Krups Compact Espresseria Bean 2 Cup Coffee Machine
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 List Price: £549.99 Sale Price: £499.99 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Eligible For Free Shipping 
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Product Description
Krups EA8080 K1 Bean to Cup coffee machine in a piano black finish is a striking coffee machine that would be the centre piece of a kitchen. Features include: ?One of the most Compact Fully Automatic Bean to Cup machines ?'Perfect Coffee System': optimum specs combine for optimum results ?High 15 Bar pump pressure ?Heating unit with an integrated percolation chamber ?Improved grinder for finer, more consistent grinding for maximum flavour extraction for your coffee ?Multiple fineness settings ?New conical burrs for a better precision ?Aqua Filter System with Claris cartridge ?Ideal for Espresso, Lungo, Cappuccino or Latte ?Programmable amount of coffee & steam
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No features available.
Rating
I have tried out a few different types of coffee machine over the years and decided to move on from the Nespresso system a couple of years ago. I decided to buy the previous version of this Krups bean to cup machine but it stopped working within a few months, at which point I discovered Krups had no idea what customer service meant – they were very rude and unhelpful. In the end however, I was persuaded to try this updated machine.
This machine makes a reasonable cup of coffee initially but the taste deteriorates over time, which I believe is due to the fact that the interior cannot be accessed for cleaning and there is a consequential build up of stale coffee grounds. Although I used the Krups cleansing tablets and descaling solution every time the machine prompted me to do so (and actually more frequently than that), it appeared as though this just does not keep the interior clean. My machine seemed to get blocked internally to the extent that beans did not even enter the grinder and that was after less than 6 months of use. I managed to get it working again by running several cleansing cycles but found I had to do this every few days to maintain any flow of coffee, which was not ideal. The amount of coffee dispensed was also very erratic, with sometimes only half a cup dispensed and sometimes only murky water even if beans had been ground. The coffee tasted really nasty and I just stopped making any in the end.
I may have just been unfortunate that two different Krups bean to cup machines developed faults, but I have now moved onto a machine that can be taken apart for interior cleaning and have found the results are much better. I will not buy any Krups products in the future because of my experience of their appalling customer service.
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I have not actually used this machine but owned its predecessor the XP7240. I believe the EA8080 is basically the same product with a different outer cladding.
After about four months of using the XP7240 the quality of the beverage started to deteriorate. I complained to the retailer, who referred me to Krups. Krups arranged for the machine to be taken in by their service contractor (at no charge as the machine was within the warranty period). On receiving the machine back, I noticed a slight improvement. It wasn’t long, however, before the same problems started to recur. I went back to Krups and they again had it taken in by their service contractor. Resulting from this there was again some improvement followed by the same kind of deterioration.
Having got rather tired of dealing with Krups – I’d been trying to find out from them what their contractor had actually done to the machine (Krups didn’t know and told me that they had no control over their contractor!) – I resigned myself to the idea that I was never going to get a real espresso or any other kind of high quality coffee beverage out of this Krups product. After about fourteen months use, and further progressive deterioration, I gave up with it entirely and junked it.
But before junking it, and after the warranty period had expired, and thinking that I’d now nothing to lose by doing this, I opened the machine up. In this way I discovered what the problem probably was. The brewed coffee is sent from the brewing chamber to the delivery nozzles on the front of the machine via a polythene tube. This polythene tube was a disgusting muddy colour, clearly resulting from brewed coffee becoming ingrained in it. The automated cleaning process is useless in dealing with this problem. The tube simply becomes more and more ingrained with coffee and contaminates every brew. The result is a stale, rather bitter, heavy brew that has about as much in common with a coffee beverage as used engine oil has. I could also see that the innards of the machine were coated with a layer of stale ground coffee, which it is almost impossible to remove, and is the origin of the constant odour of stale coffee that always surrounded the machine in my kitchen. This is because when the grinder sends a cascade of ground coffee into the brewing chamber the excess is scraped off and scattered about inside.
This machine is of a totally unsuitable design, is certainly not fit for its purpose, and is a complete and utter waste of money. I have no experience of this kind of machine from other manufacturers but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all built on the same principle. I’d advise anybody who appreciates good coffee to buy a machine from the long established specialist manufacturers. My investigations suggest that for the same kind of expenditure a Gaggia Classic or a Rancilio Silvia can be had. Both have attracted excellent consumer reviews and I haven’t yet come across any major complaint about them. I believe that these machines are built mainly of brass and/or stainless steel. Any coffee making equipment must be kept spotlessly clean and therefore materials such as polythene and other types of plastic material must never be used in the brewing process. I’d advise prospective purchasers of any coffee making equipment to check that only suitable materials are used in the construction.
