Cuisinox Alpha Stainless Steel Espresso Coffeemaker

I researched the stovetop espressos for about a week and finally decided this was the one to try. I have not been disappointed.

In terms of aesthetics, it is attractive on the stove ... not like a showpiece, but definitely not an eyesore. The shine screams stainless steel rather than a polished aluminum.

In terms of design, it holds 15oz of water which is perfect for my wife and I to each have a large Americano. The handle does not heat up in the least and gives you a good grip with which to pour. The spout and lid are also well-coordinated making for a perfect pour.

Last, the taste is perfect, but unlike some I can't tell if it's so much better than aluminum. I've heard aluminum releases something not so good when you cook with it, but I really don't know.

Overall, a great addition to my morning routine.

The floor of the top part is not flat. Almost impossible to properly clean. Also the gasket traps water...I don't know if the gasket can be taken off.

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Kalorik Coordinates 8-Cup Coffee Maker, White/Tangerine

I bought this coffee maker to replace an old 12 cup in which the craff broke. I have a small kitchen with limited counter space so this coffee maker fits great less counter space used and looks real nice with the tangerine color even the cord is tangerine. I am visually impaired so I need a simple basic coffee maker and this works well for my needs (a 55 retired man who on has about 20% vision) and is very easy to clean. The coffee is fine not to hot taste good for the basic American cup of Coffee.

The one minor draw back was the basket appears to be a cone shape but has a flatten side so my cone filter won't work with it so I had to go to paper filten which is OK I don't have to clean reusable filter any more.

Bottom Line:

I have had this coffee maker a month now and it looks like a keeper. The coffee brews fast and has a nice temperature. Good for retirees an office of RV or anyone who doesn't need all the clock timers etc.

Was looking for a smaller, lower cost coffee maker, and the list of potential good ones is pretty small. To my surprise, this makes far better tasting coffee than our main coffee maker (Cuisinart).

Note: Am a huge coffee snob... light roast, single, small batch beans.

To be honest, coffee from this maker tastes better than any other I have ever had. Not sure if it is the temperature, or the choice of materials, or some magic thing, but is works.

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You get what you pay for and some here, 8 cups is still pretty small but the price is right so you do not need financing to take a chance on this. Perfect for light coffee drinkers or 1 person.

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This was the first Kalorik product I purchased and loved it so much I bought the matching toaster. It looks great and easy to use.

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I ordered this coffee maker in mid-September and by January 1st it was coming apart and is now dead. I wanted something larger than a four-cup machine, but smaller than a 12-cup model. Coffee makers in this size range are more expensive than larger ones. This was a basic, simple machine -no bells and whistles but functional. I wished the coffee would be a little hotter but otherwise I was satisfied. After smelling burn coffee a few times I quickly realized that it had no automatic turnoff and I had to make a mental note to remember to turn it off. Then pieces started coming off and the end was near. What a waste $39 for less than four months. Too late to return, so I'm out of luck. I could have gone out for coffee at that price.

DeLonghi Magnifica EAM 3400 Super Automatic Espresso Machine

I actually bought this machine at Starbucks and also tried the 3200 unit. The machine is great and great looking and worked as advertised. Except, I like Lattes made with steamed milk and just "a little" bit of foam. This unit does not really have a steam wand, it has a "frother" attachment which produces lots and lots of foam. I used less milk and I used more milk but I could not get it right--the frother with its foam just overtook the milk pitcher. The problem is you cannot take off the frother and use a steam wand because under the frother is a plastic tube that is held in place by (you guessed it) the frother. I actually took off the frother to see if I could just use the plastic tube and very quickly the steam pressure blew it off the machine into my pitcher. If you like really large quantities of foam this will do it for you. I returned the Delonghi and bought the Saeco Vspresso machine. . It has all the features of the Delonghi plus you can remove the frother and the steam wand is available to use alone. It also has a stainless steel boiler and my wife loves this part--it is more compact on the counter than the Delonghi. Again, this machine worked as advertised and would please most people.

2 WEEK UPDATE: The steam/froth knob stopped working on the Saeco V spresso today. Not acceptable on a $1000 machine. I returned it for the Delonghi 3200 and saved about $250. So far, so good.

Bought this unit at Starbucks. A couple of weeks after the "warranty" expired it developed an internal leak, ending up all over our counter. It no longer froths milk and the bean grinder is completely inconsistent in the amount of beans dosed. We would have to ship it from Colorado to California to have it looked at by an authorized Delonghi repair shop. No. Way. This was a supposedly $1200 machine we got on sale for $700. A machine in that price range (either one: 1200 OR 700) should be expected to last much longer and you would think Delonghi might take better care of their customer. The machine was maintained meticulously, as I have a fetish about taking care of my kitchen equipment.

