Capresso 124.01 Ultima Pro Programmable Pump Espresso Machine, Black/Stainless Steel

[Update after nearly a year's daily use:] My Capresso is holding up fine, and I've bought a second copy as a backup. I remain amazed at how much this modestly priced machine automates for you: (1) It's self-stopping. But you can override that (just hit a button) to stop the pump early. Also, you can easily touch-reprogram the machine to stop at whatever water volume you consider to be a tasty single shot and double shot. (Two separate settings.) (2) It's self-tamping. I didn't know that was even a thing. But it is, it's clever, and it works. The brew head above the portafilter is shaped like a parabolic disc, so it tamps down the coffee when you lock in the portafilter. (3) It's self-draining. A few seconds after the pump shuts off, a solenoid draws excess water out of the portafilter. So the grounds come out relatively dry, making them easy to dump out with minimal mess. (4) Its front-panel LEDs turn off after several minutes of inactivity, to save energy. But press any button and they all snap back on. Also, the whole machine shuts down after 20–30 minutes of inactivity. But from even a cold shutdown (like overnight), it takes less than a minute to heat back up to brewing temperature. These features used to cost hundreds of dollars. But apparently, parent company Jura let technology from its fancy, $1,000+ automated Swiss machines trickle down (sorry) into this price range. I actually bought this Capresso, refurbished, for just $6 more than my little starter DeLonghi espresso machine cost 15 years ago. (Second copy, lightly used, cost $16 LESS than my DeLonghi.) And the very first double shot I pulled on this Capresso had more crema than any cup I've extracted in 15 years of wrestling with pump machines from less–solid brands. I'm amazed and pleased at the the apparent quality and value here. One other interesting thing: This is hoseless. Water gets sucked from the tank into the pump by some mysterious process involving magic. Still haven't figured out how that works. So...we'll see how it holds up. Two tips for avoiding/resolving trouble: * If your espresso tastes weak or watery, keep reprogramming the machine to pull progressively shorter (more-"ristretto") shots. This machine generates so much crema that watching the stream of coffee out of the portafilter can fool you about when your shot has begun turning weak. Since I'm used to machines with less-effective pumps, it took me weeks to realize this. What looked to still be a nice dark-amber stream had actually become the weak, yellowy stuff you don't want in your cup. I've just resolved the shot time, and now I'm getting nice, rich, bitter/sweet espresso. * If the machine is struggling to pump even a slow trickle of water through its portafilter: STOP! Abandon this shot, and switch to a coarser coffee grind. You can destroy almost any espresso machine (over time) by blocking the portafilter with an excessively fine grind. If the pump's pressure can't escape through its intended route – namely, into your cup – it will escape through the next-weakest points, by weakening and destroying the machine's internal seals. Any decently-made machine will give you tolerance for a certain number of errors while you adjust your grind...but don't push it.

I looked at so many different espresso machines before finally deciding on this one - and I am SO HAPPY I decided to buy this one for our home. I can now make coffee house quality coffee without having to go to a starbucks and wait in a line. It warms up very quickly - about a minute, and is very simple to use. The parts are easy to clean, maybe takes about two minutes after each use to restore the machine to new. Frothing or steaming the milk, depending on if you are making a latte or cappuccino, is also very intuitive. All that you need to do in order to make one instead of the other, is add a sieve to froth the milk. The only issue I have experienced is with the steaming wand. After a few uses, it was taking too long and not enough steam was being produced resulting in the milk not being warm enough. However, we were able to fix that by just operating the machine as if we were making an americano - using the hot water feature. After running hot water through the steam wand, the steam came out piping hot again. This machine is simple to use, makes warm, delicious coffee (with a little tinkering and understanding the machine) and does so at an incredible value.

