Customer Reviews

DeLonghi ESAM6600 Gran Dama Digital Super-Automatic Espresso Machine

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First of all, this machine is physically superior to all other super-automatic brands I checked out. The top line Jura, Saeco, and Krups are all wrapped in plastic with steel accents in front while the Delonghi is fully encased in steel. The engineering is very solid and it has a gorgeous presence in the kitchen.

If you like Cappuccino, you will love this machine and its truly one touch operation. However, you must use proper sized Cappuccino cups to get the full experience. The machine is tuned to froth the milk and add the espresso shot so that froth extends about 1/4 inch above the edge of the cup. You can change these settings, but out-of-the-box it is perfect. I have never had a better Cappuccino anywhere - even Italy. (I use Illy medium roast beans). The milk container is incredibly convenient. I have placed the machine near my fridge so I simply store the milk container in the fridge after each use. It snaps in and out of place very easily.

The espresso shots are wonderful. It is important that you take note of the grind setting when you open the box before you change it. They set the grind setting at the factory for each machine and it is unlikely that you will find a better mark. People say that super-automatics can't make a shot as good as the manual machines but think this machine defies that rule.

To really enjoy and understand this machine, you need to read the manual and take some simple extra steps before and after you use it each day. First of all, use the rinse feature often. It takes 1/2 second to push the button. If the machine has been sitting for a while, hit rinse before you use it so the infuser will heat up. After your last cup for the morning etc, hit rinse. It is a quick and simple way to keep the machine working well. Second, before and after you use the milk container, hold the CLEAN button for 5 seconds. It blasts steam through the internal parts that transport the milk. There is no other way to clean the milk that enters the machine. If you don't do this, the milk will harden in the machine and cause problems. You do not need to CLEAN after every cup, just when you are finished for that period of the day. Again, it is quick and simple and makes a big difference. Finally, prep your machine based on your usage. Don't let the machine tell you to empty the container, fill the beans, or fill the water. Get ahead of it so that your coffee making sessions are not interrupted by these messages. Once every day or so, depending on usage, just check everything before you start so you don't waste time or coffee.

Here is an important point. If you are drinking alone, this super- automatic is as much work or more than a manual machine. You need to prep and clean it more than a manual machine. The super-automatic only pays off in terms of convenience when you make the second cup and beyond. With this machine, you can just hit CAPPUCCINO 10 times in a row and you will have 10 cups - it's that simple. But after 14 cups you refil the water, empty the grounds container, top off the beans, clean the milk and rinse the infuser. To me, its all worth it because it makes a great cup of coffee and it is just so damn cool.

In summary, I am so pleased with this product that I was motivated to write this review. What else can I say?

I had a Jura Capresso F9 for a year before it went bad - the company replaced it with a refurbished machine. I had upgraded to the Jura from a Saeco which was an absolute nightmare.

Ultimately I enjoyed my Jura but hated that none of the parts were user-serviceable and I had to rely onthe cleaning tablets to ensure that the machine was 'clean'.

After seeing the Delonghi in a William-Sonoma store demo I thought it was great - fully integrated single-touch operation and it was SOOOO much quieter than my Jura. I decided to upgrade.

Setup was easy and all the pre-programmed touch buttons seemed to fill to the right quantities. I was nervous after seeing a couple reviews on here complaining about the milk container, but I've not had a problem since and I use the machine 3-4 times daily without any issue.

There was another reviewer on here who made a statement I couldn't agree with more: you DO NOT purchase a fully automatic espresso machine with the idea that it eliminates cleaning or maintenance - that includes cleaning/cycling after each cup. However, this machine makes that process much easier.

The construction and parts are all solid-steel. It shocked me that my $2000 Jura had silver plastic in the front with the audacity to call it 'chrome'. Yeah, I'll call that chrome when pigs call themselves fat-free.

Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with this and would certainly recommend the product for those looking to replace or upgrade their current systems. When I have guests the machine has NO problem brewing lattes, regular cups of coffees or straight espressos - I also love that I can change the strength and taste for each individual cup; this is really ideal for multi-person use or guests and something that many other machines can't do. Or at least without completely changing the taste programming; the DeLonghi has a simple one touch button to change this between multiple taste/strength preferences.

My only 'con' is I wish I could turn off the pre-brew function - I don't see this as an option in the programming screen.

Overall pluses:
- Big water tank
- inter-changeable accessories
- overall construction
- cleaning system/self-cleaning
- taste/strength change (on-the-fly)
- many more...

Cons:
- Instructional DVD didn't work
- Pre-brew function cannot be modified
- No in-line water filter
- cleaning container by count only - doesn't recognize if you've emptied or cleaned it out sooner

I had to return two of these machines - on the first, the milk pitcher was almost impossible to install on the machine - it worked a few times, then started sticking terribly. Then it stopped recognizing that the pitcher was installed at all, thereby making a latte impossible. On the second machine it only worked once. I spoke with DeLonghi and they acknowledge that they had heard about this problem from other people. As with the earlier DeLonghi models, the milk doesn't get hot enough. With this added quirk, I'd avoid this machine until they get it straightened out.

