- Easy-to-use fully automatic espresso machine for coffeehouse drinks at home; measures 12-2/5 by 11 by 17-4/5 inches
- Stainless-steel housing with removable brew group; 1250-watt boiler; 15-bar pump pressure
- Programmable brewing options; adjustable coffee strength; pre-ground or coffee bean options
- Rapid switching between brewing and steaming; adjustable coffee grinder; automated cleaning system
- Reconditioned by the manufacturer to "like new" condition; includes 6-month limited warranty
Product Features |
Product Details
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
The Saeco Italia fully automatic espresso and coffee center is one of the most feature-rich machines on the market for the money. This work of art makes perfect espresso or coffee in about 30 seconds at the press of a button. The Italia is beautifully designed using an all stainless-steel housing and heavy-duty construction. The Italia is part of a current line of Saeco machines so this model is not outdated.
The key feature of this machine is speed. Enjoy fully automated features that will have you making perfect espresso, coffee, lattes, cafe mochas, cappuccino, and other great coffeehouse drinks in the blink of an eye. You can have a coffee bar in your home or office without taking a lot of counter space because the Italia is compact and tucks easily under most overhead cabinets.
Advanced features include programmable brewing options, adjustable coffee strength, the ability to use pre-ground coffee of your choice in addition to coffee beans, rapid switching between brewing and steaming functions, adjustable coffee grinder for fine tuning your espresso/coffee, special pre-brew coffee conditioning system, and an automated cleaning system.
Detailed Product Features:
Automatic Espresso and Coffee Brewing
The Italia was designed so that anyone, regardless of their experience, could easily master the art of making great coffeehouse drinks. When the coffee button is pressed, the machine will grind just the right amount of coffee beans, place the grinds into the brewing system, extract your coffee or espresso, and clean up after itself in one complete step. The control panel has just five buttons, which include two programmable buttons for brewing (small coffee or espresso and a large coffee or espresso), steam/hot water activation button, and cleaning button. The knob on the side of the machine controls the flow of steam or instant hot water depending on what mode it is in. A series of lights show machine functions and modes.
Rapid Steam System
The Italia is equipped with a steam wand that insures loads of foam for lattes and cappuccino with little or no effort on your part. The steam wand is conveniently located and swivels to accommodate frothing pitchers ranging from 12 ounces to 20 ounces in size.
Within 10 seconds of turning on the steam knob, the Italia will be steaming at full power, and continue to produce steam as long as the water tank is full thanks to its advanced continuous-steam boiler. As soon as the steam function is turned off, you can brew espresso or coffee without the normal cool-down requirement common with other machines.
The Italia is equipped with an instant hot water feature; by turning the steam/hot water knob on the right side of the machine, hot water will dispense from the steam wand. Use this feature for tea, Americano, and pre-warming or rinsing your cup.
Two Pre-Set Buttons for Cup Selection
Just two buttons control coffee brewing. One is for brewing a small cup of coffee or espresso and one is for larger cups of coffee or long espresso (known as a lungo). You can also program the volume of coffee that the machine will brew for each coffee button. This program will remain until it is changed, even if the power is turned off. By pressing the brew button once, the machine will make one espresso or coffee and if pressed twice, two shots of espresso or larger cup of coffee.
Espresso, Cafe Creme, or Coffee?
This machine can do it so try making a Cafe Creme! It's simple with the Saeco Italia's ability to adjust for the coarseness of the ground, allowing you to brew a Cafe Creme, often referred to as Swiss-brewed coffee for the country that made it popular. Here's the difference. Espresso uses a finer ground bean to create a dense pack that restricts the water flow through the grounds, hence the very strong, intense flavor. It also takes a little longer to brew, anywhere between 15 to 20 seconds for 1-1/2 ounces.
For a Cafe Creme, (or crema coffee) a courser ground is needed, a simple adjustment on this great machine. This coarser ground allows for more water to pass through faster, resulting in a frothy layer of coffee that floats on the top, the crema. Aromatic and rich, it is not as intense a coffee as the espresso but equally delicious. This feature also makes the Italia a natural replacement for traditional coffee makers. In 35 seconds it will brew a 7-ounce cup of coffee from freshly ground beans to your exact specifications.
Pre-ground Coffee Option
As if enjoying coffee brewed from freshly ground coffee beans wasn't good enough, Saeco added a feature to the Italia that permits you to add pre-ground coffee to a special funnel on top of the machine. If you want a decaffeinated cup of espresso or coffee and the machine only has regular beans in the hopper, simply pour in pre-ground coffee and then push the coffee-brew button. The Italia will "bypass" the coffee grinding step and use the coffee you poured in instead. By having the by-pass feature you can sample other pre-ground espresso and flavored blends.
Coffee-Strength Function
You can also adjust the dosage of ground coffee that the machine uses each time it makes a cup of coffee from 6 to 9 grams. The average shot of espresso uses about 7 grams of ground coffee.
Pre-infusion Brew System
The two-step pre-infusion cycle moistens and conditions the ground coffee, which maximizes flavor extraction to increase the thick crema on your espresso. The Saeco Italia accomplishes this by infusing (or presoaking) the fresh coffee grounds with a dash of hot water for two seconds. Thereafter, it completes the brewing process by infusing the remainder of the predetermined water through the coffee grounds. The result is a superior cup of espresso or coffee.
Heavy-Duty Heating System
The Italia comes with a tough, durable 1250-watt boiler. Once it is warmed up, it provides for continuous use or a lot of servings over a short time period.
Adjustable Beverage-Dispensing Nozzle
What's more, the spout where the coffee is dispensed is adjustable between 3 and 4 inches to accommodate small and large coffee cups.
