De'Longhi Dedica Style Traditional Pump Espresso Machine, Coffee and Cappuccino Maker, EC685R, 1 liters, Red

One of the best adult purchases I have ever made. The coffee quality is fantastic and everyone always asks me for a coffee when they visit. It’s pretty quick once you get the hand of it but it is a little noisy. The frothing function is easy and effective. Great entrance to home coffee brewing and very good value for money as it’s an expensive market. I personally love the stainless steel and it looks great living in the kitchen on display.

Ok, so, I really have to say something about this machine as this is my 3rd DeLonghi of such type. First of all, what I do want people to know that this machine makes a really good coffee, with putting some research and knowledge of how to use it. If you don't have time/desire/opportunity whatsoever I STRONGLY recommend just to buy any bean-to-cup with no fuss - just press the button.First of all, I am fascinated with its demensions - you will barely notice its presence even on small counter top. It's heating really fast for such small device. I do recommend to use freshly medium-to-fine (but not too fine as the machine will be "choking" in the process) ground coffee, to buy a decent tamper and a stainless steel milk frother cup. Then, DO NOT add more coffee than its meant to baskets (14 g for double portion and 7 g for one portion) as it had been written by other reviews - you will need to put too much strength to close the holder or even worse - you wouldn't be able to do it at all, but with the right measurment (which later you will be able to see intuitively) it will close with NO effort. Milk steamer works fine, too, with skimmed/semi-skimmed (haven't tried whole, though) or soya milk, you will need no more than 40-45 "ticks" to heat milk properly and to make lovely cappucino.Yes this may seem like a lot of fuss for quick coffee-lovers however when everything is done automatically it's actually not. And the price especially on promotions is very good for such lovely device. I do have to mention that I have a separate coffee-filter machine for my big morning cup and this one is for occasional espresso/cappucino and I am satisfied by its taste and quality (good beans make difference as well).

Simple little machine very compact and pleasing to the eye and for the price it’s brilliant . Makes a decent tasting drink but you do need to use decent coffee to start with . Not too noisy can be used when others are in bed and won’t disturb them . We like a small mug of espresso instead of a shot so we press the 2 mug button and then use the milk frother to dispense hot water to make a decent size drink works well

I bought this De'Longhi espresso machine about a year ago, and I waited before writing a review because these machines can sometimes work fine for few months and then start to develop problems.But in fact, I have used it every day to make between 2 and 8 espressos cups, and the results have always been excellent.You can use either E.S.E. pods or ground coffee with this machine, just replacing the coffee filter, which is very easy to do.For convenience I normally use E.S.E. pods, but I had excellent results also with ground coffee (of course you need a good quality ground coffee made specifically for espresso).There is also a "capuccino" system to froth the milk, which works very well. It is a bit inconvenient to clean after use, but not particularly complicated, and the result is always very good.Cleaning the machine is easy and it needs little maintenance (but it is advisable to install the De'Longhi filters in the water tank, to extend the life of the machine and the time between descaling cycles. It is a semi-automatic simple task.The quality of the materials (both the metal and plastic parts) is very good and after a year of daily use, the machine still looks in excellent conditions.It is not the cheapest espresso machine out there, but definitely not an expensive one, and it is worth the money if you like a good espresso at home.I highly recommend this product for every espresso lover. With little practice and a good quality coffee, you will match the skills of any good barista.