Carezza De Luxe Espresso Machine, 47oz, Silver

I'm giving this machine five stars even though it has a lot of big problems. The reason I'm giving it five stars though is that it simply makes the best coffee I've ever been able to make — and better than most of the coffee I've ever had anywhere. Tip: Yes this automatically runs hot water every time you turn it on (in order to warm up the internal parts). But you can disable that permanently or on the fly. To disable it temporarily, turn it on and press the third button from the left so that the light turns off. Press that button again before you turn the machine off. To disable it permanently, don't press the button a second time. The pros: 1. It makes the best coffee I've ever made (once I figured out its quirks). 2. It can handle the absolute finest grind with no problem, unlike any other home espresso maker I've used (Breville and others). 3. There is zero leakage. The other home espresso makers I've had have all consistently left puddles on the counter. (Electrocution anybody?) This doesn't leak at all. 4. For a home espresso maker, it's fairly quiet. And the glasses you keep on the warmer won't rattle all that much. I think that's because although there's a lot of plastic, this has a nice heft to it. 5. It looks nice on the counter. 6. The top cup warmer is large enough to hold four double-wall shot glasses comfortably. The cons: 1. The pump is not self-priming. This means any time you run out of water, you will get vapor lock, and you'll need to re-prime the pump manually. This includes the very first time you use the machine. Priming the pump is tricky, and doing it right the first time is largely a matter of luck. You turn the machine on, then open the hot water valve (push the fourth button from the left, then open the steam wand dial). As that water starts flowing, push the second button from the left to pour hot water through the group head. If you get an error light, unplug the machine then start over. 2. Related to that, the water tank is tiny. You're going to run out of water. And then you're going to have to re-prime the pump. Also unless you place this in great lighting, it's very difficult to see the water level. 3. To get a good cup of coffee with a nice crema, you need to get the portafilter in at just the right tightness. Too tight or too loose, and it's wrecked. (The handle should be a few degrees to the right of center, at least on my particular machine.) 4. That automatically centering handle does not automatically center. It flings back after you tighten the portafilter, but where it ends up depends on how much you tightened it. So what's the point? Just extra moving parts to break eventually. 5. According to the infomercials I mean reviews of this product I viewed before buying it, you can use any coffee, and you don't need to tamp. That is wildly inaccurate. Use a very fine grind. Tamp lightly. That will get you the best result. 6. There will be a lot of grease in the portafilter and basket when this arrives. You'll want to wash that out and run hot water through it to get rid of it. 7. As others have noted, the instructions are useless. Philips is the owner of this company. You can get limited info from their site. There are third-party sites that have better info for whatever question you have. 8. De-scaling is a little annoying. The instructions aren't clear on some points. Good luck. Oh by the way, that's what the flashing yellow light next to the explanation point symbol means: Time to de-scale. Not that you would be able to know this from looking in the manual. 9. Finally, you're going to have to play with this a while before you get it to make the coffee you desire consistently. When I first got this machine, I was getting maybe one in three cups with a decent crema. The rest were flat. Playing with the grind, the seal, the tamping, the amount of coffee used and making sure there were no grounds on or near the lip of the basket got me the results I'm now consistently achieving.

I bought this machine to replace an automatic expresso maker which died after 2 years. I am not a beginner barrista but this machine is easy to use and makes great coffee. The initial set up is relatively easy in spite of the instructions. The user guise is the only drawback to this machine. It is very poorly written and does not explain the purpose of priming the machine. Once you get past that the machine works so well and the coffee is so good that I don't know why I spent an extra $700 for an automatic expresso machine. The expresso is excellent and has a nice crema. The pannerello wand is the same that I had on my expensive model. It froths milk very well and is easy to use. The only difference is that I have to push a button to stop the coffee dispensing when my cup is full and that I have to grind my own coffee. I have purchased a MAVEA water filter and I recommend you use this to extend the life of your machine.The only caveat is to remember to fill the water tank after each use as it will only brew the equivalent of 2 cappuccinos at a time without needing to be re-filled. I have only had this machine for a short time but use it every day...we will see how the longevity on the product is but so far extremely pleased with the purchase and recommend to all.

I got this machine because I am a Barista and wanted to have my own machine at home on days I don’t work. I will be completely honest. No, this does not match the flavor that I get from the $10,000 machine at work (cafés). But it is a super fun little machine that works well if you spend some time trying to use it. The milk wand is honestly great. I’ve made delicious milk numerous times on this and would give that 5 out of 5 stars (just don’t forget to take the panarello steam piece off to clean it each time). The water reservoir is great, and the drip tray is also great. I love how it can be taken apart and every aspect of the tray can be cleaned. Now onto the actual espresso. Because it is a pressurized machine, you don’t need a tamp it will do that for you. It’s not very hard to use at all , you just put in espresso grounds to the top, insert it twisted to the far left, and move it all the way to the right, then let go and it should be around the middle. *My one big complaint is that this machine is limited in the portafilter you can use, because this one is plastic and I’d rather have a higher quality one* Onto the shots. This is definitely a learning game so make sure you don’t put in your fancy pants Hawaiian espresso first haha. I picked some up at a grocery store because I didn’t want to buy a grinder yet and most of them have one. The shots don’t pour amazingly. One side is weak while the other is fine so I’m still working on getting it to be more even. Remember, you need to click the shot button again to stop it the second the shot blonds (because that means it’s just water running through and will water down the shot) This was extremely lengthy but I hope I help someone in the future who is looking to buy a great espresso machine from a real Italian company (+all of the manuals are online for it too!!) feel free to ask me any questions.

Machine was easy to use and made ok coffee. The milk steaming wasn't bad either but after two months of use it stopped working properly. The warning red light came on and never switched off. I tried every recommendation from youtube videos, because the manual is useless. Probably an electrical problem which i wont be able to fix because Amazon wont take it back. So now I'm stuck with defective machine and $330 loss which I paid believing that I was a good product. I guess thats how business work.

Llevo un mes con la maquina y me ha parecido una gran compra. Crema del café excelente, espumador excelente. Quizás el único “pero” es que se debe tener extremo cuidado para que en la limpieza no hacer tiradero de café ya que en el porta filtros se queda pegado por la humedad y una vez que se seca cae. Se debe tener mantenimiento de limpieza a detalle cada uso. Pero calidad café es excelente. Muy recomendable!

Easy to use

buen cafe, no de todo facil a utilizar en principio, pero luego de bajar un video en youtube, se me aclaro. Tabmein es importante tener la buena mescla de cafe, especial para expresso, ya que el espesor es mas fino.

It was a gift which the recipient did not want. I can’t comment on the quality but I can certainly complain about the approximately $50.00 it cost to return! Never again.

Water never gets hot enough to make a coffee. One can put a finger into the "hot" cup the minute it's made without getting burned. Enough said. Simply not enough power to make an espresso. The steam side works much better, so if you are only into cappuccinos and really don't care about quality of espresso you could consider it but in that case it's simply an overpriced frother.