Customer Reviews

Espressione 1385O Cafe Retro Espresso Machine, Orange

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I almost didn't buy this machine because I was worried about some of the negative reveiws I've read about it from users. However, it was the only machine its price range that really caught our eye, so we went ahead and purchased it and have been using it for about six months. It is hands down the best machine I've ever owned. It has great features, and the espresso is the best espresso I've made at home, and better than most espresso I can buy in american coffee shops. A quick rundown of the great features.

1. It looks great. It heats up quickly, and it is very simple to use.

2. The size of the water resevoir is pretty generous. It holds enough water for about 24 shots. You can expect to get a little less if you are steaming a lot of milk, but if you are steaming at the recommended temperature, the machine is very water efficient, and you shouldn't see a dramatic drop. We use it every day to make at least two drinks (at leeast 4 shots), a lot more on the weekends, and we refill only about once a week, roughly. The design also makes it quite easy to refill, I've been in the middle of steaming or pulling a shot when I realized the reservoir was low, and refilled whiled pulling the shot. This is awfully convenient.

3. The machine comes with a disc you can put inside the porta filter to make a sort of fake crema by whipping the coffee, which is popular on upper-end machines these days. However, if you are using good coffee, and grind your beans fresh, and brew the coffee at the recommended temperature, the machine produces a wonderful genuine crema without the disc. I never get an espresso in a coffee house with a crema as good. (crema has more to do with the the quality of the coffee than the machine, but cheaper machines that pull the coffee way too hot never produce good cremas because of the crazy temperatures.)

4. The steam wand does a great job of genlty steaming and frothing without scalding the daylights out of your milk. I've heard a lot of complaints about the steamer, but in my experience it works perfectly, and easily.

5. It does come with an adaption for pods, if you're into pods (blech.)

6, I love that the machine has a temperature gague that allows you to control the temperature of your steam and coffee, and not just indicator lights. It allows you to have a lot more control over the quality of your espresso.

A few things that are so so, the included tamp is flimsy and useless, get yourself a nice heavy one. The drip tray does feel a little light and cheap compared to the rest of the machine, but it is perfectly functional. The Cup warmer isn't very successful at warming cups. But these are minor quibbles I have with it.

I'm sure if I were willing to pay 4 or 5 times as much, I'd get a better espresso, but for the price, I couldn't be happier with this machine. It beats any of the little starter machines you get, and makes better espresso than machines that cost twice the price, in my experience. I'm very happy with this machine.

I wanted to share with others what I wish I had known before I bought this machine. If I had known these things, I wouldn't have bought it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake reviews out there, which I read before buying, so beware!

1.There is only one boiler for both espresso and steam. Espresso and steam require two different temperatures. To get a latte, you have to switch between temperatures, and either way the delay to make the temperature switch is unacceptable. I make my espresso first, then switch to steam, wait two to three minutes, then make the froth. Repeat this for each latte you make.
2.The water reservoir is small and requires frequent refilling. However, I use a measuring cup with a spout, to refill the water without removing the reservoir. You just pull the tank out enough to pour the water in. Then push the tank back in.
3.The porta filter comes apart. There is a basket inside the porta filter that has three little bumps. The basket slides into the porta filter with the bumps lined up with notches, then you twist the basket so that it stays in the porta filter. The problem is that the twising motion of removing the porta filter from the espresso machine causes the basket to shift, and the result is that you often lose the basket when you go to bang out your grounds. The basket is very hot, so to retrieve it is an issue.
4.After making the first espresso, the porta filter remains filled with soupy grounds. It is very messy. If you're making a series of shots, this is a very big disadvantage. You have to carefully clean it. Usually involves rinsing under the sink. Then you have to heat the porta filter again for the next shot.
5.It is advertised that it has a "pull-out knock box ". It doesn't. It has a flimsy plastic drip tray with a metal face, and if you banged your grounds out on this, I'm sure you'd break it.
6.It drips a lot. There is a tray under the unit that pulls out for pouring out drippings. It comes out all at once, so it may spill if you have a lot of drippings in there. It drips after you've pulled a shot. It drips even more when you steam. I put a cup under the porta filter to catch drips. It can be a little tricky to align the drip tray when putting it back in, but not a big deal.
7.The tamper is a flimsy plastic thing. When I bought it I pictured a metal one with weight for tamping.
8.It is hard to get the steam bucket (not included) up under the steam wand. It is not flexible, though it does rotate. It is awkward.

