CASABREWS CM5418 Espresso Machine 20 Bar, Espresso Maker with Milk Frother Steam Wand, Stainless Steel Espresso Coffee Machine with 34oz Removable Water Tank, Gift for Mom or Dad, Gift for Him, Creamy

Excellent espresso machine for home use
This espresso machine works perfectly and makes great-tasting coffee. It heats up quickly and is very easy to use, even for beginners. The espresso comes out rich and flavorful with a nice crema on top. The design is sleek and compact, making it a great fit for any kitchen. Overall, it’s a high-quality machine and a great value for the price. I’m very happy with this purchase and would definitely recommend it.

For the price, you can’t beat this thing. Brewing tips below…
I’m a trained barista who owns a cafe. We have a La Marzocco Linea and Mahlkonig grinders. This Casabrew unit is pretty amazing for the price. It makes great espresso, and the steamer, while not powerful like the one at the cafe, works fine (it just takes way longer to steam).I’ve used other ‘at-home’ units like Breville (also nice but 3x more $), and this machine performs right there with them. I even like it better in many ways. The look is simple and classic unlike a lot of the weird-shaped bodies and gizmos many home units tend to have (think – your parents robo-wine opener vs a simple, classic wine key). The pressure gauge isn’t just for looks; it works great when pulling shots (nice to make sure you don’t over-under tamp your grind, or over-fill the portafilter).Basically, all these little home machines are quirky and kinda wimpy tbh. They can’t compete with the $10k+ machines. At least not on efficiency and power. You have to learn these quirks, and how each one works to get the most out of it. Otherwise your espresso will taste cold, bitter or watery, and your steamed milk won’t have microfoam. Look, this thing is a pony, not a stallion, but it can still deliver. I use it daily, and takes me a few minutes end to end.If you get one, also invest in a small AND medium stainless steam pitcher. They come in handy for cortados vs cappuccinos vs lattes. Also get a scale. I use a Hario V60. When you weigh your coffee, it comes out better. I also use my electric pour over kettle to heat my cups so the espresso stays hotter. If you take too long, your espresso drink will be warm at best. Know what? Just nuke it until you get better/faster. No one will know but your pet rolling it’s eyes at you. ;DMaking espresso:- hit power on the machine to preheat it.- Grind your coffee for espresso ONLY. A good grinder isn’t cheap, but they last and really deliver. I use a Mahkonig.- Put dry/clean portafilter on scale and zero it out. Add 10-12oz espresso to basket. Pick it up, tap side gently til grind are flat-ish, then use the chintzy plastic ‘tamper’ to GENTLY tamp the espresso (don’t push too hard or your coffee will be bitter when it takes longer to pull through filter!)- Heat your cup with hot water (ideally), empty water once it’s hot to touch, then hit double pull button on the machine (not single)Note: Most espresso bar drinks are double shots. Using the double pull button on this machine allows you the option to cut a pull short, or do a full pull. I cut it a bit short when pulling into classic short espresso glass. The shorter the pull, the better the quality of espresso and crema. Otherwise, I let it finish out for drinks with dairy.Cap/Latte: This is a bit different.Get your coffee and cup ready.- Follow the steps above. You should have a loaded portafilter in the unit, ready to pull coffee. Just don’t pull it yet.- also pre-heat your cup with hot water (if you want a nice hot drink)Now get all your dairy stuff squared away.- Put everything out on the counter so you’re not frantically hunting it down while brewing.- Fill stainless pitcher ‘almost’ 1/2 way up with dairy (whole milk steams best because of the fat)- Hit the far right button to turn on the steamer. The pump starts building pressure.- Take a random mug and put under steamer. Then turn the knob all the way up and ‘clear’ the wand.- Once you see steam and not water, you’re in business to steam your dairy — not until.Steam your dairy.- And don’t move it all over the place when you do. It’s just a few subtle movements, that’s it.- In the pitcher, rest the wand head slightly below the surface to add some air to the dairy.- After some seconds, drop it down 2/3 depth along side of pitcher so it swirls and evenly mixes into silky microfoam. This unit is slow, so give it ample time to do it’s thing.- Temp-wise, you know when it’s done if it’s too hot to keep your hand on the side of the pitcher.- Once steamed, QUICKLY set milk aside, putting something on top of pitcher to keep the dairy hot (dish?).- Then use hot water to wet part of a rag (aka a barista cloth) and wipe down the wand before the proteins can harden on it. Also blast steam out of the wand to clear it using the knob. All this should only take you 5-10 seconds tops to clean/reset wand.Pull your coffee.- Dump the hot water out of your cup and place it under the portafilter.- pull a double shot. Let it finish.- Grab the hot dairy with your other hand and pour it over the espresso (making the best damn latte art of your life of course!)Enjoy! Then clean up your mess. Or…TIP: I pull into a double-walled stainless tumbler. A smallish one. It heats way better, and has a lid so I can pop it on, clean up my mess, reset the machine, THEN go enjoy my still-hot drink.Beware: If the gauge is in the black, you probably over-stuffed or over-tamped your basket. It will taste bitter and undrinkable. If you don’t tamp at all, it will be watery and weak with no crema. If you use old-ass coffee that’s ground for drip, you will not be enjoying good espresso my friend. Just use your head.In the end, it takes time to get your routine down. Making good espresso drinks isn’t hard. But it does take practice to get right. Most people can’t be bothered. They will blame the machines, the beans, their spouses, anything but themselves.Coffee drinks want to be made right or they’ll suck. Put in the effort, and you’ll be a happy camper once you have it down. You might even impress someone! At minimum, your drinks will taste as good or better than many coffee bars out there. Not ours of course!It’s nice to grab a great coffee drink from a local cafe we trust. But it has to be great for the price. When it is, we’re getting so much more than just coffee; the whole ritual gives us a sense of reward, place, and being. It’s what communities are all about. But it’s also nice to make our own at home and save some money in the process. With coffee, I think people who love it can do both — have their cake and eat it too.Hope this helps anyone adventurous enough to actually read this long review!

