I''ve had this machine for a few days now and I absolutely love it. It by far trumps the quality of local shops and Starbucks (not that they make quality). The options on the machine allow you to create your own drink in your own flavor. The worst thing about this machine is how easy it is and how much you''ll end up drinking. It''s just too easy to press a button and boom, delicious espresso.
From off to espresso in no time flat!
If you want your drink fast, look no further than this machine. Going from completely off to drink ready takes about 1 minute. You can brew in no time so this machine was made for speed.
Touchscreen
I can''t say it''s greatly responsive. Obviously it''s expensive and new so you want to be nice with it but that screen takes some hard pressure. Maybe they built it tough to last but you can''t just tap it. You have to jab it sometimes. Not a complaint really. It seems like a strong screen.
Drinks
There are three drink options: espresso, coffee, and long coffee. You can control the amount of water, temperature, aroma, flavor, and strength. It''s crazy. Once you get down you''re favorite flavor though, it''s just a simple button press. I like a caffe corretto once in a while so I like that you can throw in pre-ground decaf for a one time cup and then just go back to your regular settings.
Steaming
The wand is very articulated and easy to clean. The steam comes quick and stays consistently hot. You can steam milk fast enough to make yourself a cappuccino in under 2 minutes. I haven''t tried the hot water option but I''m sure that works fine.
Drip Tray
It moves! The tray moves up and down via a touch sensitive button on the machine. It will move from the counter to nearly touching the spouts. The cover on the tray appears to be magnetic so it just attaches easily to the tray top. It slides on and off very easily but will not come off accidentally.
Warming tray
It warms decently fast. It doesn''t get too hot or anything. Not much to say about it except it feels a bit small for how big the machine is.
Pure water
This machine has a water purifier included. I''m not sure if it is required to run the machine yet.
Maintenance
It has a lot of maintenance features including keeping track of your descaling schedule. It has you test your water hardness and program it in so it can remind you when you should descale. I haven''t had to run any maintenance on it yet but it seems like everything is basically fully automated for it.
Auto Standby
I can''t say if this goes into a real low power mode or what but it has a standby feature. After 1 or 4 hours it will standby. I think it just turns the heating off. Turning the warming tray off is optional.
Scheduling
It has a scheduling feature to set wake up and power off times for separate days.
Be aware!
The first few shots might suck. My first shot was 90% water with a dirty color to it. It took a few shots before the machine put out good shots. Not sure if this was a fluke or just my machine or just the machine calibrating but after about 3 failed shots they were all good.
I did not buy this product on Amazon but I use amazon a lot and wanted to put a review up. I did not purchase it with the milk island. The milk island was quite unnecessary. I do not recommend buying the machine with the milk island if you can get it without the island for a better price.
We purchased this machine about a month ago. Granted, the first one we received was broken we had two engineers, a couple of account managers and an IT guy trying to fix it, but they couldn''t. We called Amazon and received the working one two business days later.
WOW. I can''t tell you how much espresso we''ve gone through in the past month. The machine is easy to use, and it''s actually kinda fun! With one push of a button, you have a professional quality espresso in less than a minute. The milk frothing takes longer, but if you haven''t had your espresso yet, it''s not too difficult to wait. :) There are three options espresso (strong), coffee (espresso with a little more water) and long coffee (I looked it up it''s basically a weaker, more bitter espresso with twice the volume of water). I''ve learned how to make an Americano just like at Starbucks, and it''s cheaper and more convenient. Yes, the machine itself is expensive but I''ll get into that later.
I''ve seen several reviews here that say the Milk Island is useless all of us at the office think it''s a VERY cool gadget. As long as you make sure the light is green and you don''t overfill the carafe (the "MAX" line is there for a reason), it works perfectly. We haven''t had a single issue. It froths the milk very well, and if you don''t like as much foam, you can turn it off before it finishes its cycle. Also, I''ve seen that "oily" beans supposedly don''t work well we''ve been through two bags of "oily" espresso beans from Cost Plus and they didn''t jam the machine or cause any problems. Yes, we also ordered a bag of the Lavazza Super Crema, but when it''s gone we''ll just run up the street and get more Cost Plus beans.
I worked it out a Starbucks latte costs roughly $4. A homemade latte costs $0.40. Taking into account the high cost (and high quality) of this machine, and the number of espressos/lattes we make daily, I figure this machine will pay for itself in about three months. Of course, that isn''t such a good thing for Starbucks...but it''s great for us!
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Wow! This machine is pretty slick.
1) The machine: definitely idiot proof and seems quite sturdy. The touch screen works well and is well set into the frame of the machine. Some touch screens seem to "give" a bit into the machine when you push them. The machine is pretty quiet. MUCH quieter than the Delonghi machines. The crema hasn''t been as impressive as when I used to tamp and pull myself, but the flavor is excellent. Havn''t had any problem with "oily" beans. Boot up is quite fast, and the machine has lots of prompts to let you know when to empty something, or add water, or attach the milk island. Out of the box, set up was easy. It states that there is a coffee grinder adjusting tool in the box, which I searched for extensively. I then discovered that the end of the coffee scoop has the wrench tool on it. Would have been nice of those Italians to let us americans in on this one.
2)The milk Island: I wasn''t very clear on how this thing worked. Basically, you place your milk/soy milk/almond milk into the container between the min and max lines, and then turn the knob. I was used to using a thermometer, so I wasn''t sure what to do here. It froths the milk nicely, and I usually just turn it off when it doesn''t seem to be frothing any more, or if the sound changes pitch. Not very scientific, but I have been pleased with the results. Gaggia recommends that you take the thing apart after use, which is a bit more work than just cleaning out a metal frothing pitcher. The island has about 7 parts, and I would hate to lose one down the disposal. But, it is simple, and my daughters can now make a Latte for dad on a saturday morning. A great achievement for any parent!!
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I must say that I was very skeptical about getting a superautomatic machine. All I read about them is how they make inferior coffee and are super expensive and unreliable. I decided to get this one because it got to be really tedious to make coffee for everyone in the family all the time. Despite my trying to teach my wife how to do it with a semi-automatic machine (a Gaggia Twin), she just refused to learn.
In any case, I decided to give this machine a try and I must say I have been extremely impressed. The machine is supereasy to setup and extremely easy to use--you basically just press a button. It can be customized in many ways, but I basically just used the standard settings.
As for the coffee, it is absolutely superb--extremely awesome coffee. We have had it for 6 months and have not had one single problem. I am extremely impressed by it''s reliability. This machine is being used every single day and it has not had one malfunction.
I cannot recommend this enough. Excellent product !!
BJ
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Have owned it for almost a month. Makes great expresso, capuccino, and coffee at the touch of the screen. Easy cleanup, no fuss. Adjustable settings are a great feature. Refilling water tank and removing spent grounds are very easy.
Pays for itself by not paying at the coffee stores in 1-2 years.
Would highly recommend.
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