In summary, I would not have bought it if I knew all these things, but I live with it now that I have it. I wouldn't return it. It is very good looking, makes decent espresso, and is tolerable for occasional use. I use it about once a week.

First of all, this is a very attractive machine sitting on the counter, but that is pretty much all. The water container holds just barely enough to brew four shots before it needs to be refilled. Speaking of which, refilling is a pain because the container is in the back of the machine, so I actually had to pull the machine out to the edge of the counter to get to it. With this one, you need as much water as you can possibly get, because it drips water everywhere. The first pull of the steam handle will give you about 2 oz. of water along with your steam, just what I DO NOT want in my milk. In the mean time, the brew head will happily drip another 2+ oz. while you're steaming away. Finally, there is the brew it's self. Inconsistent doesn't even begin to describe it. You never know what you're going to get out of that brew head, but you can bet you'll end up with a soupy mess of grounds after. Let's see, what else... the drip tray is difficult to remove without sloshing a mess of stuff on the counter, the cup warmer is useless, the machine is VERY noisey, and just a piece of junk in general. No, this machine is definately not a keeper.

So, before returning it, I did give Espressione a shot at making it right. I sent an email to the warranty address, as well as copying several others within the Espressione group. 13 days later I got tired of waiting for a response and called. Apparently there is 1 tech in the US to work on this thing, and he is VERY busy. Wonder why! So, I told the lady that I was pretty displeased with the machine, and their warranty service. She responded that she understood, and another brand might be better suited for me. Hmmmm... at least she is honest.

Espressione 1385O Cafe Retro Espresso Machine, Red

Summary, (to quote 50's Poison Ivy) you can look, but don't touch

I received this as a birthday present two years ago. It is beauty to look at, and at it first it worked well. However, within a year I began having problems, same as other reviewers. I had to replace the filter holder because it fell apart after 15 months ($30, not a huge deal). I had the same problem with frequent refills, a lot of mess, and the older it got, the more things began to drip and fall apart.

It no longer brews espresso. The pump is probably broken, not worth repairing, and not a Do It YourSelf. If I had unlimited counter space, I might leave it out to use as a steamer, but it is messy, and takes almost 3 minutes to get up to 150 degrees F. I have replaced it with a new machine (Breville Venezia), about the same price, looks beautiful, more features, and we'll see how well it works after the 1-year warranty is over.

First off, this machine LOOKS great. But unfortunately, that's where the attraction ends. You see, I too used a little Krups $45 espresso machine for years. But it was a heck of a lot easier to use, and made consistently better espresso/cappucinno than this dog. Here's a brief synopsis.
The reservoir holds enough water for just a couple of days. I'm constantly refilling it. After making an espresso, the thing leaks out coffee drippings for minutes on end, making a mess of the whole machine. The steamer seems to spurt out as much water as it does steam. The lever that dispenses the steam does not move in a fluid fashion. And positioning the coffee holder pod thingy is downright cumbersome.
Did I mention the thing leaks? Now you might forgive the little bugger if it made amazing capuccino............... it doesn't.

The machine looks great. It sat nicely on our counter-top next to the Kitchen Aid mixer and looked really classy. If that was all I wanted to do with it, then I would have been very happy with it, but I actually wanted to make decent lattes and espressos.

Firstly, I found the steamer wand to be awkward to use. It rotates, but has little movement up or down. As a result, I found it pretty impossible to steam milk without spilling some on the counter-top when I was finished. It produced good foam though.

