De'Longhi Eletta, Fully Automatic Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, Cappuccino and Espresso Maker, ECAM 44.660.B, 2 liters, Black

This review is for the De'Longhi ECAM44.660.B Eletta Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, 1450 W - BlackBenefits of this machine- very easy to use and saves a lot of time with one touch for most popular drinks- ability to customise drinks to suit your taste- automatic frother works very well and has several settings for the different drinks- felt uneasy using pods environmentally and this machine grinds beans fresh- we use the milk from this machine to make hot chocolate for our toddler as we feel safe it will not be too hot for her- we do use this to make tea. Saves boiling the kettle and you can have hot milk too- love seeing the different layers of the drink through the coffee mugPoints to note- check the dimensions- we have not yet had the joy of performing maintenance on this. But these machines will require regular filters, decalc and cleaning- grinders are never going to be silentTips- Lavazza coffee beans can be had relatively cheaper from Costco if you are a member- Branded coffee cups can be very expensive. We have found the IKEA 365+ clear mugs a very suitable alternative. They do 2 sizes and we have found the smaller ones are a good size for the Cappucino and the larger ones for Lattes and the flat white coffees.- Using a small tub under the "taps" when running a clean on the milk caraffe and when powering off the machine, means the drip tray has to be pulled out much less frequently- Placing your coffee cup under the machine when it's turned on means it can get hot with the rinse.- We always run a clean on the caraffe if it's come fresh out of the fridge just to help pre-warm it- I have attached an image we have printed and laminated showing the different drinks that can be made. This is much easier to show to guests when they are deciding which drink they would like.- The image also includes the different froth settings for the different drinks so will save you having to pull out the manualWe are relatively newbies to the world of coffee coming from a cultural background of tea drinkers. However we had recently been frequenting more and more Costa and then used the Aeropress with a separate frother at home. We have now moved onto this splendid device and now on average I will have at least 2 coffees a day from this machine (Cappucino in the morning and Flat White later in the day) and then the family have adhoc lattes throughout the day.As always, if you find this review helpful please make sure to let me know. Knowing you've found it helpful motivates me to do more such reviews.

I was working up to buying a coffee machine for many months before right at the last moment changing my mind on the model I was going to buy. I felt like I’d researched all the options and had settled on a Sage Barista but now that I’ve owned the DeLonghi Eletta for a month, I know it would have been a terrible mistake to go for the Sage. In essence the Eletta is perfect for the person that enjoys a coffee out and about (like Starbucks or Costa) but isn’t really arsed about the efforts and origin of the bean or how it made its way to your cup. Knowing coffee fanatics personally, I just really don’t care- I just want a nice coffee to wake me up in the mornings.The Eletta is 90% effortless. 10% not awarded because duh, you have to put water in frequently (not every time you use it, but at least once a day) and you have to offer it some basic maintenance like emptying the grounds, wiping the tray. However this is a small price to pay for the perfect coffees every time.I got the model with the milk tank, and if you have kids, this is also essential. I was reluctant due to the additional efforts in cleaning required however it has made the entire machine that more useful because it gives us a perfect hot chocolate, ovaltine and tbh I have even been using it for tea. I just always ensure I give the straw a rinse through immediately after making a batch of hot chocolates etc.Other additional benefits are the pre-programming features. You basically tell it what quantities of coffee you want. My husband and I always fill our flasks before work. The spout moves up and down depending on your cup size. Bonus. We have set it up to give us 100ml coffee on a “my coffee”, then tell it to do 2, so in essence we get a 200ml coffee flask made with enough room to add milk. It’s flippin perfect.You can change all the quantities on all the pre programmed drinks too so if you like a specific ratio of coffee to milk with your latte or cappuccino, it remembers.All this and you don’t even have to tamp the coffee down. It also accepts pre ground coffee btw but we have been happy buying beans. It takes no more time to fill our flasks than it was when we boiled the kettle to make instant coffee.To set it up: well, it got delivered at 9pm one evening and I followed the basic instructions and before 10 I was confident to make my morning drink, which I did. It took me less than a day to feel like I knew the machine.As for noise, I can’t say I find it annoying- it is a grinder after all. It makes noises that you’d expect. My husband gets up before 1am for work and I have not yet been disturbed by it. So it’s not that bad.Enjoy!!!

The media could not be loaded. This review comes nearly a year after our purchase.Last year, my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to this espresso machine as a Christmas gift, partly after learning about the potential health impacts of aluminum capsules (and let's face it, what doesn’t have some risk?).Without a doubt, this is one of the best purchases we’ve ever made—and definitely the best coffee machine we've owned. The coffee it makes is absolutely spot on, much better than what we got from capsules, our French press, and even our old espresso machine that used ground beans. It’s easy to use and clean, delivers fantastic results every time, and the smell of freshly ground coffee when you press start is amazing.A must-have for all coffee lovers!