De’Longhi EC9355M La Specialista Prestigio Espresso Machine , 1.3L, Stainless Steel

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Verified Review: “My wife bought this machine from Amazon about 9 months ago. We haven’t had any of the maintenance problems other users have had. I haven’t seen any reviews here from an “unwilling” household member, so I wanted to post this. We have had the same automatic drip coffee maker for over 10 years, so this was a serious upgrade for us. As a guy who “just wants a cup of coffee” in the morning, I was very skeptical that I could grow to love this machine. We have limited counter space and so didn’t want to have both. But my wife promised she’d make the coffee every morning, so I consented. Her promise lasted about two months, so indeed I was stuck using the machine as expected (and making hers as well)! Now I drink cappuccino every morning, because the taste is better than coffee (Americano) and it takes the same amount of time. That’s my chief complaint with this machine, the active time spent using it. You can’t set it to be ready when you wake up, and the operation is active; you can’t just push a button and walk away. So my experience is not in comparison to any other espresso maker, but compared to a “normal coffee maker.”

I also wanted to share a few tips to getting the time down from 8 minutes to 4 minutes including clean up. This is for people who have been using the machine for a few months so you know what I’m talking about.

1. Use the shelf of the machine for the milk foaming. If you use enough milk (we use heavy cream/almond milk), the steamer tube will reach into the milk while in the included steel “pitcher”. I have found no difference in milk/foam consistency if I stir the milk around or just let it sit. I use this time (usually takes 2 steam cycles) to empty out the grounds and clean up the filter holder.

2. I use a small metal spoon to clean out the grounds from the filter rather than banging it, which has been faster and makes less of a mess. I’ve been doing this for the past 4 months and have not noticed any scrapes to the filter or filter cup. The sooner you do this after use the easier it is.

3. We remove and rinse the filter after each use. This was very annoying for me as I have big fingers and it’s nearly impossible to grip the tiny rubber tab to pull the filter out. Then my wife showed me a trick: just use a small corner torn off from a paper towel to pull the tab. It gives you just enough grip to easily pull out the filter, and works every time.

I clean the filter and cup while the milk is foaming and this has made coffee making into only a minor annoyance rather than the serious one it was before.

My other complaint is the noise that the foamer makes. Surprisingly, the way that you orient/tilt the milk pitcher makes a big difference. Play around with it until the noise is reduced. I used to wake up the whole house with what I would call the “shrieking beasts of hell”, but now they have mostly been tamed.

Overall, I’m happy with the purchase, but it took some getting used to.

PS: In case anyone is wondering, each steam cycle adds about 30ml of water to your beverage. I weighed the milk pitcher before and after steaming. Yes, I’m a nerd.”

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2020

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