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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent combination of low price + high quality
When i read the opinions of the "experts" about the needed of heat exchanger espresso machines to obtain good espresso at home and see the price of this machines in the range of $600 to $1000, i think it hurts to spend this quantity of money in a machine for your home, then i asked to an Italian friend who owns a caffé near to my house about:
What machine do they...
Published on October 2, 2005 by Jose Mario Vides
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198 of 208 people found the following review helpful:
You'll need a good grinder
I owned the maker for a while. It's far better than many of the Krups and other models typically for sale at department stores. If you want an espresso, you'll need a pump machine. Many cheap machines will say "steam driven" or otherwise have "steam" in the title: what this means is that they lack a pump and merely use steam pressure to get now overly superheated...
Published on August 9, 2004 by N. Caine
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198 of 208 people found the following review helpful:
You'll need a good grinder, August 9, 2004
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I owned the maker for a while. It's far better than many of the Krups and other models typically for sale at department stores. If you want an espresso, you'll need a pump machine. Many cheap machines will say "steam driven" or otherwise have "steam" in the title: what this means is that they lack a pump and merely use steam pressure to get now overly superheated water to flow through the fine espresso grinds. (By the way, "espresso" is, for all intents and purposes, a grind, not a roast. It is a very fine powdery grind, just shy of Turkish grind.) This results in charred burnt espresso, with little or no crema.
This DeLonghi, by contrast, does a fine little job of pumping. In addition, it uses a small stainless steel boiler -- not a superheated "thermoblock" [which means the water is run over a heating coil, not heated within a boiler].
That said, the only way to get an espresso, meaning a coffee drink in which properly heated water is compressed through a powdery grind of freshly roasted beans, and thus producing a chemical reaction which releases a frothy caramel colored liquid (called "crema"), is by using a very good grinder to produce a very fine, even grind. This machine, when coupled with a Gaggia MDF or Rancilio Rocky, or at the most economical, an Innova Lux or Solis Maestro Plus, and beans roasted within two weeks prior, can produce good espresso.
As to cappuccino, the machine does a fine job for the price in steaming milk. In order to do this, though, you must "temperature surf" the thermostat. What this means is that you steam while the boiler is heating. It's simple: start steaming your milk and you'll find that the steam power will run out in about 15 seconds. At that time the light for the boiler will come on, indicating the boiler is engaged. Instead of closing the steam valve and waiting for the light to go off, just close the steam valve for a few seconds, and then open it again, as you continue steaming the milk with the light still on (and hence the boiler still heating). This will give adequate steaming power.
I don't believe you can really get a better espresso or cappuccino maker for under $150. If you want to go for a huge step up, consider buying a Gaggia Carreza. It's worth the extra money.
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62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent combination of low price + high quality, October 2, 2005
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
When i read the opinions of the "experts" about the needed of heat exchanger espresso machines to obtain good espresso at home and see the price of this machines in the range of $600 to $1000, i think it hurts to spend this quantity of money in a machine for your home, then i asked to an Italian friend who owns a caffé near to my house about:
What machine do they use in Italy at home to make a real espresso? and the answer was "Delonghi".
I ordered one in amazon.com and coupled with a cheap La Pavoni burr grinder and the bodum canteen double wall espresso glasses plus recently roasted espresso coffee beans and without so much dollars invested i enjoy of the best espresso at my home, better than the espressos i drink in any caffé of my country El Salvador, even better than the Espressos that my Italian friend makes in his Caffé with a professional Nuova Simonelli machine, you can obtain excellent espresso with tons of crema and better taste than any commercial caffé, my espresso is not bitter and with tons of crema.
I am an Espresso purist, i make double ristrettos and drink it without sugar and this machine is really an excellent combination of low price with the highest quality.
Is important to use recently roasted coffee, the right blend for espresso, recently grinded coffee, 30 lb tamping, to obtain excellent espressos with this machine.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
great as long as it lasts, January 2, 2005
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I bought my Delonghi machine in August and as of yesterday it has died. While it was working I was quite happy though - great coffee latte. The only thing was that it was leaking through the steam wand and made a big mess on the counter but I took care of theat by moving the wand above the drip tray. I'm disappointed that it didn't last longer. I'm upgrading to a Gaggia.
One thing I learned: Don't write reviews right after purchase and don't trust reviews written right after purchase
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Solid performer at a reasonable price with minimum of fuss, February 2, 2007
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I just re-checked my original receipt and found that I purchased this DeLonghi in Nov. 2000 for $179 from the Hammacher-Schlemmer catalog. At that time, it was featured as their "BEST" coffee maker, and since I have been using this little machine for over 6 years, I think it deserves a 5-star rating!
Here are my tricks so that this machine performs at it's best (remember, it is NOT the $1,000 machine!). My focus is on a very good expresso with a minimum of fuss, and here's how I do it:
- I ground the beans for a couple years (getting the grind exactly right is of key importance with ALL expresso machines), but then I discovered expresso "pods". Pods are individual servings of expresso powder vacuum packed between thin sheets of filter paper. You insert a single pod in the filter holder (designed for pods). After brewing, the used pod drops out and you discard it - with NO mess! A box of 12 pods (regular or decaf) is sold at Starbucks for about $5.00.
- in the morning, when I am bleary-eyed, it takes me a total of 3 minutes to have my latte (2 min. warm-up, about 1 min. pump-through)
- use the supplied spout diverter so that you are making 2 shots with ONE portion of coffee (grinds or pods). Don't expect to put a huge coffee mug under the spout - if you don't want to splurge on the little expresso glass (about $4 at Starbucks) then just use any liquor shot glass, maybe one with a little vacation spot logo on it to make you smile in the morning!
