Easy to use for good coffee and espresso, effective steam/hot water attachment, seems like a nice value.
Positive Product Points
- Makes coffee and espresso; good steaming attachment for frothing/steaming/hot water use.
- Practical and accurate instructional video.
- Espressos are very fast to make, especially one after another.
- Espressos always have good crema (from what I can tell).
- Cleanup is simple and straightforward for all components.
- Separate water container for espresso side vs. water basin for drip coffee side.
- Drip coffee is easy to make and schedule.
Negative Product Points
- Steam/hot water attachment is a bit lower than I would prefer, allowing up to approx. 20oz. frothing cups when machine is on a full surface; when attachment side of machine is on a surface edge, any reasonable sized container can be used (though pipe is only 4" or so).
- Cleanup takes longer than I would have originally expected after making cappuccino, but this is probably typical (just alot of components to deal with, and I'm fussy).
- Initial heatup of the thermocoil for espresso is a bit noisy, though it is a relatively short time.
Detailed Commentary
I purchased a Capresso Bar (Model 351: dual espresso / drip coffee ,
with steam & hot water attachment) via eBay for $255, and am happy after
the first 2 months of use. I was not a big coffee drinker (only an occasional
espresso), but my wife enjoyed an occasional cappuccino and I felt it
would help to have a decent maker for company. I was a complete
coffee novice and did some basic research before buying this machine,
not wanting to pay many more hundreds of $$ for the better-liked
brands that I've seen mentioned in alt.coffee, because I did not
expect to use it terribly often (and again, was not a big coffee
person). Only prior experience was a Krups dual machine (poor at
both), and various drip coffee makers in the workplace.
It came with a basic instructional video, which gave me the
confidence to practice immediately after setup; prior study at
http://www.coffeekid.com put the video and instruction booklet into
proper context, BTW. Overall, the operations are simple for all types
of coffee; cleanup after making espresso and frothed milk takes more
time than I would have realized (probably about the same for most
makers, though more "automatic" self-grinding, etc. systems are
probably more convenient). Espressos always have good crema (from
what I can tell), coffee is easy to make and schedule, and frothing
milk is actually kind of fun - though I still need much more practice.
The Capresso Bar seems to be holding up decently thus far, though I
do wonder how long the thermocoil, pressure controls, pump mechanism,
etc. will last before needing service some day. I have no experience
with prior machines to know what I should expect w/regards to
longevity. I was able to purchase my unit for substantially
less than the avg retail price, so will not cry too much if something
goes terribly awry years from now . . . if it breaks _months_ from now,
I would be hoping for decent support from the company, though.
Oh, the convenience has helped to turn me into a cappuccino fan - a
self-made victim who suddenly feels like another trendie in the crowd! Nice
to get all that caffeine in a tasty brew without the corn-syrup calories
from Coca-Cola(TM) or Snapple(TM), I must admit.
