Bialetti Dama Deco

It's a Bialetti through and through. Great performance. The pack of espresso included in the order was an awesome surprise and damned tasty too. You gotta get one of these.

Krups F054 Anticalc Lime Descaller Kit

I bought the descaller (is it really spelled that way?) for my ancient Krups Il Primo espresso machine. No instructions came in the box. It took forever to get any help from Krups and then the instructions were for much fancier machines.

So here's what I did:

Dissolve the packet in 500ml of water. I did half a packet because my machine could not hold all that much.

Pour a third of the mixture into the machine. Steam some of it and let the rest go through the coffee basket.

Do that again.

Then heat it up and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. And then expell the mixture.

I found "crud" in the basket. Next time I will check the basket after each round.

I then ran plain water through the machine several times. Maybe it wasn't necessary but it made me feel better.

Had a "dead" Krups expresso maker. Used this powder per the instructions and machine started percolating like new. If you have a sluggish or non-percolating machine, use it before going out to buy a new one.

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I bought this for my Krups coffee maker. It doesn't come with instructions so I followed the instructions that a previous reviewer had written and it worked fine. I ran it through the cycle twice and then ran clean water through twice, and it did the job.

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My neighbor was giving her Krups cappuccino maker to charity and I asked if I could have it. She said that it didn't work because the water no longer came out, and she had tried to clean it and nothing worked. She gave it to me and I ordered this product. I followed the directions for the coffee maker I found online and ran the cycle once with the descaller and three times after with just water. Now it works great. I haven't decided if I should tell my neighbor or not!

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it unclogged my coffee maker in minutes. the only thing is that it doesn't include clear instructions luckily instructions on how to use it came with my coffee maker. works great!

Van Gogh Starry Night Espresso Maker

Very nice pot and good quality, the starry night paint of van gogh looks beautiful I just think that it's cost too much too much money for the size of the pot !! I paid almost $90 Dollard in total including shipping and this pot its only 4 cups !!! Perfect if it were 6 espresso cups

Breville XXBMF600XL Refurbished Milk Cafe Milk Frother

We already own a Nespresso Aeroccino Plus with which we are very happy but its drawback is that one can really only make small batches. Whenever we have larger gatherings of more than 4 people at our house, the Capuccino and Latte Macchiato making becomes a very time-consuming, drawn-out affair, so the Breville Milk Frother looked good for serving bigger groups faster. Here are our comments with comparisons to the Aeroccino where appropriate but in no particular order:

PROs:

Large capacity. The jug can hold up to 25 fl. oz, even though it is recommended to not exceed 16 fl. oz when making froth. Still a lot more than what the Aeroccino holds.

Great, hot froth. I use my frothers mainly for... well, frothing milk and am very happy with the quality of the Breville froth. It comes out thick, solid and hot with enough milk underneath to make nice Cappuccinos or Latte Macchiatos.

Dishwasher-safe. According to the manual, all parts except the power base are top-level dishwasher-safe. However, the fine-print says that hand-washing will extend the life of the frother. I am listing this under Pros anyway because the possibility to at least every once in a while throw it in the dishwasher is a definite plus for me. The Aeroccino can be submerged in water but is not dishwasher-safe.

Easy to clean. Even when hand-washing, I feel that the larger size and lighter weight of the Breville jug makes it easier to clean than the Aeroccino which has a smaller opening and is in one piece, i.e. the power unit is part of it, making it a bit heavy.

The large capacity also allows for making all kinds of different milk-based drinks such as Cappuccinos and Lattes, Iced Coffees and Hot Chocolates with different added ingredients such as syrups (the Breville user manual contains a few recipes for various concoctions). The Aeroccino is limited to frothing and heating/preparing milk. That's it.

Different temperature settings. I am listing this under Pros because it is obviously not a Con. In the almost two years that we have had our Aeroccino, we never felt the need for different settings but we don't fix other drinks in the frother so it's there, it works, and people should decide for themselves whether this is something they would use.

On-board storage of the disc not in use helps with not accidentally losing them. The Aeroccino offers the same but stores the disc on the inside of the lid whereas the Breville frother keeps them on the outside of the power unit.

One last thing: I love the way the wall plug is designed! It makes removing the plug from the outlet a snap by having a sturdy rubber 'loop' integrated into the plug. Just hook a finger or two into the loop and out it comes. Why don't all appliances have that?! Well done, Breville!

CONs (minor but want to mention anyway for the sake of being comprehensive):

Frothing discs are made of plastic. The Aeroccino's frothing disc is mainly metal (with some plastic), the cold-milk blade is only plastic as well.

Takes a long time to froth. Even with the minimum amount of milk in the jug, it takes a good 2 minutes to get the milk frothed. The Aeroccino is faster at 1 min. 20 sec. But it probably is about the same amount of time, considering that the Breville uses more milk even at the minimum level.

Noisy. This unit is a lot noisier during operation than the Aeroccino, and it sounds as if it is operating slightly unevenly even though the end product leaves nothing to be desired.

Plain stainless interior, and not non-stick. So far I have not had trouble with baked-on milk residue but wanted to mention this in case some people really prefer a non-stick surface.

