Sally Flores

Makes great espresso, not too big of a machine.

**UPDATE** PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU PURCHASE! GREAT MACHINE , BUT A MUST KNOW!My first review has changed. I purchased about May 10th, then due to faulty steam wand I returned about 4 days later and got a refund immediately (same day) from Amazon. So I purchased the same one again. I just received it today, May 16th (2 days later), very quick delivery! love it!Anyhow, this is a MUST KNOW... the reason my steam wand did not work is due to the screw that was not tightened on the wand! See all pics! This is what happened the first time. I washed all parts, and as I pulled off the black plastic cover on the steam wand the screw came off with it and fell into my garbage disposable without my knowledge., that's why the steam wand did not work.When I used my garbage disposable hours later, I heard the loud noise, then found the screw in there but I did not know where it came from. So as I received the new espresso machine today, I did the same thing, cleaned all parts and took off the black plastic off the steam wand and this time, the screw (which was not tightened again) it fell to the ground this time, not into my garbage disposal! I am so grateful it fell on the floor and I now know what happened to the other espresso machine!So if you purchase this machine, or any other espresso machine, be very careful of parts! BTW... this espresso machine is AWESOME!!!Ver más

10 personas la encontraron útil

Kyla Bender

25 de julio de 2016

Great Machine!

I love this espresso machine!! If you’re looking for an economically safe machine that still makes good espresso, this espresso machine is for you. I work at a coffee shop and am used to the heavy-duty, expensive machines, but this one met all of my expectations for a shot of espresso. You will have to toy around with the amount of espresso you put in the portafilter and make sure the beans are ground course in order to allow the water to pass through as the water stream is a tad bit weak. Look for beans at the store that are labeled “espresso” and preferably one labeled “course grind”. I recommend finding any different kinds and seeing which one you like best to ensure your perfect shot of espresso. The steam wand on the machine is great as well! It has enough pressure to make the milk foamy and hot. The machine does not come with a milk steaming pitcher so I recommend purchasing a separate metal container to steam the milk. If you are making a latte, make sure you steam the milk before you pour the shot to ensure that the espresso does not go bad before it is able to combine with the milk. Even though the espresso machine was used, it came in near perfect condition and contained all of the parts the manual said it would contain. There were a few scratches on the portafilter but that was stated before I bought it. It came in a timely matter. I was very happy with the machine and the seller!Ver más

25 personas la encontraron útil

Wilfredo Aguila

6 de octubre de 2015

Not good.

Well I have to say I'm very disappointed. I bought this machine here on Amazon and it worked great for about 2 months. Then the espresso stopped working but the steamer was fine. I cleaned it, waited extra time for it, read the entire manual for help ...Nope it didn't work. .I called Hamilton Beach and very friendly people said they would replace it but I had to pay the 12 dollar shipping. ..Ok I said and I didn't have to return the bad one so good deal right...I waited a few weeks and used my backup old one from Mr coffee. I received the replacement as promised. I waited a few days and tried the new machine. Guess what, first shot of espresso never came out, only a couple of drops...I threw it out and no more Hamilton Beach for me. I hate to say it but I have never come across such a bad product.Ver más

19 personas la encontraron útil

Angie

Beginner friendly

So far this HB expresso machine has been great and simple to use since it came with instructions and a Cappuccino Coffee Guide. I made my 1st latte!I’m a beginner and yesterday I tried different ways of making my expresso and this is what I learned. In order to get a creamier and darker expresso you must ground your coffee beans to a flour like texture(powder). If you use average grounded coffee your expresso will turn out bland and light/watery.I still need to work on my steamer skills since no matter what I do I can’t get that frothy silky foam texture I am looking for. This is why I gave a 4⭐️I used organic cuban cafè for my coffee and the Shardor coffee grinder.Ver más

Ballousmom

Not so great after all!

