DeLonghi EC5 Steam-Driven 4-Cup Espresso and Cappuccino Maker, Black

I researched several machines and decided to go with this one after our Krups machine finally had a meltdown. I wanted a machine that could just make one good strong cup of coffee for the morning commute. I've had it a few weeks now and so far so good. It's easy to use, just had to experiment a bit to get the amount of coffee and water right, but that's to be expected. The milk frother is a bit short, and it does not give a crema on top of the coffee, but I don't think any of the steam driven machines do. All in all it makes a nice cup of coffee and does what it should for the price.

i hope to spare someone else the pain of buying this. i just watched a fountain of hot water shoot out all over my kitchen counter as i tried to steam a cup of milk. not being able to select between 'steam' and 'brew' modes is staggeringly stupid. i am going to deposit this in the garbage and buy a different machine. and to the person who said this is common in cheaper machines, i have NEVER owned or even saw a machine that has hot coffee shooting out the front while steam is pouring out the side. that's just stupid and dangerous.

I happy with the machine, was suprise for the shipping fee wich i find expensive from usa to Montreal canada.
Took some time to delivery but came in one pce.


PAtrick

I love this machine, it makes much better espresso than the Krupps or Mr. Coffeeman machines I have owned. You need to watch your ratio of water to coffee, and if you want to make a giant cup of steamed milk, I would run a cycle for just steam. Those are things that were second nature to me, from using other machines, but if you buy this and expect instant starbucks in a box, you might be dissapointed. You need to pay attention to what you're doing, if you want it to come out tasting right.

(I meant to give this 2 stars, but it won't let me change it) The espresso machine worked great for a month, and then the frother knob melted and snapped off. We could still make espressos, but we bought it to make lattes and cappuccinos. Now the machine is just sitting on top of the cabinets, not receiving any use. Rather unfortunate.