It makes great espresso, its easy to use, reminds me of my first barista job at seattles best coffee. You cant beat it for 72 bucks.
Negative Product Points
It takes a little while to prime it and get used to the steam wand (steam wand seems a tad underpowered at times). Not the easiest in the world to descale at first.
Detailed Commentary
It works like a champ. Just ste it up in the counter, fill it with water and turn it on. You do have to prime it but that only means running some shots thorough once or twice without coffee in the portafilter and running the steam wand a bit so it isn't squirting water or sputtering. Then you just put coffee in the portafilter tamp and press the button for shots. The pump is a bit noisy and the first few shots you pull once you set it up will take some time, but the results are worth it. With practice I can get a latte that is as good as the ones I make at work if not better.
Buying Experience
It was being discontinued at starbucks and was down to 99 bucks. If you are reading this you have missed your chance to get in on such a great deal. They are all gone. I got it for 72 because of my employee discount.
Three Month Followup
After about a month of regular use it seemed to be getting a bit slow ion steaming and pulling shots. I descaled it and it came right back to the way it was when I bought it. I have used it for church functions and partiesn but I have changed jobs and leave in too much a hurry to really enjoy a homemade latte. My only complaints are that it doesn't generate quite as much steam as I would have liked as it takes what feals like a long time to steam a full 16 oz of milk (then again I worked at starbucks and got used to steam wands that could steam a half gallon in under 6 minutes) and that descaling is not all that easy if you've never done it before (took me three hours). I am still very satisfied with it. and hope to have it in good working order for some time. Now If only I could get a doser grinder. . .
