Avis favorable le plus populaire

Fast, efficient, solid and consistent

First observations: it's very heavy and there's lots of packaging, but it does appear to be recyclable. It needed two people to unbox and set up on the kitchen counter. The water hardness test is very confusing, as it's not clear which way up to compare the strip. Initially, I thought it was telling... me that our water is very soft, which it most definitely is not. Eventually, I worked out that the strip needed to be held vertically to match the scale, whereupon it confirmed that Severn Trent water hardness is very high around here (much like their bills…) I then had to go through pages and pages of manuals, to find out how to get into the additional settings menu. In the end I gave up as there was no table of contents and searched the web. Finally managing to set the water hardness with the help of one of those coffee geek websites. The water filter is very difficult to set up, as the housing retaining clips are very flimsy and don't hold the mesh filter in very well. It took me several attempts to get it to stay in one piece and not get the bottom lug stuck to the base of the tank. Once on the outlet it's very difficult for an average adult to get it out, it took me about 30 minutes to eventually get it seated properly in one piece. The replace dial is very hard to rotate, especially for someone with arthritis. Once that was negotiated it was easy to place the tank in location and the volume level is clear to see at the rear of the machine. It probably took me 7-8 attempts fiddling with the set-up, grind size etc. before I managed to get an acceptable espresso. That was probably in part due to me being totally unused to this type of machine and the instructions not being that clear. The Assisted tamper is a brilliant innovation, I have always struggled with this part of making espresso, but this makes it easy and straightforward – marvellous idea, Ninja! The portafilter is very substantial and solid, the funnel is an excellent idea; it just took me several attempts to remember to attach it before placing in the grinding cradle. It is very challenging to twist it to the retaining mark on the housing, I still struggle with this. I'm not sure why there are big holes in the cup platform, but my espresso glass vibrated, fell sideways down the middle hole and spilling my brew. I had to get around this using a coaster underneath. After brewing, the instructions are to knock the portafilter to remove the puck, but every time I tried it the grounds and basket went flying all over my kitchen, making a right old mess. On doing some research it seems I need something called a 'knock box', it would have been a good idea if one had been included in the package, rather than meaning an extra purchase. As a compromise, I am currently scraping the grounds out into an old takeaway container using a plastic spoon. I haven't had milk in coffee in nearly 50 years, so I had to get a willing volunteer to try the results, but making a Cappuccino and Latte were both surprisingly easy and I am reliably informed they were great and just as good as you'd get from a Coffee Bar. I was also mesmerised watching the oat milk frothing in the jug. However, despite these minor niggles, after over nearly two weeks living with the machine, my usual double espresso is now a breeze, even when still half asleep. The machine produces excellent results and I am looking forward to trying an Espresso Martini! I had been looking to replace my old separate grinder and espresso machine and researching models for several months without taking the plunge; I so glad I didn't, as after testing this one, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it! Highly recommended.