J’ai longtemps hésité à commander cette machine à espresso, cherchant à avoir un bon café de qualité sans trop y mettre d’argent.J’ai finalement passée ma commande et reçu la machine le lendemain. Je pensais sérieusement que j’allais devoir faire des essais-erreurs avant de réussir à avoir un bon espresso. J’ai préchauffé la machine comme recommandé par la marque, en faisant couler un 2 tasses, sans y mettre d’espresso, avant de faire une vraie tasse.Hé bien, mon tout premier espresso était vraiment excellent. J’ai choisi un sac de café Lavazza “crema e gusto” moulu finement que j’ai trouvé au supermarché, j’ai mis 11-13g dans mon portafilter, et dès ma première gorgée j’ai été grandement surprise. Aucun arrière-goût, aucune amertume. Un café très doux, mais fort en même temps.Points importants à noter:- Le mousseur à lait prend parfois un peu de temps à être bien chaud et je n’ai pas réussi à faire mousser mon lait au complet, mais ce n’était pas ma priorité.- Le mousseur est aussi très bruyant, au point de faire siler mes oreilles.- J’utilise l’eau chaude du mousseur à lait (sans mettre l’option steam) pour allonger mon espresso, mais parfois l’eau n’est pas aussi chaude que j’aimerais qu’elle le soit.Je suis très contente de mon achat, et après une semaine à me faire des café régulièrement je n’ai aucun problème majeur avec la machine. Je recommanderais clairement cette machine pour ceux qui souhaitent se faire des espressos, ou allongés de qualité, sans trop dépenser (surtout considérant que certaines machines à pods sont encore plus chères que celle-ci).Évidemment il est possible de “modder” la machine en changeant le portafilter, mais honnêtement, étant quelqu’un qui prend de 2-5 cafés par jour, je ne vois pas l’intérêt pour le moment puisque le café est très bon!Je recommande!!

Only have had it a couple weeks, but it makes a great tasting coffee, its pretty easy to use, milk frother works really well, better then most other home espresso machines i have used. I really like the look of it too. Looks really expensive. Its also slim, so it doesn’t take up much counter space.Only drawback, is i have to hold the top of the machine, to insert and remove the group head because of the narrow footprint.

4 stars if you’re intent on learning to make great espresso, 5 stars if you’re happy to stick with beginner mode.There’s nothing inherently wrong with this machine. It can make good espresso, with a nice crema, if you use fresh, quality coffee that’s ground correctly AND you run it at least twice without coffee before making a cup — the portafilter needs to be hot or you’ll get a subpar extraction that’s thin and lacks the silky smooth mouth feel.Ignore the single shot basket. It’s pretty much useless. No one makes single shots.Fill the double shot basket as close to the max line as you can (~15g of coffee), and MOST IMPORTANTLY reprogram the 1 cup button so that you get about 30 to 32 grams of espresso in your cup. 15g of coffee for 30 grams of espresso is the “golden ratio” of 1:2.From the factory, both the 1 cup and 2 cup buttons allow way too much water. The ratio is closer to 1:4, which will yield a terrible espresso. Buy a coffee scale with a timer function and reprogram the 1 cup button as I said above (for ~30g of espresso in the cup).The 2 cup button will be your “manual” button — you can use it as an on/off button to do a manual extraction while watching your coffee scale and timer, the way a professional manual espresso machine is used.If this is all you ever want to do, and you like the results, then it’s a 5 star machine. However, if you were hoping to experiment with your grind and your tamping to achieve different extraction pressures and times, then you’ll have to buy a new portafilter, one that does not use a pressurized basket. The cheapest I found was a bottomless portafilter from a 3rd party for $60 CAD. You’ll also need a real tamper, which is another $20 to $30 depending on features ($30 for a spring-loaded one). And you’ll likely need a coffee distributer and leveler too ($30) since you’ll be working with a bottomless portafilter and they are much less forgiving (on purpose).That’s why I say 4 stars if you had aspirations of learning the art of espresso making — after buying all the additional parts, you’ll have spent almost as much as a De’Longhi Maestro Plus which comes with both pressurized and non pressurized filter baskets (so you get the best of both worlds) plus all the accessories you need, AND you’ll still be stuck with the Casabrews 51mm portafilter which is a little small and only holds 14-15g of coffee — larger diameter portafilters are preferred, 58mm being the standard for pro systems, and being able to hold 16-20g of coffee is preferred.Like I said, it does make good coffee. It just doesn’t offer any way to grow your skills and make even better coffee. I’ve had it for 24 hours and I already wish I’d bought something more professional, but I’m the kind of person who will take the time to learn, so if that’s not you, then go for the Casabrews.