Krups XP4050 1200-Watt 15-Bar-Pump Programmable Espresso Machine
I purchased this a week ago and highly recommend this espresso machine. Easy to use and clean, but most important - the espresso (I use Starbuck's and have them grind it for me)is fantastic and has a crema just like you get in Italy! The milk steamer/foamer is too much trouble for me and I just heat milk and do a cafe con leche - easier and less cleaning.
Great machine.
Ahh great coffee at home
Firstly I am just a wee amateur when it comes to coffee. I hate instant coffee and wanted quality coffee at home that was easy to make.
I just purchased this machine last night; it's our first pump espresso machine. It took me a couple of goes, messing around with the machine to produce a good coffee, but I seem to be getting quicker and better with each additional coffee I make.
It's fairly simple to use. The pre-programmed 1 or 2 cup buttons take all the guess work out of the coffee creation - process. It is also very quick to fire up (become ready from power up to coffee creation) in comparison to some of my friends machines.
The auto- cappuccino (milk foamer) also works well, with surprisingly little mess or effort, but be sure to use very cold milk.
So far the machine seems to be very easy to clean after your perfect cup, no drips or mess which I have read about in other reviews.
I have not tried the ESE pods yet, but I am sure this eliminates any coffee ground mess.
I hope this helps, enjoy
I love my espresso and used a krups 15 bar pump machine for the last 7 years. Love that machine and so bought the latest Krups, xp4050.
ack.
On the plus side:
+ Makes a good cup of espresso. Not fantastic (not with a touch of that burnt taste that you get from boiler models), but a very drinkable cup. And that's what it's supposed to do!
+ I LOVE the auto milk frother. I just tuck the tube in a cup of milk and it draws out the milk and spits it into my cup all frothy and warm. Very nice (though a bit diluted with water from the frother, but I'm ok with that).
On the not such a plus side:
- Noisy! OMG! This thing rattles obnoxiously, much louder than the older platic Krups model I've been using. Sounds as if the stainless surfaces are not well mounted or... or... I dunno, but it's just stupidly loud and buzzy. Every time I run it my wife jumps back, 'it's broken, it's broken' Nope. Just seems to be how it works...
- Drippy! In two ways. First, the espresso seems never to end... I find that the factory "double cup" setting is almost twice the content that is traditional, not sure why it's set this way, but it is programmable, so I can change it. Either way, when I depress one of the buttons to stop the espresso (because I haven't reprogrammed the double seting yet to decrease amount), it continues dripping for a long long long time, very strange and very unlike my old machine, which dripped away, surely, but not for minutes on end... And this isn't a fault of manual control, either, I checked. Because when I hit the single cup button and let it run its programmed course, the dripping continues for so long that it more or less makes a double cup! Just, bizarre. Terrible flow control. Is it broken? Lord knows. But I just pull out my cup when it's got the correct amount (because I've been making espresso for so long I know how much a single or double should be), and stick a second cup beneath to receive all the drips. Rather defeats the notion of programmed flow control, though.
Secondly, huge amounts of water gather in the drip tray. Again, substantially more than the old model. I find that I have to change the drip tray every other time I used the machine (the old model would go weeks b/w drip tray changes). Again, odd.
In sum, I'm rather disappointed with this new model. While the espresso is acceptable and I love the auto-frother (go to Krups web site for a demo of that), the things seems very poorly engineered, with obnoxious rattling and buzzing, catastrophically bad flow control, and drippy mess underneath, wasting half of the water that you put into it.
This is not the kind of engineering I expect from Krups. I don't recommend this product and will likely not keep this one for all that long.
My husband and I purchased this machine a few months ago after going through not one, not two, but THREE espresso machines in the last 18 months. We prefer lattes to cups o' joe and found ourselves making espresso every day - often several times a day. But those little steam machines are just not made for such rigorous use. We're very happy with the Krups pump espresso machine. Very reliable. Well-made. Sturdy. Not too big. It only makes enough espresso for one latte at a time but takes just 30-45 seconds to do it. So making several cups is still a breeze.
