DeLonghi EC5 Steam-Driven 4-Cup Espresso and Coffee Maker, Black

This thing has a little learning curve, but if you read the instructions, it works really well. You have to froth the milk while the coffee is coming out. If you wait till it's done, there's no more steam. I use the included carafe to measure the water, then put the milk in it and open the steam valve and froth the milk as soon as the coffee starts dripping into the cup. Then I pour the froth into the coffee, rinse out the carafe, put warm water in it and use it to wash off the frothing nozzle. You'll have to figure out to your taste how much coffee and how much milk to use, but there are guidelines and many markings on the carafe. Be stingy with the milk as it expands to about triple the amount you put in. 2% works fine for me. It has an adapter to fill 2 espresso cups at once, but I prefer a big cup. The basket handle sticks way out in front, but I discovered that the carafe fits upside down perfectly on the filler cap and stores on top. I also just discovered it has a little clip to hold the basket in the holder while you tap out the grounds. It has a nice tray that catches any spillage and lifts out easily to rinse. I ran two fillings of plain water before I used it and didn't taste anything but good coffee. It's simple, well designed and does the job.

This was one of the cheapest espresso machines that I found on Amazon. I wasn't sure what to expect but I have now used it for a few months and I am very very happy to have it. It is very easy to use, it makes delicious coffee it doesn't take up much space at all. If I had to say something negative of an otherwize perfect product is tha the coffee it makes could be a tiny bit hotter. But I'm being picky now!Definitely a GREAT purchase.

ive had my espresso maker for over three months now and love it! the espersso is sooo good! i compared it with my local coffee stores and cant tell much of a differece well except for the price i pay for a cup. ive saved money making it at home and enjoy mixing up my own recipes.... the flaw of this machine is the frother. it is in an awkward position and makes steaming milk difficult without the right cup. but when you wiggle it a little it works good.. all in all great machine really worth the money

Every morning my wife and I brew beans ground from her family's coffee farm in Honduras. All we really want is a small machine that brews really hot coffee. We had a small Krups expresso machine, purchased in the 90's, which worked great for many years. It had a metal tank, brewed quickly, and didn't leak. When that machine got tired, we figured Krups had treated us well, so we got the Krups replacement model (Krups XP1020). Somewhere in the intervening years, Krups must have fired their engineers and outsourced design and manufacturing to create what the industry euphemistically calls an "entry-level model." The new Krups had a plastic tank, took up more space with useless stylistic flourishes, didn't brew as hot as the previous model, and leaked pressure around the gasket. We suffered its tyranny unbelievably for two years until we called it quits and ordered this DeLonghi from Amazon. For brewing home-ground coffee hot and quick, the DeLonghi cannot be beat. The Amazon price was great too (fully painless with the forgotten $25 Christmas gift certificate pinned to the cork board). The metal tank and overall design, switch, etc. just seem better than the the discarded Krups. Note, we don't froth our coffee, so I cannot comment on the short frothing stem, which seems to bother some reviewers. However, in all regards that matter to us, the Delonghi works great. After two weeks use, I recommend it.

Getting this machine was my idea, my husband was happy with our leaking, overflowing Mr. Coffee coffee maker. I finally took the plug and we are both glad we did. Now, we have had this for only a week, so I can't comment on longevity. I will update as needed. So far we have found it easy to use (we read through the directions the first time we made expresso) and it makes a good cup of joe. The instructions suggest making two cups of coffee before you actually drink what you made so I did that. My husband wishes it made an 8 cup of java juice but that would defeat the purpose:) We use the same coffee as before (Caribou Mahogany) and it is very flavorful. The steamer works well with our coffee mug and whole milk. It is nice because we steam the milk right in the mug, pour the coffee in and have a very hot, yummy cup. Alone the coffee is not that hot but we always add seamed milk which brings up the temp significantly.Ok, we loved this machine while it worked. We brewed 2-4 cups a day for 4 months. Then one morning it just wouldn't heat up anymore. It appears that the heating element died. Ugh, now we paid money for something that doesn't work. It sucks!

I should have paid attention to the other bad reviews! I think that the people that left 5 stars must have gotten a different machine than me. I've had at least 8 espresso machines in the last 20 years, know how to use them, have only needed new ones when they burn out or stop getting hot quick enough. This one is just a nightmare! 1-Takes forever to get an espresso. Stops half way through and I have to let steam out of the frother or it won't finish making the espresso. I have NO idea why. I've waited 20 minutes just to test it, nope, as soon as I let a little steam out it continued. 2-The fact that you can't cut off the espresso to steam makes both just run weak and can ruin the milk froth and the espresso crema. Ends up like you're just dripping coffee. 3- The stupid safety seal is such a pain! Have to wait for it to totally cool down to remove the top, often doesn't seal right no matter how careful you are, have to wait again. 4-Don't expect to make espresso for more than 4 people, just takes too long. This thing has annoyed the heck out of me. Espresso shouldn't be this hard!I've had Mr. Coffee's that were soooo much better than this thing.I waited a year for this review hoping I would get use to it. I wish I had returned it! I trashed it this week. Waste of money.

For the price and the size this little unit does the trick every morning. Probably made over 300 espressos since I've got it and still works perfectly. Cleanup is simple with the metal filter as well. Although the steamer attachment did break off a while ago, but it didn't bother me as I manually froth my milk anyways. But I'll admit it's not connected to the unit very strongly.

クレマもできにくいけど、良い味で抽出できますので、良い商品です。お値段も安いのでこれから入門の方にはお勧めです。エスプレッソマシンは安いものしか使ってないからかもしれないですが、二年も使うとどこかしら不具合がおきますので、またリピートするつもりです。

This machine makes great European style espresso! This is basically the difference between steam and pump driven machines. This is a steam driven machine that produces a full body coffee.

説明書がすべて横文字で、型落ち品？だったのか、ミルクフォームの作り方がネットなどを調べてもわかりづらく苦労しました・・・・。その苦労あって、作れるようになったあとは家族にもおいしいと言ってもらえるようになりました。

This machine makes amazing espresso for its price and generally good espresso(better than my friends $700 machine) and works quickly and quietly, about 3-5 minutes for espresso. But there are a few tricks to using the steam wand (Expected with a machine at this price)1. There's no switch to steam milk, if you want steam your getting coffee too. (This is gonna be bad espresso)2. To steam milk first brew your espresso (don't steam milk now ONLY to depressurize), replace your cup with another, add more water and run another cycle. This time steam the milk the entire time and toss the espresso in the sink.3.The wand is a little short and there's not much clearance so you need to use a short frothing pithcer. (The carafe that comes with it does just fine)4.The 2 cup adapter makes it so i can't get any of my cups underneath. However you can still brew 2 at once with the portafilter.All in all its a great machine that makes a good espresso. Not the most convenient for steaming milk but it works.