We spent the money because I had a good impression of Delonghi and thought they built quality product. Because of their "we can't help you and don't care" attitude I will NEVER purchase another delonghi product, and will take every opportunity to trash them. Too bad there isn't a negative star rating!

Prior to the 3400 we had a Gaggia Super Auto (Symphony) and it lasted six years and cost a LOT less. (and its Cafe Crema was superior)

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The Delonghi EAM3400 Magnifica is likely the finest home-use espresso machine on the market today. The company has upgraded their line, which now is characterized by a handsome brushed aluminum finish. Designed and manufactured in Italy, the EAM3400 is a joy to operate. This machine replaced a year-old Starbucks Italia Espresso Machine made by Saeco, and it is superior in many respects:

* EAM comes with detailed instruction manual as well as a DVD that provides visual instruction, a package of descaler and a water hardness test strip that can be used to custom tailor the machine to your household tap water.

* Sleek and thoughtful design, including integrated compartment for espresso beans, a separate compartment for ground coffee with a built in measuring spoon, and a 60-oz water container that is easily removed from the front of the machine.

* A control menu that is easy to use for setting the time, auto start time, strength of coffee, and temperature of coffee, personal adjustment of shot sizes and preferred language-English or one of several others.

* The steam mechanism is different from most machines in that the wand is fitted with a frother-device. That requires one extra step in cleaning the nozzle, but the trade-off is an exceptional "head" of creamy foam on top of the steamed milk. You will find yourself using less milk in the container due to the huge expansion of the foam. It's impressive!

This is an expensive home appliance-retailing for $1200.00 in the U.S. But if you are a "starbucksfreak" like me, it's very much worth the investment. Plus it is discounted for a limited time to just under $1K at Starbucks and some other retailers.

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I am a Seattleite and a serious coffee consumer. I recently purchased this machine at Starbucks for $999.99 and it was worth every penny.

I was at first worried that it would be too cumbersome and difficult to be a worthwhile investment. I was very happy to find that it as as easy as brewing a pot of coffee to use. The digital screen tells you when to add more coffee, water or to empty the grounds bin. It rinses intself during the heating process (which you can program to be automatic)and during shut off. You really only have to presteam and post to keep the nozzle clear. Beans are easiest to use. Preground is an option, but it can only load enough for two brews. Place your cups on top for warming on the preset option -what a joy to wake up to on a rainy morning.

Purchase a taller stainless steamer and a thermometer and you'll be all set.

January 2010 repairs were expensive ($350) whe the central interior compenent misaligned itself. And it took months to get it back.

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I bought my magnifica in 2007 and am still just as in love with it today as I was back then. Although it is automatic, you can adjust the espresso setting to your own personal taste (I like mine strong!) and you can also steam your own milk unlike other delonghi machines that steam the milk for you.

To the reviewer who said they cannot adjust the amount of froth...you can! I actually never use the frothing attachment. I have more control over aerating my milk without it and I always end up with the most beautiful foam on my lattes (better than any coffeehouse I have been to).

One word of caution about the steam wand: Make sure the black tip is SECURE on the steam wand. I'm not talking about the frothing attachment, I'm talking about the black piece that is under the frothing attachment. If it is not secured onto the steam wand properly it will pop off. It's not only scary when this happens but messy as well. Also, if it comes off when your milk is nearly steamed you could also potentially burn yourself. That is the only thing I am not entirely pleased with in regards to this machine...but other than that I love it. It's expensive but well worth the money :)

Saeco Incanto Deluxe Coffee Machine

When the unit arrived, I opened it up and followed the start up instructions. The "Close Door" message would not go out. The piece that contacts the switch when the door is closed did not make contact. I had to cut a small piece of paper, fold it, and put it in the switch so that when the door was closed, the switch would work and the error message would go out.

The steam/hot water knob fell off. It was easily put back on, but fell off several more times while trying to make the unit work.

I made my first cup of coffee. It came out lukewarm and weak. (Yes ... I preheated the cup.) I changed the settings to "hot" and "strong." The coffee came out lukewarm and bitter. I tried to make hot water, but the hot water dispenser did not work and neither did the steam function for frothing milk.

This is a cheaply made piece of garbage, especially considering the price. The menu system is ridiculous, but at least that worked. Sending the unit back and looking for something that actually works.

Love this coffee machine! Plenty of information and settings to create a great cup of coffee for any taste. Had others before, but this is simply the best. This is a winning machine...couldn't be happier.

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I have had my Saeco Incanto for 5 years. Just sent it in for a tune up but other than that, its been doing a great job. Just be careful not to get oily beans, they will cause the machine to not recognize them as coffee beans. I had to vaccum out the beans and put in less shiny looking beans.