My husband purchased this espresso machine for me and I was thrilled at first. It worked well for just shy of 2 months, then broke. The water would no longer draw up into the filter it would only drain into the drip tray. We exchanged it for the exact same model and the new one was worse! We followed the instructions to prime it before the first use the night we received it and turned it off without making coffee. Luckily I smelled something funny before going to bed or else my house may have burned down! Internally the machine didn't turn off and it over-heated so badly that it scorched my counter and warped the plastic on the top and sides! The second machine never made a cup of coffee... We promptly returned that one as well and decided to purchase a different machine entirely! Please don't waste your money on this product!
I must start with saying that this is my second XP4050 in one month, the first suffering from two problems. One problem was the same that others have mentioned here, when water stops coming out of the filter head and instead just dumps into the drip tray from an apparent overflow-type valve in the bottom of the machine. This only happened once, corrected itself, and never happened again. The second problem was that I noticed a small amount of water occasionally leaking from the buttons on the front and the stainless portion on the front of the machine would also get VERY hot. I believe these were one problem, possibly the brewing portion leaking.
I contacted Amazon online and was shocked at the ease and speed of getting a replacement model. At no charge to me, including shipping, I had a brand new XP4050 within 3 days.
The new model works perfect. I am a somewhat new espresso afficienado, having been making my own at home for only about 2 years. This is my second machine, my first being a Krups Gusto that recently died. I decided on the XP4050 after a great deal of research and comparing features versus cost. The price I got this model through Amazon was literally half what I was looking at with other brands.
As far as use of the machine, it couldn't be easier. I use mostly pods but have tried grounds with equally easy and great tasting shots. The three different filter baskets for brewing are held in the handle firmly, which was an issue in my old Krups Gusto (I accidently threw away the single shot filter basket). The frother performs very well although I have not tried the attachment for pulling the milk from a separate container. As others have said, make sure you keep an eye on your drip tray, it does tend to fill quickly. I empty mine every 4-6 shots.
Overall, even considering my initial "problem" model, I am extremely happy with the XP4050. It's a great looking, inexpensive, easy to use machine that consistently puts out quality shots of espresso. I would recommend this model to either new beginners or someone looking to step up a little.
To start, amazon was very prompt to send out new replacement unit. I could not get the water running on the first one. I was a problem with the water tank.
I called Krups for help, they said send it in and we send you a new one, took them 7 days to send me a UPS lable.. 1 star for service.
At the same time I had a new unit from amazon in two days. 5 Star
The Machine works very well. great creamy coffe, foam great.
I don't like the small tank, it seams that i always need to ad water, and often emty the waist tray.
heat up time for foam, capuccino and latte, is little long, even more if you do 2 , 3 ,4 coffe's
But I raccomend it...
Have been having a lovely time using this machine. We have espresso almost every afternoon. It is just so very quick and easy.
I ordered one which never worked, the replacement did not work as well. Water does not come through the filter, strange blinking of the lights. Just big frustration. Otherwise look very nice.
This is my second machine in ~1 month, the first was returned because the overflow tray started to jam. The second machine now has the same problem. As mentioned in other reviews, this tray fills up very fast. There's a nozzle that dispenses hot water directly into the tray towards the back of the machine (not sure why). I think what is happening is that the hot water bows the plastic tray slightly but enough to cause jamming. By jamming, I mean I have to pull so hard to slide the tray out that I'm afraid I'll break it. This is not just a minor annoyance since you'll have to turn the whole machine upside down in the sink to empty the tray. Hopefully, my experiences were the exception and not the rule, or this problem can be avoided by emtying out the tray more frequently. Me personally, I expect a machine to be idiot-proof. Thankfully I bought mine at Bloomingdale's so returning it will be easy. I would not recommend ordering this machine online.
Last month I decided to replace my aging, 6-year old Krups espresso machine. It had provided great service but, thanks to a less-than-rigorous regimen of descaling over the years, was getting long in the tooth. Its pumping action was weakening, and the steamer would occasionally get rambunctious. I was happy with Krups, so I replaced it with another, the XP 4050. Bad choice.
The XP 4050 just didn't work as it should. On some mornings, after the machine heats up, it goes into a frantic blinking mode when I try to pump. And it didn't pump...its four blue lights just blinked furiously at me.