Rating
I have had this machine for three years now, and am looking to cut my losses and buy something different.
I bought it, and to be fair, using Illia beans, the espresso and the long coffees were wonderful, good creme and bringing out the taste of the beans. Easy to use, not bad on refilling and emptying times and the small footrpint versus the other brands at the time clinched it.
Been replaced twice under warranty. This, the third one started playing up just as it went out of warranty. The arm that ejects the grinds gets stuck, and I have been using it since then with the inner top bit missing so I can push the arm back myself when it plays up.
The other week, when it asked to be cleaned, it bunged up for good and despite trying to dismantle it, prod sticks and wire up the tubes, the outlets remain fully blocked.
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My first machine worked admirably for a year and a half before giving up the ghost. Like the previous reviews I found the customer service alot to be desired.To be fair the customer service problems I had was with the repairers and not Krups themself as they were unhelpful and wouldnt even give you feedback for the first 28 days whilst repairs were on going,and I then found they hadnt even ordered the part needed, which consequently didnt fix the problem, and the machine had to go in for repair and then they couldnt fix it and after 7 weeks agreed to replace the machine.
The 2nd generation machine I received came in black and seems to have better software and has given admirable service over the last 6 months serving 6-10 large black coffees per day.The quality of the coffee it serves is excellent and well up with shop bought examples.
Despite the problems I have had, I really do love this machine from its good looks and digital display, down to its small worktop footprint.Its just such a shame that Krups has such unhelpful repair contracts. They even warned me that despite being a new machine I could only have the remaining 6 months warranty from the previous machine on my replacement machine!!
Would I recommend it? If this machine goes wrong I think I will be trying a more reliable brand such as Siemens which now appears to be cheaper than the Krups. Fingers crossed mine doesn’t go wrong as I will miss its many good points despite its faults.
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I had think hard before buying this machine as what few reviews I could find weren’t very enthusiastic. But I’ve owned one for almost 4 months now and I can say i really don’t regret my purchase. The machine looks good and is extremely compact, taking up very little space on the counter.
There is quite a bit of customizing you can do in terms of the coffee strength, volume and temperature, and I’m sure most people will be able top get their ‘perfect’ coffee from it without too much trouble. The quality of beans you put in makes a big difference, of course.
Emptying and cleaning the machine is pretty simple and overall it’s a very easy machine to use. You always get excellent crema.
The two downsides for me is are: The steam wand feels a little weak and I would have preferred more power behind the steam to get the milk frothed quicker, and secondly the machine quite often runs an automatic ‘refill’ cycle during the first few weeks which involves cycling water through the system. This can happen in the middle of a coffee-making cycle and takes up quite a bit of time and water, as well as wasting some ground coffee.
The ‘cup warmer’ plate on the top doesn’t really do anything – I prefer to heat up my cups with hot water before making a coffee – much more effective.
Hint 1: You do not need to fill the bean hopper all the way to the top. if you do, you may find some beans get ‘left behind’ on the left side of the container. Just fill up the right hand side and the beans will naturally fall into the grinder.
Hint 2: if the steam wand gets excessively noisy, it’s probably because it needs cleaning. Normally the the noise level is quite low (less than a conventional espresso machine, I think)
All in all, I think it’s a good machine for the price and has several advantages (ease of use, space and speed) over a conventional espresso maker, or indeed other bean-to-cup machines,
Rating
I have had several other machines such as Philips and delonghi but this beta them all it make perfect coffee and the included milk frother makes the most professional I have ever had (it has separate milk tank and tube).
As for reliability most people seem to rate the previous X7 model rather than the current EA8080 – these are worlds apart in terms of reliability and ease of use this talks you through the cleaning stages and has been fantastic. I would recommend anyone to use this and do not put too much on reviews saying poor support or reliability they have been great!
often cheaper elsewhere than on amazon (often £475) as good as Jura but without the expense!!
2 year or 6,000 cup guarantee makes this a worthwhile HOME investment (this is not sold for commercial use)