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M**F
5 year review - saved my marriage - at a cost
UPDATE 2020:Since posting the review, I took a punt. Delonghi provide a "maintenance service" at the low cost of £90!! but at this point I wasn't getting much enjoyment from the machine so I went for it. The findings were minimal, but it was something. I had a leak in the one of the valves which was allowing some water to leak out.After getting the machine back the first thing I noticed was that the "bin" wasn't as...moist... which led to less mould build up in the bin, previously it would take 1-2 days to get pretty nasty, now it stays relatively dry for 5-6 days.Coffee wise, I'd say it probably helped boost the strength by 10-20%, so yes it did help, worth adding £100 to my purchase cost of the machine?.... I still think yes, as frankly but I can't help but ask the what-if I had gone for the CAFFEO® SOLO®....------------------------------Original Message:Come originally from a Icona machine (non bean to cup).Loved it, made great coffees and frothed like a champ. My days were happy and coffee filled.However one problem, the thing was a nightmare to keep clean, it would constantly blast grinds all over the place after use. My wife informed me, if she found anymore grinds in the kitchen, either I, or the coffee machine had to go.Now we have the Delonghi Magnifica bean to cup.Firstly, yes. it keeps the grinds behind the scenes and in an impressively small package, so no mess, no divorce papers. Everyone lived happily ever after right? Not, so, fast.Whilst this machine CAN make good coffee, it requires work and a significant amount of its functionality proves about as much use as a cowpat flavoured lollypop.Firstly, the frother: The steam wand itself, is probably on par with a 90 year old nun blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. Given this was an UPGRADE of the Icona, this fact still baffles me.Pro Tip: Heat the milk via the Nun-gun, then finish off using an electric hand whisk.Next, the grinder is also terrible. Regardless of the setting, the coffee always comes out too weak. Even pouring half an Espresso on max settings, if I close my eyes, I could pretend I'm drinking a Starbucks Americano. I believe, this is due to the fact that as the machine grinds, the beans fall through a filter when they are a small enough size. The impact of this, is that they are only against the blades of the grinder for a finite amount of time.OK. So if its so terrible, why have I being using it for 5 years?Firstly, gave up on milky coffee. Too much faff.Secondly, and the saving grace of the machine.....The convenience grind slot!By using this slot, for adding, pre-ground beans, we can bypass the terrible grinder and make something that tastes something somewhat decent.I currently use: the De'Longhi KG49 Coffee Grinder. You will notice, there is no slot in this machine and you can grind the beans to any level you choose, even into powder if you really wanted to (don't do this... it will clog the machine.. I tried).So by adding pre-ground beans, wouldn't you believe, it makes an ok coffee!So again, at this point you may ask. Why not just get a regular coffee machine like the Icona if you are blending the beans yourself?Well, the machine does a pretty good job of tidying up after itself. Simply, add the ground beans, push a button. The (replaceable and independently cleanable) "Delonghi Diffuser" inside the machine, extracts the coffee, then pops the grinds into a separate tray at the back of the machine.Now when I wake up late and forget to tidy up after myself, the machine has my back for about 10 cups of coffee before it complains the bin is full.So all in all, machine can; make an ok <small> Americano, a range of udderly terrible milky drinks and a pretty solid Espresso.For reference, beans wise: I use Monmouth, Caravan or Union.I've yet to find a machine that can offer the benefits listed above, so if you relate, I'd whole heartedly recommend.If you find yourself asking; why nuns blow so hard, maybe it is time to continue your search...
S**O
It does what it is supposed to do (read the review for more details)
***Update after 2 years of usage***Last month the machine started to have a grinder problem. Basically the grinder was not able to grind anymore. Considering the type of work it does I was not 100% surprised as there is no way you can actually clean it but still, it made the machine unusable. As I am quite good with DIY I opened the machine, remove the grinder part and tried to clean it. Unfortunately it didn't work. I looked at De Longhi parts and the grinder is the only part they sell in one piece only. So I ordered a new grinder for about £55 and replaced the part. Now it is working perfectly but it is a bit of a concern that I had to replace this part after only two years. The majority of the people would have thrown the machine in the bin of gone through a repair service and spending at least £100 if not more. Not happy about the design quality.***Update after about 3 months of usage***Warming the cups and the whole system is REALLY important to achieve a very good, almost perfect, coffee.My technique is:1)Turn the machine on: it will automatically take some hot water out to clean the circuits and warm them up2)Fill the cup completely with hot water3)Empty the cup and re fill it with hot water again: at this point cup is really hot4)Press again the button to activate the "cleaning" which does the same of step 15)Empty the water from the cup and make your own espresso6)Cup is very hot as well the coffee and coffee is really good (assuming you have some good beans)Note 1: Is INCREDIBLY important to tune the grinding level. It should take 25 seconds for 25cl of coffee when doing 2 espressos at a time (half if doing only one since it uses two holes). Grinding level should be adjusted every day since it changes with the humidity of the air (My set up is usually around 2,5).Note 2: when doing two cups it's true that the quantity is not completely symmetric between the two holes but result is still acceptableNote 3: I'm currently using Lavazza beans and they are really good (no bitterness at all). Probably coffee roasted in UK, even if very good quality, is better for filtered coffee than for espresso. I'm going to try the Kimbo coffee which is also supposed to be very good (not tried yet). In any case I prefer Lavazza more than Illy even if Illy is supposed to be better.---------------------------------------------------Original review:I'm Italian and I love espresso (what a surprise).I have been using it for only few weeks and I'm relatively happy.The fact that I'm not 100% satisfied is for mainly two reasons (in order of importance for me):1)The Coffee is not very hot; you have four different temperature levels (it doesn't say the expected temperature of the water) and I can't even understand who could use this machine at a level lower than the maximum. If I just make the coffee as soon as the machine is ready, coffee temperature is not really hot which is disappointing. To make it hotter you have to "play" a bit with the machine like using the hot water function, the steamer and so on. This also includes to put some hot water in the coffee cup first to warm it a bit (don't even think that the metal plate on top does something, it's not even warm). After all this the coffee is reasonably hot even if I would have liked 3/4 degrees hotter but it's simply impossible. All this means that first you can not do a quick coffee but have to spend some time to manually heat all the circuits a bit more. And second you end wasting quite some water.2)I don't think it's really possible to use it to make two coffees at a time because the distribution between the two sides is not even so you will end up having one cup which has less coffee than you wanted (ristretto) and one cup with more (lungo)Taste of the coffee is good, you have the cream, but of course you have to find the beans you like the most.I'm currently on Illy, coffee is good but I find it a bit too roasted.I've ordered some Lavazza Cream and Aroma but not tried yet.I will then try something more particular like beans sold by Monmouth.Just an extra comment.My parents recently bought a Nespresso. I think coffee is really good but if I find it expensive in Italy (a bit less than 4 euros for 10 capsules) here in UK price is ridiculous (something like 8 pounds for 10 capsules? Seriously?) and coffee is not very hot either.At work we recently bought a Dolce Gusto Piccolo. Incredibly cheap and capsules can be found almost in every big supermarket. Well, with my big surprise the coffee is not bad at all! The machine costs around 90 pounds, capsules a bit less than 4 pounds for 16 capsules and coffee is HOT.Of course I will stay with my DeLonghi at home because I want to choose my own coffee beans and everything but they should really increase the water temperature.
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