The machine's manual did not describe this behavior, so I called the Krups consumer help line from the manual. (Incidentally, kudos to Krups on that help line. I got to a human pretty quickly.) I described the symptoms, and they emailed me a UPS label to send the machine in. Four weeks later, a replacement arrived.
It does the same thing.
Another criticism: The steamer nozzle is useless. It's like a four-year-old blowing bubbles into a cup of milk. My old machine had a healthy steaming nozzle that was a whiz at frothing. The XP 4040 is no match. Adding to the aggravation, the steamer attachment has a little air-induction tube that keeps falling out.
I'm sorry, Krups, you've gone astray. The machine's going back to Amazon.
Good entry-level, pump driven machine. I've owned it for one-week, after using a Krups Gusto that I picked-up at a Garage sale a couple of years ago.
Pros:
Good pressure from 15-bar thermo block
Looks good,
solid built brew group.
Programmable pulls.
Frother works, produces plenty of steam.
Cons:
No water-level view without opening the back top.
Smaller water tank capacity.
Kind of loud.
Other Italian entry level machines at this same price. ( I did buy mine from Amazon for just under $200, which I think is a better price point.
Made in China, NOT in Germany as stated on Amazon website.
Unknowns:
Long term quality.
I have not used the cappuccino-latte attachment to draw milk directly from a carton.
I have returned this item TWICE. Their tray is not pulling out, so you have to -suck- out the water from it. It doesn't hold all types of coffee, sometimes I had water coming out from the sides, or straight into tray. And I suspect that the pressure is not sustainable because I'm getting different results - sometimes coffee is good, sometimes you just can't drink this.
After much research and consideration I decided to buy this product as a Christmas gift for my husband. I am not the type of person to research products before I buy them, but taking into consideration how picky my husband is about his espresso (and being Cuban and drinking cuban coffee since birth--makes you critical and suspicious about the quality of the coffee made by these new espresso machines), I did not want to buy something that was not going to meet our expectations. I have to say this product has surpassed my expectations and my husband is very pleased with it. My main concern was how HOT the coffee would be, and this product makes the coffee with the right temperature and richness that we have come to expect from the corner cafeteria coffee. I've read reviews about the noise it makes, and after having the Deloghi product, the noise this machine makes when warming up is NOT that loud at all. We are very happy with it. Buy it, you'll be happy too!
Machine arrived dead on arrival. None of the water would force its way though the coffee grounds and would go into the overflow. Had to send it back and would not reccommend.
This product performs poorly. Within 1 month of receiving it, water no longer flowed through the coffee. After complaining to Krups, sending it for repairs and finally getting a replacement, I am still not very happy with it. The frothing part is unpredictable in its creation of quality foam. Krups did better with their older model of this machine.
I read mixed reviews on the XP4050 on the web, with some folks tagging it as unreliable or noisy, or in several cases DOA. I decided to take a chance because my past experience with a Krups espresso machine was excellent.
I've had the XP4050 for over a month now and it has performed flawlessly since day one. The coffee is terrific, the frothing attachment works well (I removed the attachment from my last machine and used the metal wand only), and it works beautifully with my favorite brand of ground coffee--far better than my old machine.
I would have given the XP4050 five stars, except for the wait between pushing a button and achieving results. For instance, if you brew your espresso and press the steam button you have to wait some time before the machine is ready to roll. I suspect this is no different than what might be expected from any machine in this class, but it is irritating in the wee hours when I am impatiently awaiting my first jolt of the day.
So far, the XP4050 is a great machine and I am a satisfied customer.
I've owned a number of Krups products, including a 17 year old steam espresso maker, and over the years have been consistently very pleased with the design, quality and reliability of the Krups products. So I decided that it would be nice to have a new espresso maker, perhaps one that has more options and can brew more a bit faster.
After looking at the various products and the reviews of the XP4050 here on Amazon I was somewhat concerned but nevertheless ordered this machine because it appeared to be about what I was seeking. The reviews gave me some pause but in the end I dismissed them, crediting Krups for past performance and assuming the reviewers were just incompetent or were not patient enough to learn to use the product properly. HAH! Boy was I wrong.
