CASABREWSEspresso Machines with Milk Frother, 20 Bar Espresso Maker with Hot Water Wand for Americano, Latte, Cappuccino, Espresso Coffee Machine with Adjustable Temperature, Gifts for Coffee Lovers

First, little background, I started my espresso journey with a Delonghi ECP3420. Learned the importance of grinders, wdt tools, and good puck screen, and good tamper.After two years the Delonghi Died - Hard water messed up the preasure valve.I ordered the 4700Gense as a replacement.First, this is a upgrade from the Delonghi, because the brew group is now 58mm.Second, this is a more automated machine. The delonghi was fully manual. Have to watch it like a hawk.So it has buttons for 1 or 2 shots of expresso, button for hot-water, and a double press does a americano.A extra hot or temp button.In the box:1. mat for tapping/prep - I like it.2. A measuring spool/plastic tamper - No point3. A Metal tapping tool - better than the spoon, but want something wood/with a spring. Ok for beginner, but ordered a better one.4. A free steamed milk container - Nice5. Unpreasurized brew group/portafilter - Great, just dont like the spout on this. It consumes height. Its usable.6. Manual - GoodQuality:1. Ease of assembly - Easy to put togeather2. Quality of first shot - I did a two shot expresso, and made a americano with cream, and water from my professional pour over pot - Super Smooth, best americano I've had on fist try. (Using a Breville Smart Coffee Grinder Pro, and my atlas fresh coffee)3. Did a latte, used the supplied frothing pot, and two shot espresso, and a touch a hot water. Best Latte ever.I've been drink this 3-4 times a day (Sometimes 5), and really like:1. Automatic shot water control - you get 1 shot or 2 shots automatically2. Americano on command, like this for fast and in a hurry. Need to switch to a bottomless portafilter to open up cup choices.3. Cleaning - messy because my puck filter not come, but should be perfect. With the auto water control easy to do a cleaning shot. So better, and should improve with puck screen.4. Bigger waste water container.5. Fantastic customer support, fast response, knowledgeable, and not shy to ask a engineer.6. Reponded well to issues/problemsCons:1. Short cord2. No replaceable cord3. No adjustment on water for auto americano.What to buy:1. Get yourself a bottomless portafilter2. Get yourself a wdt tool3. Get you a good grinder - I. like the Breville mentiond4. Puck Screen or paper filters (Going to try paper filters)5. Upgrade the tapping tool.Overall for the price this is a incredible machine.I'd love it to be a little heavier for the bottom metal tray, but overall build quality is good.5 stars.

Following First Use instruction booklet, ran three cycles with no coffee in the filter to warm up the machine, portafilter, and my little coffee cup. Measured 18.5 gm Verve Coffee beans (forgot which blend, but it wasn't an espresso roast). There are two heat settings, and I selected high. Ground beans with Miicoffee D54 grinder on setting 12. With cup and scale on drip tray, I stopped the double brew about 40 gm. Oh gosh it was good! Tasty. Easy. Great instructions. (I Googled to find my grinder's espresso setting for medium roasted beans.) Recommend! No idea how long it will work, but it's very good right out of the gate. Oh! It was very inexpensive!!! And Casabrews provided a fine metal tamper and steaming pitcher.

This machine is easy to use, even my children only had to be shown once before they made excellent lattes on their own. I've previously only had the luxury of those $50 espresso machines that barely held enough water for one, so this machine is a big step up, and much more convenient to use. I love the size of the water reservoir, it holds plenty of water for my family of five to not have to refill it constantly. The steamer wand works very nice, but I wish it were about an inch longer, it's nearly effortless to make a nice foam with it. The pitcher is a bit on the small side so that the milk expands with the heat to nearly overflowing before I can get it hot enough. I've ordered a 21 ounce pitcher which will better suit my needs. I like a lot of foam but I also like to make myself a tall latte to take to work with me, which means I need more milk. The tamper is heavy and comfortable in my hands. The tamper mat was a bit disappointing as it's got a ledge that makes it so it has to sit on the edge of the counter, which is not where I had wanted to keep it. It is forever in the way because of that. The filter baskets are easy to use, although a little difficult to get back out. I have to use the edge of a spoon the pop them out. It's nice that it doesn't fall out when tapping out the grounds though, so I can't really think of a better solution in this case. Double tapping the button for a double shot is a bit fidgety. You have to time it just right or it doesn't do it. I think it would have worked better to either have two separate buttons or a start button in this instance. For a budget friendly espresso machine, this one is perfect and I would certainly recommend it to my friends.