DeLonghi EC270 Espresso Machine

Great espresso and cappuccino
It was a great gift

Pros:
Great Taste, Large Water Container, Quick Brewing, Good froth, Easy To Clean, Use it very often

Cons:

(Posted on 3/15/12)

We purchased this machine after the pump on our beloved 10-year old Barista (made by Saeco)gave out. Man, we really loved that machine. But I digress.

We brew two lattes each morning, each with 4 shots and 12 ounces of steamed/frothed milk. So my review is based on that recipe and as a comparison with the old Barista.

First the good:

* The Delonghi looks nice. Overall it makes delicious shots with beautiful cremma, and the steamed milk has loads of billowy froth.

* The Delonghi is faster than the Barista, but that may have been because the Barista was getting tired in its old age.

* Brewing a shot with the Delonghi is about the same as the Barista. As indicated above, the cremma is excellent and it tastes great in our cups.

* The Delonghi milk frothing is superior to the Barista even when the Barista was new. With the Delonghi, I just stick the wand in the pitcher, set it down, and let it steam to the desired temperature. Not nearly as easy with the Barista! However the Barista wand had a swivel feature and the Delonghi does not. This was helpful on the Barista, but the wand works well enough on the Delonghi otherwise.

* The learning curve on the Delonghi was minimal. We just fired it up and made lattes.

Now the annoying:

* It took us a few tries to figure out that the frothing attachment on the wand locks into place with a turn. It's easy once you know this, but it wasn't obvious in the directions. There is no such attachment on the Barista, so we had no reference point and we had to do trial and error on the attachment until we figured it out. When the frothing attachment is not locked into place, it blows off in your pitchers and creates a mess. This was really the only learning curve issue.

* The porta-filter holds a smaller measure of grounds than the Barista. The 2-shot Barista porta-filter held two scoops from its stainless steel companion scooper. The 2-shot Delonghi porta-filter holds 1.75 scoops from the Barista scooper. I realize this is simply a difference in brands and scooper sizes. A plastic scooper does come with the Delonghi, but I'm not giving up my stainless scooper to use a plastic one. Perhaps the Delonghi is more efficient at extracting the espresso, and over time I may find that I need to use only one stainless scoop to make 2-shots on the Delonghi . . .

* The Delonghi isn't tall enough so that I can easily slip my stainless steel milk under the frothing wand. Here too I realize that this is simply a difference from one brand to another as my pitchers were made as a companion product for the Barista machine. My workaround is to set the Delonghi on a cutting board so that I have some extra clearance from the end of the wand to the counter top.

And finally, the BAD:

* The porta-filter insert does not fit snugly in the attachment as it did with the Barista. Thus the Delonghi porta-filter falls out in the sink when you are dumping the grounds between each shot. The solution for this is a small plastic lever that is built into the handle. You flip this over the edge of the porta-filter, dump and rinse, then flip it back before refilling with fresh grounds. This is really annoying. Nay, it is lame. How costly would it have been to design a porta-filter that fits snugly versus having a small plastic lever?

* Here is another thing that is really lame. In fact, this is the worst feature of the machine. The Barista was heavy, weighing in at 17 pounds. When you locked the porta-filter in place on the Barista, the machine did not move. Did I mention it was HEAVY? The Delonghi weighs a mere 7 pounds. When you lock the porta-filter in place, the machine will tip over unless you hold it down by placing your arm over the top, which incidentally is hot because that's where the cup warming tray is placed to take advantage of the residual heat from the inner workings of the machine. Lame, lame, lame. A deal breaker, in fact, had I known before purchasing the machine. If I keep this machine (undecided at this moment), I'll have to devise a way to strap it down with a brick or something like that to the aforementioned cutting board. No, I'm not kidding.

So that's the Delonghi EC270 Espresso Machine. It's fast and makes lattes with excellent flavor and froth. My price point was also excellent compared to other machines. I can live with the smaller quantity porta-filter. I am not sure I can live with its light weight and propensity to tip over when locking the porta-filter in place.

Pros:
Great Taste, Quick Brewing

Cons:
Plastic Body Too Light, Tips When Locking Filter

(Posted on 10/16/10)