FrancisFrancis! X1 Espresso Machine

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Product Features

• Ideal for making coffee specialty drinks at home; hot water dispenser for tea
• Temperature gauge provides precise control; steam nozzle heats milk to make cappuccinos
• Circular wire holder on top warms inverted coffee cups
• For use with packaged coffee pods or ground coffee; powder-coated steel finish
• Measures 10 by 10-1/4 by 12 inches; 3-month product warranty; 1-year service warranty

Product Details

Product Manual [131kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 10.2 x 11.8 inches ; 20 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 25 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00004RBRE
• Item model number: X1
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #354,946 in Kitchen & Dining (See Bestsellers in Kitchen & Dining)

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Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Bright and boldly colored, this espresso machine from FrancisFrancis! is for those who relish sleek, modern design in their kitchen and cheerful colors in their decor. Leave it out on the counter, as it's too heavy to move around much. Besides, part of the fun is looking at it. The machine is 10-by-12 inches in overall size and has an instrument panel look on the front: flip switches, pilot lights, and a temperature gauge to allow for more precise temperature control, which helps prevent overheating the espresso. There's also a pull-out drawer in the bottom section to house the drip grill, a removable plastic bin at the back for the water supply, a built-in cappuccino feature, and a circular wire holder on top for warming inverted coffee cups.

This machine is designed for use with prepackaged coffee "pods," specifically Easy Serving Espresso (ESE) pods, or with regular ground coffee--handles for both are included. --Marcie Bovetz

Editor's note: This item may arrive with water inside from the manufacturer's pressure test. This is a normal occurrence and doesn't point to a problem with the machine.

Product Description

Famous for sublime espresso and innovative design, it should come as no surprise that Italy is the birthplace of this semi-automatic espresso machine. Its striking appearance may be attributed to an Italian architect. Not just a pretty face, this machine delivers the most superb espresso with glorious crema available in a home appliance. Using convenient individual pods, this 19 bar pressure pump system will continuously crank out cup after cup as fast as you can reload the filter holder. Warm your cups on top, and store them there when the party's over. A simple steaming nozzle dispenses hot water for tea, or steams milk for lattes and cappuccinos. As with other semi-automatic espresso machines the boiler has a heating system designed not to overheat and operation of this machine is quite easy.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest, orangest espresso machine ever, May 2, 2000

By	Lane Becker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This amazing, gorgeous machine was a gift from several friends who stayed at our house for a week, and it is hands down the greatest gift we've ever gotten.

First of all, it's orange. Orange! We don't even touch the coffee machine anymore, except when we run out of milk. Second, the espresso is delightful, frothy, thick -- and the foamer foams like nobody's business. And it's amazingly simple to clean up after-- we used to have a Krups that required three times the amount of post-cappuccino cleanup for a drink that was only a third as good.

Also, people marvel when they come over. They gawk and gape, openmouthed. "What is this beautiful orange thing?" they ask. We are the envy of the entire neighborhood. Men covet; women swoon.

Did I mention that there's a picture of little girl with her tongue sticking out on the temperature gauge? They're clever people, those Italian espresso machine makers. Such a delightful sense of humor.

Did I mention we love it?

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good machine with a few minor drawbacks, August 5, 2003

By	GPK (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

I bought this machine 7 years ago and since then I use it on a daily basis. It has given me much pleasure and I haven't run into any problems at all. I bought it together with an extra portafilter for using pods (more expensive, but very convenient since no cleaning afterwards is needed).

Pro's:
- design (temperature indicator needs a lot of time to adjust, so it should be considered as decorative only)
- reliable (I can only say its construction is reasonably good and it works already 7 years without problems)
- easy-to-use, no complicated switches/options

Contra:
- cup holder does NOT get warm. This is a serious problem, since you can't drink espresso in cold cups since then the coffe will cool down immediately. I 'solved' this by putting hot water from the espressomachine itself into the cups and then wait for 20 seconds before actually making the espresso. When you want to make 5 espresso's in a row it takes quite some time.
- waterreservoir is at back side, and difficult to reach.
- making one espresso takes about 20 seconds. Other machines can do it in 10 seconds.

Recently I bought an espresso machine for my father and after some thinking I decided not to give him a Francis, but a "Gaggia classic coffee machine" because Gaggia solved the above drawbacks: The Gaggia's construction is stronger and more reliable, and its cup holder does get warm. However, later I discovered that the cups themselves only get warm if you leave the machine switched on the entire day and I don't do that so I still need the water pre-heating trick. Good point is that the Gaggia is fast: 10 seconds for 1 espresso.

My overal conclusion is that the Francis is a machine that gives me pleasure for already 7 years and of course, with any machine you will discover a few minor drawbacks after using it that long. Decide for yourself whether these drawbacks are really drawbacks.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beauty is Only Skin Deep..., December 8, 2001

By	Geoffrey V. Arone "the fredo" (Half Moon Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this unit along with a friend and we were both very unsatisfied by the quality of coffee this beautiful machine produced. I'll keep this review short: it is not powerful, is fragile, and does not make a consistent cup of coffee (I know all of the tricks, I used to be a barrista in Milan). For the best machine under [this price], try the Rancilio Silvia 90. With the extra money you save, you can buy a matching Rancilio Rocky Grinder.

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