De'Longhi UPGRADED All-in-One Combination Coffee Maker & Espresso Machine + Advanced Adjustable Milk Frother for Cappuccino & Latte + Glass Coffee Pot 10-Cup, COM532M black

I got this espresso machine for Christmas and had been wanting to start making espresso drinks at home for a while. I’m officially hooked. This machine is incredibly easy to use, even if you’re a beginner, and it makes excellent espresso. The shots come out rich and smooth, and the milk frother works really well for lattes and cappuccinos. I love how compact it is—it doesn’t take up much counter space but still feels sturdy and well made. It heats up quickly and the included tamper is a nice bonus. Overall, it’s a great value for the price and perfect if you want to get into making espresso drinks at home without something overly complicated. Highly recommend.

Updated Review for the De'longhi Stilosa Espresso Machine This is an update to my previous review. I have had my machine for several months now and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! BEST PURCHASE I HAVE MADE IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. There definitely is a learning curve if you are new to this, so it is trial and error on some things like: - how hard to tamp the ground espresso - not to overload the portafilter. - how much an ounce or two ounces is when pulling a shot - when to stop the shot because it is not automated - the ratio of milk to espresso to get the best taste for my preferences. I am obsessed with this machine! I drink lattes almost every day now instead of once or twice a month because of cost and having to go find a Starbucks. If you are new to espresso machines like I was it is a good idea to watch youtube videos, measure things properly like ounces of grind vs ounces of espresso shot, until you get used to it. But I have learned how to use this machine and can just eye amounts and get a perfect shot of espresso. I had to find a good decaffeinated espresso bean because I can't have caffeine. I found a great brand here on amazon Allegro Decaff organic espresso beans. I am so glad I splurged and bought this. ORIGINAL REVIEW I love my new De'longhi Stilosa Espresso Machine. The Good... 1. Price Point is Great ..This will pay for itself within a year by making lattes at home instead of going to starbucks 2. Very Basic Machine for beginners easy to understand how it works...plus there are youtube videos on how this machine works. 3. I don't have to leave the house for a latte! 4. It seems to be really well made and good quality CONS 1. It doesn't come with the espresso shot glasses or the milk frothing cup so you have to buy these seperatly. 2. the tamper included is really just a piece of plastic and a waste so you need to buy one..and it really does affect how your espresso comes out. so buy a good one 3. The machine is NOT AUTOMATED! what does this mean??? This means you cannot just touch a button and a shot of espresso comes out & your done... NO.. You have to start the espresso drip and watch it to see when you need to turn it off. otherwise it will just keep dripping through like coffee and you will ruin your shot of espresso. Learning how to pull an espresso shot and timing it and guessing when it is done is a learning process. It seems to me that it should be automated. That would be a basic requirement for me. if I had known it was not automated I probably would not have bought it. I don't even know if higher end machines have an automated system or not, but as a beginner it would have been really great to have. OVERALL- Good Purchase So it takes practice learning to pull a shot of espresso, getting the best grind of beans, tamping it down, how much water to use...It's a whole process, but it is fun to learn. There is a lot more involved than I realized. I made 5 shots before I started to get the timing and measurements right. I hope to continue to get better at this, and it was a great birthday gift to myself.

No, its NOT the equal of the $2k+ Vetrano sitting on my kitchen counter, plumbed in and always-on. Not even close. You're paying well under 10% of that money, so keep that in mind. The filters are non-standard (smaller) sized, so your big tamper won't work, and they're pressurized, so the grind matters less but the best of extraction isn't going to happen either. And its a thermoblock with little thermal mass. That's the bad side. Now the good side -- it makes legitimate espresso. I ground up a double shot in my Macap M4, filled the reservoir, tamped, waited for the "ready" light to come on and.... water was too cold; the shot was sour. Tried again, this time preheating on the "steam" sitting. Voila. NOT BAD AT ALL. A *bit* bitter (overdone; water too hot) but not by much. Very drinkable. Some more fine-tuning (just a few seconds on "steam" pre-heat to bump up the base temperature) improved it even more. And.... surprise! The filter baskets can be disassembled entirely, including the spring-loaded piece in the bottom that makes them pressurized. Which means you can defeat it either with a small plastic piece temporarily (to test) or drill it out or cut the nub off the bottom with diagonal cutters and remove it and its spring (permanently). That's a very good thing as it now forces you to use properly-ground (fine enough) coffee to get the backpressure instead of the spring-loaded valve, which greatly improves the espresso quality and gives you no-BS crema. That's a surprise of the pleasant sort. You still need a decent burr grinder, not a "whirly blade" and good, properly-roasted coffee. There's no getting around that. I don't do frothed milk drinks so I have no idea how the steamer works in that regard. I would not expect much there; if that's your gig this is probably not the right machine although technically it appears to be able to do the job. You need dry steam in volume for that to produce credible lattes and cappa and I very much doubt this thing can produce said steam in the required amount to get anywhere near what my big machine on the counter can do. Would I ever contemplate replacing my big and expensive machine with this? No. But I bought it as something I can throw in the car for a trip, or in the RV for a nice vacation, bring roasted coffee in a snap-lock container with my grinder and have my morning espressos. For THAT it does and will absolutely fill the bill -- at a reasonable price and without taking up more space than the ordinary coffee pot, which makes bog-standard ordinary swill. Since I prefer espresso the option to have it at a reasonable cost it definitely beats not -- or paying $5 for one pulled by a barista that likely doesn't know what he or she is doing or worse, is using an "automated" machine that produces garbage (e.g. Starbucks) It doesn't take many of those "cafe" coffees that are garbage to pay for this one when traveling, and you can get very-serviceable shots out of it rather than drink bilge water from the Green Monster, so there you have it. As long as you understand what you're buying and don't expect it to produce true cafe-quality shots when said machine is operated by someone with a reasonable amount of skill (and a pretty-simple mod to the basket) you won't be disappointed. Recommended.