SUMMARY:

A great frother for larger quantities and for people who enjoy making other drinks as well. However, the Breville is probably a bit of an overkill if only used in a small household for nothing but the occasional Cappuccino. That said, this is my party frother, and as such it serves the purpose well and definitely better than the way smaller Aeroccino. Cleanup is also easy and refurbished it comes at a substantially more attractive price than the new unit so what is not to like?

UPDATE 8/9/12:

The frothing quality has diminished considerably, this was a short-lived love affair. Not only does the Breville now leave most of the milk un-frothed, the little bit of froth it does produce is a far cry from good quality, it is more of a foam cream than real froth. To reflect this decline I took one star off and revised my title accordingly. In contrast, our little Aeroccino still performs like new, and has for almost two years now.

I have nothing bad to say about this, everything from the little magnetic holder on the back for the extra frothing disk, to the modern design is cool. So seeing as I have nothing negative to say about this, let me tell you about some of my favorite features on it.

Lets start on the top and work our way down shall we?

There are two parts to the lid, the main part, and a part that comes out that is a measuring cup for precise measuring.

Next is the size of the frothing pot, compared to most (my other frother is the Capresso frothPro, 12 ounces) it is fairly large (16-25 ounces), and it heats up and froths quicker than most other frothers I've used.

I Love, Love, LOVE the fact that it is steel in the interior & not teflon!! My Capesso is teflon & while it is easy to rinse & reuse I always worried that as it aged the teflon would start to flake off (like in the pots & pans) & end up in me!!

With this Breville frother I have no such worrisome thoughts! ;-) and it also cleans with a just a swish of warm water & at times when I have used chocolate & other ingredients for drinks, when cleaning it I add a drop of dish soap to the water & let run a few seconds then rinse to assure that it is sparkling clean & no flavors linger for the next drink!

Now as for the bottom section, there are three things on here that that I especially like.

First is the knob on the front, it feels very smooth and gives you great control on the temperature and ratio of froth to milk.

Second is on the back of it, it has a little spot that you can put the frothing disc (there are two, one for lattes & the other for cappuccinos) that you are not using on the back and it holds it there magnetically!

Finally there is the base, it has an indentation inside the bottom of it so you can easily and neatly coil all of the excess cord in the base out of sight leaving your counter looking neat.

Well, that about covers it, other than saying that I think it looks really nice and Is well built as you would expect from Breville!

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I've had this frother for a few days and around 15 uses now. I always wanted a frother but I am not a fan of anything I have to clean before or after use. Dishwasher safe sounded good though! Mine arrived without the plastic top so I knocked a star off as this is Breville's fault (it was a refurb). I was actually packing it up to return but I decided to give it a shot and I'm glad I did. The top isn't necessary unless you plan to fill the milk to a very high level like 18 oz-ish. The milk was not even close to overflowing.

I've used it twice so far. My thoughts (AND I USED 2% MILK just in case that matters to anyone reading this):

Simple operation: pour in milk, turn to desired temperature and push button. The machine displays an optimum temperature range in case you're not sure which temp to select. It takes around two minutes for the milk to finish. I added organic powdered cacao and organic grade B maple syrup (I try to avoid processed foods like other sugars) before pressing the on button. The blending process is moderately noisy but far from an annoyance to me. It's just background noise in my opinion. I made a mocha and it was chocolaty, silky, and frothy; absolutely delicious! I used my Nespresso automatic espresso machine as there is nothing you have to clean on that machine (2 shots of Appregio).

In my second use I made a latte: the temperature was perfect, the milk was silky and frothy, and the latte was delicious. I've noticed a few people mention that the milk was too cool which may mean they have a defective machine. I didn't go close to the highest temp and the milk was too hot for me to stick my finger in or drink.

I know this sounds silly but I clean it by rinsing it, and then filling it with boiling water from a tea kettle; then I let it sit for a few minutes before dumping it. Works perfectly for me.

***I have two issues with this machine:

1. I have to use a lot of milk to get to the recommended min fill level (I think it's 6 ounces because the min is directly under the 8 oz mark). It's probably just an ordinary amount of milk for a small latte or cappuccino, but I typically like to be very light with the milk.

2. My latte frothing disc works 100% of the time. My cappuccino frothing disc has worked only 1 out of 3 times; and that includes me poking and fiddling with it during operation to get it to work. I don't drink cappuccino's and do not prefer foam so I won't be using the cappuccino attachment but it would be nice if it worked. I will fiddle with it a little more and see if it is something I'm doing wrong. I'll update this review if I figure it out.

Overall I'm pleased. My rating would be 3.5 but I rounded to 4 stars because I'm loving my hot and delicious mocha's.

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read some reviews that had me worried but makes great foam. never could use the 'wand' style, just shot hot milk all over kitchen.

easy to use & clean. use an old fashioned "moka pot" to make coffee. delicious !

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I think this is the best milk frother available. I especially like that the pot is dishwasher safe. It's also a much higher capacity unit than anything else I've seen. We had a Nepresso Aerochino previously. It cost a little bit less but only lasted a 18 month, just long enough after the warrantee expired that Nepresso blew me off. So I'm hopeuful that this model will be more useful and more durable.

