Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Definitely worth 5 stars overall in my estimation - having done lots of research and knowing its limitations before the purchase. Quality of the espresso produced surpasses almost all coffee shops including Charbucks and others by far. An expert barrista may be able to produce slightly better quality, but even their results are not consistent.
I previously returned a Jura-Capresso 13423 Impressa S9 One Touch Automatic Coffee-and-Espresso Center, Platinum because it produced inferior espresso and frothed milk with gigantic lukewarm bubbles. I would not have returned it (even at that price) if it had performed as well as the Talea. (THANK YOU AMAZON for a great return policy.) In fairness to the Jura, maybe it was faulty - at the finest setting the grounds looked very coarse - coarser than I would use for French-Press coffee.
The Talea cost 1/3 the price, produces far superior espresso, and very acceptable frothed milk BUT it is made of plastic and not stainless - which might be a more important disadvantage for some. The ceramic grinder is quieter, producing very noticeably finer espresso-sized grounds at the factory middle setting (experimentation proved this setting to be the best) than the Jura set to the finest grind. Consequently the coffee is much stronger than the single scoop of coffee would suggest (as compared with the Jura's 2 smaller scoops).
Within 80 seconds after switching it on, it completes a warm-up procedure which includes passing some 2oz of hot water (I use it to pre-heat my cup) through the two dispensing nozzles and is ready to brew coffee. The relatively small size of the spent coffee-puck bin, dregs tray, 8oz bean hopper, and 57oz water reservoir can be annoying when you are making numerous coffees, but I see the positive here - "The Nasties" do not build up. Rinsing the puck-bin and dregs tray under warm water each time I refill the water container takes much less than one minute - usually only once per day. The steam wand also needs wiping down and flushing with steam after each use to prevent "The Nasties" and I pull off the stainless part and wash it and wipe the internal pipe after each session of multiple frothings.
I choese not to use the expensive water filters because my soft tap-water will require few descalings. Weekly rinsing of the easily removed brew-group (the plastic guts of the machine) is easily accomplished without using expensive chemicals. At the same time I soap and rinse the water reservoir, puck bin, and dregs-tray. Lubrication of moving parts of the brew-group (using the food-safe lubricant provided) is suggested after 500 brewing cycles. - Every 2 months should do it for my usage.
A ½oz ristretto is too strong for me if more than "1 bean" (7gm of coffee grounds) coffee strength is selected. When making a long coffee (6oz of coffee in an 8oz cup) "1 bean" is fairly strong, "2 beans" is strong, and "3 beans" (10.5gm of coffee grounds) is too strong - and I like strong coffee. The "Saeco Brewing System" is easily adjusted to produce espressos with lots of crema or long coffees with little crema and greatly improved taste. - This is not the sales gimmick I had suspected it to be. Froth is of a fairly good quality - easily matching most store-bought coffees, but a good barrista can always produce far superior frothed milk on a high-powered semi-automatic machine.
When I ran out of my regular, every-day coffee (Lavazza Super Crema) I used a local high-quality medium-roast coffee which was quite oily (must have been rather old - tasted below par) but the ceramic grinder handled these with ease. Though I would never use them (their taste is so inferior - to my palate) dark roasts always tend to be oily and are best-avoided in super-automatics - where cleaning the grinder becomes a major issue. Medium and light roasts work best with all super-automatics. The by-pass doser is excellent for decaf. coffee and the single-origin beans I use occasionally, though I have to use my separate burr grinder for them. Even though I am making more coffee drinks per day because it is so quick and easy, I am using less coffee. Wasted/stewed coffee is effectively eliminated.
This machine will accommodate mugs of 5½" (6¼" if drip tray is removed). Even my Nissan Travel mugs can be filled directly from the machine using the double brew feature (2 quick presses of the brew button gives 2 complete, consecutive brew cycles) for 2 x 6½oz = 13oz of coffee - again from fairly strong (1 bean/14gm coffee) through too strong (3 beans/21gm coffee).
I use several different styles and sizes of cup (for ristrettos, espressos, long coffees, lattes, macchiatos, and cappuccinos) so I PREFER the simple selection process this machine offers to that of the more-programmable and more-expensive Talea Touch model. For me it would be a pain to have to enter programming mode because the available 3 selections does not cover the range of drinks, sizes, and strengths I make. AND I only have to make 2 adjustments each time (size, strength) before pressing the brew button compared to 1 button on the Talea Touch.
The one big question I have about this machine (and all other "super-automatics") is long term reliability. They all have plastic "brew-groups" - the working parts which do the tamping, brewing, and ejection of spent coffee pucks, and these may be this type of machine's weakest link - BUT replacement brew-groups are available for $60. I quickly discovered that this was the culprit when the warning light came on when everything was OK (bean hopper and water reservoir full, puck-bin and dregs tray empty). During the weekly maintenance I now vacuum the machine all around the (removed) brew-group supports, and gently waggle the brew-group as I re-insert it to ensure that it is correctly and fully seated. No longer a problem and the weekly maintenance takes less than 5-minutes.
My 5 Stars would be less if a stainless body and larger capacities were more important to me. So far I am delighted with both the ease of use and quality of product. Though better coffees may be possible, this barrista (and most others) cannot produce them consistently.
I have owned this machine for only a month. In that time I have not used any of my numerous other coffee-makers. It is producing 5 to 15 good quality coffees per day without fuss or waste. Any change and I shall revisit this review.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Saeco Talea Giro Plus Automatic Espresso Machine, Silver and Titanium
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