Great choice for the serious, but not fanatical, espresso drinker!
Positive Product Points
-- Super easy to use
-- Produced great shots immediately
-- Water bin is easy to remove
-- Lots of storage under drain grate
-- Special order copper metal finish looks FANTASTIC in my kitchen!
Negative Product Points
-- Hard to see water level through water bin‘s smoked acrylic
-- Machine has to be primed on first use, and if machine not used for more than a day
Detailed Commentary
I am very pleased with my Starbucks Barista -- especially since I bought it on sale for $299 ($100 off)! After pulling several pounds of coffee beans through it, I can honestly say that it produces espresso on par with the vast majority of espresso that I sampled while on a four-day business trip to Italy last May. Whether in Milan, Brescia, or Turin, I didn‘t have a cup of espresso in Italy that was any better than what I‘m now able to make at home with my Barista (well, okay, that little hole in the wall in Brescia -- the one on the square with the 1,000-year-old church and the lovely local ladies -- might have been just a little bit better). The good news is that I didn‘t have to mess around to achieve this feat -- I simply followed the easy-to-understand instructions and I was there. I could have bought the same machine for $50 less if I had gone with the standard colors -- white, black, and so on. But I sprung for the metal copper finish and I‘m glad I did -- it looks stunning! All in all, a great machine -- and a TERRIFIC machine for $299! If you want to make great espresso with a minimum of fuss, then this is the machine for you. As an added bonus, the sales guy at Starbucks kicked in a free pound of espresso roast coffee beans. I‘m a happy customer!