Oggi EZ Grip Tea Canister, Black

It's pretty much what I expected, and will suffice for storing my tea, but the hinge is VERY weak. It will probably break before too many uses, and doesn't guide the lid down easily for sealing.

First, the product description says that canister is supposed to be attractive and keeps tea dry and safe from air.

In the canister that I got, the back hinge of the lid was angled wrong (wasn't symmetric), preventing the lid from closing down completely. I noticed this only after putting in my loose tea and flipping the canister upside down tea leaves came falling out. Not only is it not air tight, it's not even tea tight.

The white "T-E-A" letters were also carelessly printed on the canister, with the "E" aligned above the "T" and the "A", and with the "A" slightly on an angle. It was one of the first things that my coworkers noticed, and I imagine that's not something one would want anyone noticing in their first impression of the canister.

Since I couldn't use it to hold my tea, or even keep it around for people to see, I chose to return it immediately after finding these defects.

I did like the spoon holder that is built into the canister. It was a nice touch.

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First, while the inside is not quite big enough to hold a full pound of coffee, this canister is very large outside. This is due to the handle design. So don't be fooled into thinking this is a small canister that won't take up much space on your counter.

Second, the decal is obviously put on by hand by someone who is not concerned with getting the letters straight or even. The letters in the word TEA are at varying heights and spaces and angles.

And last but certainly not least, the latch to close the canister has already come apart after only two weeks of use, which pretty much makes an airtight canister useless.

I would NOT recommend this to anyone. These canisters look good in the pictures, but they won't look good on your counter and they won't work for you (at least not for long).

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I have looked at my local stores for a sealed container of this type and only found clear. This works great and handle makes it very convenient to use.

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The only thing that could improve in my opinion is the amount of space that is lost to the handle. I can't fit a pound of tea into this container because of the giant handle space. I like the scoop and how fresh the seal keeps my tea.

Nesco BG-88 Professional 12-Cup Burr Grinder with 17 Grind Settings

The Preface: This is not a review just a quick note of warning to potential buyers.

1) Don't let the picture fool you. While the images may give you the impression this machine looks well designed and durable I can assure you it is not. I actually had the benefit of purchasing it locally and was able to hold the box in my hand. I wish I could have held the machine itself, though. The plastic bean holder and grounds holder are made of thin, brittle plastic. So thin and brittle that I handle it very slowly and carefully to avoid dropping it. I have the feeling that if the grounds holder slipped out of my hands and fell 6 inches to the table top, that would be enough to shatter it. Furthermore, the grounds holder and lid are not flat and have several 'directions' which make it clumsly and difficult to snap together.

2) The instructions actually advise you to clean the spout (where the grounds come out) after every use. They aren't kidding!!! In fact, on several occasions, while trying to grind less than half the capability of the timer, the grinder would stop grinding (even though the motor was still going) and I had to clean the spout. The real problem is that in order to fully clean the spout, the machine must be empty and spout tilted downward to help clear the passage. I've also noticed that gravity alone is not enough when tilting it you will need to pat the sides of the machine to help loosen the build up.

Overall, this machine feels and works like a cheap toy. I don't know the company and have no idea what their reputation might be. They utterly failed with this product, though. Furthermore, the philosophy of 'you get what you pay for' does not apply to this product. Even if it was less than $10.00 I would want to warn any potential buyers.

I have no emotional investment with this machine or company never heard of them. I'm not even angry I consider my experience just another lesson. I just feel that people should know what to expect if they are thinking of buying it.

Sorry Nesco, but my observations and opinion about this product are being posted to help other consumers. If you want a better review, please make a better product!

***UPDATE***

After a few more days I thought maybe changing the grind to a courser setting would help keep this 'professional' grinder from clogging. Nice try, but no...

I did a very extensive cleaning and set the grind at 9 the unit worked for a few seconds and clogged again. I cleaned it again, still no luck.

On average, it takes about 3 cleanings to get enough grounds to make 8 cups of coffee. Oh, and did I mention the mess it leaves on the counter? What puzzles me is how it can leave such an extensive layer of fine powder (in about a 2 foot radius) even though it's set to 9. (with 1 being fine and 9 being course).

Summary, by the time it takes to grind enough beans to make coffee I could drive to any number of drive-thru coffee places, and be back home before this thing has done its job.

NOTE: I plan to keep the machine because I have yet to find someone that hasn't fully enjoyed laughing at how cheap this thing is. Everyone's favorite part is when the motor turns off, but the timer still winds down it sounds overly cartoonish when it finished making noise. I'm very serious we just can't help laughing.

additional note: the actual unit I purchased was the more expensive model BG-88PR.

The only reason I gave this product four instead of five stars is that it's a bit difficult to get a good grip on the grounds holder to remove it from the machine. Otherwise, it's an excellent product for preparing fresh-ground coffee every morning. I've come home on several occasions to find the wonderful smell of coffee still hanging around the apartment. It's also not very loud. I have two birds who freak out at practically every sudden noise, and this machine hardly disturbed them. It was quieter than my blender and is relatively easy to clean with a pastry brush, and some all-plastic parts (the hopper lid and the grounds holder) can be completely removed and washed.

