Espresso Machine Reviews

Espresso Machine Reviews - My Krups

I use a Krups XP 5000 which I have found to be an easy machine to use and it makes an excellent cup of espresso which I drink straight. However my wife likes a soy milk cappuccino and it works well for that as well as it has a steamer on it to heat up the milk.

I use a fine grind which I grind with my Cuisinart Burr grinder (I dial it to 2 which is the second finest, 1 is the finest) and I tamp it not too tightly. The key in my opinion in how to make espresso that tastes great is in the beans. I don’t like to buy pre ground beans as they are stale by definition.

What I do is go to a small shop that also roasts its own coffee in my home town and buy their espresso whole beans. The last one I bought was something called Velvet Espresso which was roasted the prior day. Contrary to what I used to think they roast this until it’s a light brown color rather than the dark brown almost black oily stuff I used to buy.

Since it’s fresh it tastes as good from my XP 5000 as anything I get from a coffee shop and has a really nice layer of crema on top. My conclusion is that my XP 5000 is a great machine, it has a built in water filter which is nice and is extremely dependable - I have had it for over 3 years but great beans are key to any coffee including making espresso with this machine.