just the right spout for latte art, if your into that sort of thing. It's apparently not meant for sequential steaming, once you're done with the first and turn the dial, it starts the cool down process, then seems to get confused when you start steaming for a second time, forcing you to wait for it to spool up again. I suppose it's done out of convenience, somewhat carelessly IMO. I would've liked more grind times down to maybe 7 seconds and brew sizes up to 2oz for the single shot. Control of water temperature is a feature most of the competition already has and would've been nice. I was a little disappointed at the plastic panels, but not enough to deter me. In the end, the performance is what really counts and this is a homerun. A stellar machine at this price point! You'd be hard pressed to find something as impressive with the same feature set that delivers professional results.

I have been chasing the coffee house perfect Americano for a few years now. I have used other top end brands that have the little pods and spin and steam and sputter out some pretty delicious coffee but I have never been able to quite replicate that perfect Americano I get from the Barista at my favorite Coffee chain….Until NOW! You have to have the right tools for any job and Café’ Bellissimo has all the right tools. First off, this espresso maker looks like you could have just pulled it out of your local coffee house and brought it home. It has the bean hopper which is so handy. Fresh grind is the only way to go and each cup your brew is as fresh as the last!!! You can experiment with the grind size to bring out the notes and strength of the brew. The Tamper is perfect to flush out unwanted air to let the water really infuse the coffee grinds. Then you have the simple buttons power button, Grind button and one shot or two buttons! which make it so easy to operate. I wish they would have stamped on the brew pod which was which as far as one shot or two but the manual has pictures to determine that. The steamer stem also is capable of streaming hot water! With the Americano you need the shots of espresso and the rest is hot water… well the Bellissimo has a hot water feature you activate with just a twist of the knob. You don’t have to have a pot of hot water boiling standing by. The hot water feature on the Bellissimo is the perfect temperature! The timing of adding the water is important to the Americano, regardless if you buy into the “dead shot” concept or not. I do think there is something to not letting the espresso sit to long. After buying my bag of my favorite coffee chain’s espresso blend I was ready to start experimenting. I placed the pod and brewing arm under the grinder and pressed the button…The delicious aroma of a fresh fine ground hit me! Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh grinds. Then I removed the Brewing arm and positioned it under the brewing head and twisted it counter clockwise to a tight fit. Then I pressed the button and used a clear glass so I could see the crème… Just wonderful. The rich dark espresso coffee and the beautiful caramel colored crème looked just like the big coffee house!!! Next came the hot water and perfect Americano in my hands in moments! I would have liked them to include shot glasses. They do provide a little metal pitcher which is nice but two shot glasses would have been a nice touch! Anyway I digress... If you are a coffee enthusiast this is a must have luxury!!! Also think about how much you spend on a coffee chain coffee a day…I just pulled out my calculator….3 dollars a day x 365 days (give or take a few days here and there) = over a thousand dollars! This incredible unit will more than pay for itself in a few months!!! It also is just beautiful in my kitchen. The aesthetics should not be overlooked. It really adds to a sleek kitchen look. So well-crafted and well-built! It really gives me a canvas to experiment with all my favorite coffee drinks not to mention heating up some apple cider (which we did last night before we hit the fire-pit) or hot chocolate!! Just a real winner here! It also has the wi-fi capability for adjustments if you really want to geek out with settings and cleaning tablets and brushes. Overall just an amazing, awesome Espresso maker!!!!

This will be quick an easy: Don't buy unless on sale for under $500, because it is defiantly not worth more than that. Pros: -Fairly easy to use -Makes good espresso for beginners -Have had it for about a year and a half at the office getting between an average of 5-10 double shots a day pulled from it and it is still going strong. Cons: -Grinder is sub par, you will find yourself messing with it and will get inconsistent amount of grounds -Cleaning process is not the easiest, however, I will admit that may go for all espresso machines not this one in particular. -Buttons will wear off after use.

My wife has recently taken a liking to iced latte which sent me searching for an expresso machine. As I searched for an expresso machine that did it all in one, I can across the Café Bellissimo Expresso Machine and couldn’t turn it down. This Machine is compact well built and very pleasing to look at. It comes with a steel temper, brushed stainless frothing pitcher, single and double layered filters. All things needed to home brew an expresso. Some of the features of this home expresso machine is a bean hopper with built-in conical burr grinder and steam frother. This grinder allows for control of the grind size with 15 different levels. By controlling the grind, it allows for control over bitterness and strength of the brew. Another reason for having a built-in grinder is having one less appliance on your countertop. The addition of a steam frother allows for the steaming of milk to give your expresso that added creaminess to the brew. It also incorporates a very large water tank that means refills are much less frequent. Making an expresso with the Bellissimo Expresso Machine is quick and simple. With all of its feature, from start to finish is accomplished in about 5 minutes. With this machine I grind the bean right into the layered filter and put it under the Italian made 15 bar pump that makes a great cup in a very short amount of time. Frothing the milk to add takes less than a minute and like that in under 5 minutes you’re enjoying a great cup. Now after using it for a few weeks my wife has perfected her art of making Latte’s. I have to say that I myself have come to enjoy them as well. I can also say that since getting this machine my wife has not talked once about going out to buy another latte. Why would she when she can make a professional cup at home. The only thing if any I have to complain about is that the app does not work. I have contacted the manufacture about this issue and have been assured that in a short while this will be rectified. Other than this all I can say is that this is an amazing, well put together, easy to use, work of art. I would definitely recommend this expresso machine. We are really enjoying ours; you won’t be sorry about the purchase.

This is the first espresso machine I've ever owned. I'm also quite the amatuer when it comes to using it. It's quite easy and straightforward to use. Setup was fast simple. I appreciate the simplicity of use with it. I'm still learning a lot about it. There is an app you can download that allows you to adjust the grind time and amount of water in you would like. I'm still trying to find my preference but it seems to be in the finer grind. I certainly wouldn't cut it as a Barista though. Cleaning the unit is easy as well. In the box there was two Deliming cleaning pucks as well as a litmus strip. There's also other clearning supplies included and they're stored in a container that sits underneath in a cut out section of the drip tray. I will note that my frothing wand is obscenely loud. It could very well be due to my amatuerish attempts at doing so. I did watch a couple videos the other day so I will use those suggestions. Hopefully it's just me and not the unit itself as I'd hate to have to be without it and not have that espresso in my drinks. Aside from the likely user error of the frothing wand, this is a fantastic option for starting your adventure as a "Barista". The only bad part of that is that you're not getting paid! For something of this quality, I think it's certainly worth the price.

The coffee comes out with a good flavor and good espresso, but a little cold. When you have ground at least 3 to 4 times, the grinder stays stuck. It has already happened to me on 2 occasions. You have to clean everything up.

This espresso machine is easy to use and looks nice. The grinder stopped working properly within the first year and now doesn't work at all. It is also leaking water somewhere when I use the steam wand, so that is frustrating. I missed the warranty period otherwise I'm sure the company would have fixed these issues.