Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
78 of 78 people found the following review helpful.
Oh come on, it's not that bad... Here's some things to consider
By Jeffrey N. Burley
First... I'm not an employee of Espressione...I've read many reviews on this item, most of them, not very positive. I thought I would add my 2 cents as I have had this machine for a little over 2 months.Let's start with day 1. Dead on Arrival. Bummer. Well, it was easy enough to return to the place I purchased (Sams). They sent me a new one within 3 days, and I was excited to get started. Before you buy this machine, make sure you make this checklist:1. I have a decent conical burr grinder ( )2. I am aware that I need to buy fresh beans to get real crema ( )3. I have a decent tamper in the 58mm variety ( )4. I am not a total espresso geek, but I have owned a cheap machine or two ( )5. I never pay retail for espresso machines ( )If you've checked most of these, feel free to continue, if you haven't, don't buy this machine. It's not for you. If you're an uber espresso geek, go buy your PID'd Rancilio Silvia or your Le Lit. You don't belong here. This machine has an aluminum boiler that has heat issues just like the rest of the lower grade machines do. It does hold heat better than most, but seriously, if you're in the $600 market, you shouldn't be looking at this machine. You can get this machine at "other" vendors in the $230 range. And for that price, there isn't a whole lot that's better. Maybe a Gaggia... but I'm sick of those pieces of plastic.Physical Traits: It's pretty... Very pretty. It's also pretty solid and heavy at 24ish lbs. It is tall, and yes, you do have to hold on while attaching the portafilter. However, it's not as bad as previous reviewers have stated. The portafilter is almost as heavy as my Reneka Viva single group commercial machine at work. It has a very nice (and handy) temperature gauge on the top of the machine that is very useful.Espresso:Probably the best part of this said portafilter is that it has options for brewing espresso. If you have a decent grinder, you can remove the "crema enhancing" disks inside and use it's regular filter basket just like a higher end machine (a serious plus for me...). The pump has plenty of pressure to press fine ground espresso and make wonderful crema (as long as your beans are fresh). Some reviewers have stated the espresso is cold. Here's my typical process:1. Fire up the machine into the standby position (heats boiler to just about 100 degrees C)2. Once the temp is up, for the first shot of the day I do a quick blank shot to keep the portafilter warm.3. I warm my cup up with warm water4. Pull the shot. Enjoy.I'm guessing people find the espresso cold is the massive portafilter is cold. Once it's warm, it stays warm. But honestly, I've had some pretty nice shots.Steam:Yup, it pretty much sucks in from the factory form. The machine makes plenty of steam for my latte's, but not without modification. The tip they give you for the wand is awwwwfuuuullll. Replace it with somethign... or trim it down. I used my Delonghi Ec155 tip on mine and it makes nice micro foam. But the original allows too much air into the mix. Foul bubbly milk... no thanks.Yes, the wand is too close to the machine, but I have got used to it. It' not that big of an issue, and quite frankly I'm not that picky for $230 bucks shipped. If I were spending $700, I'd be furious.Well I think that just about wraps it up. I really appreciate good espresso. Sure, there are plenty of better machines out there, but this one suits me just fine. Hope you enjoyed this review and that it is somewhat sobering.
40 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
A REAL Review - Far from Perfection
By Martha B.
I needed to add this review after I purchased this product and reread the reviews that helped me make the decision to buy. It is now obvious to me that these were paid reviews. A few of them appear in exact or similar wording on several websites.This is a nice looking machine but out of the box we were disappointed with the quality of most of the parts. The drip tray is a very thin metal and even worse are the plastic levers and steam wand. It does come with a quality portafilter and we did really like the temp gauge on the top as well as the slick blue lights.If you have a good grinder, the espresso this machine produces is decent with some crema, but the bigger problem is the steam wand. It only moves forward and back, and is very short - you will either be holding the pitcher throughout steaming or you will need to stack something under your pitcher which is always likely to spill (and isn't all of this fiddling and rigging one of the reasons you wanted to upgrade in the first place?). And the production of steam is just poor. You can pay much less for many of the budget machines and they will serve you much better.Bottom line, please do not buy this machine unless you can find it for less than $300 (I haven't seen it for less than $400 so I'm talking a closeout price here). We returned ours and purchased a Rancilio Silvia for $550 and it is a quality piece of machinery inside and out. If you are looking for a machine that is more practical (the Silvia has a learning curve), go with a Gaggia. This machine is lovely (from a few feet away) but not worth the money!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Actually works quite well.
By Ron Suliteanu
It looks absolutely great, but that's not why you spend $400-500 for an espresso machine. This is my first machine at this level, so I'm not a complete expert, but I do know a good shot when I drink it. It took me some time to get used to it. The portafilter needs some serious muscle to tighten. I use the rail on top to provide leverage and it has actually gotten easier with time. The most important thing to know about the Novecento is that it has a powerful pump, so you have to use a fine grind and tamp REALLY hard. I bought a 58mm metal tamper Rattleware 58-Milimeter Round-Handled Tamper, Long and it made all the difference. The plastic one provided is almost useless. Properly ground and tamped, the espresso is excellent with plenty of crema. It takes a couple minutes to go from brewing temp up to steaming temp. The steam wand is close to the body and does not allow for a lot of room to maneuver the milk pitcher, but what can I say, it works! I just hold the pitcher there until it's ready - under a minute. Overall, quite functional and as I said, beautiful.
See all 15 customer reviews...
Great espresso, but reliability issues
