Mr. Coffee Espresso and Cappuccino Machine, Programmable Coffee Maker with Automatic Milk Frother and 19-Bar Pump, Stainless Steel

Some context. Started with and cut my teeth on a Gaggia Classic years ago. Still have it. Did various stovetop espresso thingies too, my missus did a variety of pour overs other thingies, and 2 years ago sprang for a Gaggia Brera.So, ok. Definitely learned all along the way. Had hoped the Gaggia Brera would be a nice semi auto experience. It kind of was, until it wasn’t. It just dwindled into unusable pretty quickly. We both found ourselves becoming disinterested in the espresso experience. Wasn’t keen on going to another machine, preferring a hand press espresso, but thought why not give another espresso maker a go, mainly for my missus.Enter Mr Coffee.From the start, it has been GREAT. It took one test drive double shot to then redial to a successful grind. And have to say, I am impressed. Of all my experiences with various machines, Mr Coffee produces the most crema hands down. Began with some older beans just to get started and by crackie, Mr Coffee extracted some very nice flavor and crema from the very first.Quite surprised. But then I wasn’t when I found how easy it is to navigate the various functions. And when I made my sweetie’s first coffee drink, I didn’t ask but she remarked, “this machine definitely extracts more flavor than any other machine we’ve had.” And she’s right.As said, easy and intuitive to navigate. The setup is intuitive. Even the power switch on the side, thank you Mr Coffee. Every other machine we’ve had the switch has been inconveniently in back. The milk and water reservoirs works well too. Nicely placed. Every function, from shots to cappuccinos to lattes that we dialed up came out like really nice, balanced, and at the core of it is… I am really impressed with the shots that we are producing. No machine, including the various Gaggias I have had in the past, did what this little guy is doing.Hands down this is outproducing, outperforming, anything we’ve had in the past 2 decades. To cut to the chase, I love the shots we are pulling. Across several beans now. So happy because we're into a whole new experience. Reinvigorated.It inspires me to get cracking on roasting several bean types now. Had become quite proficient on roasting and I have no doubt this Mr Coffee is going to elevate the experience. All the other machines and devices we’ve had.. home roasting definitely elevated the experience. But we never felt we were attaining the full experience. But there is no question from what I have seen so far, Mr Coffee is going to do a better job than anything else we’ve had. Am looking very much forward to new roasts now.So yeah… am now a fan boy of Mr Coffee. But for good reason. As said, was able to dial in a grind very quickly and from the start, the pulls have been pleasing, producing more full body experience than anything before, and this includes appearance. Beautiful depth-y crema.. surpasses anything we’ve had before.Oh, may as well add... I read many reviews and am always amused when some are stark smack downs on this and that machine out performs, out produces, that and this other machine. Having worked with some wonderful high end and highly touted machines... I find little difference in the espressos thus far and in many cases, Mr Coffee is simply doing a better job at just a straight up single or double espresso.A+++ to Mr Coffee. I was very surprised until I am not any more. Love the machine and experience. X'd finger that the build is substantial enough to last awhile. That would be the berries if yes.. we get some mileage from it.

We make espresso and cappuccino with this and is easy to use and makes great-tasting coffee. For the money, this is as good as much more expensive machines. I like the automatic functions but sometimes use manual mode to get just right sized cup. The cleaning functions work very well but require some care. The manual is very clearly written and the build quality is very good. Highly recommended!

My Ninja died and I needed a replacement. I wanted to go back to having an espresso/cappuccino maker without spending crazy money on a fully automatic and this checked the boxes.I bought a few extras to take it up a notch or two including a puck screen. I’ve used Mystic Monk whole bean coffee for years and their espresso each morning does not disappoint with this machine.

