Francis Francis 208003 X8 iperEspresso Machine, Black

Illy is having a promotion of these. You can get them from Illy's website for $175 until 12/31/2009.

This machine is for people who want convenience. This machine uses pre-packaged espresso servings. If you do not want to fuss or mess that comes with grinding your own beans, you have three options:

1. Nespresso. You have to buy the machine and the capsules from Nespresso. I tried this machine and didn't really like the espresso. Not enough rich crema.

2. E.S.E Pods. Made by lots of different companies. This is an industry standard format. It's basically like an individually packaged tea bag, with a compressed puck of finely ground coffee inside. You could use this in a convensional espresso machine with the appropriate adaptor. Widely available. But the quality of your espresso will depend highly on your machine.

3. Illy's iperEspresso capsules, used by this machine, the Francis Francis X8. Not much of a selection of coffee, but what they do offer is very good. The crema is excellent. I find the machine very easy to use. The multi-color LED tells me when the machine is ready. Switches quickly between brew and steam (< 30 seconds). The frothing wand works pretty well, but it tends to over froth a bit. That's great for cappuccinos, but not so great for lattes.

PROS:

1. Extremely easy and convenient.

2. It acually makes decent drinks.

3. Seems to be good quality construction.

4. Never really runs out of steam. The pump inject small amounts of water into the boiler while steaming.

5. Switches between steam and brew (and vice versa) in under 30 seconds.

6. Heats up very quickly (under 30 seconds).

CONS:

1. This is not for espresso connoisseurs. The espresso is acceptable, but not in the same league as a Rancillio or Gaggia. My other machine is a Silvia. I bought the X8 because I wanted a second machine for the office, where grinding beans and making a mess is not an option.

2. The Illy capsules are not individually wrapped. Once you open the tin (14 capsules), the shelf life is 14 days.

3. The construction quality is excellent, keeping in mind the whole thing is plastic. Again, not in the same league as something 100% stainless steel or polished chrome.

4. The steam power is very weak, however due the sophisticated design of the steam wand, it does a good job creating froth because it mixes lots of air into the milk. Nonetheless, you don't really have the power or flexibility that you'd find on a high-end machine.

5. It's mainly designed for single shot drinks. A tripple shot "venti" cappuccino will be rather tough to make with this machine (and expensive). Steaming a large enough portion of milk will be a slow process. Also, it would take you nearly two minutes to brew three capsules. By then, both your crema from the first shot and froth in the sitting milk would have started to collapse and your end result will not be great.

Overall, I love this machine.

I did a lot of research into espresso machines. I ultimately choose this one because I realized I did not have any interest in becoming a home barista. I wanted a machine that is easy to use, easy to clean-up, and produces good espresso with minimal effort. The Francis Francis X8 has been perfect! I've owned it about month now and have no major complaints. It heats up very quickly probably around 30 seconds. The steam wand works well for frothing milk. And there is no daily clean-up required. The only semi-regular maintenance that needs to be done is filling it with water (I used filtered water), emptying the used-pod bin, and wiping down the drip tray. It also needs to be descaled, which I haven't done yet. The only downside to this machine is that it only takes illy iper pods, and they only have 3 kinds dark roast, medium roast and decafff. Not much for variety. If I didn't need to froth milk, I may have gone with the nespresso C100 instead which not only has a much larger variety of pods, but the pods are also slightly less expensive (55 cents for nespresso versus 75 cents per pod for illy). Regardless, I am happy with the Francis Francis X8 and recommend it to people who are looking for an easy, quick way to enjoy daily espresso!

**Update 1/2012:

After using the machine for about 2.5 years, it stopped working. It began leaking cold water from the base of the machine, and did not pump water through the pods anymore. I had performed the regular descaling maintenance as required, and used only filtered water in the machine. Customer service informed me that it was only under warranty for 9 months, and my options were to pay to have the machine repaired myself or to purchase a new machine. The minimum cost of paying to have them look at it (not even the cost of the repairs) was almost the cost that I originally paid for the machine. So although I enjoyed the Francis Francis X8 while it worked, I cannot recommend it. For the price, I would expect an espresso machine to last longer than a few years. Given Illy's inability to stand by their product, I'm don't think I will purchase an espresso machine from them again. Does anyone have a pod espresso machine by another company that they recommend? I'm in the market again.

