OK...so this may be a bit verbose but I want to make sure to give this a very thorough review.background: so...the wife and I are ex chefs...meaning we worked in restaurants in various capacities and know what we are doing in a fast paced quality kitchen. We've done our time and have the war wounds to last us a lifetime, but now we are just enjoying life in a much nicer pace of life.We are clearly "foodies" and we love good wine and we also enjoy a good cup of coffee...for the record the best coffee we've had was while on vacation in Ireland and WOW...no matter where we went the coffee was amazing!!! We also don't particularly like Starbutts coffee. We use a standard drip coffee maker at home that has a pod alternative use as well that we use everyday for our caffeine fix. NOT ANYMORE!!!So...we are very, very new to the whole espresso machine, single shot double shot, milk steaming vs frothing..etc, etc, etc. we clearly need to get on YouTube university to get a bit more educated on the particulars of this world, but right out of the box...SOOOOOO GOOOOOODDDDD!!!!Just reading the basic instructions that came with the machine are pretty much all you will need to make a good cup of coffee...latte, cappuccinos, etc.The machine is just that...seems like a very quality machine that heats the water, pushes the hot water through, and has the steam wand...I guess that is pretty much all you need. OH...and the grinder is super efficient as well. We have a separate one where we grind all our beans normally, which we may retire to the appliance graveyard since the one on the machine works great. Also, keep in mind, quality ingredients will always reap better results...we always get good dark roast coffee and we have our faves...Kona, Blue mountain, some Ecuadorian mixes...but like anything else, poopoo in...poopoo out...so don't be stingy on the coffee and use beansI'm sure it will take practice to get that perfect shot, or perfect frothing and such...but right out of the box...we ground up some beans, tamped it down, push the button...then steamed some milk...and HOLY MOLY!!!! best cup of coffee I've ever had.I'm serious...no sugar needed...just poured the steamed milk...that was a bit frothy intentionally, into the cup of the coffee shot...and WOW...SOOOO GOOOOD. smooth, no bitterness at all, and just so drinkable.Now, I can't say that this machine corners the market on the quality of the espresso shots as we are certainly not going to test others to compare...and these things are EXPENSIVE!!!Given that, all I can say is that this product, from this seller is absolutely amazing...for us! I'm sure there are others, with more bells and whistles that will wash your car and do your laundry...but for a great cup of coffee with the basics...this is the ticket!!Now...if you are a froo froo persnickety coffee hipster that spends their day writing their breakout screenplay that sips coffee all day long while longing for a better life cause you just deserve it for being alive...well...you may think otherwise about how good this machine is...yet at the same time, you wouldn't get something like this cause you won't get a real job and move out of your parents house.Ok...that may have been unnecessary...but you know I'm right!In any case...we have become espresso nuts now...the coffee machine is moving to the garage...the espresso maker will now occupy that space and will now be our go to caffeine addiction filler!.Highly recommend this machine...now...time will tell if this holds up with daily use...and we will definitely keep up with the maintenance of the parts and such.All thumbs up here!!!

This is my first espresso maker and I love it. The coffee grinder has 15 settings and is easy to adjust so you can get the type of brew you want. You can adjust the water heat, the frequency of descaling based on your water hardness, and the size of a single and double shot up to 150ml. The steam/ hot water wand works great. The controls are intuitive easy to figure out. The instruction booklet is thorough, and laminated, so you can keep it around to reference whenever you need it and it won't get worn out. I did notice that the pressure gauge didn't quite make it to espresso level the first few times I used it, but I believe that was operator error. When I tried different grind coarseness and tamping down harder or softer, the pressure changed accordingly. My espresso had a nice foam and tasted good to me. This machine has a stow away area in the drainage tray for the extra filter, and there is a needle for clearing the steam wand stowed in there as well. There is also a syringe attachment for priming if the water won't fill. There is a bouy that pops up to alert you when the drain tray is full. The water tank holds 2300 ml and is easy to remove to refill or clean. The top of the machine can be used to store the tamper, or preheat cups. It comes with a silicone mat that fits over the edge of the counter for tamping your coffee in the filter. This machine has a fairly small footprint. I store it under a cabinet with only 18.5 inches of clearance and have no issues other than having to pull it out to refill the water tank. This comes with everything you need except coffee and cups. There's even a milk tin and 2 brushes to clean the grinder out. I am so happy!!! (and extremely caffeinated.)