There are several ways to control how strong of a coffee you get.

1. Adjust the grind

2. Adjust the aroma in the cup settings

3. Turn the valve to the right as the coffee is brewing

4. Use your favorite preground coffee

Its a dependable machine and well worth the price.

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Chefs Secret? 4-Cup Heavy-Gauge Stainless Steel Espresso Maker

I received this espresso maker as a gift. I am very pleased with this product. It makes good espresso and for less than $15! Of course, if you want to get nit-picky about how it's made and how cheap it looks, well I could see that. Mine didn't come with instructions, but that was easy enough to find on the manufacturer's website. But it works, and it's less than 15 bucks! This is for people who are looking for something that is small and simple. If you want something fancy-shmancy, go buy one with the fancy-shmancy price tag. Just sayin'...

This steel Espresso maker works great and there is no unwanted flavor associated with the metal. Also, this size will give you two decent large cups.

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I've had mine for about 9 months now and it works fine. Me and my roommate frequently use it and it still holds up. The taste of the coffee is richer compared to using a French press. I don't know how much better quality you would get from a more expensive product but this does the job.

I don't know what it means by 4-cup but one batch is only good for one person.

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The coffee maker is cheaply constructed but much as described EXCEPT it produces about 1 mesuring cup worth of coffee or 4 OZ. it is NOT a 4 cup unit as I read the title.

It works well and is good for a single cup of very strong coffee.

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I was not pleased with this item. The welding was poorly done. The coffee maker was out of round. The coffee grounds holder was poorly sized and difficult to take out of the water holding base. The handle felt cheap. I returned the item and bought a better made model.

Frigidaire Professional 12-Cup Drip Coffee Maker

We'd switched to a Breville BKC700XL Gourmet Single-Serve Coffeemaker with Iced-Beverage Function (which I was fortunate to review for Amazon Vine) because it seems like every drip coffee maker we buy quits on us within a few months. But we just can't afford the K-cups, and using our own coffee with the My K-cup setup has been really messy and time-consuming. (Don't get me wrong: I love coffee made with the Breville, but sometimes you just want decent coffee fast and lots of it. There's a little more bitterness with a drip maker than with K-cups, but that just makes the coffee seem stronger.)

Out of the box, it's clear that the Frigidaire Professional 12-Cup Drip Coffee Maker is of a higher class than your typical plastic drip coffee makers. Its appearance is solid, sleek, and industrial-looking. This is the kind of coffee maker I'd expect to see in a small office setting. It's tall, so be sure to measure your cabinets if you think you're going to want to slide it under them. (It doesn't fit under mine, but my cabinets are set too low even for a shorter coffee maker.) The entire top lifts up to pour in the water and access the filter, so keep that in mind.

One thing I love about this coffee maker is that you can set it to brew at high temperature, which will extract the coffee better than your usual drip makers. [UPDATE: The coffee maker brews with "superheated water"; as pointed out in the comments, this temperature is not adjustable. I misunderstood the manual and just left it at what I thought was the default highest temp for my testing.] You can also set it to brew regular strength or strong, and we've been using strong. It's definitely stronger than coffee from our Breville. We've been using the included reuseable gold filter so far, which does allow some fine dregs through, so next time we're at the grocery store we'll be getting some cone filters to use with it. I'm thinking the coffee is going to taste fabulous when filtered through a paper filter. (Users are cautioned not to use the gold filter and a paper cone filter simultaneously to avoid major overflow accidents, so if you're one of those who ignores the requisite "read before using" instructions, tuck this caveat into the back of your mind.)

After brewing, you have a (programmable) maximum of 120 minutes of warming before the bottom burner shuts off automatically. The lighted LED window shows you how much warming time is remaining and also the strength of your coffee and its brewed temperature. You can set the pot for autobrew, but we typically don't bother with that. It takes about 12 minutes to brew a full pot, which is less time than it used to take for two of us to individually load up and brew one cup each with the Breville/My K-cup setup. We're in a routine now of me pouring water into our Berkey (Big Berkey w/ 2 Black Berkey) before we go to bed at night and DH getting up before me to start the pot.

Which leads to the filter. The Frigidaire has a charcoal filter to filter your tap water for best taste. We're using it now as I test the product, but once it's past its use date, we'll probably not replace it. The coffee maker is smart enough to tell you when it's time to change the filter. It will work without it, but those who don't filter their tap water separately may wish to use filters, and the change filter notification feature is really quite nice.

Great looking coffee maker, and the brews taste good, too. For those of you wondering about replacement water filters, which appear to be unobtainable, the Cuisinart charcoal filters Cuisinart DCC-RWF *Triple Pack* Charcoal Water Filters; 1 Year Supply (6 total) are the same shape and size as the one that comes with the Frigidaire coffee maker. I just bought the coffee maker so I haven't used the replacement filters yet, but I ordered the Cuisinarts and compared them in-person, and they appear to be identical.