Buy Francis Francis 208003 X8 iperEspresso Machine, Black Now

Our family recieved our iperEspresso machine last week and we are still amazed. This is a very well built, thoughtout, quality machine for the money. It is very simple to use and makes excellent espresso in no time at all. I was very impressed at how fast the machine makes hot water and steam. Within a few minutes of plugging it in you're drinking espresso, and since it's Illy product, you know it rocks!

The only downside to the machine is it's exclusivity of capsules. You have to purchase the Illy pods, but they can be found on the web at a resonable price.

Definitely thumbs up for this one!

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I bought an X7 last year and I still absolutely love it, but since then, I've purchased 3 of the X8's for friends and I'll admit that I'm a little jealous. The only advantage the X7 has is it's style and colors but if that isn't important to you, get the X8. It's only $175 from . You can't beat that price. The machine is AWESOME and so easy to use. Just remember to descale every 2-3 months!

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After long research and purchase of many low and high end espresso machines I decided on trying this one. I was going to buy the Napresso C100 but I changed my mind because unlike the Napresso capsules ( 80% arabica and 20% Robusta ) the iperespresso capsules are made with 100% Arabica coffee which as you might know is the ultimate coffee for espresso. This machine comes also with a steam wand for frothing which is not available in the C100. I received it last week and tried it couple dozen times. The result is outstanding. It is a very well made machine, makes espresso in 30 seconds. No maintenance, needs descaling every 3 months. The espresso quality is excellent and better than any one I tried. The crema is quite thick and rich and the whole experience is very rewarding. The froth mechanism is great, I made one Cappuccino comparable in quality to any you get in the best coffee shops. I do not care about the lack of varieties of the capsules. I want either espresso or cappuccino as this is the whole main idea behind the machine. You may like the lungo capsule if you like a bigger volume however I did not try this variety yet. So for 15 pennies more than the napresso you can get far better shot of espresso. The C100 has 19 bar pump which is not really important as some espresso machines costing a few thousand dollars come only with 15 pump pressure. I still wish one day the iperespresso capsules come down in price but until then I'll continue to enjoy my 100% arabica espresso coffee.

La Pavoni EPC-8 Europiccola 8-Cup Lever Style Espresso Machine, Chrome

I bought one of these a couple of months ago and although it is a bit expensive it is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. It looks great. It is so well made, it feels like it will last forever as it is so simple, no electronics to break down no plastic bits to break off. You get a huge amount of control over the way the coffee tastes, it's all in the speed of lowering the handle and the tightness of grinds. It takes a few attempts to get it right but once you've worked it out you'll never look back.

My parents bought this about five years ago and I followed suit about a year ago. When she first bought it I thought they were crazy, but when it got there I understood why.

This machine is superb for almost any kind of coffee. Sometimes I like a strong espresso and sometimes I like a cold cafe sheccerato which is a cold coffee and is great. (To make it you simply get a shaker (like a martini shaker) and fill it with ice and a few teaspoons of sugar. Brew the coffee and while it is still very hot throw it in the shaker and shake it strongly for about a minute. The result is an ice cold frothy espresso, great for warm days forget Starbucks imitation stuff, this is much better).

As other people have said, it takes a little bit of time to get it right. Typically I've found that very thin grains are not the best to work with, something between your typical Illy coffee grain and the larger cheap grains usually works well. It take a bit to get used to, but once you start to get a hold of the whole concept it works superbly well. Frankly, even when you do a poor job the coffee is still good.

In addition, my parents have had this item for about five years and have not had a single problem. It's extremely easy to clean and if you are in a rush it's also a great machine since it loads so quickly and easily.

Also, if you are running out the door you need not wait for the water to completely heat up. You can run it after just a few minutes (of course your coffee won't be as warm, but it doesn't have to heat up completely in order to use it). For those quick out-the-door mornings, this is great. You won't have the best espresso in the world, but you'll still have one that beats just about anything.

I've been through about three [price range] machines in the last few years and they all broke or just didn't taste right. ... You have to be able to taste the difference between good and bad coffee to enjoy this machine. If you don't you probably won't enjoy this machine as much. In other words, if Folgers Instant coffee tastes good to you, move along.

It's also worth getting good coffee for this. ...

In the end, if you are looking for a high-quality product that makes high quality coffee, this is a great choice.