I purchased this from a upscale B&M store, pretty sure it was a display as it had no packaging, manual and did not have the frothing pitcher (and no non-working dvd). No problem, went to the DeLonghi web site, ordered the pitcher assembly and downloaded the manual.

The machine makes a great coffee and espresso with a perfect crema. The ability to program the quantity brewed regardless of the selection is great. Cappucino, latte, machiatto it all works very well.

Have had similar issues of the sticking of the pitcher and the hot water attachment in it's place, but a little patience pays off well.

I also deducted a star for the limited cup height that can be placed under the dispenser. Not keen on the idea of heat loss in transferring to a travel mug for example. My solution is to preheat a two cup pyrex mesuring cup to dispense to and transfer from and that works well.

One more con is that there does seem to be an unusual amount of ground coffee (dry)towards the back of the tray that slides out, next to the used puck catch container. Maybe I am just nitpicking, but it does seem a waste.

All in all this machine makes great coffee and coffee drinks, and after three years it is going strong. I have only had to decalcify once so far. This thing has more than paid for itself. This machine would be overkill for a single person that drinks only an occasional cup, there are coffee shops for that. But for someone, a couple or family that loves coffee, this machine rocks. Plus, what better way to experiment with different coffee drinks without forking out five bucks at a Starbucks, Caribou or Dunn Bros?

I am a bit of a coffee snob and always wanted a high powered espresso machine, but my wife was put-off by the complexity of the commercial machines. We bought the Gran Dama because it is so automatic that making great latte and cappuccino is now a breeze for her and I love the real espresso taste.

The instructional DVD and intuitive programming got us off to a fast start. Watching the DVD a couple of times before plugging in machine helps set-up go smoothly.

Like any espresso machine this requires some maintenance. However, even the maintenance is semi-automatic. There is a message to fill the water tank, add beans and empty the grounds. I have already gotten in the habit of doing all that and emptying the catch tray when the "fill tank." message comes on. It automatically goes into a rinsing cycle when its turned off/on. It's also recommended to push the rinse cycle button after several consecutive uses. There isn't any message to clean the steam/milk nozzle on the milk tank, but all you have to do is hold the CLEAN button on the tank down for several seconds and you're done. The milk can dry hard as concrete onto any steam nozzle, so I recommend cleaning it after every use to avoid problems. Don't be put-off by the maintenance, it's easy and you won't even get your hands dirty.

There are a couple small things that could be improved. The height under the espresso nozzles is about 3" and tall cups or glasses can't be used. So we bought a 12 ounce stainless pitcher to catch and transfer drinks. The other nuisance is connecting the milk tank can become difficult. It occasionally requires a detailed cleaning and I use a little canola oil to lube the connections.

We highly recommend the Gran Dama to anyone who wants real espresso/milk flavor without all the hassle. It is worth every penny.

Added May 24, 2011
I am surprised by all the recent negative reviews. We've had our Gran Dama for almost 3 years and use it daily. Besides the need for some meticulous cleaning, it's worked great. I did epoxy the tip of the milk pitch slide value into the socket, because it would occasionally disconnect. Other than that minor repair, we have not had any problems.

I had to grit my teeth to spend this much on a an Espresso machine but it has been worth every penny. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks so I can't comment on how reliable it is but my machine is working perfectly.

It took a little experimentation to find the right coffee to meet my expectations. I lived in Italy and want something that comes close to my favorite Pasticerria coffee. I like that I can alter the amount of milk added to each kind of coffee and of course, it's awesome that latte, cappuccino, macchiato and espresso are available at the touch of a button.

The machine heats up quickly and since you get coffee and milk at the same time, both are hot unlike my old machine where I could brew the coffee and then had to wait for the water to reheat before I could steam the milk. I love that I never have to wait for the pressure to release before removing the grounds holder again. I used to have to wait five minutes or more before brewing another cup but the Gran Dama empties the grounds and reheats in seconds.

The machine is easy to clean which is a plus. It comes apart easily and reassembles with no effort. I read the directions carefully and watched the DVD that came with it and was making coffee in a few minutes.

I have only found two drawbacks so far. When I use ground coffee I get the "add grounds" message even after adding the measure of grounds. I have to add more than one scoop to get rid of the message and at one point it stopped and told me to remove coffee before it would brew. I don't really care because I will use beans and not grounds from now on.

The other issue is that you must always ensure there is water in the tank and milk in the container before starting. If you don't, it will start to brew and then stop. The machine steamed the milk and delivered it and then told me to fill the tank with water because I failed to notice it was low. Apparently you can't just add water and continue, but must start over, wasting the already steamed milk. I'll just have to be careful to check the levels before brewing.

Otherwise, it makes a superb coffee, very quickly, with no work. I can have delicious cappuccino whenever I want and it tastes better than Starbucks! The machine looks good, very impressive. I am very satisfied with this espresso machine.

