Five reviews of the Saeco 4045 Vienna Plus 15-Bar-Pump Super-Automatic Espresso Machine
1、We bought an Incanto Sirius at twice the price. It looked Marvelous with it’s stainless and digital exterior. It cleaned it’s self and did interesting tricks with the display. Then on the third day it went bizerk and consumed a full hopper of Lavazza Oro without delivering a single cup of coffee. The seizure was fatal and the machine could not deliver another cup. Oh did it hurt being coffeeless after those three days of pleasure with the cost of a short vacation.
Returning the Incanto Sirius to the store, I came home with the Viena Plus. It is a little plasticy looking and the tray does not click into place the way the Incanto did. There is a blinking green light to indicate that the machine is warming instead of an LCD temperature indicator. There is only one boiler that has to be shared for seam and brewing. It is somewhat Spartan in fact.
The coffee brewed by the Viena Plus is excellent. The crema is thick and rich. Frothed milk climbs vertically out of the cup. The dreggs pucks are firm and lightly moist. There is no leaking and very little spillage from the brew group which is easy to remove and clean. This machine might not be the expensive, flashy, big show, high maintenance beauty queen, but it does deliver at about half the price.
2、Easy to use machine that works well making espresso or just an single cup of coffee. The only complaint I have is if you are using a large cup for regular coffee you have to angle putting in and removing the cup since the bottom of the drip spouts are not high enough even when adjusting the pull-down or push-up spout that is provided. This is a well priced unit for what it provides you. You can adjust the grind of the beans but it comes manufacturer set for a medium grind. It comes with lights that once turn solid green let you know that you are ready to use whatever function you choose and dial for adjusting espresso to a full cup of coffee is clearly marked and easy to read. Steam is provided when pressing the 3rd button on – when it is off you get very hot water dispensed. The area for grinding the beans handles a lot so if you like switching types of coffee then you have to keep only the amount for what you are using in the grinder since there is no way of easily switching coffee beans once the container is full. Overall I would recommend it for anyone who likes to prepare their own coffee because of it’s price and ease of use.
3、Overall, I cannot recommend this machine.
The machine made excellent espresso for the first few weeks we had it. Once it was broken in, the espresso was average, and the crema was more of a large-bubbled foam. The grinder is able to create a fine grind, but unfortunately the machine can’t pass any water through it, so you have to use a mid-level fine grind. The machine is able to adjust the amount of water used per shot, but anything more than the smallest available setting creates, well, coffee. Not even an Americano, just coffee.
After three months the grinder broke. When I opened up the machine’s door a broken part flew out. Amazon sent me a new one. One month in on the new one, the brewgroup jammed. I thought it was broken, but after four days, the machine was able to pry itself loose. Ground coffee was all over the brewgroup, as if it had exploded. We’ll see how it works out.
A bright spot–Amazon was astoundingly helpful and gracious. They replaced the first one, postage payed, express delivery, with no questions at all. They offered to refund the original purchase price on the second one, until it broke loose and started working again. I cannot complement them highly enough!
4、We had a Saeco Vienna Deluxe for several years. The machine finally died on us. In searching for a new machine, I saw the Saeco Vienna Plus and knew this would be the next machine. It is very similar to our previous model. It is much cheaper than when we had purchased our first unit. I feel there is value in what we are getting. It saves us a fortune from having to run to the more expensive coffee shop chains to pick up a mocha when it can easily made at home. At the touch of a button or two, the coffee is ready to go. The ease of use is amazing. Clean up is easy. I would definitely recommend this machine for those who want to be able to make espresso with ease.
