Mmm, coffee. Reviews, anyone?
I don’t know how many takers they’ll get with a description touting the “1/8 liter” water tank. At just over a half cup, that’s a lot of refilling…I did a double-take until I saw it’s actually a 1.8 liter tank.
I’ll bet the coffee snobs here are just frothing at the milk to write a bad review about this one…
Don’t buy this thing!!! Ive had nothing but trouble with mine. Just boxed it up for return. Constant error message for no reason-followed all the directions-with bad results.
Reasonable? $400 & it doesn’t work?? If I had all your money, I’d throw mine away …
Kay, so I have no experience with this particular machine, just used a much nicer one while working at a coffee shop.
Some thoughts:
I looked up the warranty information for this machine and it doesnt cover shipping (neither to NJ or back to you, though its a $15 flat rate fee to process your broken machine and ship it back to you)
Also, their website expresses a 10 year warranty on the “brewing group only” whatever that means. I guess thats the brewing head area of the machine.
I have never heard of a “Coffee Essence System” or “CES”. More like “CDS”, “Completely Dubious System”. All we did in our shop was grind espresso beans, pack them in a brew head, and lock it in place. Then the machine would pump hot water through the brew head to make the espresso.
No grinder should ever burn your coffee beans; this machine amiably complies. Burnt coffee is not as a result of the grinder or hot water, but the way the beans are roasted. Cheap coffee beans taste bad. Cheap, burnt coffee beans taste…burnt, but not as bad.
This model has a nifty steaming wand. With a bit of practice (and by a bit i mean a month of making your own cappuccinos) you will be able to impress the guests with your Barista skills. I wouldnt trust the built in thermostat though. Id stick a (clean) meat probe in the cup to be sure. Milk starts frothing well around 110F, burns at 180F.
Some tips for succulent sipping:
- Always use whole beans. All coffee absorbs atmospheric flavors, and lose their own to the atmosphere. Ground coffee expedites the process.
- Coffee priced less than $10/lb becomes perceptibly cheap.
- Store beans in a dark, airtight container at room temperature. Coffee stored in freezers will taste like your freezer.
- Filter the water.
- Steam wand can be used to heat other drinks like hot cider or soy milk
- Ground espresso grain size should be slightly finer than regular drip coffee.
Some #'s:
- Each latte you make will save you about $3, over buying it somewhere else. Thats 133 drinks to meet the $400 break even point.
- 18bar is 260psig
- coffee is the second most traded product in the world, second only to petroleum**
J. Percolator
**“Medium-term prospects for agricultural commodities. Projections to the year 2010.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Hey, where is the darn “like” button. I thought this post was very informative.
Similar issue. My wife and I picked one up last time it was on Woot Sellout for 450. Made 4 cups of coffee before it died. Might have been a one-off, but the manufacturer charges shipping both ways for repairs…not cool when you only got it an hour ago.