You’ve probably seen some of our content surrounding the newest Diletta Espresso machine - the Mio. This is the second espresso machine from Diletta, with the first, the Bello, already impressing. The Mio offers a somewhat different approach to the Bello, but both offer quality and performance quite affordably. Let’s take a look at what the Mio has to offer!
Interface and Design
One of the core design philosophies of the Mio is making operation simple, and feedback clear. You’ll get simple push buttons that feel clicky and satisfying for activating brewing and steaming. The PID Controller, which we’ll talk more about later, is easy to adjust as well. The most complicated aspect of the machine is its ECO mode. A switch on the side of the case can turn off the dedicated steaming thermoblock to save energy. Outside of this, everything is incredibly straightforward and easy to use. You can even adjust the over pressure valve without opening the machine. This adjustment allows you to control pressure release from the brew group. It's another way to fine tune your shots. Hand construction in Milan, Italy also helps to ensure solid build quality and long term reliability.
From a feedback perspective, the Diletta Mio is one of the best espresso machines we’ve seen recently. An easy to read pressure gauge gives you clear results to measure what’s going on during brewing. You also get easy to read brew temps on the PID display, which changes to a timer during brewing. Timing your shots is one of the most important aspects of brewing espresso. As such, having such a readable, clear timer available is great. Lights next to the brew and steam buttons also give you clear indications of whether pressure and temperature are built up enough for your shots and milk frothing.
This is a home espresso machine built to be easy to use with minimal programming or complexity, but it also gives you the feedback needed to refine your shots. We think that makes it a fantastic option for a user who wants hands on espresso brewing with all of the information available to improve drink quality. If you want a machine that you can walk away from, you might find some of these elements a bit frustrating.
Performance
From a performance perspective, the Mio delivers best on shot quality. With just a few minutes of warmup time and PID controlled temperatures, this espresso maker offers everything you need for the perfect shot. While you will need to dial your coffee in carefully, the capabilities of the machine mean that you won’t have much of a ceiling to coffee quality. This is because the machine is designed to prioritize pure espresso performance over programmability and creature comforts.
Where the machine may come up short for some users is in milk steaming power. The 1000W steam thermoblock gets up to steaming temps very fast, and it allows for cafe quality home milk frothing. However, it doesn’t have the same high speed steaming power that some similarly priced machines offer. For most users this won’t matter - you’ll be able to steam up your latte-art quality milk for a moderately sized drink quickly enough. However, if you’re looking to brew a lot of milk drinks in a row, or if you use a very high volume of milk in your drinks, you may not love the steaming service as much as on some other machines. The best part of all of this is that if you don’t care for steamed milk with every drink, the aforementioned steam block switch allows you to shut off the steaming thermoblock. This will allow you to save energy, letting the machine focus just on brew temps.
Conclusions
So is the Diletta Mio for you? If you’re still reading, then the answer is probably. The Mio is an enthusiast machine offering a high degree of feedback and control, solid construction, and strong performance. In the event that you are looking for automation and programming, you may find this machine lacking. If it does sound like the machine for you, then you’ll find that the costs saved in automation and control have led to a strong prosumer package in terms of performance and design. Don't just take our word for it, check out Coffee Affection's review of the Diletta Bio here!
