I got the bigger daddy version of this machine last Woot about a month or month and a half ago, and it is a fantastic machine. Even though it’s refurb’d the thing smelt new.
Been thrilled with it. If this sucker has half the features that my 15 bar espresso machine has, it’s worth the woot.
Pretty much anything from Breville is a quality product. This price is a steal considering how much our store offers. In terms of reliability, they are up there with Delonghi.
As far as Espresso-Makers go, anything from Delonghi, Jura-Capresso, or Breville are rated really high. Krups are great by value especially those who aren’t huge espresso aficionados.
Just make sure that it is semi-pump driven with at least 15 barrs of pressure used to create the creama.
I don’t think the woot version includes the extra espresso cups and saucer.
When you order coffee at Starsucks, or a CC’s Coffee House (If you’ve never had locally owned and operated Community Coffee here in Baton Rouge, you must work for Al Qa’eda), and you order a latte, and ask for one/two/three/an instant stroke’s worth shots of espresso to be added, that’s what you’re getting…
My friend lived alongside a few Kiwi’s and his older brother in Venice, Italy, with the harbormaster…He was responsible for the depth of the water in the city, from what I understand…The man was a raging alcoholic for about 6 months out of the year…Yet, no matter how yellowed his beard had become from cigarette smoking, nor how hung over this man would emerge from an alcohol induced haze out of, he always made time for his afternoon espresso…
They’re usually served in tiny cups, and drank like a “black coffee”, IE-no sugar, milk, creamer, sugar, or things of that nature…
Definitely puts a pep in your step in the AM…or anytime, for that matter…
Think Rick James during the Charlie Murphy years, sans crack addled mania…
An espresso machine forces water through the grounds at a specific temperature and pressure to extract more of the flavor. Since the entire process is about flavor, coffee fanatics are just like wine fanatics: They obsess over the details that control flavor, like the bean, the roasting conditions, the grind, temperature control, pressure control, shot timing, etc. An espresso machine can also come with a steaming wand for steaming the milk that goes into lattes and cappucinos. Of course, there’s a whole science/art behind steaming milk, too.
Coffee snobs might turn up their noses at this machine because they want the precision and features that a $1500 machine has (just like cars, cameras, video cards, etc.). Someone like me probably couldn’t tell the difference.
An espresso maker is like a coffee maker which brews with hot water, but it is forced under high pressure. The coffee grounds must be grinded to a very fine powder. The crema (the end result of what comes out of the espresso machine) is chemically fragile since enough exposure to oxygen will lower the temperature and alter its unique flavor.
Espresso makers usually produce enough for a single shot (about 1 fluid ounce) which can be added to make specialized drinks like cappucccino, mochas, lattes, etc. Most espresso machines cannot make coffee, but there are some that can are both coffee maker and espresso maker in one.