Caffe Nabucco - Make Mine Strong!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Stylish, ergonomic, variable coffee strength, great coffee.

Cons: No automatic shut off for warmer burner,no timer,flimsy coffee basket.

The Bottom Line: 
Good functional unit, has its guirks, makes great coffee, does not have automatic shut off or timer. Recommend if the price is right and you have the counter space.

Author's Review
We have had seperate coffee makers and espresso machines in the past and had been considering a combination machine.

I was searching on Ebay for espresso machines, this came up and was at $36 with only a few minutes to go. I searched the internet quickly for the best deal and found one at a store in NY for $99. Seemed like a good price, I then went to DeLonghi's web site to get the particulars on the dual coffee/espresso maker. It seemed like a good machine and DeLonghi is a standard of appliances in europe.

I won the bid for $42. (the unit lists for $199 which seems too high, $99 retail would seem reasonable)

After having the machine for a month or so we feel we know the machine, its positives and negatives, what we would buy next time.

Postives:
The styling is decent compared to others we looked at. The price on Ebay was great.
The coffee section has a variable strength selector which is nice and not found on many other models that we have seen, it has a removable tank which comes out for cleaning.

One thing to consider with removable tanks is how well the foot seals. If the seal leaks water gets between the tank and the unit and mold could occur if you leave the tank in for awhile (which we do). This tank seems to seal well for now.

To coffee brewing is fine and makes good coffee.

It has a cone shapped basked that takes standard gold filters (not included) Bought a gold filter at Target for $5 (another good deal)

Espresso section - the espresso section works well also and has a frother attachment. The cap has a pressure relief valve that prevents removal of the cap under pressure. The maker also has a strength knob to vary the strength of the espresso. Another rare feature.

The ergonomics of both the coffee and espresso pots is nice. The feel and balance of the pots, the feeling of the handles in your hand feels good. I think this is part of Italian design. They feel good when you wash them.

It has two temperature settings for the coffee pot warming burner 10 cups and 5 cups. This is a nice feature to not cook the remainder of your pot if you take a while to drink it.

The brew time for 10 cups is about 10 minutes.

The brew time for 4 espresso cups is about 5 minutes. Seems a little long.


Negatives:

The coffee door that holds the filter seems flimsy at the hinge. The top of the holder rubs on the maker and is annoying. Removal of the basket from the maker for cleaning is a little annoying but I think once you get the hang of it,it is fine.

There is no timer to set up the maker to turn on automatically. I really miss that. The next model up has it.

The lids on the pots are a little awkward but work well. The lids snap on, and do not flip up. They are either on or off.

The unit seems 'big'. If you have the counter space go for it. But check dimensions before you buy. I do not have under cabinet clearance to fill the tank, I have to slid the unit out, fill with water and slide back under the cabinet. A minor annoyance.

The coffee pot warmer does not have an automatic shut off. Our last two makers (Krups and Hamilton Beach) both shut off after two hours. This will go for ever. Caution.

Overall it was a good deal for the price I paid, the unit has good points and bad, depends what you are looking for. I would probably buy the Krups model if I was paying over $99. I would look for automatic shut off and a timer.