July 18, 2010 | 
Author De'Longhi Prima Donna ESAM6600 Bean To Cup Coffee Machine
List Price: £1,199.99
Sale Price: Price Change
Posted in Bean To Cup Coffeee Machines
Posted in Bean To Cup Coffeee Machines
Rating
I have wanted this ever since i got a demo in a department store, but put it off … as it is ‘quite expensive’. I did have a Tassimo Nespresso Machine, that i thought was great, but it is quite wasteful, (and anything but the coffee was awful most notably the ‘Late’ discs). However it did the job of a reasonable coffee quick, easy and Much better than instant rubbish.
So wanting more i upgraded to a cheap and cheerful (under £30) espresso machine. it was great, good coffee – but…. It was a bit of a faff to do, and clean. Then it broke after about a week…. but it did enough to prove i really wanted nice coffee……..
Then i saw the Prima Donna… what a beauty, relatively small and it does everything…. full programmable to your cups and strength, it cleans itself, it even turns itself on in the morning to heat up the tank and your cups. I’m sure you can probably program it to do your ironing and pick up your shopping if only i could find the function.
This thing is amazing and worth the money for what it does….. it comes down to how you justify it…. I figure you spend more on a sofa and a TV… and neither of those help get me up in the morning…
You can spend half the money on a REALLY nice manual one… but you’ll never use it as you have to faf about with grinding and cleaning…
but then i am lazy…..
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I purchased this machine in the Amazon Xmas sale and what a buy it is. it looks absolutely brillaint on my breakfast bar. The machine is so easy to operate and clean. We live in a hard water area and our previous Gaggia machine broke down within 18 months due to my lazy approach to cleaning. However, this machine will tell you when it requires de-scaling etc. I think it may also iron my work shirts if programmed accordingly. You can program the machine to produce the exact amount of coffee you prefer and froth milk required per cup. If you enjoy coffee and want a machine that lasts a long time, the Prima Donna is for you. Impress your mates and splash out that bit more, i recken over time it will be worth it!!
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Quite simply this machine has no equal on the domestic market. It is the answer to the problem of making quality expresso coffee every time. We have tried a series of machines from the quixotic “chrome peacock” to the workaday “pod” machine, but this is far, far superior.
With this machine, you simply pour the coffee beans in one end, press a button and a perfect cup of fresh expresso coffee emerges within seconds with a perfect (and delicious) “crema” every time. It is highly adjustable, so for example, you can select “long” or “short” expresso, and you can easily vary the strength(6 options) just by pressing a single button.
If you take milk in your coffee, the jug system is ingenious and simple to use, again using a single button. It effortlessly produces that wonderful, creamy, thick foam that you normally only see in commercial outlets. Moreover, it does this within seconds for cup after cup, eliminating that tiresome fuss experienced with lesser machines. The result tastes like a professionally-made cappuccino or latte.
More prosaically, it tells you (on the small electronic screen) when to empty the coffee grounds or fill the tank (both very simple procedures). It also rinses itself when you switch it off. It looks good too: it is a quality item, well made with very high specification chrome and plastics. It is not too big: it has plainly been designed to sit comfortably on a domestic kitchen work surface and it does so very happily, without looking disporoportionate.
In short, while this machine is obviously expensive, it produces commercial quality coffee with a fantasic crema and/or foam at the touch of a button, consistently, and without fuss. If you love expresso coffee, it is well worth the money.
Rating
I chose this machine based on the reviews listed and can only agree with all the comments. Apart from filling the water tank, cleaning the milk jug and emptying the own coffee grounds this machine does everything else for you. Coffee can be modified very easily to your exact taste and you can even time the machine to warm up ready for your early morning cup.
Worth the money given the effort involved in using and cleaning pod/ground coffee machines I have had previously.
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I have progressed from virtually every type of appliance for brewing coffee.
I wanted a machine that was easy to use and clean.
The biggest draw back of other machines I have used is that they are messy and fiddly to use.
OMG this is so simple.
After reading the manual and configuring it for your water hardness (litmus paper test) took about 20 mins to get up and running.
1. Plug it in
2. Fill the tank
3. Top up the beans
4. Press the button.
This machine also does the best americano (long espresso) I have tasted outside of a Parisien Cafe/Italian Coffee shop.
Main reason for this machine over others is that it also handles Cappacino’s and Latte’s. TBH other mahcines I used were a pain in the arse to use for this – pour the coffee then steam the milk manually to make a good froth.
This is SO SO EASY!! – stick the jug in and press a button.
The machine is self cleaning, tells you when to empty grounds, fill tank and descale. Only thing it doesn’t do is tell you when to top up the beans – but tbh this is not an issue.
Best Purchase I have made in a long time – didn’t want to fork out £1500 for the equivalent krups model.
This makes the best coffee I have tasted, if you like other cappacinos and lattes and want something quick and easy to use then this is a must.
