Unico Splendor shines up your kitchen and will produce excellent coffee time after time.
Positive Product Points
Very consistent machine, shot after shot it gives you espresso as good as any cafe´s. Solid built. Nice working cup heater. The Looks!!! In my opionon the best looking machine in its price range. I love the retro design, just look at the drip tray.
Negative Product Points
Steam wand only moves sideways. But when heated up you could easily bend it to your desired angle, so now it is not a problem to me. Refilling the water tank is kind of a hassle. You have to remove all your cups and then remove the top. It would have been nice to have the same rail system as the Butterfly have.
It is kind of pricy compared to similar machines. Think it is due to its design. I got i relatively cheap though :-)
Detailed Commentary
My espresso life was just fine with my Francis X3. Then I did start to read about HX-machines here on coffeegeek and I got the upgrade fever in just a couple of days. Read everything about a lot of machines and was aiming towards Isomac Tea for a while. Then I stumbled upon a reseller in Stockholm who sold La Scala Butterfly at a very attractive price. I ordered it, but some problem with the distributer caused a delay and the seller gave me an offer to buy the Unico for the same price as the La Scala. A week later it stood there, sparkling in my kitchen..
As any heat exchanger it need to get flushed if it has been idled for a while. But it has just become a part of my shot-routine. The machine is very forgiving and pulling shots is very simple. Espresso is very very rich with great crema, even with blends without robusta. Steam power is great, you will never run out of steam. It easily steams milk for two cappos in apprx 40 sec. I replaced the stock steam tip to a better angled tip. Once you get hold of steaming technique it is very easy to produce high quality microfroth.
Drip tray is large and holds up to 2 liters. It is easy to remove it.
Machine comes with two portafilters, one single basket, one double basket and one blank basket for backflushing.
Buying Experience
Bought it from www.coffeemania.se and I have nothing but great things to say about them. Just to get the Unico that price was just great. Delivery was superfast and it was well packed.
They did also offered me a crash course in the barista profession. But since I don´t live in Stockholm that never did happend.