5、This machine was recommended to me by a former employee of Starbucks, who said that for a mid-range machine it simply cannot be beat. To be frank, I owned a Rancilio Silvia when I did my Master’s degree, all 3 years of it in fact. The Rancilio was great, but it took real finesse and way too long to make quality drinks. This machine, with the right settings for you, will churn out quality cappuccinos in less than 5 minutes. I should add however, as a caveat, that it makes better lattes than cappuccinos. I’ve had the Saeco for 3 weeks now and it works amazingly well. Every morning I wake up, turn it on, grab a mug, get dressed, go back to the kitchen, hit brew and I have a perfect double shot of espresso in about 1.30 minutes. It takes another 2 minutes to steam the milk. All in all not a bad machine for a busy full-time PhD student! If it’s fast enough and makes espresso well enough for me, it should for anybody. Also, FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! If you don’t, I have a suspicion based on the one time I didn’t and it got weird quickly, you can avoid any problems. Finally, don’t forget to descale the machine every month or so if you’re a heavy user. So, go out, grab yourself a Saeco Vienna, call up your math. friends and get rocking & rolling! Espressos and biscottis for all!
Five reviews of theDeLonghi ESAM3300 Magnifica Super-Automatic Espresso Machine
1、I really do love my DeLonghi Magnifica. It greatly simplifies my morning mocha ritual. Just push the on button and this fabulous machine spends a minute cleaning an warming itself. Then all you have to do for an espresso is select the single or double button. Granted, Mocha lovers (like myself) still need to spend some time steaming the rest of the beverage, but the quality of the steam for the milk is really superior. The bean hopper holds enough for about six doubles and the water reservoir makes about four frothed doubles before needing to be refilled.
My only argument with the machine is that the strongest adjustment on the bean quantity knob is a bit low and I had to dial back the water quantity knob and add less chocolate to make the ideal drink. Oh yeah. the stainless steel tray is easily scratched by ceramic cups so it will not remain perfectly shiny for long. Still. What a wonderful example of improved living through automation. Also it seems as if most of the parts are easily replaceable from the supplied order form.
2、I ordered this on-line after reading many reviews. The product reviews and ratings missed the major issue with espresso machines – the drink from the machine is tepid, not hot. Everything else about the features of the machine have no value if the espresso is not brewed at hot enough temperature. I returned this machine and then bought a Delonghi that works great, the DeLonghi Perfecta 5400.
About temperature. Coffee needs to brew at about 200 deg F to extract the right flavors. Then coffee is served at 160-180 F. StarBucks coffee is set at 180 F, maybe a little hot for immediate drinking. The 3300 delivered coffee at 140-145 F, way too cool, since coffee then cools more in the cup. The 5400 delivers coffee at the right temperature of 160F. All the other controls also work excellently. I highly recommend the DeLonghi Perfecta 5400. Do not buy the 3300 – just delivers tepid weak coffee.
3、Before I got married – I had a Mr. Coffee Espresso maker – it did the job for me, but I had to grind the coffee myself, and I didn’t know what I was missing…
When I got married – someone gave us a Krupps Espresso maker. I still had to grind the beans, but the coffee tasted a bit better and I was happy for about a week… then steam shot out of the sides (some seal blew), and we took it back to Bed/Bath/Beyond… Got another one that didn’t work out of the box!
That was it for me – I wanted something that WORKED and that I wouldn’t have to futz with (too much) any longer. We opted for the 3300 and haven’t looked back since.
This thing makes an absolutely wonderful shot of espresso, and great cappucinos. Yeah, we had to play with the dials a bit to figure out just where we liked it – but that took a day or two to figure out. Once we got it set, I took a sharpie marker (fine tip) and added an extra dot on the dial. If you look really closely, you can see it – so we know what it’s for, no one else would notice.
Cleanup is pretty simple – you have to (OMG!) move the wand, open the door, pull out the tray, and dump the collection bin… Then rinse out the whole thing – use a bit of soap if you really need to, and let ‘er dry… Then reverse the process 
I set the water hardness when we first got it and after about 6 months of use, I finally had to descale it (we make 1-2 cups per day). It was very easy – empty the water container, dump in the Durgol and add 1L of water… Hold in the descale button (which was flashing) for 5 sec, then when it goes fully lit, turn the frothing handle until the water comes out of the froth wand… Shove a small Glad 1.6L container under it to catch the crud…
30 min later, the water tank is empty – so dump the Glad container… Turn the froth handle off. Rinse and refill the water tank. Turn the froth handle on. Let it rinse the machine again… takes about 5 or 6 mins… Turn the froth handle off. Empty the tank. Rinse again for good measure, and refill.