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I have had my Nesco Burr for about 2 weeks now and so far so good.

It will not make turkish but it may possibly do the job for espresso.

It would never pass the test for a connoisseur or Barista. If you are a beginner it may work out. I will let you know on this because I do plan to get an espresso machine soon probably a Starbucks Barista off eBay since thats the best quality for the money in my price range .

I bought this at the same time as a Mukka express Cappuccino maker which I returned (not a good product).

For now I am using it with a french press and it does the job well .

You do need some type of small long brush like you would use to baste your BBQ to clean out the old grounds so you do not have any stail coffee grounds in your next brew.

I am still playing around with it so I will come back and update soon.

My conclusion so far is it is a decent burr grinder for the money and people looking for a little more quality and uniform grind than you would get from a blade grinder but I would not expect the quality of a $100 burr from this.

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This product stopped working after having it for only 3 weeks...something failed with either the power switch or the motor of the unit. Very disappointing...

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I was hesitant to buy this grinder, since it's price was so much lower than other multi grind setting grinders. I'm glad I opted for the cheap option, because it works great! I use it to grind my beans into espresso, and it works really well at such a fine setting.

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Philips Saeco RI9828/47 Talea Touch Plus Automatic Espresso Machine

I am so frustrated with this very expensive machine. When it works, it works okay. It pushes through the espresso and then adds water to each level of coffee drink (espresso, coffee, long coffee). The problem is (and I have called my retailer twice) that sometimes is pushes the after-espresso water through and sometimes it takes forever to push it through. I tried the machine with both the water filter and without the filter, but that made no difference. The retailer suggested that the grind was too fine, so I set it on the coarsest grind. That did absolutely nothing. On the second phone call the retail service rep said if the filter/strainer in the brew group felt "burry" then it might be plugged with grounds and unable to pass water. I was so excited to find that was the case, and it worked great for two more cups. I have been embarrassed every time we have had company. It knows when there are guests and malfunctions every time. I have used different roasts of espresso from a medium to a darker roast and it really doesn't make any difference. To warn you, Saeco or at least the retailer, (I don't see it in the user's manual) does not recommend using a darker espresso because the oilier beans jam up the machine. In truth, whatever bean I use the machine has trouble putting water through. I have had it take so long that the coffee is cold by the time the cup is filled.

I attempted to return the machine to the retailer, but they have a 30 day return policy and I have had it for two months (the first month I was out of town so it never got tested) and the retailer will not take the machine back. I will be calling Saeco tomorrow and seeing if they will take it back or have some novel idea for repair. I do not have high hopes. I probably will try to ebay it as scrap with a bold print caveat emptor and no returns warning.

I do not recommend this machine and consider it to be a failed $1000 dollar experiment. If after calling Saeco tomorrow, there is a wonder fix, I will gladly revise my review. I want it to work. I enjoy it when it does work.

I drop 900$ on an item and I expect it to work, and work flawlessly right out of the box. There was no damage to the exterior or anything to that extent...it just straight up wouldn't work internally. I called Saeco's customer service and we decided that it wasn't user error and the machine was truly broken. Thank goodness Amazon has a no questions return policy.

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I owned a Saeco Vienna digital before this, and it worked wonderfully for over 6 years. When it broke down, I figured I'd stick with Saeco but decided to move up to a more expensive model. The Talea Touch Plus had most of the features I was looking for. It's a good looking machine that produces decent espresso on a consistent basis (but not great), at least when it works properly. Therein lies the rub! It functioned fine for 3 days before the frothing & steaming unit completely broke down. Saeco service was attentive and speedy and paid for the shipping both ways. I had it back in one week. The repair facility stated that the panarello steam system was assembled incorrectly and they fixed it.

It functioned fine for another 4 weeks, until the brew system crapped out and the unit wouldn't brew any coffee. I only use the unit to make about 2 cappuccinos daily, and an occasional tall coffee. Once again, Saeco paid for shipping and I got it back in 1 week. This time the pump system had to be replaced. It now functions ok and makes the coffee and steams milk, but whatever pump they put in there is over twice as loud as the original (it's very noisy), plus the steam wand drips continuously until I brew the first coffee. There is also some dripping from the coffee dispensing spout.

I was ready to send it back for a total replacement, but figured at least this is now working, and Saeco extended my warranty for an extra year. I didn't want to chance going through this again on a new unit.

Overall, based on my machine as it is now, I can say that the coffee is decent to good on a consistent basis, and the unit is very easy to operate. However, the water tank empties fast, and steaming milk may be a tad awkward due to the steam wand unable to swivel left or right it does swing in and out though. The automatic clean cycle is a convenient feature, as is the descaling cycle. One really needs to clean this (and all automatic units) regularly.

I would not recommend this unit to others due to the apparent lack of quality control at the factory (incorrectly assembled parts and bad pump). I would recommend one consider other models and/or other brands. If I needed a replacement, I would consider going back to the Vienna model.

