The Only Automatic Espresso Machine You'll Need--And Afford
Written: May 22 '06 (Updated May 22 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Coffee, Easy Function, Multi-lingual LED, Auto Clean and Rinse
Cons: Expensive, Single Function, Somewhat Large
The Bottom Line: A great automatic espresso machine if you've got $5000 burning a hole in your pocket and few feet of countertop space to spare.
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| glacier's Full Review: Franke Saphira Espresso Machine & Coffee Maker |
Me and My Espresso History
If you know me, you know I like my espresso. I'm a bit of a snob that way. I have my favorite espresso bars with my favorite baristas, who get the 'pull' just right and the temperature right around 160. A few of them are good enough to give me my 'uptown', which is a subject for another time. The point is I am very particular about my espresso, let's leave it at that.
As a former barista of three years, I've always appreciated the art of making a good cup of coffee; and I'd never ever had a good espresso from one of those home espresso machines, so at first glance I was not expecting much from this automatic Franke Saphira, even though it demanded a hefty price ($4500). It honestly only got better from there.
The Unit's Design
This machine has a relatively large form factor, taking up a good foot and a half on the kitchen counter. It's twin coffee bins on the top clear the overhead counters by about 3 inches--just enough to get the bag of whole beans close enough to pour. I'll get more into that later.
If you look at the photo, you'll see the water container comprising the right 3 inches or so. This is removable for refill. I generally refill it every morning with my first cup so as not to have 'stale' water for my espresso.
The tray at the bottom is removable as well, and guards access to the tray holding the used grounds, which in my case fills up relatively quickly (I'd say every 20 shots of espresso). It's a good idea to rinse both of these out regularly, as the machine has a rather elaborate 'sensing' system that depends on contacts from each piece touching one another. If the bottom tray, for example, is improperly inserted, the LED display will tell you so. This is a pretty impressive feature which I'll address later.
The portafilter (the spout where the coffee comes out) is adjustable up and down to accommodate mugs of varying shapes and sizes. The steamer adjusts to about 45 degrees up to the right to accommodate steaming.
On the top are two small coffee bins, each with adjustable grind indicators. I'd estimate they hold about 4 cups of whole beans each--much more than I'd ever recommend to put in at a single time. We use one bin for regular and one for decaf.
There are six buttons on the left panel above the portafilter, three on either side of the LED. The first five are the source of your salve, your caffeine delivery devices. Starting top left and moving counterclockwise, they are cappucino, double americano, americano, and latte double latte. The last button, just to the right of the LED is the switch for the two blends at the top. By default the left blender is selected; press the button once to switch to the right blender.
You did hear me say latte earlier. The unit has an optional refrigeration module where you can store your milk and feed it directly into the machine to make your latte. We didn't really need this, but I figured you'd wonder.
The Software and Interface
Yes, this has an onboard computer, and I hear newer units have serial ports for downloading performance metrics and trouble reports. The system performs regular (and prompted) rinsing, which is mostly good, unless you're in real need and have to wait. I'd say it takes the unit 5 minutes to run its rinse cycle and a bit more to run its clean cycle. Just press the button, place the carafe under the portafilter and let it run. There's a small cap on the top to insert a spoonful of special espresso machine cleaner before running the clean.
These less frequently used functions, including the off/on switch, are hidden behind a flip down panel above the steamer. The hot water button and steamer button are actually on the outside of this panel above the steamer.
The Coffee it Makes
Very good. I can put in a handful and my favorite beans (Bolivian) and know I'll get a consistent and savory result with a respectable crema. Sure, I had to play with the grind at first, but I quickly found my settings after 3 or 4 tries. I must say I was quite astounded that it came out so well.
My Few Complaints/Issues
1.The machine does not allow you to brew and steam at the same time. Generally not a problem, but I sometimes only have one minute to spare and cannot get my coffee made fast enough.
2. There is no easy way to remove coffee from the bins on top. We've had one or two bad batches of coffee poured into these and had to resort to our shop-vac to get them out. The bins are removable, but the beans all fall into the unit if you pull one of them out when full. An awful mess, indeed.
3. Price. This unit is cost prohibitive. My office got this on a deal at year-end, and could not have otherwise afforded it. If you want a good, affordable hand-powered machine, take a look at LaPavoni for great products under $1000 (http://www.wholelattelove.com/LaPavoni.cfm).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
glacier
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Location: Anchorage, AK, USA
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 21 members
About Me:
Proud father of two living in the last frontier.
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