If you are interested in learning about espresso but don’t want to shell out hundreds at this point then this machine is perfect. Check out Lance Hendrick’s YouTube video about this machine to understand why it is a good buy. Here are things I’ve learned for making great espresso with this machine: I. Do not use the pressurized portafilter that comes with the machine as is. You have two options: (1) remove the pressurization component (again see Hendrick’s video) and also pull out (with pliers) the black plastic funnel component leaving just the basket and filter screen inside the portafilter. See photo. (2) buy a regular 51mm non-pressurized portafilter to use instead. See photo. The only problem with (2) is that the fit might not be perfect and so you might get some leakage. That was my experience. Doing (2) for a while (leaks and all) was helpful to learn what good extraction should look like. You get down and watch how the espresso comes out. It should come out even and creamy. It should taste good. You experiment with grinds, beans, volume, tamping pressure till it gets there. Once I had things dialed in, I went back to (1) to avoid the occasional leakage. If you do (2) and there’s no leakage then you’re all set. (If you use the portafilter as-is out of the box you will get weak pseudo-espresso with fake crema from the pressurization.) II. Get a better tamper. The plastic one that comes with the machine is awkward and feels like it can break. You can see the one I use on the pic. It wasn’t expensive but it’s good quality. Good tamping is crucial to develop the right puck pressure with the coffee itself. III. Use freshly roasted coffee that is freshly ground for espresso. Freshness has been the biggest factor in getting tasty espresso. I bought a burr grinder on Amazon that was also pretty cheap but does espresso-fine grind. It’s worked well (although I recognize it may not have the longest lifespan, we’ll see). The key has been buying freshly roasted coffee. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive, just fresh. So if your Trader Joe’s moves its whole bean coffee quickly, you might be better off buying that than the bag of beans that’s been sitting around for a month at the fancy coffee shop. The difference is huge. IV. Keep things clean. After I pull a shot I take off the portafilter and run water through to flush out the residue from the machine head and wipe it with a sponge. Maybe once a month an unscrew the filter from the machine head and rinse it out. I knock out the espresso puck and rinse the portafilter thoroughly. The water should come out looking like an even shower, no lines or unevenness. It makes a difference for the espresso. Keeping things clean helps in getting good consistency. I don’t use the steam wand, so can’t comment on that. After dialing things in I am getting tasty espresso that is as good as most coffee shops or restaurants nearby. Of course if I want to treat myself I can go to one of the more exceptional coffee shops, but now I have a benchmark to know whether they are doing anything special.

So I had purchased a cheaper espresso machine before and it was such a pain. I truly struggled just to prepare, make my coffee, steam the milk, then clean up the mess. Took me 15 minutes just to do that! This machine is much faster! Heats up in seconds, and then the milk steams in a couple minutes! A few tips that I have learned over the years of making espresso: 1. Rinse your tools! After using the coffee filter, I truly know the easier way is to dump the grounds and rinse them off. If you do have time, take out the part that holds the grounds from the handle bar and rinse that, but really you should be able to just leave it after rinsing to start. The directions recommend taking apart filter shots after a couple hundred coffee cups! And I’d rinse off the steam wand as well, milk builds up, it takes just a few seconds but saves you time! The steam wand and the rubber tip that shoots steam come right off, I would rinse those too. And finally (without touching too much because its hot!!!) I’d wipe the machine part where the hot water goes into the coffee, it gets grounds on it. Just a wet paper towel. 2. Shoot steam before and after steaming milk! They put this in the directions also, you need to shoot out some steam for a couple seconds before doing the milk because water can drip out at first! Then I like to do it again after you finish, in case milk gets sucked into the spout. It can make it easier to clean and keep your steamer clear! 3. DESCALE!!!! They recommend this after 200 coffee cups (same as the shot filters). They have their own brand of descaler, but there are others out there (unsure if others are able to use for this machine). The directions help, they say to add 1/4 a bottle of descaler to the water tank then fill the rest with water (the bottle of descaler also has the directions) then you leave the portafilter off and run the machine into an empty bowl and also spray the steamer a good bit. Then you wash out your water tank thoroughly and make another empty bowl of water to get the descaler out fully! It doesnt take too long because the machine is very fast! I just set a reminder on my phone for when I believe I’ve made about 150 cups, I never like to push the time limit products give me, just to be safe! Then I do the descaler and coffee shot filters at the same time! It’s super easy and can really make the machine last a good long time!!! 4. Get a cup for the espresso! If you like to use a large tumbler for coffee, it wont fit under the portafilter. I like 20oz coffee mugs and add espresso to it, I had an old pour cup from my previous machine, I use it then pour the espresso into my tumbler! Unless you like a small mug of coffee, then youre fine! Keep in mind, the machine wont calculate a 1 shot or 2 shot amount, You need to turn off the machine when you feel it’s an amount you want! My pouring cup has measurements on the side so it tells me when I’ve reached 2 shots! So overall, that is my experience and I truly think this machine was worth the cost!!! PS.***** added this a week later! FOR THE DOUBLE SHOT, I suggest doing one scoop tilting the scooper sideways and tapping gently, then packing it in!! Then you can do the same thing again! I recommend doing this over a coffee container or the sink or trash, it will likely be somewhat messy!!! You get the hang of it though!