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I am extremely happy with this machine! I use it often, and make cappuccinos with it daily. I am not a "coffee connoisseur", I just know what I like. When making cappuccinos, I can make them to suit me much more like the European style, and much less like the chain coffee bars in the U.S. This is the second Saeco Talea machine that I have owned, and both have worked perfectly. My sister-in-law has one as well, with no complaints.

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I thought this would be the machine of my dreams, (at this price it should be!), it is not. My machine will not "wake up" from standby mode or put itself into standby mode, so I have to wait in the morning for it to heat up. Which completely eliminates why I bought the $$$ machine rather than the $ machine. I will be returning it, but here is the lowdown on how it works.

This machine will grind up to 10ish grams of coffee and dispense that into a maximum of 18ish ounces of water (you get less coffee though b/c the puck absorbs some of that water). You can set each of the three icons to dispense whatever custom combination of temperature(a,b,c), preinfusion time (a,b, off), grind volume (a,b,c, preground) and water volume (slider on 1.5" bar adjustable by roughly 1/20th of an ounce) you would like and there is a dial on the front to additionally control how long the water takes to pass through the puck which affects the "Strength" of the coffee.

Rather than using the somewhat inscrutable "coffee volume" slider you can manually do a beverage and hit the "stop" button when you want it to stop flowing, and then save that setting. So for me to get my morning thermos of 16oz of strong crema coffee I had to program "Long Coffee" to be preinfusion=strong, aroma(amount of beans ground)=strong, turn the front dial all the way to the right and I had to hit "Stop" when it filled my measuring cup with 8oz coffee and save it, which meant that when I hit "Long Coffee" twice (it will do twice in a row if you hit it twice but no more than that) it would spew out 16oz of coffee.

So theoretically (were it to wake itself up in the morning) all I would have to do is hit that button twice and put my cup (thermos is too tall) under there to catch it, it would take about 3 minutes or more to fill that cup. As it is I have to wait for it to "Rinse" (put a cup under the spout to catch the "Rinse"), and then warm up before I can have coffee. It doesn't take long, but it seems long when you are walking out the door, like more than 5 minutes for coffee, when I could just pour it out from a regular automatic grind_n_brew pot and be on my way.

I have additionally programmed the "Coffee" icon to make me a 12oz mug when pressed twice and my "Espresso" button to make me a long espresso, which when I press twice gives me a nice amount for my latte.

Ugh, my latte, the frothing on this thing is vexing. I can froth and latte art pretty well with a regular one hole steam wand, and always prided myself on my microfoam. I can barely steam milk with this thing. The steam wand on the left moves about two inches fore or aft but does not move up or down or swing out in any way. So my milk pitcher is always smacking into the spouts on the front. The rubber handle on the steam wand (so you don't get burned moving it) is so close to the bottom of the wand that once your milk starts frothing you can't push the wand back to the bottom of the milk container or it will come up over the handle. Once you are done steaming you can't just rest your milk under the steam wand (to catch the drips) because the drip tray is curved and the steam wand is over the narrow part, so your jug of milk would just fall off the tray.

The drip tray is electric which is stupid, small and flimsy. It is bound to fail and doesn't hold your full cup without bending almost enough that your cup is going to slide right onto the floor. I would just leave it at the bottom setting unless you are really pulling shots into two tiny espresso cups.

How's the coffee you ask. It's decent. You wouldn't be disappointed if you paid $2.50 for it, but it is not the best espresso you've ever had, or even close to the espresso I can make on my semi-automatic machine. But it's faster and I can do it with less effort. The grind seems fine enough and the temperature seems hot enough to do a good extraction, no sourness or bitterness (left temp on medium as it came set on). It is crema coffee, not drip, so don't expect it to taste like your coffee maker. Some of the crema is fake and white due to the dial being turned all the way to the right and creating that extra sort-of fake back pressure on the puck, so it can seem floamy, but dialing it back a notch fixes that without affecting strength.

It's prompts you to fill the water tank when it is 3/4 empty and dump the pucks when there are maybe 6 of them in there, so you might as well just make it a habit to do them both at the same time anyway b/c it will stop your coffee and prompt you to do so and if you take too long it will cancel your coffee and dump your puck even if you didn't get all the way done.

The bypass doser only accepts one scoop of preground coffee at a time so don't think you will be making anything other than decaf single small pucks and then pulling your desired quantity of water through them.

DeLonghi Kmix 15 Bars Pump Espresso Maker

This is my 4th expresso machine in the last 20 years and my 2nd DeLonghi one. I love it. You do have to read and follow all the directions before getting started, you have to pre-heat and you can't just turn it on and walk away like I have been able to do before. So, preparing the coffee does require your attention. But,it makes a great cup of espresso with nice crema. I can even froth for cappuccino with this one, which has been a challenge before. It is like a mini commercial machine. I like the one cup and two cup filters that can be stored in the water tank area. I like the "tamp" on the end of the measuring spoon. I like the look of it red goes with my kitchen and it comes in many other colors. Only drawback is that it doesn't have the carafe like my previous DeLonghi and the old carafe doesn't fit under the filter. Amazon delivery was great. All in all, I am very satisfied with it.

