Finally, really really good coffee!
I have been looking for a coffee machine with grinder function ever since our previous machine died a couple of months ago. The previous one was a Krupps fully automatic machine, made really good coffee but like all machines do at some point, it decided to die. There are quite a few machines in the $1200+ range and a few in the $600-1200 range, which is the price range I was looking at. I had short-listed to Gaggia vs Philips, leaning more towards Gaggia but reports of their poor customer service was disconcerting. Both of these are fully automatic. De'Longhi had the semi-automatic Magnifica but it didn't look pleasing aesthetically as far as matching the rest of my kitchen goes. Breville seemed a little too much work with manual tamping - as in, you actually take the tamper and press into the portafilter to tamp. Almost as I was finally ready to buy, I see this De'Longhi - la specialista. I have had this machine for about two weeks now. It is a semi-automatic machine. Its not a press-one-button-and-get-coffee machine, you will have to do some, a little, bit of work. Meaning, attach the portafilter to the grind unit and then the brew unit. Not a lot of work, and it actually feels good to be doing that!! Build quality is really really good. I am hard pressed to tell plastic from steel parts. Sides have the brushed steel look and chrome trims and I have no idea what is plastic. A very solid, well built machine. It looks really really good sitting on the counter, especially with that black 'dashboard' with the pressure gauge dominating the facade. The portafilter is solid and surprisingly heavy - you could easily use it for defense in case of burglary or something !! Same solid build is seen also in the included frothing mug and the filters, as well as the steel drip tray grill. Rest of the drip tray is plastic - the one place where plastic is obviously plastic. Power button turns it on of course - there's a master on/off switch in the back. Also in the back is a water reservoir which is surprisingly large. Attaching the portafilter to the grinder starts the grinding automatically. The machine will grind coffee for one or two shots if you press the 2x button. This is where my only frustration with the machine arose - frustration that has since been resolved. Start with factory default settings - fineness at 3 and amount of coffee dial at about 10 o'clock position. I was too impatient and started playing with the dials causing the machine to grind EXCESSIVE amounts of coffee and essentially malfunction. Ground coffee would back up the discharge chute from the grinder resulting in unhappy sounds from the machine and unhappy time for me. De'Longhi uses an "exclusive" new technology / sensor to determine how much coffee to grind. I think the common method is to grind for a certain amount of time. This machine detects the actual amount ground - I think. Anyway, I think this sensor is located in the chute which can be accessed by popping up a small flap located right at the base of the bean hopper. Using the provided brush tool, and a thin plastic stick, I unclogged this chute and cleaned out as much coffee grounds as I could. Problem solved. But it did take about half a bag of beans before getting that resolved. I blame the above on the fact that this is our first semi-automatic machine. There is a learning curve. Now that the vulnerable part is identified and addressed, the machine has been working without any issues whatsoever. I am actually coffee-making, barista style, on this thing. Coffee tastes really really good. Unlike the Breville, this one has a built in tamper - handle on the left side of the machine in the product photos. Once you attach the portafilter, the machine will automatically grind the dosed amount of coffee. Pull the handle down to tamp - there's a mark to tell you how much to pull. Remove the portafilter, attach it to the brewing station and press OK button. And you have your coffee. The built in milk frother / steam wand works really well too. The frother has a dedicated heating unit, separate from the brew unity. It has a 'flat' and 'foam' function. I tried both and really enjoy the foamed steamed milk. After watching a few YouTube videos, I learned to hold the included frothing mug at a certain angle and move it in circular motion etc but then discovered that the machine does a really fine job without those shenanigans. Just set the mug on the corner of the drip tray, stick the want in there and turn the dial for steaming. You get a luxurious micro froth without doing the dance I described. And the steam stops automatically. If you like your coffee actually hot though, you will have to do the steam twice. There is a function to increase the temperature of the coffee but I have not played with that setting so far. The cons are very few. Coming from a fully automatic machine, I had a to learn to use a semi-automatic one but that should be expected of any new tool / machine. The machine is full enclosed and does NOT have the easily removable brew unit that some manufacturers highlight, including DeLonghi. That might be an issue further down the road, but DeLonghi Magnifica and Breville don't have that feature as well and don't seem to be suffering as a result. Overall, I am really pleased with the machine. Great build quality, great coffee. Happy with the purchase. Read more