Features:
- 15-bar pump pressure
- Removable, 2-liter water reservoir
- Removable drip tray and grounds box
- Swivel base for easy rotation and access
- Double cup, adjustable height, dispensing head
- Adjustable Optidose doser
- Pre-brewing option
- By-pass doser for pre-ground and decaffeinated coffee
- Panarello steamer
- Hot water/instant steam option
- Cup warmer
- Removable brew group
- Stainless-steel boiler
- Metal machine housing
- Abs housing cover
- Wash/clean cycle
- Automatic descaling cycle
Product Description
SAECO Starbucks Italia Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine The Saeco Italia fully automatic espresso and coffee center is one of the most feature-rich machines on the market for the money. This work of art makes perfect espresso or coffee in about 30 seconds at the press of a button. The Italia is beautifully designed using an all stainless steel housing, and heavy duty construction. The Italia is part of a current line of Saeco machines so this model is not outdated. The key feature of this machine is speed. Enjoy fully automated features that will have you making perfect espresso, coffee, lattes, café mochas, cappuccino, and other great coffeehouse drinks in the blink of an eye. You can have a coffee bar in your home or office without taking a lot of counter space because the Italia is compact and tucks easily under most overhead cabinets. Advanced features include programmable brewing options, adjustable coffee strength, the ability to use pre-ground coffee of your choice in addition to coffee beans rapid switching between brewing and steaming functions adjustable coffee grinder for fine tuning your espresso/coffee, special pre-brew coffee conditioning system and an automated cleaning system. Features: • 15 bar pump pressure • removable, 2L water reservoir • removable drip tray and grounds box • swivel base for easy rotation and access • double cup, adjustable height, dispensing head • adjustable 'Optidose' doser • pre-brewing option • by-pass doser for pre-ground and decaffeinated coffee • panarello steamer • hot water/instant steam option • cup warmer • removable brew group • stainless steel boiler • metal machine housing • abs housing cover • wash/clean cycle • automatic descaling cycle
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great lattes and coffee, when it works,
By
This review is from: Factory-Reconditioned Saeco 178435 Italia Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine, Silver (Kitchen)
Well, my 5th Saeco machine from Starbucks in a year and a half failed this week. The steam nob assembly just popped right out. I had high hopes for this one as they upgraded me to the top of the line Digital Italia back in April when the steam unit on #4 stopped.
These units make great coffee and are simple to use. Unfortunately they fail pretty regularly. The only saving grace has been the wonderful warranty support from Starbucks. They've been prompt, courteous, and helpful in getting me each of my 4 replacement units. That is, until this time. When I called over the weekend I was informed that Starbucks was no longer carrying the super automatic espresso makers. Guess there were too many returns. They did offer to refund my purchase price, which I will gladly take them up on. I'm not sure at this point if I'm willing to try my luck with another make/model.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pulls perfect espressos shots every time,
By Automatt (California, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Factory-Reconditioned Saeco 178435 Italia Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine, Silver (Kitchen)
I was a little dubious about spending so much for a coffee machine, but this little coffee robot is like a new member of the family. When I go to Starbucks, I get a decent double espresso one out of every ten or so times. This wonder pulls them just right every time and fits under the cabinets. The smooth stainless steel exterior matches some other kitchen appliances and was a big deciding factor for me since I wanted a machine with some style.
The reconditioned one I received had no scratches or other problems, and seems to be running fine!
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Tempermental - at best.,
By
This review is from: Factory-Reconditioned Saeco 178435 Italia Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine, Silver (Kitchen)
I, too, purchased my first Saeco Italia machine from Starbucks. I bought the machine without the digital display. Recall tells me it was selling for $800, but on sale over the holidays for $600. I think the digital was (at the time) selling for around $1,000, on sale for $800.
The first time I plugged it in at home it blew a circuit breaker in my house. I called the Starbucks help line. They were very gracious, talked me through anything and everything that might be the matter before finally advising me to take it back to the Starbucks store to exchange it for a new machine. The 2nd machine I had lasted several months. It was GREAT! I loved brewing my own Starbucks lattes right in my kitchen every morning. When the machine worked, it was GREAT! Since I work from home, it was a real treat. Didn't even have to get dressed and leave the house for a great cup 'o joe! After about 3 months that one blew a gasket and was leaking steam from inside the housing and would not brew. Again- Starbucks 800 number and warranty worked flawlessley, even though I was getting frustrated. They paid for the pick-up AND the delivery of the replacement machine. Machine #3 lasted about 4 months until the steam wand broke off. When I called Starbucks this time (feeling guilty for returning so many machines) they told me the model had been discontinued, but that I could upgrade to the digital machine for an extra $200. I argued that I did not want the digital machine to begin with, it wasn't my fault the entry level had been discontinued and I thought they should upgrade me for free. To no avail. The were happy to give me my money back or upgrade me for the $200 price difference. If it means anything to you, I hated so much to see that machine leave my kitchen counter (even after going through THREE of them) that I paid the $200 and got the Italia Digital. The top of Saeco's line. To make a long story short - I went through two of those, too. A total of 5 machines before finally throwing in the towel. I finally begrudgingly asked Starbucks for my money back. I would MUCH RATHER have just had a machine that worked than a refund, but, in my experience, these Saeco machines are simply gremlins. Starbucks was great. They honored their warranty and even sent me a couple of free bags of beans for all the frustration I'd been through. At the end, I was refunded every penny. 5 machines - about 1 1/2 years of service . . . and I'm still considering buying another one. Probably NOT Saeco this time, maybe the new brand Starbucks is carrying, Delonghi. The automatic machines are a delight to own - when they work. Even my dissapointing history has not (yet) totally soured me. If I were you, I'd shy away from the Saeco, though. Bon appetit!
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