Update 03/28/2012 This machine was great for almost 2 months [I got it December 27,2011].Then the coffee would just drip,drip out.And I didn't always get the crema layer. Descaled. Cleaned out all outlets following directions in the instruction book.I always wipe down the coffee outlet after each brewing cycle,anyway. And the holes weren't clogged. I use spring water. Contacted customer service via e-mail and was in contact with them for the last month.Did all their suggestions.Suggested I use less coffee and tamp less.I did although I don't know why that was not a problem for 2 months. Had Starbucks grind the coffee rather than grinding myself as usual. Finally could get the two cup filter to produce a decent cup.Coffee just stayed in one cup filter and dripped out.They sent another 1 cup filter, but same story.They now want me to ship the machine to a service center at my expense. I don't know if I want to do that.I could see if it was a year old, but two months! I told them to send me a new machine and then I would send this one back. They are not going to do that. For now, I will just use the 2 cup filter and think twice before I buy another DeLonghi.

I bought this espresso machine partly because it was a gift for my wife and she liked the way it looked and we had read mixed reviews but mostly good ones and it was at a decent price. When we got it, it worked great. It was a great little machine that made good coffee. We enjoyed it for all of about three weeks however before it stopped working. It literally would not turn on one morning and I called the DeLonghi customer service center and they said I would have to send it in to an approved service center. Since it was still under the one year warranty they stated all I would have to pay was the shipping to the service center. I was somewhat disappointed by this and told the lady on the line that I have had it less than a month and they would really expect me to pay for outgoing shipping? She would not budge so I sent it to this place called the Coffee Boss (on the east coast) on August 6, 2012. Needless to say I still don't have my espresso machine back. I have called both DeLonghi and the Coffee Boss multiple times a week for the past month and all they can tell me is that the part has been shipped (They told me that a month ago as well). So I am somewhat frustrated at two things. First that the espresso maker would break after only three weeks of use and secondly that the customer service at both DeLonghi and the service center have been very bad. It is only after I threatened to send me the espresso maker back and I would send it somewhere else did the service center actually keep me on the line as they called DeLonghi themselves and ask where the part was. I still don't have a definitive answer but I will update this review as I find out more. Who knows, this might all be a fluke, I might have had the bad luck of getting a defective machine and then sending it to an incompetent service center. I'm sure there are other customers who have had no problem whatsoever with this espresso maker and have had it for years. I think the bottom line is that before you look at the price and immediately want to buy it, take all things into consideration and make a well informed decision.

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After my $500 dollar Breville broke after two years, I started shopping around for something good and not insanely expensive. I tried a cheaper version from my local store, and it did not deliver any foam/power. Then, saw this gorgeous little yellow number at Crate and Barrel and fell in love. Now, I got one for my mom as a gift. Every visitor that uses this machine in my house loves it and can't believe what great espresso and what powerful foam it yields. A PERFECT machine that does not cost $1000. The instructions are well designed and simple and the machine is likewise straightforward and excellent. It also looks cuter and takes up half the counter space than most other machines.

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Having owned a Saecco bean to cup coffee maker for 8 years I was nervous venturing into just an espresso maker. But the price, size and, lets be honest, gorgeous colour, attracted me to this model. Yes, I did read all the reviews, including the negative ones about De Longhi's customer service or lack thereof, but I took a leap of faith and it was SO worth it. Its simple, heats up quickly and simply makes fabulous coffee. Whether you use the pods (very convenient) or ground of your choice this model is a little wonder. I was so happy with it I've just ordered the drip coffee maker to go alongside (the ONLY downside was I was getting the shakes from too many espressos). Well worth the money!

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After a week in Rome, we decided we had to have an espresso maker. We have had the Kmix now for about a month, using it daily. We are very happy with the espresso. Haven't experienced any problems, but we did read the manual first. My first batch of grounds came out wet, but it just takes practice on how tight to pack the coffee initially. Steamer wand is only so-so, and I end up using our little battery powered hand unit to top off the heated milk. Like the Lavazza super crema beans for this maker.

2 months later--still working great. I've cleaned it as the manuel directs, and I also turn off the power switch when I'm done each time making espresso, rather than letting it sit around keeping the heating elements on.

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Toddy T2N Cold Brew System

This thing makes the most wonderful coffee. I am an admitted coffee snob but was suffering from the acid in the coffee I drank. It all ended with this set up. It makes great coffee that is so darn much easier on your system.

It is not without its minor flaws, however. It is a bit more expensive to make coffee this way. Clean up is a bit difficult. The rim of the plastic upper part could be an inch taller.

I am going to tell how I approached each of those problems, it seems to work well for me.

In using the full pound of coffee and 72 ounces of water called for (It soaks for 12 hours per instructions) the top container is filled to the very brim...water and grounds are easily spilled over the top when pressing the grounds down (again per instructions) to assure uniform wetness.

I now use about 75% of a pound of coffee and 90% of the water called for. I place a #4 basket filter over the round Toddy filter to make for a better flow at the end of the process. I leave it all for about 30 hours and it is at least as strong as that obtained by following the instructions provided. Remember...this is not an exact science! I get more cups of coffee per pound this way and also have much easier clean up and less mess in the making. With the coffee and water mixture about an inch below the top of the container, one simply does not make the spills normally encountered.

