Saeco Poemia Espresso Machine

Produces very acceptable shots with good crema.
What I use daily:
Water: Diamond Distilled (Mountain Valley's spring water that is steam distilled.)
Beans: Allegro's "Bel Canto" organic
Grinder: Baratza Maestro Plus, internally recalibrated by adjusting the set screw to "finest" grind and then externally set to maximum fineness "0". Maxed out the unit.
Procedure: I measure 16.0 grams of grounds into the double basket. I need to tamp halfway through since the grounds would overflow the basket. I am getting all 16.0 grams in the basket. My final tamp is with a lot of pressure; probably more than 30 pounds. This is my attempt to slow the brewing process.
The first double shot pours in 16 seconds. Then, I wait for the boiler to reach brewing temperature again, and then I pour a second double shot for 12 seconds. This gets me a pretty good quad cup. This stretches the grounds somewhat when comparing the first and second double shots on their own, but the second shot is surprisingly not sour. This probably only holds for my choice of beans, grind, water, and tamp pressure.
( I do have the non-pressurized portafilter, but I will need a new grinder it pours through too quickly. )

(Posted on 6/10/13)

First, this is a great machine for the price. I replaced a several-years-old Lello Ariete machine that died. Same price range, but the Saeco is much quieter. There are a bunch of minor negatives, but again, you get what you pay for. In my case, I opted to put money into a grinder instead, and bought a Baratza Preciso from SCG to pair with this. What they say about a grinder making all the difference is true. Also note that I roast my own beans. I believe that the grinder+beans combo for me means this machine can't go very much wrong.

The negatives are all minor. The portafilter is lighter and cheaper than, say, the Starbucks I saw recently that was obviously brass. The machine weighs nothing, so it requires two hands to lock in the filter or remove it. It is going to cost me $60 to buy a simple bottomless portafilter at some point. Steam is anemic, but I don't use it so it wasn't an issue. And there's a weird metal-to-metal feel to locking the filter in place. But it doesn't leak and ultimately makes a great shot.

Positives: it's inexpensive and gets the job done if you have good beans and a good grind. It has a small footprint, and it looks good.

This was my first order from Seattle Coffee Gear and I'm very happy with the service.

(Posted on 5/7/13)

The Saeco Poemia is a wonderful home espresso machine. I purchased it a few weeks ago as a starter machine for myself and I can already tell I will not be needing to upgrade for a very long time. The espresso shots pulled are rich and flavorful and the panarello wand produces great foam as well as heats the milk in less than a minute. This little espresso machine is wonderful and for the price you can't beat it.

(Posted on 4/17/13)

I've had my poemia for several months now and am generally pretty happy with it. I found that the pressurized portafilter made acceptable espresso, but it really started to shine when I got the bottomless portafilter and upgraded to a baratza preciso grinder. Now it makes excellent espresso. It really is true what they say about having a quality grinder.

The steam unfortunately is not nearly as consistent. I've found that the first blast of steam is super wet and the second is usually pretty weak. After that, its a crap shoot of whether it will be powerful enough for proper steaming. On a good day I can get excellent foam sufficient enough to make some rudimentary art. Most days, however, I can only get a little bit of OK foam.

I've tried cleaning the machine and I did not notice a significant improvement in its ability to steam.

(Posted on 4/8/13)

After 6 years of service of my previous machine (Capresso steam driven) this was my choice as a replacement. Although the pressurized portafilters are a no brainer for making espresso, I wasn't thrilled with the flavor. So I order the bottomless portafilter from SCG. The difference is night and day. True, it is much more difficult to get a consistent shot, but the flavor is much better. I am also using a 53 mm RattleWare tamper.

It's not noted but the coffee scoop doubles a tamper. It's obviously made to be used as such. I did find that the grind should be the consistency of drip if using the pressurized portafilter.

I agree with SGC's review of the machine so I won't bother to repeat it.

My only complaint with the machine is that it will not keep the brew and steam temperature while pulling a shot or steaming milk. I've found that I can steam 5oz of milk ok and then run 2oz of water through the brew group and let the machine come back up to temp. Sometimes the shot will finish before the temp light goes out, sometimes not.

Overall, I am very happy with the machine and happy with ordering from SCG

(Posted on 3/25/13)

Even though there is some involvement with preparing a cup of coffee, the result is worth the extra few minutes, compared to just a cup of drip coffee. I do not use this machine every day, but often enough to remain well versed in the process. For an inexpensive machine, the coffee rivals what I get at the coffee shop.

(Posted on 3/19/13)