Customer Reviews

Delonghi EMK6 Alicia Electric Moka Espresso Coffee Maker

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

1/20/06 First reviewed: I received this as a gift and had about twenty wonderful cups of moka from this cute little electric machine, but then one day in the third week of ownership, steam went a'flyin outside of the moka maker instead of into the top chamber. I called customer service and was given a run-around, ugh. I was told that without a receipt I could buy the replacement unit for around $40 plus shipping. She said that most of their products have a 30 or 60 day warranty, which surprised me greatly. Since I'd owned the product for less than 30 days, I figured I was still in the warranty time any way one looked at it, but I was wrong. With no receipt, no exchange from DeLonghi. Well, I tried to use the unit after really tightening the top and bottom together and the escaping steam abated. The next week, the shut off valve on the heating unit started making a terrible noise and the unit wouldn't even start. It would be triggered within a few seconds to shut off, so I had nothing at all brewing. Aha, I regained my smartness finally, and took the item to Bed Bath and Beyond, and they were extremely gracious in having another sent to me because the store didn't have it in stock. I hope that when this replacement arrives in a week or two I'll love it again, but I hope this time it's a more long lasting relationship. I'll recommend that you buy this from Amazon because the price is substantially less but be sure to keep your receipt even if you register the warranty!
UPDATE 2/21/07 The replacement unit has been working flawlessly for a year now and it's used on a daily basis. I'd give it another star!
UPDATE 1/16/09 Another year has almost passed and this is still working great. With proper care, I think it will outlive us all!

What I initially liked about this machine is the fact that I could use it off the stovetop and it really is not a counter hog--I bought it for my office, actually. I was surprised at how piping hot the coffee can get in it. All in all, it works well. Realize, too, this moka brew is definately a step down in flavor from traditionally brewed espresso (from a pump-driven machine). I recommend it.

I'm on my 2nd Electric Moka machine. The first one died when the plastic piece on top cracked near the handle and it began to leak. I realize now that it cracked from tightening the top piece by rotating the plastic handle rather than grabbing the metal mid-section. I also realize that I began tightening it extra tight when the rubber washer inside started to wear out. So that's the deal. Replace the washer when it gets ragged and don't screw the pot together with the plastic handle. Do these two things and the machine will last ages. BTW, it makes FANTASTIC espresso, is easy to clean, is compact and very cute. I love it!!!

So I needed something for making moka espresso in my classroom, and this turned out to be the thing. Several reviews mentioned the possibility of breaking the polycarbonate top. I am happy to report that the top, the gasket, and the top filter are all interchangeable with the Bialetti 6 cup stovetop model. So gaskets will be cheap & easy to come by, and if I manage to break my poly top, I can pick up another Bialetti and use the top from that.

