De'LonghiEC220CD 15-Bar Pump Driven Espresso Maker

I've been an avid coffee drinker for decades. Recently I eliminated dairy from my diet, so Half and Half is no longer my morning friend. A good cup of coffee has been hard to come by ever since. In an effort to put some oomph back into my mornings, I decided to buy a new Espresso maker. My old Krups had been put away for a while. When I cleaned it before using it again, I discovered it had developed a bad case of the pits. I returned the first brand I bought because, like my old Krups, it had an aluminum boiler. I settled on the De'Longhi EC220b for its size and the fact that it has a stainless steel boiler. I've had it three days so far and here are my first impressions.As other reviewers have noted, the filter holder arm is very stiff when it first arrives and only swivels to left of center when first used. Don't try to force it. It loosens with use. Now I can easily move it to center as the directions require.I suggest downloading the Getting Started manual from the maker's website. The illustrations are in color and they are accompanied with printed explanations, instead of just the pictures as they are in the instructional manual that comes with the Espresso maker.For me, the hardest part of making espresso was realizing that a double shot is only 2 ounces of coffee. If you are used to drinking a 16 ounce cup in the morning like I am, it means a lot more work making a couple of espressos instead of loading a coffee maker and waiting. Of course, there is no comparison when it comes to taste.After being surprised by lukewarm Espresso with the first Espresso maker I purchased, I followed the De'Longhi instructions and primed the Espresso maker before making the first cup. (If brand X had suggested this, I'd probably still own it.) One, it warms the cup you will drink from, and two, it heats the water to the proper temperature and eliminates the possibility of a lukewarm Espresso.I'm still getting accustomed to the proper amount of water to use. My son, the fledgling barista, found instructions online that suggest the best Espresso requires 20 grams of properly ground coffee, tamped at 30 lbs. of pressure; then you count to 32 after the dripping begins. He is right so far. The trick is getting the correct grind and the proper tamp. I bought a tamp and merely drop it onto the grinds a few times, rather than twisting it and trying to estimate 30 lbs. of pressure. Once the coffee is about 1/8th an inch below the filter holder rim, I stop tamping, attach it and begin brewing. This method has worked well for me.I really like this machine, so far. I have concerns about how long it will last, but I am careful not to run the pump more than 45 seconds at a time as the instructions indicate. I have been keeping the water tank on the machine and have been pouring water into it from a measuring cup, so as not to disturb the seal that rests between the tank and the machine. Good luck finding that seal a few years down the road.I went on a search for E.S.E. pods at several stores. Nothing but K-cups, and they are... everywhere. It made me wonder if this unit is old technology, since it cannot be used with K-cups. I am now investigating E.S.E. pods online.I also bought a grinder and have been experimenting with grinding French Roast since I have a few cans in my pantry. I'm looking forward to experimenting with other beans. The search for the perfect Espresso has begun. What a great way to spend a few snow days. Yum!

I docked Delonghi a star for not including decent instructions with the unit. You can find more detailed guides on their website. I suggest searching for the model of this machine on YouTube and you'll get some good tips from the folks there as well. Until you get this thing dialed in you may be disappointed with the brew. Grind is more important on this machine than some. The Lavazza very fine grind is what you need. I use this as an example because it is good coffee, I had some on hand, and it is what worked best out of the coffee brands I had on hand. It is readily available in many grocery stores and sold by Amazon to look at if you need to. I will just grind the other brands finer if needed and use them as well.My old maker took a bit coarser grind without an issue. The Lavazza used to send fine particles into thebrew on that one. On this one that very fine grind is best. I used two scoops tamped gently and brewed it into a measuring cup to a quarter cup level. I pour that into a coffee cup preheated with hot water, then set that under the brew holes to let anything left drain into it as I use the steam tube to foam some milk in the cup I will use to pour the espresso into and drink the coffee out of. That steam tube has some power. You'll be messy until you can control it a bit. Immerse the tip before turning the steam on too much. Let it drain the bit of water out it will throw when you first turn it on too so the milk is not too diluted to foam well. I also foam a bit of plain water when done brewing through that tube to clean it well. Someone on YouTube suggested to flush it out a bit through the filter brewing some plain water as well as some coffee is still in there. I will just put a bit extra water in the tank to allow for the cleanup along with the brewing needs.Some spoke of tanks leaking. I set this unit on a wire baking rack used for cooling that raises it a couple of inches off of the counter. I want to observe it further and see if the water it leaves is from the unit itself, or just the water that steam feature spits out at the start of the steam. It is normal for water to accumulate ion the tray under the brew cups. It is a natural flushing the unit undergoes. But their documentation with the unit doesn't tell half of these things. I think many would not return this espresso maker if they knew some of these quirks/features.So I am going to test it on cheaper brews as well soon. For now using the double cup filter with two scoops of the size they provide gives a good dark brew with nice crema when I brew it to a two ounce quantity. I use around one third of a cup of cold milk to foam and make a cap drink. Some complained this machine refused to work at all before long. I hope I have better luck with that and will maintain it properly to help that along. As you can see from the length of this review the caffeine did kick in!