You can also set it to come on before you get up – to warm the cups on top – nice touch
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I can only agree with the other (good) reviews, no problems so far (Bought Dec 2008)
Just one niggle, the nozzle that you slide the milk jug onto, needs lubricating LIGHTLY with SILICONE GREASE (Available from a SCUBA Diving Store), this makes the jug “glide on” instead of pushing the whole machine around the worktop as you attempt to push the jug into place.
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I purchased this machine after having struggled with inferior models for many years. I guess curiosity got the better of me … I have always bought the best of the best and forgot about the rest ! … This is the best… the one and only for me. It talks to me, we share the experience of the making, the aromas of real ground coffee; fresh and enlivening!
It is so “simples! ” You can adjust everything, the strength, the volume, the temperature … it tells you when you need to descale, fill the water tank, empty the grounds container, fill the beans … just everything ! – Buy it .. go on … spoil yourself, you deserve this machine .. I’ve had mine for 6 months now, and it’s worth every penny !
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This thing is seriously good.
Until I got this machine I’d never been able to re-create for myself the sort of coffee one gets in a coffee shop; didn’t matter what type I tried (filter, cafetiere, steam expresso) nor which beans I bought, it never quite got there.
But this machine delivers. A wonderful range of choice of strength or type and what comes out is fresh and tasty. Really tasty.
And it’s easy to use too. A wide range of setup choices and good a range of “defaults” each of which is also programmable (how much espresso, how much milk, how much froth). Work out which you like best and set the quantities which just fill your favourite cup and from then on it’s just a case of put the cup in place and press a button. And if you want a change just change the settings and have a bit more milk, a slightly finer grind, a slightly stronger flavour – whatever.
I got one for my office (it sits beside my desk on top of a two-drawer filing cabinet – soooo convenient; fill the water tank in the morning, fill the milk holder, check the beans and then a fresh coffee whenever I hit the button) and within a week my wife insisted we get one for home too.
Visitors will love it – no more just “black or white?” choice – you can offer them anything they’d be able to order in a coffeeshop.
Drawbacks? Well none really; it’s a tad noisy while it grinds and creates your cupful but not too annoying. It’s not small but I find it doesn’t intrude, either in the office or in the kitchen.
Unexpected bonuses? The frothy milk really is frothy and stays frothed (the machines where you have to use a steam nozzle to froth your milk somehow never seem to maintain frothiness). And the little area on top where in the picture you can just see two rails is where they recommend you keep a couple of cups so they’re ready and warm when needed.
It’s not cheap, but if you’ve read this far that’s not an issue for you; good quality is presumably your concern and I don’t think you can go wrong buying one of these.
Rating
This machine is fantastic. I have owned it for over a year now and am really pleased with the quality of coffee that is consistently produced; there has been absolutely no deterioration in the taste over this time. It really is as good as that from a coffee shop. Best of all, I can actually make a decent cappuccino, something that has never really been possible from any of the other machines that I tried before this one.
The drip tray has an excellent capacity, so no more pools of water on the kitchen surfaces and the stainless steel solid construction looks great and is also very easy to clean. A descaling product needs to be run through the machine periodically (the frequency depends on the hardness of water in your area and the frequency with which the machine is used). I live in a soft(ish) water area (2 on the scale) and find that, even though we have a lot of coffee, descaling is necessary only every 8 to 10 weeks, so the running costs from this exercise are quite low. All of the internal parts of the machine are easy to access for removal of any residual coffee grounds, which helps to ensure there is no impact on the taste of the coffee produced.
The only negative comment that I can make about this machine is the fact that the beans are housed beneath a stainless steel lid that you have to open before you can ascertain whether the hopper needs to be refilled (and there is no warning if the beans do run out until the machine has tried to grind air for a whole cup – it does not give a warning if a couple of beans can be ground, even if that is not enough for a full serving of coffee) – very minor and this is honestly the only negative thing I can say about it.
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We bought this machine a year ago & have used it every day since. What a fantastic machine ! Does everything automatically, no messing about with cleaning hidden tubes, separate grinders & all the hassel that come with other machines, or the ongoing expense associated with capsule type machines.
I suspect that the cup of coffee from this is no better than other more manual machines but have you got enough time in your life to bother with all that stuff ? One thing we have found is that the coffee beans used are really important for a good cup of coffee. Buy the wrong type & you will get a really dissappointing cup of coffee, buy the right type & its fantastic – you really just have to try & its nothing to do with the machine.
Its expensive (~£14) but you can buy 1kg bags of beans from well known high street coffee houses (eg Nero) that work/taste really well but there are others that are just as good & cheaper.
The milk frother is great although we prefer to use it on the macchiatto setting rather than the cappuccino as it gives a thicker milk froth. The trick is to let it run until you have enough froth rather than let the machine deliver it automatically (read the instructions for this)
We didn’t buy a coffee maker like this before as it always seemed expensive & something of an extravagance but I wish we had bought this years ago. Lifes too short, you can’t drink coffee when you are dead so buy a proper coffee maker now !