Update on my update. I am sorry to say that after about five weeks of use, my machine just stopped making the beautiful espresso shots that it so easily did before. The coffee is coming out weak and with no crema. It seems it has something to do with the pump, but I'm not sure. SOOOO disappointed. I guess this is a lesson to wait a while before reviewing. Naturally, the machine is past the return date. I have contacted Hamilton Beach for support but have not received a reply.UODATE. Still loving my machine. Uploaded a video to illustrate the excellent results and quiet operation as asked by another shopper.LOVE this machine. Easy to use right out of the box. I have been a faithful Tassimo and Nespresso user for years. Like 15 years. I just got tired of paying out the nose for pods and weak cappuccinos which is my drink of choice. Many years ago, Starbucks made an espresso machine called the “Barista”. I owned one for years and loved it. This machine gives me the same results with much less effort. Some tips. I tried pre-ground espresso from Starbucks and several other beaneries. I was not satisfied with the flavor and the “pull” of my shot. The water went through too fast and my shot was not strong enough. I went ahead and bought a burr grinder and grind my own beans on the finest setting. The grinds look like powder but I am able to tamp the coffee really well and get a 15-20 second pull on my double shot. I also fill the filter in stages. One scoop, then tamp followed by another and tamp. I do this as much as I can to get a solid puck”. Since I am “girly”, (psst, I am a girl), it could be some of you stronger women and men don’t need to do this, but I am also 60! Anyhoo, this machine is so easy to use and consistently makes an excellent espresso. I will admit I don’t bother with frothing as I best my milk while I am making my shots and use my foaming wand to get a rich thick foam. With practice it all takes just a few minutes. Then I just run some water through the machine without the filter in, wipe it all down and, BAM! I’m caffeinated! It is a great buy and I have tried several Delonghi machines that just don’t come close. The grinder I bought is the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill and you can find it on Amazon and the Milk Frother is the PowerLix Milk Frother. I highly recommend both. If you live in a part of the country that has an H-E-B , maybe just Texas? I highly recommend the Rita Maya organic coffee beans. The giant bag is about $14 bucks. I get the dark roast and it is AWESOME! If you don’t have an H-E-B, I am truly sorry.

wayne

23 de abril de 2018

If you only have $80 this is a five star machine

I've owned the gamut of personal espresso machines, from the very expensive "Astra pour over", that took up half of my kitchen, to the very inexpensive Krups aluminum coil machine that is no longer sold. All of these machines produce a shot of coffee if used properly. For the sake of this review, I'll compare this to a couple slightly more expensive but similar semi-automatic espresso machines I've personally owned and compare them based not only on their ability to make a good shot but also on things like longevity and user-friendliness.The construction of this machine mainly plastic with a few external parts made of aluminum. It heats quickly and loses it's heat just as quickly. It seems to produce a hot enough shot but steaming even a small amount of milk will take two to three heating cycles to produce hot foamy milk. The steam wand seems to produce foam just fine though if you like manual steaming you will find yourself really having to keep the metal tip just at the sweet spot to get it to heat and produce foam properly, there just isn't enough steam flow for anything else. The steam wand it'self, rotates only in two dimensions so you will need to hold the milk carafe in position. You cannot move the wand down into the milk.The Portafilter is one of the small types. I have a custom tamper I made on a lathe years ago and it fit's perfectly so I'm going to assume it's the same size as other small inexpensive semi-automatics. The smaller size portafilter doesn't quite hold as much coffee, and the surface area of the top of the coffee is about half so take it with a grain of salt. It is easier to get a good shot with a large portafilter, that being said I and many other people have been able to get decent shot's out of these types of machines. You will, of course, have to mess with your grind settings to do it. The coffee should be ground so that it almost but doesn't quite clog the portafilter. You should taste the coffee on the sides of your tongue when poured properly.I was unable to find replacement parts for this machine. That does not mean that there are none, however, if you intend to keep this machine you will need to replace the portafilter gasket periodically. It's not, just this machine. The high temp rubber used in these gaskets tends to get hard and stop sealing with time. Used daily you will probably get between 8 months to a year before that part will need to be replaced on almost any machine. Within two years the steam wand will pull enough dry burned milk up into it to clog at least the rotating part to make the steam flow even less usable. You may be able to disassemble it and clean it, or you may need new parts depending on the design. If you need to replace the machine every time your portafilter gasket goes out it may make your $80 investment moot if you could have paid twice that for something you could have kept for twice as long without the other little problems.Final conclusion:It actually works. It's cheap with all of it's plastic parts but it does make a decent cup of coffee if you spend enough time dialing in your grind. Normally I would have a lot of complaints about things like the steam wand only moving side to side or the soupy mess of coffee in the portafilter after every shot, but I just said this was $80.I would challenge anyone to find a machine that can make a decent cup of coffee for anywhere near that amount, and if you calculate the cost of a cup of coffee shop coffee purchased daily I think you will find that replacing this every six months will still be cheaper.I fought, mentally, over that last star. I would have given it 4 stars if I could have found replaceable parts or if the steamer hadn't needed to recharge three times to steam a cup of milk. As is I'm giving it three only because I can find semi-automatic machines for twice this price that have most of the problems listed covered, including replaceable parts. If I'm going to recommend this to a friend I need to know that he isn't going to need to replace the machine in less than a year due to the portafilter gasket going hard. For this money it does what you want it to do and easily earns it's three stars. If all you have is less than $100 and you need an espresso machine just go and get one. You won't be unhappy with your decision.