My wife was very proud of herself and excited. She bought me this wonderful gift for mother's day, a $300 espresso machine, to replace my aging and ailing DeLonghi. I HATE this thing, but I'm stuck with it because she was so excited to give it to me. Let me preface this by explaining that I am a coffee snob who has done coffee plantation tours and coffee conventions. I've owned an espresso machine for over 20 years now. In short, I know how to make a good cup and what goes into making one. Here are my pros for this machine: It delivers a pretty good cup of coffee. It's not spectacular or even great, (or even espresso for that matter), but it's pretty good. It heats up quickly. Here are my cons: There's no crema. It uses 3 times the grounds to make less coffee than the DeLonghi. The tamping is built into the spout of the machine, so it is actually pretty hard to judge how much you have put in the hopper. So far, 3 scoops is not enough. The hopper is not only hard to seat (I need to twist upside down to see where it goes), but it also has multiple incorrect positions that it can fit into. It takes two hands to seat; one to hold it level and one to pull it across. The instructions state that if the hopper does not pull fully to 90 degree at first (which it won't) it will be fine. Spoiler alert, it is not fine. If it is not perfectly at 90 degrees, the hopper will leak everywhere, filling your cup with water and grounds. The coffee comes out lukewarm and so does the steam at first, which means I never get a hot cup. The fact that I am currently sitting in a 70 degree room drinking an ice cold after 15 minutes cup of coffee is partially fueling this review. You cannot purge the steam line. You cannot get a whirlpool started in the milk because of the way the steam is expelled, so you end up with big bubbles instead of fine foam. I've moved my old DeLonghi into my shop and sneak a good cup whenever the wife isn't around. I am assuming the fact that it is super automated would be a selling point for someone who has never made an espresso drink before, but using a non automated machine is not that hard. This thing is a waste of money. More expensive is not always better.

This is a solid product that makes very good espresso. It's a big step up from the cheaper (under $100) model that I had before. Pros: Easy to use. You have to read the directions carefully, but once you have it down, it's a piece of cake. Makes tasty espresso. I like what I make as well as or better than what I get at coffee shops. Works quickly. It has a short warm-up time and brews quickly. Cons: Messy. No matter how careful I am, there's just a lot of water to clean up after, both on the machine and on the table around it. easy to wipe up, but a little annoying. Frother. The steam wand has a frother attachment. The steam wand works great, but if you put the frother on, the milk gets frothed to the point of overflowing the pitcher before it ever gets warm. Who wants cold froth? I find that I have to steam the milk warm, turn the steamer off, add the frother attachment carefully (the wand is hot!), wait for the steamer to warm up again and then froth the steamed milk. Not a deal breaker, but it adds a minute or two to the preparation process. An oddity for me as well: I have trouble with the single shot basket. Since I almost always make double shots, it hasn't been an issue, but I'm not sure why the single shot is less consistent. I just drink two and leave happy. Overall (assuming it lasts longer than my old cheap machine) I thinks it's a great value for the price. I use it daily for my wife and me. At 14 double shots a week, it's more than paid for itself in just the first two months.

I waited to review until I had some hands-on experience with this. I LOVE it. Very easy to use, makes a quality espresso with a perfect crema. With a little practice (and some YouTube videos) I've gotten proficient at making lattes, cappuccinos & macchiatos as well. The steam wand does drip occasionally, but I keep it over the drip tray when not in use, so not a problem. I empty the drip tray after each session, so I don't get leaking onto my counter. I highly recommend this machine if you're in the market. Update 2yrs in: still going strong and still LOVING it! This unit has paid for itself many times over (sorry Starbucks). I use this every day, it's very easy to clean & maintain. Only cons: filter pops out when bumping out coffee puck, & can't get perfect "latte art" consistency with steamer, it's either foam, or too thin.

I waited more than a month to post a review. This product works extremely well, especially for this price point. I made a few mistakes at first, mostly from not reading the instructions carefully. Expresso is very simple to make but if you want to program a certain amount of hot water, for an Americano for example, it takes a little trial and error. But once you get it right, the outcome is wonderful, particularly if you use a good ground coffee made for Expresso machines like Illy. The frother for cappuccino also works well after a little practice. There is a little more cleanup than a pod drip coffee machine, and it is necessary to keep it clean, but it quickly becomes routine and well worth the effort and minor amount of time. I highly recommend this.

