Review on Hamilton Beach 40792: Experience Espresso Excellence – Latte, Cappuccino, and Milk Frother, 15 Bar Italian Pump, Single Cup Brewer in Black & Stainless by Shane Jess

Very disappointed. Over the years I have purchased many inexpensive pump espresso machines. My main finding was that the smaller models last about a year if you drink a lot of espresso. So I consider them disposable and expect to lose about $100 each year or if I'm lucky and the unit breaks before the warranty expires I might get a replacement and get almost a two year discount on my original purchase . Together with my wife we fill around 1500 cups a year which seems to be the life cycle of these junior machines. I have been using Mr. Kaffee ECMP50 for a number of years. For all his shortcomings, he pulls out a strong cup of espresso. The question is reliability. Blocks usually start to leak after about 6-8 months and the boiler fails after 12-14 months. So I was very excited to try this new Hamilton Beach 40792 block. Aesthetically the block is very pleasing. Looks solid, looks great. The clip grinder holder design is really good. However, my romance ended with the first cup of espresso I poured myself. It tasted like total garbage. The problem is that even the double-shot basket is too small, and then to make the problem worse, it pulls out the espresso too quickly. As a result, the water comes into contact with the bottom too briefly, and you end up with something that has no flavor. Essentially, you're drinking brown water. The steam function also leaves a lot to be desired. I made two cups of milk side by side, one with this Hamilton Beach machine and one with my broken ECMP50. I did this because I'm aware that barometric pressure can make a huge difference in foam quality (I live at high altitude), so I wanted to make sure I wasn't just having a bad foam day. The Hamilton Beach foam was very thin and lost foam/body quickly. Device Mr. Coffee, on the other hand, produced a very strong foam that held his body. Overall very disappointed. Looks like I'm back at the annual Mr. Coffee.