Bang for your Budget, 2010-05-10I bought the EC155 on clearance at a big box retailer. I will preface this by saying I am not, by any stretch, a coffee expert, but have friends that did all the research for me. I like the iced lattes from Sbux, and I thought I had my habit under control until I added up what I was spending for what is, essentially, a shot of coffee and milk. Uh oh. Then my friend came to visit with her espresso maker, and I was pleasantly surprised that the coffee she made didn't have that slightly burnt taste like Sbux did. The search began. Per my coffee loving friends, I needed a few things.
1. Pump driven
2. Stainless boiler
3. Nice crema
4. Preferably Italian. Not sure if this is true or not, but my friend said all the coffee freaks suggested Italian because they make "the best ones". I have no reason to know otherwise. :-D
This machine seemed to fit the bill, and the budget. I read every online review out there, and they seemed to be mostly positive. Negative reviews seemed to be either from folks wanting a more professional machine, reading the manual problems, or defective from the box machine. When I saw it marked down at Big Box, I jumped.
I will say the manual left a little to be desired, it's obvious that the author isn't familiar with American idiom, but hey, it's Italian, right? Pictures are pretty good, and after studying it for a while I figured out most of it. Now, it says to run a shot through with no grounds 5 times first, and I did. Didn't notice any chemical flavor after doing this on my first pull. The tamper is, as many people have pointed out, a joke. I will be purchasing my own one shortly. There isn't a lot of distance from the bottom of the portafilter ( I think that's what it's called) and the tray. This being my first couple of pulls, I solved that problem by taking out the tray on the bottom and plunking in a regular double shot glass under the stream. You could also get a mug under there by that method. Easy peasy. Going forward I'm going to invest in some one oz. shot glasses, but if you are really not wanting to buy anything other than the machine you could very easily just keep doing it that way. I did notice that with the large filter, I couldn't get all of 2 scoops in, but I think that just means I need to refine my tamping technique. I can't address how well the foaming wand foams, as I almost always drink iced. I can say however, that I'm really not getting why people say the wand is too close to the counter, just for fun I put a 32 oz Pyrex measuring cup there (just in case I ever needed to know) and it looked like it fit fine, plenty of clearance and room to move the wand about.
This machine seems easy, again I have no comparison other than a regular cheapo drip machine, but after reading the directions I was up and pulling a shot in 15 minutes. My very first pull, I got a nice dark shot with crema. Mmmmm...
Something I haven't seen mentioned is the cool hooky thing that you flip to hold the basket while you bang out the puck. This being my first machine, I was excited by this. Your mileage may vary. Also, the manual does say to warm it up for 15 minutes OR you can wait until the OK light comes on and run a shot with just hot water and it's ready to go. It's stainless and black, and up top there's a nice little (stress the little, demitasse cup sized) area to warm your cups.
In conclusion, this seems to be a nicely priced budget machine for your one or two coffee drinker family, for someone wanting to break their dependence on the drive through. It's a small machine footprint wise, so perfect for a small kitchen. I don't think it's really meant for crowds, if you entertain a lot, or, say, want to use it in an office setting where lots of people need espresso, I might look for a bigger machine. It does just what I wanted it to do, I can make my morning iced latte without getting in the car and driving to the coffee store. Hopefully it will last, I will update my review as needed. Right now, though, it seems to me that the EC155 is a nice entry level machine in the pump machine category. Based on some other reviews, I'd say read the manual carefully, clean the machine regularly, and keep an eye out as it works and you should be fine.
Update 5/27/10: As I've refined my technique I like the machine even better. I'm now getting the requisite 14 oz into the basket. I bought a metal tamper and tested myself standing on a scale for the "proper" (per espressoguy) tamp. Another review addressed that there's water in the filter when you run a "warming" cycle. Yep. The manual says this machine has a crema enhancing filter, so I'm pretty sure that's why. Either way it's fine - coffee is good and no leaking. Still haven't tried the frothing wand. I have my coffee ground at the first espresso setting at the store, and (again per espressoguy) I am getting the "correct" timing of pulling a 2 oz in the "proper" 15-22 seconds. I found a couple of videos on You Tube of this machine in action, just search EC155 on there and you'll find them. Still a thumbs up, its already paid for itself!