I purchased my machine on May 5th 2020 after owing another Mr Coffee machine much less expensive that lasted me for a few years. I was pleased with the ease of using the machines. With normal cleaning these machines should last years. This machine one morning in March of 2021, 10 months after purchase just refused to turn on for the morning coffee session. I spent my morning pulling out all my paper work and gathering warranty information. After sending the email to Mr Coffee support I was told I had to box it up, they made no offer to send me any packing, and pay for the shipping back to Mr Coffee. The return emails from Mr Coffee seemed to be generated by computer with no actual person involved. I managed to ship it off after finding suitable packaging and paying the $24.95 shipping. I thought that after it was on the way Mr Coffee would cross ship another machine, wishful thinking as I really love my coffee in the morning. This was not the case, after receiving the machine and determining it was broken they shipped another in return. All the while I'm using an old Kureg I found in the garage, dusted off and had to go buy Kcups. They stated in their email they were replacing my machine with a "new" machine however after receiving the machine and so looking forward to a great cup of coffee I was disappointed again. I always had used the tall cappuccino selection and this machine was dispensing about half the amounts of liquid, both milk and water than the first machine leaving me with a half a cup of coffee. I tried different combinations of latte and cappuccino over the next week trying not to have to send this one back but was unsuccessful. After contacting support again I get the stock email to pack it up and pay for the shipping to return it, This time I at least had the packaging materials but I sent them a copy of their warranty that says nothing about end user having to pay for the shipping. They offered to send me a return shipping label. Still no cross shipment was offered so I'm back to my old black coffee while waiting for a new machine. I do not know for sure that the machines that were sent to me were actually "new" coffee makers, Judging from the milk and water containers they appeared new/unused. However the power cords appeared to be stiffer than a new cord would be. After finally receiving the 3ed machine the disappointment continued. Again the fluid levels would not dispense a full cup of coffee. The milk compartment would connect and remove easier than the second machine would. I had to fight with the second machine to get it to latch into place. I decided here that with all the flaws of the 3ed machine I was going to keep this one and break the chain of musical espresso machines. At least I'm not drinking coffee from an old Kureg and every morning is a new experience of what buttons to push. The days of getting a large or grande cup of coffee are left to the coffee shops. I'll just keep drinking many small tea cup size coffee's in the morning while I wonder just what the minions down at Mr Coffee were thinking when they decided that a morning cup of coffee was only 4 to 5oz. Other than that it's a great coffee maker. Temp of coffee is just right. Ease of use is nice. I wish the milk selector would allow for more milk to be dispensed. Never had it clog due to to fine a grind on the beans. Hopefully you'll get more than a year before having to contact support and if you contact them don't pay for the return shilling.

This espresso machine was surprisingly unintuitive, even after reading the whole manual first. Locking the espresso handle into place is a two handed job-the machine isnt heavy enough to not slide/tip when I try it with one hand. I have to brace the force with my other hand at the top of the opposite side of the machine to get it into place. At least I know it is securely in place!I feel like this is a very beginner's machine as far as knowledge for making lattes goes. You don't need experience working at a coffee shop to make drinks with this. The milk function -even on "manual"- isn't really manually frothing the milk like they would at a coffee shop, so those without experience won't have a problem or need to learn how to do that. It adds steam to the milk somewhere internally and heats it up super efficiently. I don't find it hard to clean, but I clean it after _every_ drink. I turn the top part over & run water back up the part you put in your cup (as well as wiping that down as much as I can), until it bubbles out the intake side. It's a little difficult to reattach the milk compartment, but it is easy to take everything apart to clean.All that said, as someone who has worked at coffee shops for 8+years in the past, I wish I did have a truly manual steam function because I find half the bubbles it outputs too large and then they pop and I'm left with a flat looking drink rather than the fine creamy froth I can get when manual frothing. This machine does not put out froth like you would get at a coffee shop. But it is a big step up from heating milk in a pan and using one of those immersion "frothers" imo. Way faster and less messy. It takes only a minute or so for the machine to warm up and be ready to make a drink. This espresso machine makes my non-ex-barista husband VERY happy.At first I struggled with making shots with this, but after a few uses the timing got better and it pulls the proper length shot. Aaaahmazing! So good! I've found the two shots to have better timing than a single shot overall. It's hard to get espresso grind right and there's so many variables, but this machine seems to simplify it so you can't really screw up if you're getting your coffee ground at the grocery store or in a coffee shop on the "espresso" setting.Make sure you have enough extra water in the tank for both pressure for the steaming and for putting out a decent shot. I've found if I let it get lower than a couple inches in the reservoir, things don't come out as nicely. They should really have a minimum water line so we don't have to stumble along while figuring that out when we are new to the machine.I ended up taking a star off because it took me quite a bit to figure out how to really learn how to work with the machine and I was pretty disappointed at first. Somehow some of the chrome look coating on the espresso basket handle wore off on the *third* use, so I'm a little worried about the durability. But otherwise this machine is a great basic substitute for buying espresso drinks at a coffeehouse and if you are new to making your own drinks -it still has a little learning curve, but not in a necessary to have barista knowledge kind of way. Nice basic intro machine.