Coolest thing I've seen on a countertop all year, plus makes wonderful coffee.
Positive Product Points
powerful, looks great (rugged) on my black granite countertop. Steam, hot water and coffee all ready immediately at the touch of a button.
Negative Product Points
Filling the water reservoir is kind of awkward. I use a kettle to pour the water (I don't remove the tank from the machine)
Detailed Commentary
This machine was the very first thing I moved into my new apartment this spring. I just bought it couple of days before and not even a chair or even a fork came with me on the first trip ; ) I looks so great that I almost didn't want anything else in my kitchen along with it. My grey/steel KitchenAid stand mixer looks ordinary beside it. The pictures don't say enough, it seems to look just grey in all the pictures I've seen of it except at the manufacturers website. The azur blue lights that tell you it's turned on, the water is heating or you need to fill up more water just look so cool at night time. You have to excuse my english as I'm Icelandic but I'm so amazed by this machine that I just can't keep quiet. It is very simple to use at least if you have some experience with these kind of machines. I use it a lot on weekends and turn it on in the morning and only off late at night. Usually when having people over for dinner they tend to be reluctant to ask for a cappucino or a macchiato because they are used to this taking much time to make, but as this baby has steam alwas ready I'm able to make 2 cappucinos and 2 expressos in a matter of minutes and people are always surprised about the time it takes and quality of the coffee they get. They should just wait 'till I get my grinder.....! Anyways, as I'm not a professional barista I lack the words and correct terms in order for the pro's to get any sence from this, but for ordinary people who love coffee they should be able to tell from my "review" that I'm very happy with my Innova and I'm drinking wonderful coffee from it every day. Just one more thing, if you have no or little experince with operating these kind of machines take a short seminar or course where a professinal takes you through the basics and teaches you how to make the most common drinks like macchiatos, cappucinos, café latte etc.
Buying Experience
Well what can I say, I know the vendor a little personally so he just told me to take the baby home, give it a test and pay him later if I liked it. He sure knew what he was doing as there was no way I was taking it back to him. I live only 10 minutes away so no shipping problems there. The vendor operates a few coffee shops (houses) so he has professional baristas on his payroll and offered me access to them if I experienced any problems. Can't beat that now can you ?