Turn off the machine. Then for good measure, open it up, remove the infuser and rinse it out under the sink. Dry it off, and reinstall.
That’s it – you’re done. Good to go for another zillion cups of great coffee…
We’ve used Illy’s Dark Roast beans – they’re very nice, along the lines of a Blue Mountain taste to me but at 60% of the price. We’ve run out of Illy and I’ve started using Shock Therapy Coffee (yeah, find it here on Amazon – it’s GREAT stuff…).
As for the noise: Yeah, when it grinds, you get oh 10-15 seconds of grinding… boo hoo… If you don’t like that, then pre-grind the stuff and use the slot in the middle to scoop it in (although, if you’re doing that, it begs the question as to why you wanted the automatic anyway).
Frothing isn’t too noisy – but works much better than anything I’ve ever had. Get one of those stainless steel froth containers and a thermometer and you’re good to go (again, BBB has a combo with a thermometer that has the “Froth” temperature (about 160F).
Did I mention that I love the DeLonghi? Oh yeah, the fact that my wife and I don’t have to blow $5 – $10/day on $tarbuck$ any longer means this sucker is paying for itself… Add in the fact that you don’t have to drive over, stand (or wait) in line, listen to the gossipy drivel or inane music, then risk your life in the parking lot again for a fix and I was sold ;->
Compared to Starbucks – the DeLonghi tastes a bit better to me…
4、I purchased the Delonghi Magnifica in the fall of 2008 for my home, but when it came time to deploy to Afghanistan again I could not just leave it at home. The Magnifica has followed my boys and I around Afghanistan and has continually provided us with tasty, caffeinated beverages throughout. The durability has really surprised me, but as in all things the key is to do maintenance every few weeks with some durgol. Additionally, we only use whole beans and clean the innards and outers weekly.
* best with Dunking Donuts whole bean coffee!
* Awesome to dial your strength by the cup!
* Hot water and steam features are beneficial to us when were in a hurry and need some snacks!
in short, you cannot go wrong with this bad boy. I may purchase another for my parents for xmas, so I can have great coffee when I am visiting home as well!
5、I purchased this unit after getting disappointing results with a Cuisinart model. I didn’t research it much; it was on the shelf at my local retailer so I gave it a try. I really didn’t have very high hopes, because the Delonghi is a little “plasticky” compared to the Cuisinart, and because I typically don’t trust devices that are fully automatic.
Well, I was VERY pleasantly surprised with this model and I have been using it 2-3 times per day for about a month.
Here’s a quick rundown on how the machine works. You fill the bean hopper with coffee beans, and the water tank with (obviously) water. You turn the machine on, and it takes about a minute to warm up. It drips about an ounce of water, probably to heat and flush the machine. I catch it in a mug and dump it.
To make an espresso, you put a cup or two under the spouts, and press the single or double shot button. The machine grinds, clunks and whirs, and after about 30 seconds it begins dispensing espresso, nice and warm with a good layer of crema. The espresso is robust and tastes great.
To froth milk, you switch on the frother, and catch the water that comes out with a mug. When it turns to steam (about 10 seconds), you submerge the tip into the milk and begin frothing (use a frothing thermometer for best results). This is where the machine really shines–it is a strong frother compared to the other units I’ve tried.
It is true that this model is mostly plastic on the outside, so it may not be the pride of the countertop for the appliance-status-conscious. On the other hand, though, it is a fully automatic unit for well under $1000, and it makes great beverages. I have no regrets with this purchase.
