Lello Ariete Cafe Prestige Coffee Maker

This Lello Ariete Cafe Prestige Coffee Maker may not be as popular as Nespresso, Krups and Gaggia but what you don't know about this machine could just be at your lost. Whether or not you know this coffee maker, it makes one of the best espressos around for the price. Let's have a further look at what this espresso /coffee machine can do.

The Lello Ariete Café Espresso Maker is a pump driven 950-watt espresso machine powered by a high performance Thermoblock 15-bar pump system. It has a large 9 cup capacity water reservoir system that can be refillable at anytime during operation plus a sizeable cup warming area. It is one of those espresso machines that actually hides what it can actually do, so don’t be fooled! This machine also allows you to use ESE pods. There are inserts on the portafilter for single double shot amounts.

Built in a heavy-duty stainless steel encasing, this espresso machine might pack a small punch with its 950-watt powered pump but it sure does make good quality espressos and cappuccinos and with that lower than expected price tag (just below $200), it sure doesn’t get any better than this.

To Make The Coffee

You either got to learn how to roast your own coffee beans or find the right kind of “roast” for you coffee. Choosing a darker roasted coffee will give you that bitterish taste and yes it has more caffeine in it but that is entirely up to you to choose a darker roasted over a lighter roasted one. I much prefer lighter roast with my coffee while using this machine. Either way there’s lots you can learn about roasting coffees online.

Doing the Grinding

There’s something you need to know while making your grind for this machine. If you use a very fine grind then you might run into problems of clogging the filter. If the consistency is not right i.e uneven grind, you might also run into problems when using this machine. The best kind of grind is something that is not too fine but fine enough that it doesn’t clog up the machine. I would suggest doing a little bit of experimentation before finding the perfect size grind.

If you run into problems of coffee not coming out of the portafilter then use a slightly coarser grind. Take care and be very careful not to leave the pump unmonitored otherwise they could potentially be an explosion caused by the huge pressure from the pump. A few users have experienced this. So if you ever get your hands on one of this Lello Arieta Espresso Maker, don’t get too adventurous and do a little bit of testing.

How Long To Brew?

I think this is a matter of finding the right grind size, tamp pressure and brewing time to produce the perfect espresso brew. There are lots of resources online to find out how long you should take to produce a good cup of espresso. Generally, if you take too long it will get too bitter while if you do it too quickly, your espresso won’t give you the kick it should. The rule of thumb is 20-25 seconds.

Take note that the extraction time for espresso depends also on the fineness of the coffee grind.

What I Like

You should be pleasantly surprised that this 950-watt powered espresso machine heats up really quickly and packs enough punch to pull a good shot and nice looking froth. Even the warming rack works really well on this machine. Most machines that can to do this takes up more power so I’m rather impressed by what this machine can do.

Another feature that I quite like is the water reservoir as mentioned earlier is quite a large compartment which I quite like a lot. There’s also a little pop up float underneath the drip cup to indicate if your drip cup is getting too full. So, you don’t have to worry if it will overflow.

As with the coffee:

• I was rather impressed with the quality of the crema and espresso produced by this espresso machine every time. I have used this for almost a year and I’ve found that it hasn’t disappointed me despite having at least 2 cups daily for almost a year.
• It takes a bit of experimenting to find the perfect brew. Just remember that it takes a combination of pressure, extraction time and grind quality.

Things I thought Could Be Improved

1. Although this is a stainless steel built espresso machine, there are some parts which are not entirely stainless steel like the Group Head is not entirely solid metal. So far, I haven’t experienced too much problems with this component. But for a price of less than $200, don’t expect a solid metal built on the whole machine.

2. Another thing that annoys me a little is that some water leaks under the drip tray although there is definitely water draining into the drip tray.

3. One more thing that I thought you should know is that the pod inserts can’t work for all coffee pods available out there so be sure to do your own research before buying one and not using it because of incompatibility issues.

OVERALL

Finally at less than $200, the Lello Ariete Cafe Prestige Coffee Maker is a fantastic machine to own and use. It sure has its own quirks where you need to do your own testing and grinding. But if you are patient enough to learn all of this to make your espresso, then don't let this stop you from getting it. It's a really solid built machine that I'm proud to be an owner of. This is probably one of the best budget espresso maker /machine to own at home. I hope you've enjoyed this review!