My first clue that there was something different about this item was the instruction manual. I am able to read several languages and was amused to see that the instructions, while close, were not the same in each language. In fact there were recipes in some languages that were missing from the English version. What's THAT about?
Then we I tried making my first batch of espresso I found that, as others have complained, I made a mess trying to load the filter. The next disappointment was the brew... I followed the instructions to the letter (such as they are) and the result was a pretty poor example of espresso. The attachment for frothing/steaming the milk was not much better and also made a mess. I put the liquids together for a latté. Okay... I was impressed with how smooth the taste was, but the espresso itself was just plain pathetic; weak, especially compared to the output of my old machine. So I gave it another try, this time with twice the coffee and tamping it down more and created another counter-top mess. This time the brew was stronger, still very smooth, but only about 2/3 the quantity. Consternation was setting in. Then I discovered that the drip tray was FULL of liquid!?! What the heck?
I tried every darn way I could come up with to brew a decent latté over the next couple weeks. Alas, it was to no avail, each attempt was disappointing in some crucial aspect. I called Krups and the very nice people suggested that if I was actually doing everything correctly then the unit must be faulty and I should send it in. I knew that one of my attempts should have been somewhere close to the realm of doing it correctly so I doubt that there is anything faulty with my machine. I also suspect this since my complaints echoed those I had read.
What a failure this thing is! I am happily back to using my antique Krups unit that cost me $49, 17 years ago and the XP4050 is in route back. Each morning I produce a wonderful, adequately strong espresso and the steamed milk is perfectly frothed. I should have been happy with the old machine all along. I am so sorry I doubted the other reviewers.
This is the first espresso machine I have owned so I have no other product to compare it to. So far I have been happy with my Krups, although I have already had to replace the gasket once. The machine seems to be VERY picky about when it will and will not pull shots. If the espresso is not loaded just right it refuses to pull the shot, which causes water pressure to build up (this is how the gasket broke). Bottom line: the coffee tastes great, however, sometimes making the coffee can be a bit of a hassle.
This is the first espresso machine I have owned so I have no other product to compare it to. So far I have been happy with my Krups, although I have already had to replace the gasket once. The machine seems to be VERY picky about when it will and will not pull shots. If the espresso is not loaded just right it refuses to pull the shot, which causes water pressure to build up (this is how the gasket broke). Bottom line: the coffee tastes great, however, sometimes making the coffee can be a bit of a hassle.
I've owned a number of Krups products, including a 17 year old steam espresso maker, and over the years have been consistently very pleased with the design, quality and reliability of the Krups products. So I decided that it would be nice to have a new espresso maker, perhaps one that has more options and can brew more a bit faster.
After looking at the various products and the reviews of the XP4050 here on Amazon I was somewhat concerned but nevertheless ordered this machine because it appeared to be about what I was seeking. The reviews gave me some pause but in the end I dismissed them, crediting Krups for past performance and assuming the reviewers were just incompetent or were not patient enough to learn to use the product properly. HAH! Boy was I wrong.
My first clue that there was something different about this item was the instruction manual. I am able to read several languages and was amused to see that the instructions, while close, were not the same in each language. In fact there were recipes in some languages that were missing from the English version. What's THAT about?
Then we I tried making my first batch of espresso I found that, as others have complained, I made a mess trying to load the filter. The next disappointment was the brew... I followed the instructions to the letter (such as they are) and the result was a pretty poor example of espresso. The attachment for frothing/steaming the milk was not much better and also made a mess. I put the liquids together for a latté. Okay... I was impressed with how smooth the taste was, but the espresso itself was just plain pathetic; weak, especially compared to the output of my old machine. So I gave it another try, this time with twice the coffee and tamping it down more and created another counter-top mess. This time the brew was stronger, still very smooth, but only about 2/3 the quantity. Consternation was setting in. Then I discovered that the drip tray was FULL of liquid!?! What the heck?
