Customer Ratings & Reviews

Every brand or type of machine have different characteristics that require different methods of use. I burned through about a half pound of beans before I found the right combination for this one. Now I am getting consistently full bodied shots every time. I make primarily Lattes so my learning curve is based on making them. Fresh beans and the right grind texture are the key. I am using a fine to medium fine grind from Espresso Prima beans that I order on line. They mean it when they say DO NOT OVERFILL THE PORTAFILTER. Due to the portafilter design, if you overfill the basket the grounds push against the brew head when they swell breaking the seal. This is the only reason I did not give this machine a 5 star rating. In order to get a rich full bodied shot I pre soak the grounds. That is, when I draw the shot, just as the liquid begins to come out of the portafilter, I STOP THE SHOT and let the grounds soak for about 30 seconds and then finish extracting the shot. I measure my shots and stop them at 1 ounce for a single and 2 ounces for a double. Over drawing the shot I found introduces too many solids making the shot bitter. I preheat the steam boiler before starting the extraction because I like to go straight from extraction to steaming the milk. Preheating eliminates the waiting for the boiler to get up to temperature. This is a very well built machine and I expect to get many years of service from it.

I thought, for the money, it would at least make a decent cup of espresso.. I will be returning it ASAP..............