Krups EA8250001 Espresseria Full Automatic Espresso Machine

Product Description

,Vita-Mix 1300 TurboBlend 4500 ,Vitamix 1363 CIA Professional Series, Platinum ,KitchenAid KSB580NK Custom Metallic 5-Speed Blender, Brushed Nickel ,Margaritaville DM0500 Bahamas 36-Ounce Frozen-Concoction Maker , Vitamix 1710 Professional Series, Brushed Stainless Finish Color: Piano Black KRUPS heritage of German engineered kitchen appliances provides functional, rigorous design, technical perfection, performance and quality. Designed and built for those who continuously seek out new gourmet experiences and take pleasure in discovering and understanding how things are done and done well. KRUPS products provide the tools that deliver genuine results, performance and taste. Inspired by experts and demanding consumers with uncompromising standards of performance and quality, KRUPS products have been built with these three key attributes in mind: Passion, Precision and Perfection. KRUPS is pleased to present our Full Automatic EA82 Series Espresso Machines. Indulge in an experience that blends lifestyle, art and the appreciation for a superior cup of coffee or espresso. KRUPS EA82 Full Automatics are designed and manufactured to the highest standards in Mayenne, France. KRUPS passion for espresso comes through in every detail from the conical burr mill that preserves the aroma of fresh beans to the patented thermoblock system that provides the ideal serving temperature. The mastery of controlled functions offers you the ability to recreate a precise ritual each time. KRUPS has simplified and perfected the art of espresso preparation in a compact, easy to use, all in one machine. KRUPS products set the standard for bold design, ingenuity, and skilled craftsmanship. Krups EA82 Series is designed to provide optimal performance.


This review is from: Krups EA8250001 Espresseria Full Automatic Espresso Machine, Piano Black (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Let's get something out of the way right now: when I wrote my very first Amazon review, I was working at Starbucks, so I know a little something about espresso. For the last year or so I've been using a Krups XP 4000 (bought refurbed, no longer in production), and it's a reasonably effective espresso machine. Having worked on the big pump-driven commercial machines, I find the simplicity of a basic pump unit comfortable and the entire full auto espresso thing a little... suspect might be the word? So this is not something I'd have ever actually paid for.

The important thing, right off the top: this thing does make good coffee. The learning curve is definitely steeper than it should be for something that's allegedly meant to make things simple, though it doesn't take quite as much practice as a manually operated unit. It does exactly what you ask it to, which is nice, but it's learning to speak its language that's the tricky part. The interface is mostly menu-driven, with multiple languages and the option of using either metric or US measurements. It also makes a more typical cup of coffee (albeit not very drip-style, with the espresso crema on top); I'm assuming it adds hot water after the brewing stage because I didn't notice any significant off-flavors from overextraction. Milk steaming is run on a timer and needs a little trial and error to get right, but it's otherwise no harder than any other steam wand; in fact, it actually improves on other thermoblock machines by not requiring an especially long cooling time between steaming and pulling the shot (if you've ever gotten overzealous about pulling a shot and overpressurized the portafilter, you know why this is a very good thing). Styling is simple and lacks the weird church-like design that companies like Jura tend to favor, and that's just fine with me. It also includes a fairly heavy duty water filter and a service schedule that's actually programmed into the firmware, and my unit came with an automatic milk heater/dispenser attachment (the Krups XS6000 Cappuccino Accessory) that seems to be a reasonable compromise if you can't get the hang of the steam wand, though I don't think it's part of all packages.

But... here's the problem. Although the results are great, a full auto espresso machine is *always* a rather huge investment, and I've never been convinced that the reduction in learning curve is worth the price and complexity of the device, which leads to another problem: failure points. Between the grinder, the brewing system, the steamer, and cleanout/disposal mechanism, this is a device with a lot more parts than a simple pump machine, and a lot more things to go wrong. To that end, Krups even includes a brief service guide (printed on waterproof plastic) that stores in the unit just in front of the water tank, complete with support hotlines for three dozen different countries. On top of all that, it's kind of hard to look at this as anything other than a monument to your very large paycheck. However, what looks excessive for home is fine for an office -- it's perfect for a workplace that can't get to a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts easily, since all someone has to do is push a couple of buttons to get a decent shot of espresso or a fresh-brewed cup of coffee.

So, yeah... I like the unit just fine, but I probably wouldn't pay money for it unless I had a lot of people who wanted fresh-brewed coffee and didn't want the waste of a Keurig machine OR unless I was buying it as a birthday/wedding/white elephant gift for a coffee aficionado in my family. But for myself alone? Not really worth it.