Review on De'Longhi La Specialista Espresso Machine: Sensor Grinder, Dual Heating System, Advanced Latte System & Hot Water Spout for Americano Coffee or Tea, Stainless Steel EC9335M by Mike Wieneke

I have had several different espresso machines over the years. My last was Breville Oracle which finally died after 3 years. When deciding what to replace it with, I evaluated what I intend to use it for. In recent years I've only been drinking Americano and, to a lesser extent, Latte. So what I was looking for was not an espresso machine that could produce espresso shots for drinking straight espresso, but something that was more than enough to make excellent americanos and lattes. La Specialista did a great job here. It's easy to use and as I have a lot of experience with espresso the setup for making great coffee was quick and easy. From switching on to being ready for use in about a minute. I then do a blind shot to warm up the portafilter as a cold portafilter will negatively affect the espresso brewed. I leave an empty portafilter in the car and use the flush button to preheat. The grinding works well, as does the built-in tamper, with the side benefit of not being as messy as it often is when using a separate tamper. One problem with a grinder is that for a good espresso, the grind setting needs to be very close to the minimum grind setting, and over time as the grinder's grinding stones wear, this is likely to become a problem. Luckily, DeLonghi sells a replacement upper cutter for just this problem. Steaming is excellent and almost automatic for a latte or flat white, but I think it's a bit weak for a cappuccino. Cleaning the steam wand is extremely easy, and since the wand doesn't burn, cleaning the outside is just as easy. Various keyboard shortcuts to change some of the default settings work well and are well documented in the user guide. The First Run booklet is excellent and well presented making preparing the machines for the first job a breeze.