great for the home user

Author's Rating:

Pros: tasty espresso, great frothed milk

Cons: no steam wand, hot water could be hotter

The Bottom Line: 
If you're looking for an inexpensive machine that makes a great brew and good steamed milk, this is the one.

Author's Review
I bought this for my husband as a Christmas gift, hoping to save the money we've been spending on store-bought lattes, and we've been pleasantly surprised by this little machine. It makes really tasty espresso and the unique frothing system produces wonderfully frothed milk in no time. For the espresso novice, a latte or cappucino is made with espresso (coffee brewed with steam) and steamed milk.

Most machines have a steam wand that you insert into a container of milk to steam it, and my complaint has been that they do an inadequate job of steaming milk and getting a nice froth on top of it.

This machine has no steam wand, which was a disappointment at first, but you can just put whatever you want to steam in the milk canister (including chocolate milk or chai) and the frothing system will dispense it into your cup, hot and frothed. The froth system draws milk from a canister through a straw, mixes it with steam and dispenses it into a cup. The froth system has an adjustment knob so you can regulate the temperature and amount of froth on your steamed milk.

The Capresso 112 is relatively easy to use - our teenage kids have no problem with it - and it's very easy to clean.

You need to grind your beans before making espresso, and I would recommend using a burr grinder as it's difficult to get the grind right using a blade grinder, and the right grind makes all the difference when making espresso.

The machine dispenses hot water for tea or Americano's, and it's not quite as hot as we'd like it, but this is a minor inconvenience.

I researched many machines before buying this one. It's really difficult to find a decent one for less than $300. For the home user, I would highly recommend this espresso machine. We love it.