When done, I let the concentrate run into the carafe per instructions, but then press the outsides of the grounds and then the center to get all the concentrate out...I do this twice. A surprising amount of extra concentrate is saved in this fashion. I then remove the carafe, place a plastic bag over the top of upper unit and invert it into the bag. The round filter is right at the top and I can easily pick it out.

In the sink I have placed a very large bowl (I use a stainless one) and rinse the parts that need it into the bowl. The grounds do not get away or get down my drain. When done I can just toss the bowl of water and grounds rinsed from the filter, etc. into my back yard and the clean up is basically complete.

I have been using the Toddy for more than 2 years and here are some tips and tricks.

1. You don't have to use 16 oz of coffee to make great tasting cold brew. Fresh dark roast beans do make a difference. I tried pre-ground from a bag and it was so-so, pre-ground from a can had no taste at all.

2. Anything less than 12 oz will cause the lower glass container to overflow when you drain the upper plastic "brew" container.

3. Simply put in 12 to 16 oz of ground coffee like this:

a. 2 cups water before you put in any coffee

b. 6 8 oz ground coffee

c. 3 cups water slowly all around the ground coffee

d. 6 8 oz ground coffee

e. fill slowly to the top making sure to cover all of the grounds.

4. No mater how much coffee you use, anything between 12 and 16 oz, you will almost always have to tap on the top of the grounds with a spoon. This cause the water to rise and soak the dry spots in the grounds. It is helpful to do your tapping before you fill the Toddy to the top. DO NOT STIR the grounds this will clog the filter. You can slowly lower a spoon into the grounds, with the flat of the spoon, and slowly pull up, but do not stir.

5. You can put in a regular industrial size coffee filter along with the regular Toddy sponge like filter to ease clean up, but it does create more compostable waste. Regular coffee filters are too small.

6. I used to reuse the grounds immediately, by putting the coffee solution in another container and then adding water to the already wet grounds, with the plug in of course. Then I waited 12 more hours and doubled my yield. I no longer do this because it made too much coffee and it just sat in the fridge for too long.

7. Let your coffee "steep" cold, of course, for more than 12 hours, say 14, 16, 18 hours, and the caffeine and oil content will increase for a more flavorful cup. After a couple of years, I started going for 24 hours and it makes it even more flavorful.

8. After cleaning up, wet the sponge filter and store it in a plastic food safe bag in the fridge.

9. Tell your family members what the filter is so that they don't throw it away thinking that it is a molding chunk of cheese ;0)

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Now you can taste that smell!

Let me explain: I can't call myself a coffee addict, but I really enjoy a good cup of coffee. Unfortunately, I'm a little let down when I walk into a cafe, smell the rich aroma, then taste a cup of coffee that's either weak, bitter or just too strong. The smell doesn't match the taste, and that's a bummer.

With the Toddy system however, even though I don't get the rich smell of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning, I do get a taste that reminds me of that smell, and that's far more important. Better still, my girlfriend can make her coffee weaker than mine by simply adding less concentrate. Cups of coffee tailored specifically to your taste!

I've tried espresso makers, french press, auto drip and even (dare I say it) instant coffee, and french press is the only type that comes close to the rich flavor. But that said, as I get older (early thirties) acid content becomes a bigger issue for me, and the relatively low acid content in a cup from the Toddy system is more and more appealing.

Now, as much as I like the system I do have a couple of gripes. First, I wish the brewing process was a little more intuitive since it's time consuming and messy. I brewed my coffee almost a week ago, and I'm still finding grounds hidden here and there. Hence, I wish the brew portion into which the grounds go had a lid.

Second, though it's easy to figure out through trial and error, a chart in the manual with more detail info on ratios, coffee types and strengths would be helpful. For example, I used Eight O'Clock coffee (I know, it's not designer coffee, but it tastes pretty good) which isn't quite as full-flavored a roast as some other coffees. Hence, I find I need to add more concentrate to water. I'm curious what the concentrate will be like when I use a stronger/different roast.

Nonetheless, I gave the Toddy system 5 out of 5 because when it's all said and done, a brewer is about the cup of coffee it produces, and hands down this is the best cup of coffee I've ever made at home.

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I have been making iced coffee the cold brew way for a few months with two jars and a strainer. Since I consume so much, I thought I would give the famed Toddy system a try surely so many people couldn't be wrong. Boy, am I sorely disappointed! I open the package and all you get is a cheap plastic pitcher and a glass carafe. $30 for this is way overpriced! Even so, the price would be fine if it did anything different or better than my makeshift system but it is actually worse, way worse!!! Here are my reasons:

1) The cheap plastic brew container has NO COVER and a FLIMSY STAND. I am going to leave an open, wobbly container full of coffee concentrate on my countertop for 12 hours, does this sound like a good idea? Does it sound sanitary? Unless your house is like a museum, probably not. By contrast my $2 jars have lids imagine that.