This is a review of De'Longhi Stilosa Espresso Machine Bottom line up front: Good beginner espresso machine at the sale price of $85. If you are willing to dip your toe in the espresso making waters at home and you have the time and patience, buy it. If you want a quick, hassle-free cup of joe, look elsewhere (I’m thinking drip, pour over, Nespresso, etc.). Amazon shipping: Amazon shipped it in its original box with a shipping label slapped on it. This arrived on the front porch, so beware. De’Longhi’s packaging was good. The machine was packaged in a pasteboard inside the box making it recyclable (no styrofoam). The good: It does what it says. I have not previously made any espresso drinks. I have about two weeks of experience and it makes espresso. Follow the directions (more on direction in “the bad”), use espresso coffee and you’ll get an acceptable shot of espresso (see learning section). The milk frother works after some practice. This machine is manual. You start the flow of water and then you stop the flow of water. You switch to steam and use the switch on the side to froth your milk. This is good because you are in control. The bad: Well it requires some education on how to make espresso and what exactly a shot of espresso is and a cappuccino recipe.The directions are kind of IKEA-ish with pictures and a sparse number of words. The machine is manual and you have to learn to use it and pay attention as you use it. I am apparently a messy barista. I find it necessary (maybe I”m obsessive compulsive) to thoroughly clean the machine every time I use it. This is a bit more intense than the directions that say to clean out the portafilter and clean the frother each use with thorough cleaning being every 200 or so shots. Overall, a Nespresso machine would be much easier. What I did: I’ve had this machine for about two weeks and have used it for about 10 mornings. The first morning my lovely wife dumped her cappuccino out and went for the keurig. I had some issues this day using the frother and ended up with very watered down steamed milk. The second morning I used the Cappuccino cups (2.9 ounces, kitchenables available here on amazon). Packed the double shot portafilter and made two nice, small cappuccinos. Then on the third day, I moved to a larger cup. I made my wife a decaf cappuccino in an 8 ounce mug using a double shot (2 ounces) of espresso, steamed milk and froth to fill the mug. Again, this was dumped out. I made myself a lungo using the double shot portafilter and filled a 12 ounce mug about half way. Mine was tasty and I drink my coffee black, in general. About the third day I was getting the cappuccino thing down. Double shot of espresso, equal amount of steamed milk (by volume) and equal amount of froth (1 part espresso, 1 part steamed milk, 1 part froth). This amounted to about two-thirds of the 8 ounce mug. What kind of coffee did I use? I bought a bag of the Gevalia Espresso Dark Roast and a can of Illy ground coffee espresso Classico Decaf Roast. Learning: It seems that a shot of espresso is one ounce and a double shot is two ounces. I got this information from Google search. You need to keep this in mind as you are making your espresso as this is how the two portafilters are sized. I also used google to find the cappuccino recipe and saw some other espresso recipes (americano, latte, flat white, lungo). Also I still need to experiment with different coffee brands. I have no intention of going all out to grind my own and weigh the beans.

Ive had this for years now, its dependable. good bar pressure and sleek! user friendly! i recommend letting the machine brew the coffee for 10 seconds to let it concentrate the coffee/espresso finer. small tank for water but its really nice having 2 sizes for brewing

It makesa good espresso with some practice and know how, but there are draw backs that are reflected in the cost; the port a filter is difficult to put on when filledproperly( I practically have to hug the machine to get it to align for fear of breaking it). The tamp is plastic, with no weight. The heating element struggles switching between making espresso, steaming and back again. If you make multiple drinks, I suggest making all your espresso and then steaming the milk. The plastic nubs broke off both filters after awhile & I'm not sure if they're usable anymore. Other reviewers suggested getting a different port a filter & we'll definitely be doing that. Overall, I'd say it's worth it if on sale, because you'll want to buy a separate port a filter and tamp. Making lattes at home instead of going out, it's more than paid for itself already.