I tried every darn way I could come up with to brew a decent latté over the next couple weeks. Alas, it was to no avail, each attempt was disappointing in some crucial aspect. I called Krups and the very nice people suggested that if I was actually doing everything correctly then the unit must be faulty and I should send it in. I knew that one of my attempts should have been somewhere close to the realm of doing it correctly so I doubt that there is anything faulty with my machine. I also suspect this since my complaints echoed those I had read.
What a failure this thing is! I am happily back to using my antique Krups unit that cost me $49, 17 years ago and the XP4050 is in route back. Each morning I produce a wonderful, adequately strong espresso and the steamed milk is perfectly frothed. I should have been happy with the old machine all along. I am so sorry I doubted the other reviewers.
I read mixed reviews on the XP4050 on the web, with some folks tagging it as unreliable or noisy, or in several cases DOA. I decided to take a chance because my past experience with a Krups espresso machine was excellent.
I've had the XP4050 for over a month now and it has performed flawlessly since day one. The coffee is terrific, the frothing attachment works well (I removed the attachment from my last machine and used the metal wand only), and it works beautifully with my favorite brand of ground coffee--far better than my old machine.
I would have given the XP4050 five stars, except for the wait between pushing a button and achieving results. For instance, if you brew your espresso and press the steam button you have to wait some time before the machine is ready to roll. I suspect this is no different than what might be expected from any machine in this class, but it is irritating in the wee hours when I am impatiently awaiting my first jolt of the day.
So far, the XP4050 is a great machine and I am a satisfied customer.
I have returned this item TWICE. Their tray is not pulling out, so you have to -suck- out the water from it. It doesn't hold all types of coffee, sometimes I had water coming out from the sides, or straight into tray. And I suspect that the pressure is not sustainable because I'm getting different results - sometimes coffee is good, sometimes you just can't drink this.
After much research and consideration I decided to buy this product as a Christmas gift for my husband. I am not the type of person to research products before I buy them, but taking into consideration how picky my husband is about his espresso (and being Cuban and drinking cuban coffee since birth--makes you critical and suspicious about the quality of the coffee made by these new espresso machines), I did not want to buy something that was not going to meet our expectations. I have to say this product has surpassed my expectations and my husband is very pleased with it. My main concern was how HOT the coffee would be, and this product makes the coffee with the right temperature and richness that we have come to expect from the corner cafeteria coffee. I've read reviews about the noise it makes, and after having the Deloghi product, the noise this machine makes when warming up is NOT that loud at all. We are very happy with it. Buy it, you'll be happy too!
Machine arrived dead on arrival. None of the water would force its way though the coffee grounds and would go into the overflow. Had to send it back and would not reccommend.
This product performs poorly. Within 1 month of receiving it, water no longer flowed through the coffee. After complaining to Krups, sending it for repairs and finally getting a replacement, I am still not very happy with it. The frothing part is unpredictable in its creation of quality foam. Krups did better with their older model of this machine.
To start, amazon was very prompt to send out new replacement unit. I could not get the water running on the first one. I was a problem with the water tank.
I called Krups for help, they said send it in and we send you a new one, took them 7 days to send me a UPS lable.. 1 star for service.
At the same time I had a new unit from amazon in two days. 5 Star
The Machine works very well. great creamy coffe, foam great.
I don't like the small tank, it seams that i always need to ad water, and often emty the waist tray.
heat up time for foam, capuccino and latte, is little long, even more if you do 2 , 3 ,4 coffe's
But I raccomend it...
Have been having a lovely time using this machine. We have espresso almost every afternoon. It is just so very quick and easy.
I ordered one which never worked, the replacement did not work as well. Water does not come through the filter, strange blinking of the lights. Just big frustration. Otherwise look very nice.
This is my second machine in ~1 month, the first was returned because the overflow tray started to jam. The second machine now has the same problem. As mentioned in other reviews, this tray fills up very fast. There's a nozzle that dispenses hot water directly into the tray towards the back of the machine (not sure why). I think what is happening is that the hot water bows the plastic tray slightly but enough to cause jamming. By jamming, I mean I have to pull so hard to slide the tray out that I'm afraid I'll break it. This is not just a minor annoyance since you'll have to turn the whole machine upside down in the sink to empty the tray. Hopefully, my experiences were the exception and not the rule, or this problem can be avoided by emtying out the tray more frequently. Me personally, I expect a machine to be idiot-proof. Thankfully I bought mine at Bloomingdale's so returning it will be easy. I would not recommend ordering this machine online.