- here is probably the biggest tip of all if you are a latte person - these small machines (under $100 type) are not the best or the quickest at frothing milk to a very hot temperature with a very stiff foam, which is what I like. So here's what I do...I put 1/2 cup of milk in my coffee mug and put it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes (just shy of boiling). I do this while my expresso is running through the machine to save time. Then I put that hot milk, in the mug, under the frother spout for the final frothing. Now the machine doesn't have the long task of warming up the cold milk first - all it needs to do is to finish off the frothing (to get the most foam, repeatedly dunk the whooshing steam wand in and out of the top 1/2" of milk).
So there you have it - all the tips I have come up with after using this machine for 6 years. I could have spent much more on a more delux machine, and I know the expresso could be even better, but I am incredibly pleased with this purchase. The key for me is that it was reasonably priced, has lasted 6 years, is quick, takes a minimum of space/effort, and produces a very good cup of expresso.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Acceptable Cappuccino, but machine dont last long, October 3, 2005
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I bought this machine 10 months ago, my first pump driven cappuccino maker.
For a novice it is an okay machine. A way to learn the tricks of making an acceptable cappucino, to practice the art of frothing.
I do not use the machine that often. Two cups of cappucino 2 to 4 times a week. After 10 months of use, the steam pump is not producing the steam at the same pressure. I can not get the milk frothed as it used to, just when I finally got better at this. I have tried to contact DeLonghy 1-800 service number. Got an answering machine but not a call back.
To start up it is an okay machine. For keepers, better look at something more solid.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Impressed, May 10, 2005
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
For the price this machine brews some amazing espresso. I used to have a steam driven machine, from which I obtained reasonably good results. This new pump machine blows that old machine away. I am impressed with the consistent coffee. The color and amount of crema is consistent. The coffee flows quickly and the steamed milk is consistently frothy. The built in tamper is located nicely on the machine. It is made of plastic, but it does not feel flimsy. I may upgrade to a separate tamper soon. I am still a graduate student, so this machine was a nice upgrade over my previous machine. It does not cramp my small kitchen's counter compared to larger machines, and it did not kill my wallet.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Great espresso for so little money!, April 10, 2006
I highly recommend this machine for its great espresso and ease of use. You can certainly spend more money on a machine but it won't make better espresso and froth milk any better than the Delonghi does. I've owned the "Grand" DeLonghi" for over 10 years and finally retired it due to a leaky gasket. This one is smaller but just as powerful and easy to use. Get yourself a decent burr grinder to make a fine grind and a temperature probe for the milk and you are set to make a great latte that rivels the best in Seattle. Make sure you don't leave the machine on for hours at a time as this dries up the internal seals.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent for the Money, December 26, 2004
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
This is a great espresso machine for the money. I originally bought a Mr. Coffee (made by Sunbeam) from another store and it was a total disaster. It dripped, the pump was weak, and I had to wait for minutes between shots or the pressure blew grounds all over the place when I unscrewed the cup. This machine, however, has been excellent. I have been drinking a double con-panna from Starbucks almost every day for awhile and this brews espresso every bit as good. I can brew multiple shots quickly because the pump pressure is quickly dissipated after the switch is turned off. The steamer heats quickly (1-1.5 minutes for me) and I just rotate the knob a little, wait for a minute or so, and milk is perfectly steamed. I don't pull the water container out to fill it, I just pour water in it, so I don't have a problem with the tubes. Clean up has been easy for me as well. I also don't grind my own beans, I let Starbucks do it - I have them grind it 1 notch above their finest setting and I get 2 perfect shots with great crema in 20 seconds. I'd reccommend this machine to anyone.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Not as many stops at Starbucks, December 9, 2004
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I got this as a gift from my husband as incentive to not go to Starbucks quite as much. It has worked. I will say that I was a little reticent having had an "espresso" machine in college that made very bitter muddy coffee. Even buying decent beans and grinding myself it was subpar.
This, however, makes a very nice cup of espresso. As another user I purchase Starbucks Espresso Roast and even have a bottle of Starbucks flavored syrup. Hard to tell the difference and not very hard to use. Especially considering that I have not had my coffee yet. I will have to agree with the comment regarding the little flip up plastic when tapping out the grinds being a bit cumbersome, but it's not so bad.
I love the fact that the holes where you place the coffee for brewing are very small. I can not understand how the one reviewer was getting any grounds in their coffee if they were ensuring the ground coffee was actually inside fully, tamped down, and locked adequately in place. NONE OF THIS IS DIFFICULT AT ALL! The most difficult thing making my espresso is a subpar coffe grinder, but I have a request to Santa to fix that.
Needless to say the best was being able to serve decaf espresso to many very happy guests at Thanksgiving. With the double decaf espressos and steamed milk I could not give away a cup of the regular brew that was a very nice bean and a fresh grind as well. It was a fabulous touch to the night with the Pumpkin Cheesecake.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
This machine is a very good investment!, October 3, 2006
This review is from: DeLonghi EC140B Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (Kitchen)
I brought this machine 3 years ago. I have very good service with this machine. I make two (double)espressos some times more if I have friends over ... I am still in love with this machine and may be you should trust my opinion ... and each cup is the same excellent (I am using regular Melita espresso brand or Lavazza "Espresso").
This machine is a very good investment!
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