Robots are grand things, as such I've devoted a lot of my life to them.
Robots are grand things, as such I've devoted a lot of my life to them.
Member since:11.12.2005
Reviews:39
Members who trust:6
I should warn you all now that I am a coffee crazed madman and that this device was a birthday gift.
Looking at this device you can get some information about the quality of coffee it will produce quite easily before you try its coffee.
Producing coffee at a of pressure of 10bar (10 times atmospheric pressure) is rather low for an espresso machine. This means that it will produce less rounded coffee that relies on the brute force of its overall flavour to carry it though. As it happen it does produce less well rounded coffee than the 19bar machine I also own, in comparison the espresso is feeble.
Espresso should be made using water at 92degrees C, this machine boils the water and burns the coffee. This is not a good thing. Espresso should not just taste bitter and be filled with caffeine.
It uses a 1.475kW filament to heat the water, this is less than your average kettle.
The other down side is that the device doesn't produce steam for you meaning that you can't use it to make cappuccinos or any other drink that needs frothed milk. So your stuck to its attempt at espresso.
To be fair I have said some truly damning things about this device, in my view it makes appalling coffee and from the point of view of the drink is very poor.
However in many cases this will not be the only reason a person has bought this item. You can get cheap espresso makers for £30 however these are normally even worse than this one. It does have a certain style to it and it is very easy to clean and maintain. Talking about style it comes in three colours (blue, black and white) by the way. Compared to other devices on the market the water capacity of 5 cups isn't too bad, its certainly enough for yourself and a few ill fated guests to all have a cup without too much time delay in between. The device also seems mechanically simple meaning that it should be quite reliable and shouldn't need much in the way of repairs over its life time, mine has yet to need a repair but it isn't seeing too much use. Things like the drip tray come as standard on all espresso machines but they are worth a mention anyway.
The pods that you use with the machine aren't badly priced, working out at about 10p per cup, for comparison the nespresso system uses pods which cost about 15p per cup so from this perspective it has a lower life time cost. Also since they are made by Douwe Egberts this suggests that the coffee in them is of a good quality. It is unfortunate that the machine cannot bring out the best flavours from them. Incidentally it is also unfortunate that Douwe Egberts took that really good liquid coffee concentrate off the market, that stuff was great.
Overall I feel that this machine does a poor job of making coffee, well to be honest I think it makes some of the worst coffee on the entire planet, its burnt, not rounded, flat flavoured etc etc, but its cheap and cheerful so if your not really into your coffee but you fancy making Espresso then this may be the machine for you, since they only sell a very limited range of coffee anyway (basically you can get weak, medium, strong and stronger coffee). Though if you want my advice, this machine isn't worth £30 and you will be better off sticking to instant rather than this.
Below are some simple espresso based drink recipes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) Makes 2 glasses worth (normal 300ml(ish) glasses)
Take 1 shot of espresso (25ml). Add a glass of milk and a bit of cream to taste. Get some ice. Grind the ice using a blender until its crushed (ie no big lumps) Add the milk, cream and espresso by stirring them in (if you use the blender you will get milk froth with isn't nice) Sprinkle chocolate powder on top.
You can do the same with chocolate milk and can add things like cinnamon and it makes a really good summer drink. This is also good with stuff like Baileys or Amarula Cream in it.
2) Take 2 shots of espresso (50ml) Add to some drinking chocolate Put some nutmeg on top.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In response to some questions that I have been asked in the comments for the review;
Where does the water go? In a little removable section at the back. Holds about 5 cups worth. I don't like how it connects myself, im sure it could have been done without the need for clicky bits of plastic.
Can you see the gauge clearly on the machine? There is no gauge, theres an on/off light and two buttons for either one cup or two cups worth. Yeah I know, no gauge, it makes you wonder what they were thinking when they designed it.
Does it sit well on any surface? From a design point of view, the base has a good surface area and the machine has no overhang, so as you can imagine its quite sturdy. At the moment its sitting in my garage. In its box, on the floor, under a box containing an original, undamaged, boxed Tracey Island.
Any LED lights to show when the pod needs changing? The pods need changing between every coffee, one pod, one coffee. Well I say coffee...
What about cleaning the machine? "it is very easy to clean and maintain" (from above)
Is there a long life date on the pods themselves? The pods are all sealed and come in little boxes with foil around them. In theory they could last you forever.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Dude, your review is useless except to confirm that this is not an espresso maker. No surprise to the rest of us since it's actually not an espresso maker. No wonder you were disappointed and thought it wasn't as good as an averagely-good espresso machine. For the type of coffee it makes, this is a brilliantly good machine. Great European style coffee, much better than a drip-system, and fresh every time. Not that the machine doesn't have its faults - tough to get a big mug of coffee, if that's what you like, but it's not meant to and if that's what you're looking for, or if you're looking for a great espresso, keep looking for another machine. But it's ridiculous to review this one badly because it doesn't produce great espresso or fresh squeezed orange juice either for that matter.
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Mar 24th, 2006
(Mar 25th, 2006)
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