2) The filters are so sensitive you cannot stir the grounds and water together to fully soak the grounds. What genius designed this filter? They expect you to go through a delicate dance where you add a few grounds, slowly pour the water in a circular pattern, add some more grounds, slowly add some more water, etc. All so the filter doesn't CLOG. Who has time for this!? By contrast, when I put water and coffee grounds into my $2 jar, I drop it in and stir with a spoon imagine that! My $1 strainer and 10 cent regular coffee filter removes all the grounds/residue and leaves me with pure concentrate.

3) You have to keep buying their filters and they aren't cheap! Nowhere had I seen that you had to keep buying their filters they cost $2 each and you can only use them 10 times! And you most likely will end up ordering them over the internet, where you will have to pay shipping. They might end up costing $4 each! Why wouldn't I just keep using my $1 strainer and 10 cent coffee filters, which works just fine and are easier to get!?

4) Their filters require a lot of care. Every time you use them you have to go through some ridiculous process of storing them in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Again, who the heck has time for this?! My $1 strainer takes 5 seconds to rinse and then I stick it on the drying rack and the 10 cent filter I just throw out!

All in all I am very disappointed with the Toddy system. Not only is it way overpriced, but it is worse than a $5 makeshift alternative. I am using the carafe because I might as well and the brew container is now used in my son's bath...

I hope this helps people to see the light about this product.

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This makes, quite simply, the best coffee you've had in your life. Make it any way you want--hot, cold, espresso strength, American strength. I started with expensive coffees but am now quite happily using Folger's Special Roast. The cold-brew process makes delicious coffee even with the cheap stuff. I have become something of a cold-brew-coffee snob: I only drink toddy coffee at home, and when I'm out and forced to drink regular hot-brewed coffee, I cringe and can never finish a whole cup. This is literally a life-changing brewing method. The plastic handle they now include, while not absolutley necessary, is a nice bonus. ONE IMPORTANT THING: don't follow the instructions included as far as the technique for making the coffee, namely, 2 cups then 5 cups then 2 cups water added in stages. Instead, do 3 cups 3 cups 3 cups. When I used the 2-5-2 method, the thing would get clogged every single time, which is a real problem when you're dealing with a large quantity of coffee concentrate. Using the 3-3-3 method, I haven't had a clog or a slow "bleed" once; coffee comes pouring out as if from a firehose once I pull the stopper. I also ensure no dry grounds by, about an hour after initial setup, scraping coffee up from around the edge of the brewer into a pile in the middle, leaving behind a ring of already-dampened grounds at the sides; then I add another 1/2-1 cup of water, pouring it on the pile in the middle so that the grounds level out again and the brewer is really _full_. I've found the Holy Grail of coffee makers and I won't look back my life long.

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Bialetti Venus Stainless Steel Espresso Maker

This is a wonderful expresso maker; with a few minutes easy prep, I can make any fabulous coffee drink I want. The quality of the coffee makes a lot of difference, of course, but the quality of this coffee maker is perfect. Hardy construction and all that. I'll have it for years and years; a good investment AND a great gift for your friends who spend $5+ a day at coffee stands.

Cuisinox COF-11 Double Walled Coffee Press, 1-Litre

This press is a joke.

At fifty bucks, it ought to be fairly well made. It isn't.

The joint where the handle connects to the main body was badly oxidized, bright verdigris green, out of the box. The spout and handle are not 180 degrees apart from each other, more like 169 or something. Off enough to be plainly visible, and worst of all, the spout is displaced clockwise, so that pouring with the right hand is that much more awkward. It wouldn't be so bad if it was off to the left, counterclockwise...

But the press is super thin wall, full of dents and bulges, sounds cheap and tinny, the plunger screen is lame, and to top it all off, (literally) the knob on top was drilled all crooked and wonkyquite obviously, visibly so.

After trying the overpriced and poorly-made (but more substantial) Frieling press without good results, and this one with worse results, we're almost ready to go back to paying $20 every so often to replace the glass beaker in the good old Bodum. Sigh.

This item works wonderfully, Previously we had a glass french press, and had to replace the carafe 3 times at $20 a pop. This item is not only unbreakable but keeps the coffee hot for an extended period of time.

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After fifth breakage of my Bodum carafe I decided to give up on coffee presses. I then discovered this press and received it today as a gift. I had to respond to another reviewer who found so many faults with the fabrication. None of the faults she mentioned are evident in mine and having designed and manufactured metal products for many years I rate the quality high. I have no idea why ours are so different. And I'm sure my carafe won't break. I have not used it as yet.

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Whenever I see a company so lacking in creativity and originality that they must copy the designs of others it makes me fume. This is reprehensible. Cuisinox has lifted the world famous FRIELING shape, proportions, and the handle is only slightly changed. The lid design and spout have been changed, but the overall look is a total ripoff. For just a few bucks more why not buy the REAL Frieling, not a rip off? I would feel the same way if Frieling knocked off a Cuisinox design.

Why support design rip-offs? Get real, Cuisinox...why be fake?

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This is a high quality press. I have been long awaiting a press here in Afghanistan and it only took about three weeks to arrive. I can't keep up with the grounds fast enough!!! Thanks

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