Last month I decided to replace my aging, 6-year old Krups espresso machine. It had provided great service but, thanks to a less-than-rigorous regimen of descaling over the years, was getting long in the tooth. Its pumping action was weakening, and the steamer would occasionally get rambunctious. I was happy with Krups, so I replaced it with another, the XP 4050. Bad choice.
The XP 4050 just didn't work as it should. On some mornings, after the machine heats up, it goes into a frantic blinking mode when I try to pump. And it didn't pump...its four blue lights just blinked furiously at me.
The machine's manual did not describe this behavior, so I called the Krups consumer help line from the manual. (Incidentally, kudos to Krups on that help line. I got to a human pretty quickly.) I described the symptoms, and they emailed me a UPS label to send the machine in. Four weeks later, a replacement arrived.
It does the same thing.
Another criticism: The steamer nozzle is useless. It's like a four-year-old blowing bubbles into a cup of milk. My old machine had a healthy steaming nozzle that was a whiz at frothing. The XP 4040 is no match. Adding to the aggravation, the steamer attachment has a little air-induction tube that keeps falling out.
I'm sorry, Krups, you've gone astray. The machine's going back to Amazon.
Good entry-level, pump driven machine. I've owned it for one-week, after using a Krups Gusto that I picked-up at a Garage sale a couple of years ago.
Pros:
Good pressure from 15-bar thermo block
Looks good,
solid built brew group.
Programmable pulls.
Frother works, produces plenty of steam.
Cons:
No water-level view without opening the back top.
Smaller water tank capacity.
Kind of loud.
Other Italian entry level machines at this same price. ( I did buy mine from Amazon for just under $200, which I think is a better price point.
Made in China, NOT in Germany as stated on Amazon website.
Unknowns:
Long term quality.
I have not used the cappuccino-latte attachment to draw milk directly from a carton.
My husband and I purchased this machine a few months ago after going through not one, not two, but THREE espresso machines in the last 18 months. We prefer lattes to cups o' joe and found ourselves making espresso every day - often several times a day. But those little steam machines are just not made for such rigorous use. We're very happy with the Krups pump espresso machine. Very reliable. Well-made. Sturdy. Not too big. It only makes enough espresso for one latte at a time but takes just 30-45 seconds to do it. So making several cups is still a breeze.
My husband purchased this espresso machine for me and I was thrilled at first. It worked well for just shy of 2 months, then broke. The water would no longer draw up into the filter it would only drain into the drip tray. We exchanged it for the exact same model and the new one was worse! We followed the instructions to prime it before the first use the night we received it and turned it off without making coffee. Luckily I smelled something funny before going to bed or else my house may have burned down! Internally the machine didn't turn off and it over-heated so badly that it scorched my counter and warped the plastic on the top and sides! The second machine never made a cup of coffee... We promptly returned that one as well and decided to purchase a different machine entirely! Please don't waste your money on this product!
I must start with saying that this is my second XP4050 in one month, the first suffering from two problems. One problem was the same that others have mentioned here, when water stops coming out of the filter head and instead just dumps into the drip tray from an apparent overflow-type valve in the bottom of the machine. This only happened once, corrected itself, and never happened again. The second problem was that I noticed a small amount of water occasionally leaking from the buttons on the front and the stainless portion on the front of the machine would also get VERY hot. I believe these were one problem, possibly the brewing portion leaking.
I contacted Amazon online and was shocked at the ease and speed of getting a replacement model. At no charge to me, including shipping, I had a brand new XP4050 within 3 days.
The new model works perfect. I am a somewhat new espresso afficienado, having been making my own at home for only about 2 years. This is my second machine, my first being a Krups Gusto that recently died. I decided on the XP4050 after a great deal of research and comparing features versus cost. The price I got this model through Amazon was literally half what I was looking at with other brands.
