De'Longhi ECP35.31Traditional Barista Pump Espresso Machine, Coffee and Cappuccino Maker, Black

This review is for model ECP 35.31 only. For 10 years, a cheap but reliable Cookworks brand filter machine served me coffee each morning, till it broke this month. So I was looking around, and was initially hesitant at buying an Espresso maker due to the device cost and never having owned one previously. After researching online, speaking with friends who own similar machines, I decided to try one. All I will say is that this is the best thing I have bought myself and majority of my housemates love it too. You get shop coffee at home, saving £3 a pop. It makes cappuchino and other variants, is easy to clean, has a removable tray that I have put away as I don't need. Mine has a 2 year warranty, so if it breaks, the manufacturer can fix it. We make 6 cups of coffee a day with this and it will take about 2 to 3 days before you get your technique right for the flavour you like and this depends on the coffee grind too. For myself, I find the black Lavazza Espresso packet (strength 5) is now my coffee of choice, I pull a shot or two for 30 seconds, then top it up with kettle boiled water, a splash of milk. For others in my house, instead of adding the water, they use the machine to froth milk to make cappuchinos. The coffee tastes delicious with the crema it creates and the machine is compact, sturdy, not loud and very easy to clean. Definitely impressed and would recommend this model for ease of use and build quality. Just read the instructions fully and don't pull the shot for longer than 30 seconds otherwise I am advised that the less desirable flavours of the grind will pour through and may taste bitter. But it's all personal preference, so experiment to your hearts content. One thing I will say is that if you are in a rush, and have no time, then Espresso makers are not for you as you need to spend a few minutes to make a lovely coffee.

Couldn’t justify spending £500 on the more expensive, highly regarded coffee machines but this kept appearing on various websites and YouTube videos etc, during my coffee deep dive!Spent ages researching “affordable” espresso machines and this has all the necessary features needed for making good quality espresso coffee.I’ve made a few alterations by adding affordable extra’s (steam wand and bottomless portafilta) with fantastic results but I’m still finding my way somewhat.The machine itself feels and operates like a decent quality machine and looks really nice and neat.Cleaning after each use makes maintaining easy.Highly recommend this machine.

Machine No 2Let's start with the positives, this really does make a great cup of coffee. I buy the beans online and grind them myself with a De'Longhi grinder. The Crema is wonderful, and with regular cleaning and descaling it helps maintain a great taste over a period of time. As you will see below this explains why I have been so persistent.So, on to the negatives. I had the same model (bought elsewhere) for a couple of years until it developed a fault (I had already had it repaired once under warranty). As I alluded to earlier it makes fantastic coffee, so I decided to order another, but as I couldn't afford a new one I opted for a 'used - acceptable' refurbished machine from the Amazon warehouse. It would have a few scratches etc. but this didn't concern me as I expected it to have been fully checked and certified operationally before being sent for resale.I had used it a few times before it started to keep tripping out, I then noticed water dripping from the underside of the main part machine, and a pool of water underneath. I returned it (good process, but took a few weeks to get a refund) and figuring this was a one off, decided to order another!!So machine number 3 arrived, another 'used - acceptable' machine from the Amazon warehouse, but in slightly better condition than the last, i.e. less scratches. I start using it and guess what?.......after a few uses it has the same problem as before, trips out and has water leaking everywhere. I figured out that when tipped it on it's front the water would all come out and would prevent it tripping out. Not ideal but I had a month before I had to return it, so this it was I did.My month to return it was coming to an end so I decided to send it back. Still not wishing to give up that great taste, I went for another. Still not able to buy a new machine I did however decide to upgrade to a 'used - nearly new' figuring that the extra £20 would be worth it.The machine arrived next day, it was in original packaging and apart from a very tiny scratch on the front, looked brand new. Great I thought, the £20 extra was definitely worth it. Unfortunately, that was where the joy ended. I plugged the machine in, loaded it up with fresh coffee and started to make my first cup. Within ten seconds the water was literally pouring out of the machine from every gap possible. A pool of water developed on my worktop and I turned the machine off, it was worse than the previous two and had almost emptied the entire jug of water.So, I am resigned to sending this back too, but what to do next? I cannot believe that I have had three machines and they all leak water. For the first two it would seem that a pipe/tube inside has either split or become loose. With the last machine I would say the pipe/tube has come off entirely as otherwise it wouldn't dump that amount of water in such a short space of time. Again, why wasn't this thoroughly checked before being sold on again. I presume these machines are coming from De'Longhi so there is clearly a problem with their service repairs operation.So far the service from Amazon has been very good, I will update again once the latest machine goes back and how I proceed, I'm tempted to get another just to see if I can get one that works! In the meantime it's back to the cafetierre :(29/12/20 UPDATE - Well I ordered the 4th machine this time opting for a nearly new. I'm up to £116 now, but it seems to have done the trick. The machine is absolutely spotlesss and after 2 months it still doesn't leak!!I have already descaled it as i am using it several times a day, and noticed it was already starting to scale up, but I live in a particularly hard water area, so I'll do this every month or two from now on. At the moment I am glad I persisted, I'm sure there are other machines that do the same job, but probably not at the cost of this one.

Great coffee/ espresso machine. Unfortunately I don’t read instructions so wondered why my milk never got hot. Once read , excellent boiling , frothy milk ! Great tasting (depending what you buy) coffee, just like an expensive posh coffee shop.