Secondly, the indicator lights are so dim I found it difficult to tell whether the machine was ready or not.

Finally the espressos I made had no crema at all. I have been making them for 3 years with our current Saeco machine with a delightful crema on each one. After pulling the shot it continued to leak water from the filter holder. The machine was constantly leaking water & steam when it got up to temperature and the design of the drip tray is such that it is awkward to empty it without spilling everywhere.

In summary: If you just want a pretty machine to sit on your counter, buy this machine. If you want to make decent espresso-based drinks, don't.

After reading all the other rave reviews, I thought I had found the dream machine!...but...alas my old Krups, though slightly on the down side of it's brewing and steaming life, does a much...I mean, MUCH better job of giving me a strong tasty latte every morning. I may just order another Krups at a seventh of this price, and be glad I had it to return to. Soooo, my recommendation is to not buy this machine if you like a really rich espresso, and a really foamy, hot latte.

This machine was lovely, until the 1 year warranty expired. Coffee doesn't come out anymore. We followed instructions to repair it, but it suggested to return for repairs, which is in New Jersey. They can't tell us how much it will cost to repair until they have the machine in their shop and since is just shy over the 1 year warranty, we will have to pay for the shipping and the repair cost whatever that may be. So, we are wondering if it may be better to get some other brand new machine instead of repairing this one. This is not a good experience after paying over $300 for a machine like this. Your expectations should be that at least it will work for a little longer than that.

I've had this machine for 5 years and it's going strong. I never use the steam wand very much, so I can't comment as much other than it still works. I've never descaled or cleaned the machine other than the outer workings, driptray, etc. I pull at least 2-3 shots daily from this machine, and more when I have visitors- and when I make them a shot, they can't believe it. The trick is in the coffee and a quality burr grinder. Don't buy greasy dark beans. Look at the beans in a can of Illy Coffee and notice the color/dryness of the beans. Next go find similar looking beans at a local roaster (NOT Peete's or Safeway, but someone who roasts their own if you can!). Other advice is to use good water. I just Britta filter my tap water. Other simple carbon-based filters should work as well.

All machines in this price range drip to some degree, so for those who have complained about the dripping should get over it. That's why there is that thing called the drip tray. If it is making a big mess, than you obviously haven't figured out how to use the machine properly. If you don't want a bit of a mess when making espresso than you should go back to drip coffee machines! Better yet, go back to Starshmucks for your fix.

The only problem I have had is with the filter basket clogging. This was solved once I received a burr grinder (gift, thanks honey) and I was able to dial in to a perfect grind, no more clogging! The filter basket was only $9 anyhow, so I experimented with the grind size and now all is perfect. If you don't want to buy a grinder, than you too should also go back to Fourbucks for your fix. Before the grinder solution, I also had some success unclogging the filter by holding a cigarette lighter to the hole and burning the remnants out. But the best answer is to go buy a burr grinder if you're serious about good espresso.

Why four and not five stars?...because the portafilter handle is plastic and I'm sure it will be the first thing to break. I already hear some rattling of plastic pieces within the handle. A better handle material would be best as hot metal meeting plastic equals melting/deterioration.

Just think of all the money I have saved over the course of 5years had it not been for this machine. A truly amortized piece of equipment.

I bought this at my local Crate & Barrel last week ... really gorgeous looking machine and I'd been looking for one that I could use without pods (hate pods!) Big mistake! It does make a nice espresso once you figure out the logistics but it's challenging to get a good, hot one because if you make your espresso first, it cools off while you wait for the machine to get to the temperature to steam your milk. If you make your steamed milk first, it spits water into the espresso side while steaming ... ruining your tamp and the quality of your espresso shot. It also has a tendency to spit a couple of ounces of water into your milk before steam comes out (blech!) Finally figured out that I had to steam without putting the tamped espresso in until after I was done. After three days of playing with it and FINALLY figuring out how to get a good coffee out of it the steamer died (a whopping five days after purchase). So back to the store it goes and I'll be buying something less stylish/more functional this time around.