As far as use of the machine, it couldn't be easier. I use mostly pods but have tried grounds with equally easy and great tasting shots. The three different filter baskets for brewing are held in the handle firmly, which was an issue in my old Krups Gusto (I accidently threw away the single shot filter basket). The frother performs very well although I have not tried the attachment for pulling the milk from a separate container. As others have said, make sure you keep an eye on your drip tray, it does tend to fill quickly. I empty mine every 4-6 shots.
Overall, even considering my initial "problem" model, I am extremely happy with the XP4050. It's a great looking, inexpensive, easy to use machine that consistently puts out quality shots of espresso. I would recommend this model to either new beginners or someone looking to step up a little.
I love my espresso and used a krups 15 bar pump machine for the last 7 years. Love that machine and so bought the latest Krups, xp4050.
ack.
On the plus side:
+ Makes a good cup of espresso. Not fantastic (not with a touch of that burnt taste that you get from boiler models), but a very drinkable cup. And that's what it's supposed to do!
+ I LOVE the auto milk frother. I just tuck the tube in a cup of milk and it draws out the milk and spits it into my cup all frothy and warm. Very nice (though a bit diluted with water from the frother, but I'm ok with that).
On the not such a plus side:
- Noisy! OMG! This thing rattles obnoxiously, much louder than the older platic Krups model I've been using. Sounds as if the stainless surfaces are not well mounted or... or... I dunno, but it's just stupidly loud and buzzy. Every time I run it my wife jumps back, 'it's broken, it's broken' Nope. Just seems to be how it works...
- Drippy! In two ways. First, the espresso seems never to end... I find that the factory "double cup" setting is almost twice the content that is traditional, not sure why it's set this way, but it is programmable, so I can change it. Either way, when I depress one of the buttons to stop the espresso (because I haven't reprogrammed the double seting yet to decrease amount), it continues dripping for a long long long time, very strange and very unlike my old machine, which dripped away, surely, but not for minutes on end... And this isn't a fault of manual control, either, I checked. Because when I hit the single cup button and let it run its programmed course, the dripping continues for so long that it more or less makes a double cup! Just, bizarre. Terrible flow control. Is it broken? Lord knows. But I just pull out my cup when it's got the correct amount (because I've been making espresso for so long I know how much a single or double should be), and stick a second cup beneath to receive all the drips. Rather defeats the notion of programmed flow control, though.
Secondly, huge amounts of water gather in the drip tray. Again, substantially more than the old model. I find that I have to change the drip tray every other time I used the machine (the old model would go weeks b/w drip tray changes). Again, odd.
In sum, I'm rather disappointed with this new model. While the espresso is acceptable and I love the auto-frother (go to Krups web site for a demo of that), the things seems very poorly engineered, with obnoxious rattling and buzzing, catastrophically bad flow control, and drippy mess underneath, wasting half of the water that you put into it.
This is not the kind of engineering I expect from Krups. I don't recommend this product and will likely not keep this one for all that long.
I purchased this a week ago and highly recommend this espresso machine. Easy to use and clean, but most important - the espresso (I use Starbuck's and have them grind it for me)is fantastic and has a crema just like you get in Italy! The milk steamer/foamer is too much trouble for me and I just heat milk and do a cafe con leche - easier and less cleaning.
Great machine.
Ahh great coffee at home
Firstly I am just a wee amateur when it comes to coffee. I hate instant coffee and wanted quality coffee at home that was easy to make.
I just purchased this machine last night; it's our first pump espresso machine. It took me a couple of goes, messing around with the machine to produce a good coffee, but I seem to be getting quicker and better with each additional coffee I make.
It's fairly simple to use. The pre-programmed 1 or 2 cup buttons take all the guess work out of the coffee creation - process. It is also very quick to fire up (become ready from power up to coffee creation) in comparison to some of my friends machines.
The auto- cappuccino (milk foamer) also works well, with surprisingly little mess or effort, but be sure to use very cold milk.
So far the machine seems to be very easy to clean after your perfect cup, no drips or mess which I have read about in other reviews.
I have not tried the ESE pods yet, but I am sure this eliminates any coffee ground mess.
I hope this helps, enjoy