Not that great. The preprogrammed settings makes it worse, actually. It takes forever for frother to warm up then it only works for a few seconds, then stops because it’s preprogrammed, before you have finished frothing... turns off automatically... then you would need to wait for next cycle to continue frothing. There is no flexibility here... for espresso you only get either a one shot or a double espresso amount, as determined by the machine. Also you need to wait a good while every time you switch from brewing to frothing mode. I got fed up. I ordered the Capresso EC-50 for my parents, and although cheaper and simpler it’s so much better. It works fast, with great crema! Also, you can IMMEDIATELY switch from brewing to frothing mode! You can switch back and forth between the 2 modes just by turning the dial, no second button needed and no waiting! The frother works fast and it’s excellent!! You can control exactly when to stop brewing or frothing as it is completely manual and user-controlled. This is a very important advantage even if you are new at this. The EC-100 is exactly the same, except materials are a little better and comes with extra sieve, and allows you to use pods. The only other machine I found that allows you to immediately switch back and forth between brewing and frothing is the one by Hamilton Beach and the dual shot Mr Coffee (not sure about the Breville Roma). Even the top of the line Capresso you need to wait a few seconds between brewing and frothing modes... So I just ordered an EC-100. Unfortunately Amazon did not have it available so I ordered from Costco.

UPDATE: 2 year anniversary with this machine and I am still in love with it 💖😊....I make at least 2 Cappuccinos per day, and has gone on vacation with me a few times! Great machine for the price point. I saved even more getting it through Amazon warehouse deals. Makes a great cup of espresso, and frother is great. It does take practice on getting froth just right, some days I still don't get it right. It is not a loud machine,I mean the water does have to heat, which I think is quiet, and the pump has to pump the water :-0. I love the auto tamper, another thing I was skeptical about, but now love! I was leery about buying after reading some reviews, but I take everything into consideration when reading a review, some people are never happy and expect perfection from a household product, please keep that in mind. People, it is not a high end machine, if you want perfection please pay $1000 + . Only bad thing I can say, is that I use it too much, every day I make at least two cappuccinos!!!

Una máquina muy práctica, siempre saca la cantidad exacta de agua. Muy fácil de manejar y con el molido adecuado la extracción es excelente

We bought this machine in March 2021 and have made at least 8 cups a day since then. It is an excellent machine. You don't have to pack the coffee down. It does it for you. My husband insists on packing it in and it probably made the gasket come out of place, which I pushed back, but he hasn't changed his method and the machine keeps on going just perfectly anyway. We get great coffee, so have been disappointed when ordering regular coffee elsewhere. Ours is too good. We had to Gorilla glue the handle, (which has never failed) only because we thought we could bang it on one of those special containers for removing the used grounds, but the grounds do not come out like a hockey puck like our really old one from Italy did. We use a wooden scoop to get it out, which works fine. But all in all, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Can't really fault it.

La máquina llegó en excelentes condiciones. No ha fallado ni una vez, fácil de usar y limpiar.

coffee it makes is actually great, but the machine emptied its tank on the piece of furniture it was sitting on. Just sitting. It just leaks, by itself. No thanks. Bought this as an amazon deal, it was 100$ or more cheaper than if I had bought it new. But what a waste of time. Someone must have returned it for the same reason I will return it, but it was sold again I suppose.

La cafetera esta linda y tiene una apariencia de buena calidad... Pero al usarla filtra y gotea agua por el espumador de leche sin estar activado, solo con encenderla comienza a emitir vapor con gotas de agua dejando un desastre... Lei tarde las opiniones, me di cuenta después de comprarla que este modelo tiene ese problema... El fabricante debiera retirar este modelo y no vender problemas a los consumidores, también Amazon debiera ponerse las pilas, es una lata comprar para tener que regresar productos de los cuales saben que están defectuosos... Muchas gracias