A nice all-around coffee/espresso/latte machine.
I love my Delonghi Nabucco machine. It does everything that I need, or want, from a coffee machine. I can make pots of drip coffee for when family is visiting, or I have company over. I can also use the steamer side to steam up water, froth/steam milk, and make espresso. My biggest complaint about this machine is that the instructions it came with about how to use the machine were sadly lacking, and I found it a frustrating machine to learn how to use. Because of this I only used the drip-coffee side for a year or so after I got it. However when I first met my mother-in-law she had the same unit, and was able to show me how to use it quickly and easily, and it really is quick and easy to use. I do wish there was an automatic off for the steam/espresso, I feel like I need to be in constant attendance and cant walk away from the machine while it's prepping, but perhaps that's how most coffee/espresso makers are. Brew Performance The coffee made is adequate - I'm still experimenting with the correct amount of espresso grounds to use to make a strong enough shot, but that comes more from my lack of experience than from the machine's performance. Ease of Cleaning There are some inconvenient nooks and crannies that I always seem to get coffee into, which is annoying to clean sometimes. But what I love is that most of the pieces are easily removed from the unit and can be washed by hand in the sink. One thing that is very hard to clean is the nozzle on the steamer for steaming milk. I have had milk get clogged up in the steam-nozzle, which can be difficult to clean out. I've found removing the nozzle, and soaking it in extremely hot water is the best way to clean the nozzle. Ease of Use In my opinion, the steamer/espresso side of the machine is very difficult to use, without proper instruction. Since the instructions included with my unit were basically useless, I did not use this feature until someone else explained it to me. Now I believe it is a fairly easy machine to use, but without proper instruction it is difficult to figure out (however I am not an avid espresso-machine-user, so maybe for others this machine is very easy to figure out). Design The unit is a bit large, which is the only downfall, in my opinion. Counter space is precious in our family so having a large coffee-pot unit can be frustrating! The other biggest flaw is a lack of timer/start on the drip-pot side of the unit. Durability It has held up well for about 5 years so far, with light / occasional usage.
greenlightgo
USA