Reviewed By AWO37JDYPWN1R1. Pump driven
2. Stainless boiler
3. Nice crema
4. Preferably Italian. Not sure if this is true or not, but my friend said all the coffee freaks suggested Italian because they make "the best ones". I have no reason to know otherwise. :-D
This machine seemed to fit the bill, and the budget. I read every online review out there, and they seemed to be mostly positive. Negative reviews seemed to be either from folks wanting a more professional machine, reading the manual problems, or defective from the box machine. When I saw it marked down at Big Box, I jumped.
I will say the manual left a little to be desired, it's obvious that the author isn't familiar with American idiom, but hey, it's Italian, right? Pictures are pretty good, and after studying it for a while I figured out most of it. Now, it says to run a shot through with no grounds 5 times first, and I did. Didn't notice any chemical flavor after doing this on my first pull. The tamper is, as many people have pointed out, a joke. I will be purchasing my own one shortly. There isn't a lot of distance from the bottom of the portafilter ( I think that's what it's called) and the tray. This being my first couple of pulls, I solved that problem by taking out the tray on the bottom and plunking in a regular double shot glass under the stream. You could also get a mug under there by that method. Easy peasy. Going forward I'm going to invest in some one oz. shot glasses, but if you are really not wanting to buy anything other than the machine you could very easily just keep doing it that way. I did notice that with the large filter, I couldn't get all of 2 scoops in, but I think that just means I need to refine my tamping technique. I can't address how well the foaming wand foams, as I almost always drink iced. I can say however, that I'm really not getting why people say the wand is too close to the counter, just for fun I put a 32 oz Pyrex measuring cup there (just in case I ever needed to know) and it looked like it fit fine, plenty of clearance and room to move the wand about.
This machine seems easy, again I have no comparison other than a regular cheapo drip machine, but after reading the directions I was up and pulling a shot in 15 minutes. My very first pull, I got a nice dark shot with crema. Mmmmm...
Something I haven't seen mentioned is the cool hooky thing that you flip to hold the basket while you bang out the puck. This being my first machine, I was excited by this. Your mileage may vary. Also, the manual does say to warm it up for 15 minutes OR you can wait until the OK light comes on and run a shot with just hot water and it's ready to go. It's stainless and black, and up top there's a nice little (stress the little, demitasse cup sized) area to warm your cups.
In conclusion, this seems to be a nicely priced budget machine for your one or two coffee drinker family, for someone wanting to break their dependence on the drive through. It's a small machine footprint wise, so perfect for a small kitchen. I don't think it's really meant for crowds, if you entertain a lot, or, say, want to use it in an office setting where lots of people need espresso, I might look for a bigger machine. It does just what I wanted it to do, I can make my morning iced latte without getting in the car and driving to the coffee store. Hopefully it will last, I will update my review as needed. Right now, though, it seems to me that the EC155 is a nice entry level machine in the pump machine category. Based on some other reviews, I'd say read the manual carefully, clean the machine regularly, and keep an eye out as it works and you should be fine.
Update 5/27/10: As I've refined my technique I like the machine even better. I'm now getting the requisite 14 oz into the basket. I bought a metal tamper and tested myself standing on a scale for the "proper" (per espressoguy) tamp. Another review addressed that there's water in the filter when you run a "warming" cycle. Yep. The manual says this machine has a crema enhancing filter, so I'm pretty sure that's why. Either way it's fine - coffee is good and no leaking. Still haven't tried the frothing wand. I have my coffee ground at the first espresso setting at the store, and (again per espressoguy) I am getting the "correct" timing of pulling a 2 oz in the "proper" 15-22 seconds. I found a couple of videos on You Tube of this machine in action, just search EC155 on there and you'll find them. Still a thumbs up, its already paid for itself!
This review was cited from Amazon.com.
This item was also found at:
Amazon.com
Compare prices across all Amazons at AmazonDotStar.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment