Super-automatic espresso machines are expensive; super-automatic espresso machines are an investment. Like me, I am sure you want to know all the facts before you buy. You can make yourself go crazy looking at and studying all the online espresso machine buying guides. So today I will cut through all the technical stuff and just shoot straight from the hip. I have used most of the high-end espresso machines and I believe that Saeco espresso machines are the best in the market. They are more more intuitive to use, better thought out and make the best espresso.
While all super-automatic espresso machines have a learning curve, Saeco machines are the simplest to learn. (When I refer to a super-automatic, I mean an espresso machine that grinds the coffee beans for you, tamps or compresses the ground coffee, brews it and drops the brewed coffee grinds into a bin. A super-automatic does this with only one touch of a button. In short, it does all the prep work and brewing for you.) Saeco espresso machines are easy to program, have nice displays or readouts and simply are easier to navigate.
When I say Saeco espresso machines are better thought out I am referring to design, the outside housings are easy to clean, their bean hoppers (the area that holds whole beans) seal in coffee freshness with their Aroma Seal around the hopper's circumference that keeps out oxygen (coffee is a lot like bread in that oxygen will make it stale). The brew group (where the coffee is brewed) is removable. You can clean it whenever you want. Other manufacturer's brew groups are concealed and can never fully be cleaned, but more on this later. Saeco machines use ceramic grinders that will not deteriorate over time, will not absorb odors or flavors and offer a consistent grind.
The most important thing to consider when investing in a super-automatic espresso machine is the quality of the coffee it dispenses. I know the quality of the coffee is about the beans, mostly, but let's assume that all variables are equal--the water is the same, the beans are the same, etc. The only thing that is different is the espresso machine used to brew the espresso. Seaco will produce a purer cup of coffee than all others simply because it will have a fresh and clean brew group.
Saeco super automatic espresso machines have removable brew groups while the other manufacturers' brew groups are sealed. You can rinse off the coffee oils and other coffee debris from the Saeco brew group and you cannot with the competitors' versions. Over time--with the competitors' machines the coffee oil build up becomes rancid and produces off flavors. No matter how you try to clean away this oil and residue, you will never get it completely clean with their cleaning solutions and cleaning tablets. The only way to get the brew group clean is to pull it out and rinse it off. Saeco allows this; the other guys do not.
Saeco's competitors make fine espresso machines with nice bells and whistles, but at the end of the day what matters is the cup of coffee being dispensed. Saeco offers you the cleanest and purest espresso you can make in a super-automatic espresso machine. If I were going to buy a new espresso machine today for my home or office, it would be a Saeco because I want true coffee flavor and not coffee that is tainted with residual rancid oil from brews I made one or two weeks ago. You can taste the difference with Saeco super-automatic espresso machines, seriously.
Comments