Buy La Pavoni EPC-8 Europiccola 8-Cup Lever Style Espresso Machine, Chrome Now

Manual machines, without question,produce the best cup of espresso. I have owned them in the past, and recently purchased a brand new La Pavoni. The machine arrived broken. I could not even get one cup of espresso. I called thinking that La Pavoni would have me send back the machine and replace it. WRONG. I was told that this was not allowed, and the only option I had was contact one of there US Service Agents and arrange to have the machine sent to them for repair. Even then they indicated that the repair expense would be my responsibility.

At this point what do you do? So either I keep the machine as a useless decoration, or concede and try to fix it.

I tried the three numbers they provided. About 10 days have gone by, and I have called each number numerous times to no avail. You never reach a real person. Only a tape recording informing you that they would contact you as quickly as possible.

So, yes, a manual machine is the best, but La Pavoni warranty and service is horrible. If you want a manual, try a different vendor.

Don

Read Best Reviews of La Pavoni EPC-8 Europiccola 8-Cup Lever Style Espresso Machine, Chrome Here

You'd better know your coffee before you even start looking at this espresso maker. It is a manual pull espresso maker, meaning there is some art and a lot of trial/error incurred when making your coffee. That said, this has produced some of the best espresso I've ever had. It's a smaller maker, and is great for someone who just wants about 4-6 espresso shots before needing to refill. (I work out of home office, so this is perfect...)

PROS:

* Small, means it doesn't take up much counter space.

* Manual Lever If you want fill control over your coffee, this is the way to go.

* More than enough steam pressure/volume to steam 12oz+ of milk.

* Solid construction. It is mostly all metal.

* Comes up to heat FAST. (About 5min with a full tank.) The head also comes up to temp quickly.

* Visible water level

* Easy clean drip tray

* Easy screw-off levers, knobs, etc easily replaceable/customizable.

CONS:

* The base is lightweight, and could be more solid. It feels cheap compared to the solid construction of the boiler/head.

* The steam nozzle does not swivel out, causing you to have to steam your milk VERY close to the boiler. (Ouch!)

* Must wait for it to cool before refilling due to steam pressure.

* The default tamp that comes with this unit SUCKS. Too small for the basket..leads to bad coffee...why, Pavoni, why?

CAVEATS:

* Not a "push button, receive coffee" type of maker. This is a pro for me, but you should be well aware that this requires finesse and patience.

* Ensure you are comfortable with servicing it yourself or OK with mailing it to a service center. This is not a throwaway item after a few years, and can be a lifetime purchase.

MUST ALSO BUY:

* 51mm Tamp. Seriously. Don't even use the one that comes with the unit. It will ruin your pulls. 51mm is the correct size.

* DEEP milk frothing container. Because of the angle and stiffness of the steam arm, you WILL spray yourself in the face if you don't have a good angle on it, and something to catch the overspray. (I use my mug, and have given up on having fancy foam.)

* Nylon brush Coffee regularly gets stuck in the area between the head and steam curtain on this unit. Clean after every use.

* Insulated espresso mugs/shotglases On bigger units, you can sit what you use to catch the coffee in on the unit to warm it up. Not so here. I use glass shotglasses that I heat up with hot water prior. (I'm cheap, ok?)

* Conical burr grinder A consistent grind is very important for this maker, as it is the difference between great coffee and awful coffee. This unit is sensitive to the grind, so once you have the right grind, it is very helpful to have that dialed-in on your grinder for every grind thereafter.

Why I rated 4/5 instead of 5/5??? Because of the craptacular plastic tamp, the inflexible steam nozzle, and the flimsy seeming base. Don't get me wrong, I would have zero issues recommending this unit highly, I think they just could have gone that extra little bit.

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I've enjoyed 3.5 years of incredible coffees with this thing, not to mention that it's beautiful and a conversation piece. Other than a single gasket overhaul and regular cleaning I didn't have maintenance issues But the design flaws have taken their toll. A year ago the base slowly started to rust because the steam wand tends to drip water under the tray (admittedly I could have been more diligent about mopping it up, but I shouldn't have to be).

Then this morning, the portafilter handle broke into pieces. Underneath the plastic handle grip, the metal of the handle had completely rusted through because, unbeknownst to me, moisture was getting in there as well.

Considering that the machine is now 33% more expensive than when I bought it, I say buyer beware. The portafilter is replaceable but hard to find. While I'm at it, I should also warn that the steam wand isn't going to give you enough steam for professional barista-quality froth, and that it gets a bit wonky to make multiple drinks in a row. I might add that I say all this with somewhat of a broken heart.

PS I had tried to change my rating to 3 stars but apparently because I had previously rated it I can't change my rating.

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