Finally Figured It Out! I received this as a Christmas gift from my wife and kids. I will be the first to admit that I love a good cup of coffee and a good cappuccino but as for the technical aspects of the art of being a barista I am a complete novice. I knew nothing about expresso's or crema. I spent the next few days on Youtube looking at espressos being made and reading up on the subject. Afterwards I figured I was ready to give it a try. My first attempt was embarrassing. It made a great cup of coffee but I couldn't pull an espresso for anything. I finally realized that I couldn't use my regular ground Maxwell House. I had some whole beans that were given to me so I ground them up into a very very fine powder like powdered sugar. Voila! I pulled 2 espressos with beautiful crema. I then steamed some milk and had one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had. This baby steams like all get out. There is a trick to pullling espressos though. The light will come on indicating that the water is hot enough but it isn't. What I do is turn on the indicator for the steam wand. When the water is hot enough for that I steam the milk first. Then I switch the mode to cup and wait about 30 seconds. Once I hit brew a beautiful shot of espresso comes out with a nice head of crema. This machine is pretty good if you follow the instructions. The coffee needs to be ground to a very fine powder in order to work. One might want to get a better tamper and it would have been nice if they included a milk steaming container. For the beginner this is a good machine to learn on. The key is that the water MUST be hot enough to build up enough pressure don't rely on the light.
Finally died after 4 years I purchased this machine 4 years ago at Walmart and was satisfied for about 3 and half of them. I have had espresso machines before and therefore knew what to expectand how to get the right cup of espresso from it. I enjoyed this machine until just about 6 months ago when it stopped brewing coffee but still steamed my milk. So just because I really enjoy my coffee I used two different machines until this one died finally today. No longer steams my milk. I will probably upgrade to a better model however for someone who knows how to properly use espresso machines yet does not have the money to purchase the more expensive models I would suggest this one. After all 3 and half years of great coffee is doing pretty well. And I would of spent alot more money purchasing coffee every day at the espresso stands.
cheap HB product Over priced cheap plasic. Buttons hard to tell which mode it is in. Used with clean water yet clogged pump in less than a year with minimal useage. Cust support is poor.PASS on this Unit.
Best machine in this price range This is the best machine in this price range. It's worth every penny! We have used it for 3 years with almost daily use and never had a problem.
short term sally I am on my second Hamilton Beach Espresso Maker. Had the first one a year when it no longer had the power to push the water through. I decalcified with vinegar and cleaned the filters but even without the filters the machine could barely push the water through. SO I paid $20 for shipping and handling for a replacement. I have had it no w3 months and starting to do the same thing even with decalcifying and different filters.
Awesome for the price! I got a steal on this product at WalMart after Christmas. I had to experiment with the ground to get the espresso to come out right fine grind works best and tamped tight. The espresso and crema that comes out is unbelievable to my old espresso machine. The only reason that I give it four stars instead of five is because of the steam nozzle sits a little close to the counter top and makes it difficult to use my coffee cup to steam the milk. I've corrected the problem by placing the machine on a box that raises the machine about 3 additional inches. The other item is the cleaning there isn't much clearance between where the water comes out into the basket so I have to make sure to clean the bottom part of the machine/gasket with every brew. These are relatively minor issues. Overall for the price the espresso and extra maintenance was worth it.
Hamilton Beach Espresso Maker
Don't waste your time Had this machine for two days. Coffee dripped veeeerrrrry slowly no matter the grind or how firmly or loosely I packed the grounds. Steam for cappuccino was weak. I returned it to purchase a DeLonghi pump model $20 cheaper from Amazon.Great return experience though.
Worked great for about a month This was bought as a birthday gift and I didn't use right away. When I did break it out used it a lot worked perfect. After a month the espresso drips very slowly and takes forever to get a cup. Followed the manual in regards to cleaning after every 5 cups or so. Tried to fix doing numerous cleaning instructions found in the manual and online to no avail.Seems the pump is not working. Even with no filter on struggles to pump water through. Reseated the water holder too nothing is working.Disappointed.
Easy-fill removable reservoir.No-fuss milk frother lets you enjoy cappuccino too.Powerful 15-bar Italian pump.Cafe quality results.Simple push-button operation. Hamilton Beach Espresso Maker. You can't visit your favorite European cafe every weekend. But when the aroma of this espresso maker's rich, cafe-quality espresso reaches your nose, you just might be able to pretend. It makes excellent cappuccino, too.
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Hamilton Beach 40715 Espresso Maker Finally Figured It Out! Post a Comment