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This is one of the nicer coffee makers I've used. I had given up drinking drip coffee and was using the French Press, however, this coffee maker extracts good flavor from coffee.

The things I liked:

Auto feature Nothing like getting your coffee made by itself in the morning

Coffee Strength Strong or Regular can be selected which helps extract more flavor from coffee on Strong setting

Water filter The cartridge filter improves taste of coffee

Gold Mesh filter It's easy to clean and helps extract good flavor from coffee without any sediment

Option to set plate temperature for warming and set time to stay warm You can keep your coffee warm upto 120 min and the plate temperature can be set to medium, high or low so that your coffee does not get that burnt taste

Beeps after coffee is done brewing so there is no guess work involved

Water level indicator and provided coffee scoop

Easy to use, and fits under counter

Solid build, stainless finish

The negative:

The carafe leaks as the joint between glass and plastic rim had a little crack. I called customer service but since this is a new product they did not have any replacement parts. The leaky carafe is an annoyance as I have to clean up messes every time.

What would be nice to have:

An integrated grinder available in some coffee machines like Cuisinart, although that can get messy too.

A pause function so I can pour coffee mid-brew. If there is one I haven't found it.

Overall, a nice coffee maker but on the pricey side. The leaking carafe was a big disappointment. They've asked me to call back in a month to check for part availability. Hope I can get a replacement carafe soon!

Update July 2012It took a while but I got a new carafe shipped to me for free by customer service. I did not have to send the old one back. I have been using this coffee maker 2-3 times a day every day for past 7 months. It has held up well to all the coffee making and has handled various brands of coffee pretty well. I use a burr grinder to grind my coffee and if the grind is too fine it can create sediment if you use the included mesh filter. I just choose to leave the sediment in the cup. Also regular strength coffee setting works best to extract flavor from finely ground coffee. Strong coffee setting can produce a bitter taste from most coffees, especially the dark and robust roasts. In my opinion, it makes better coffee that some cheaper auto drip machines. I used to go to Starbucks more often before this machine almost everyday on the way to work but now I set the machine at night and prefer to have coffee at home made the way I like it, that has saved me quite a few $$. I am also using my coffee presses and other machines less and less as this machine is very convenient to use and makes pretty decent coffee.

I would now upgrade my rating to 4 stars, considering it has performed well with daily use.

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Have had numerous brands of coffee pots (Bunn, Cusinart, Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach) and this is one of the better ones. Attractive, nice features, real stainless steel exterior and a large clock. Also seems to be well constructed.

Just read one review where the reviewer listed 9 things she liked about this coffee pot and only one thing she didn't like...the fact that her carafe had a crack and as a result it leaked. Sorry to disagree with that reviewer's rating, but a cracked carafe is not a negative of this coffee maker, as a the coffee maker was not manufactured with a cracked carafe. This is a very nice coffee pot, reasonably priced and since I have been careful to not crack my carafe, I have no leaks or dripping when pouring a cup of coffee. This coffee maker does have an auto pause function.

This is a good coffee pot, at least thus far, and have no negatives to report. Would buy again.

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This makes great cups of coffee! I love my coffee, and it is my little morning indulgence. This coffee pot delivers better than any of the various coffee pots that I have used over the years. From the moment you pull it out of the box, you know you have just received a very well made product.

It has all sorts of convenience factors, as well. It beeps when the pot is done brewing, so there is no guesswork in knowing if the brewing process is over. One thing I experimented on, because I was running low on my favorite coffee was to try adjusting the strength to be able to use less ground coffee with it. I set it on strong, and used enough ground coffee for 8 cups, and the water for a full pot (12 cups). I didn't notice any weakness in the brew, and because of this feature I can now use 1/3 less ground coffee than before!

The gold filter is a nice touch, and the removable filter basket makes for easy cleaning. One thing you will notice when cleaning this unit, is that it is actually made of metal, and not just plastic made to look like metal. This may look similar to other coffee makers out there (I used to have a Gevalia that was very similar at first glance), but this one is much more sturdily made, has more features and just simply makes better coffee in the end.

I plan to use the carbon filters, as it does make a noticeable difference in the flavor of the coffee, when used. If they are not economical, I guess I will have to get one of those brita pitcher filter things. I have looked around and can't seem to find these filters on the market though, so that is currently somewhat of a concern. After searching on the web for the filters, that seems to be the only thing people are worried about with these, and I didn't see anyone that does not like these units for any reason.

If you love coffee (and you wouldn't be here reading this, if you didn't), you can't go wrong with this product. :)