Inexpensive Pump Espresso

Author's Rating:

Pros: Pump espresso is more desirable than steam and this machine is fast

Cons: Doesn't really make a great cup, just average.

The Bottom Line: 
If you insist on a pump espresso machine and are on a budget, this is a good choice.

Author's Review
Other than ponying up a lot of lira for a state of the art pump espresso maker that costs at least 3 times as much, you can get a decent cup of espresso from the Via Veneto. While I am not in love with this machine, it suits our occasional espresso urges.

Features
Water reservoir (smoke transparent plastic), steam nozzle, dual cup dispensing, no ability to take pre-made pods (that I know of), pump dispensing of hot water, platform for cups.

The Crema da crop?

What kind of cup of espresso can you get from the Via Veneto? We find we get a reasonable cup with good but not exceptional body and a reasonable amount of crema, the blond frothy foam that distinguishes an excellent cup of espresso.

The coffee is never terribly hot.

The milk steamer makes good latte milk and ok-to-good foam. A steel pitcher held at the right angle is helpful to get foam; otherwise, submerging the nozzle gets you non-foamy steamed milk for latte and cafe au lait, which is ok, too.

The pump has to be primed if you haven't used the unit in a while; air gets into the lines that dip into the water reservoir and has to be expelled to allow water to flow into the coffee basket. If you make espresso constantly and keep the reservoir filled, it isn't necessary to prime very often. If you are an infrequent drinker of the dark brew, you might be happier with a steam model, one that extracts the coffee by sending in a jet of steam from a boiler.

It is also necessary to clean out the reservoir after water evaporates--no matter how clean and filtered the water, a line of salts forms eventually on the reservoir. Also, you should clean out the espresso holder to make sure your coffee tastes clean and fresh.

Summary

You get what you pay for; this is a reasonably good pump machine but nothing like a pro espresso maker. The coffee seems a bit insipid and is never really hot enough for my tastes. The steamer works fine for latte, though you have to expel a lot of condensed water first from the nozzle to make sure you don't dilute your milk. The size is fairly large--about the size of a big coffee maker in footprint.