Woo hoo!

~~~Update~~~

It's two years later and I am STILL quite happily using my Alicia. I've replaced the gasket a couple of times, but that's it. Excellent little product.

When the transparent plastic top breaks (and with constant use, it will) you can simply replace it with a more sturdy top from a Bialetti 6-cup stove-top model like this: Bialetti Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Percolator. Don't throw it all away. No need to buy an entire new one. I dislike the build in redundancy of some modern products, so I'm glad to be able to share this tip.

This was great for about a week, then is started leaking from a crack in the plastic upper chamber. When I called customer service, they told me that it wasn't covered by warrenty and it would cost $40 to replace. This is within the first month of owning the machine. Apparently the top half of the machine isn't covered by warrenty, because they know it is cheaply made. I'm planning to spend the $40 on an old fashioned all metal stove top model.

THIS LITTLE BEAUTY HAS THE"SPEED YA'NEED" FOR THAT QUICK CUP OF ESPRESSO. OK SO IT DOESN'T GIVE THE FROTHY HEAD MANY OF US LIKE BUT IT DOESN'T TAKE UP HALF YOUR KITCHEN COUNTER SPACE EITHER! A NEAT COMPACT ITEM.

I was offered an anniversary gift of an espresso machine and given a limit of $200. Let's face it, there aren't a lot of us out there with $600 to $1000 to blow on our morning joe. I had tried the small steam espresso machines, but it always seemed to have a burnt taste to me. And I had a cheapie pump machine at one time, but I fell back asleep waiting for the goods, and it arrived lukewarm, to which I add cream. I already have a monster drip machine for pansy drip coffee drinkers, and it takes up way too much of my counter space. I did my research, came in $140 under budget and found the machine of my dreams!

Alicia is a saucy little vixen full of vim and vigor! My hubby assembles her at night and click, the magic begins at first dawn. In about four minutes I have piping hot full-bodied bold blend. My only caution to would-be Alicia addicts is that the little pitcher really only holds one cup. It may be three espresso cups, but it's only one solid mug's worth. But that mug contains an aromatic brew of go-juice that is just delicious.

I recommend that you place an order, post haste, with the company for a few extra gaskets and another filter basket, just to ensure your morning's moka continues uninterrupted for many years.

This Delonghi electric moka pot rocks the house period. This is coming from someone who is big into espresso, starting out on moka pots in college, moving to vibe pumps and levers later on. I still use my moka pots at home occasionally to crank out the huge batch of espresso needed for tiramisu rather than make like twelve espressos on a real espresso machine. Anyway about this guy. I just started working in an office where there is no coffee machine!?!?!? Whaaaat? Yeah, I've never seen one w/o coffee either until now. The other guys run out to one of the three or four cafes located within a block our two of our office to snag some joe. Now they ain't big coffee drinkers, usually one cup in the morning and maybe one in the afternoon. I am more used to drinking maybe four or five cups throughout the day plus the two doubles at home in the morning. After hitting up the cafes a few times and spending $3 on double espressos, I figured that I was going to be in the poor house before bowl season if I kept that up so I decided to become self sufficient at the office in matter of the roasted bean.

I was initially looking at espresso machines. My criteria were: small (couldn't take up too much space on my desk), easy to clean (no kitchen in office, have to rinse out in bathroom sink), not to messy loading in coffee since it is on my desk, and inexpensive. Well most of the espresso machines were big and expensive. I didn't want to pay $400 on a Gaggia or $600 for a La Pavoni for the office, plus they are big and messy but I was going to use the espresso pods to make things cleaner and easier. Still the expense and size of even the cheapest machines (about $250 refurbed) were looking bad. Then a light went off and I thought about moka and wondered if they made an electric moka pot.

Well looky what we got here... ...practically made to order. This thing is dang near perfect ladies and gents. Diminutive, low key, cheap, easy to clean in bathroom sink, and caffe eccellente. The only slight negative is that since it doesn't use pods you have to use your own coffee which is good economically but a little messy when loading. I just load it on top of a sheet a paper and toss the paper when done. That is it other than that this machine rocks the heezy.

As to the operation of the machine, so simple and easy with a few nice touches. The coffee chamber holds enough coffee for six demitasses of espresso. I used it this way the first few times but never drank all of the coffee soon enough. Delonghi also gives you a little metal disc which effectively cuts the coffee chamber in half so you can make three demitasses at a time (there are markings in the water chamber to let you know how much to fill for a 3 shot brew). At first I thought that the disc was a gimmick and the coffee would turn out crappy but I gave it a try and badabing it tasted just like full 6 brew. Now I am in business.

Now on to to cup size. The 3 shot brew yielded basically two double espressos. I've had the Nuova Point espresso and cappucino cups for decades and that is what I brought to the office. For a while there I just used the espresso cup and would have two full cups per three shot brew. That was too much trouble so now I just pour the whole 3-shot brew into a cappucino cup and it fills it nicely.

Some operational details, the machine after it brews, will stay on for half an hour to keep things warm. There is a mechanical switch on the base that turns off the heat once you lift up the pot to pour your coffee. You could just hit the switch again for another 30min of heat if you want. Brewing time, here is where it gets phenomenal, it only takes about two minutes to crank out a pot. This is super fast and when I make moka on the stove it usually takes about twice as long. It totally surprises you how fast it is. Having the see through top is a nice touch so that you can see when it is done, might not be as solid as the regular full aluminum top but it takes the guesswork out of whether it is done or not, just be a little more careful. As far as clean up, after it cools down, unscrew it holding on to the bottom of the pot and the metal at the base of the top section. Rinse out the bottom, the coffee holder, the top of the upper section and the bottom side of the top section making sure to clean the gasket of stray grinds. That is it.

Final thoughts, to those jerks who dis moka coffee, go screw. Those anal retentives deserve to wallow in their misery and I hope they end up married to hoarders. Sure the coffee isn't the exact same as full fledged 9-bar, big ol', $600, espresso machine. This thing is only like $60 or so and makes legit moka. For me, moka is real good. Way better than the regular office coffee that I had been drinking for years simply because it was available. On the coffee scale of things, regular coffee is like Pop Warner, Moka is like NCAA Football in the SEC, and a Cimbali, Gaggia or Pavoni are like NFL Football with the Cimbali being the Champion New Orleans Saints. Basically if the high dollar machines are like 100% espresso, the moka pots like this one are maybe 80-85% espresso which is still leagues better than drip and swill and pretty darned close to the real thing. If you drink lattes or add cream to moka, I'd say that it is practically indistinguishable from a latte made with real 100% espresso and forget about tiramisu. In the cake no one can tell the difference.

One more thing. Bialetti makes an electric mukka I see that costs around a Benjamin or so. For those cappucino lovers the Mukka may be the one to get. I bought a stovetop for a girlfriend once who loved cappucino but didn't need a full sized expensive machine. The cappa's were really good with it. There was a switch to make regular moka or a latte if you weren't doing the cappucino thang. I opted for the Delonghi since I only really drink espresso and save the milk for chicks at parties and Sunday mornings.

Enjoy your moka pot and don't be ashamed. This Delonghi electric one is really nice and works great anywhere, no stove required!!!

I had the same problem as Balou--the upper chamber cracked and leaks coffee. It was a design flaw that I worried about from the beginning but decided to give it a chance nonetheless. I was a little better off in that mine made it a year and two weeks before doing so. Of course, the warranty is good for a year...

The product doesn't get one star because I did like the ability to make coffee in my office without a burner. I also liked the ability to remove the coffee maker from the power base and leave the cord behind. My recommendation, though, is to wait until a company with better engineering skills offers a product.