After careful research, I decided on the Delonghi Gran Dama instead of the Jura expressa. Today I received my Gran Dama in advance of my visiting house guests who arrive tomorrow. The machine arrived on time ... I put the DVD in my player to follow instructions and learn the features. The DVD DOES NOT WORK!! The frames of the DVD are rolling so that it is impossible to watch. All other DVDs work except this one. Well now I have read the instruction manual ... everything is ready to go. I turn the machine on to test it in advance of my guests. The LCD screen comes on with hieroglyphics. I restart a few times, check everything out ... no change. I now have to hassle with bills, customer support, pack it in the box, drive 8 miles to the UPS store and send it back. I have no coffee machine for my six guests who are staying for three days and I have to buy a new espresso machine. I previously had a Delonghi coffee maker that stopped functioning after 6 months. I called Delonghi support, sent emails and never even got a response. What ever prompted me to buy another one??? Never again!!!!!

UPDATE: It is now December 16th and I still have not heard from DeLonghi. I have left messages and sent and email on November 30th. In the meantime I bought a new machine and it seems to function well. Takes a little time to heat up but makes excellent cappuccinos, lattes, steamed milk and espressos.

UPDATE-2: A YEAR LATER.Still have not made a cup of coffee with teh first machine. Its been in the Delonghi service repair depot for 7 weeks with a control panel on backorder. The second machine made coffee for 6 months and the same LCD panel has gone blank. I give up!! NEVER BUY ONE OF THESE!!!

UPDATE 3: 18 MONTHS LATER: Sent it again for a number of other reasons. Got it back after two months waiting for parts. Turned it on and it had an error message. Enough is enough!! Delonghi doesn't stock parts for this unit and it constantly breaks down. Expect at least 1-2 months before you get it back from repair place. COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!!

I have owned a run of the mill krups coffee maker forever. It refused to die. I could not imagine spending thousands for a coffee machine but my wife really wanted to get me something special for father's day. I did a fairly compulsive online review but it was not until I saw the Grand Dama up close and personal that I made up my mind. It's a beautiful piece of kitchen sculpture. Now came the test, would it work?
I knew going into this that all of the machines are surprisingly hit or miss and we were talking Italian engineering! Well the dvd would not play in my player, bad start, but it ran fine in my MAC. The video was easy to follow and the written instructions were also easy. It worked first time and every time since and I am in love! so is my wife and so are my teenagers the Grand Dame's (sic) a real hit. Like the previous reviewer, I've found a little lubrication is the secret to happiness. I've also figured out how to get hot frothed milk for hot chocolate, etc. Run the machine on the manual grounds setting, push latte or capacino and don't add coffee...voila hot frothed milk. This thing is virtually the same total work per 8 cups as a drip maker and 1000 times better. Put's the local starbucks and caribou to shame.

great machine.. coffee tastes amazing.. and I am very picky! I was concerned about the milk frothing system,,,main reason I got this machine! But the milk froths perfectly EVERY time! I am keeping the milk container ( without the top) in the fridge . Always using cold, skim milk.. and remember to set the marker in position 2. Works like a charm. I am very happy. Easy to clean , looks very good in my kitchen.

We've had this machine for 2 1/2 years. Never a problem with the mechanical parts of the machine, it has flawlessly made us espresso, cappuccino, etc nearly every day. Other reviews have well described the positives of this machine.

We've had three issues:
- milk pitcher hard to plug in. This happened for a couple of months, and only when the pitcher is cold. Delonghi service sent new gaskets free (under warrantly), these did not correct the issue. I bought a new pitcher head, same thing. What did work was to briefly run water over the section that plugs into the machine first time each day. Then after a couple of months, it started working fine again, and has been for the last year or so. Go figure.
- bad display. We've had the display fail two times, one under warranty, one not under warranty. The display starts to get dim, then fades to be unreadable. For us, it has happened like clockwork every 15 months. First time, Delonghi shipped us a box to pack the machine and ship back to them. We had it back within a week, repaired. The second time was after the warranty expired. We took it to the local service center, they had one control board in stock, and we had the machine back after three or four days, albeit at a cost of about $350.

We are not looking forward to spending $350 every 15 months to fix what appears to be a design issue. My speculation is that the heat from the machine is heating up the display, shortening its life. Either that, or its just a bad display, these should last 10+ years, easily. Two failing with the same failure interval is suspicious. The repair tech said the machines are great, the only thing that fails is the display. That has been our experience.

If we were to do this over again, I'd advise to get one of the similar models without a display, or talk to a service center tech on what models have reliable displays. The innards of these machines are very similar, so the resulting product will be very similar. The first time our display failed, we didn't want to be without our daily cappuccino, so we bought a DeLonghi BAR32 manual machine, these are now around $80 on Amazon. I think the espresso this machine produces is superior to our Super Digital machine. You have to manually froth the milk (tricky to master), and you have to grind/empty the coffee each time. But it has no display to fail, its cost/performance is hard to beat.

I gave the Gran Dama three stars because other than the display, we love the machine, we take it with us on the airplane on vacations (checked luggage, packaged in original box) or in the trunk of the car for weekend getaways. DeLonghi warranty service was excellent for us, while it lasted. I just don't look forward to replacing the display every 15 months.