Illy X7.1 Espresso Single-Serve Machine, Barista Quality Espresso Machine for iperEspresso capsules with Milk Frother Steam Wand (Black)

I really like this product. Using the new capsules makes for no mess at all. The machine is ready in minutes and if you want a quick espresso its so so simple. I tend to pull a couple of shots before switching to the steam function for foaming the milk. It gets up to temperature pretty quickly. I find it takes a good 2 mins to get the milk up to the right temp. It makes good foam and I can make better drinks at home than places like starbucks. It doesn't beat the coffee shops I frequent but then it wont. A decent coffee house that uses $14,000 machines, good grinders, excellent beans and knowledgeable barristas will win everytime. But for that quick fix at home its great. Its a small unit and it looks great on my kitchen counter. People comment on how it looks all the time. It looks more expensive than it is. My first recommendation is that if you want to switch back to pulling a shot after steaming milk do not just press the cup button else it will take a while to cool down to the temp needed to pull a shot. Instead press the cup button and immediately press the steamer button. This will expell hot steam through the wand and cool down faster. I dont think this is noted in the booklet but its a great feature. Another recommendation is that you clean the wand right after steaming the milk. Its best to keep that as clean as possible and is easier to clean right after its been used than later on when its all sticky and clogged. All in all a great machine for the money. Totally recommended and believe me I am a coffee snob and will only drink great coffee.

When turned on, the machine takes some time to heat -- and then goes straight into a red blip mode under the ! logo. What is odd is that all instructions are followed by the book. It's not like you have many options on what to do when starting the machine. So you switch on and off and restart anywhere between 3 to 7 times to actually get it into the blue mode in the central big button - which is ready for coffee. VERY disappointing and time consuming. The defect was clear and the process to get the machine replaced was awful: slow, confusing, repetitive and frankly below standards. But the coffee is good, when it gets out.

These machines don't get enough love. They have become an indispensable part of my routine. 4 yrs since I first started using x7.1 and iperpresso capsules, I have settled in with the espresso blend that I love. It's a no frills machine that served me well. Last month the water tank sprung a leak at the bottom. That's one piece of the design they should consider changing. You slide the tank in every time, so it was only a matter of time that this would happen. Either a thicker base or a better mechanism to prevent the slide-in design would do the trick. The tank's material is also not resistant to algae, so you should clean it in soap regularly. Still giving it a 5-start because it's been used extensively for 4 yrs and after returning to a Keurig for few days, I just realized that I need my Espresso more than I could imagine. I am ordering a water tank replacement and will post whether that fixed the issue.

We bought this machine because we know the reputation of Illy fo excellent coffee, and we had once a very good espresso at a friend’s place which she had prepared with this machine. We love coffee and wanted to upgrade from our small Nespresso Pixie machine to something superior. We were thoroughly disappointed in almost every respect. Please note: this was a brand new machine. First the upside: the machine does excellent espresso if used with the Illy espresso coffee. Now the downsides: 1. The machine is HUGE. Our kitchen is not very big, and it sits on the counter like a pretty OVNI. 2. The machine is, externally, almost entirely made of (cheap looking) plastic. There is not much metal inside either, I guess, as the machine is hardly heavier than our Pixie, which is one fourth the size. 3. The machine needs a long time to reach operating temperature (you can see the temperature slowly rise in the display, as if this was interesting), and then, the coffee brewing is very slow, so better warm up the cup first. 4. The milk steamer does a very average job, and takes a lot of time. If you do a two shot cappuccino, by the time you have put together two espresso shots and steamed the milk, even with a pre-heated cup, the cappuccino will be tepid at best. And then, you are supposed to take apart and wash the steamer tip every time. 5. The capsules are very expensive (more than Nespresso, and those are hardly cheap) and the flavor range is rather limited. 6. The capsules are made of plastic. Brewing a hot beverage through a plastic capsule is not my idea of healthy. 7. The worst at last: once you have used the steamer, the machine is blocked for 10 min (!) until it can revert to coffee mode… It says so in the operating manual, so it is ‘normal’, but if you have friends or familly visiting, and three of them want cappuccino, you first have to make 6 espresso shots (which will already try your patience - and theirs), then you have to steam the milk one portion at a time (the machine is supposed to steam well only 75 ml per steaming cycle). By the time you are done, the first cappuccino will be invariably almost cold. And then, if anybody wants a coffee or espresso afterwards, you have to tell them: “Well, the machine is now blocked for 10 min, so just have a yoghurt and a a couple of tartines in the meantime”. The verdict: do not buy this machine, unless you use it only for espresso and are of a patient nature.

Simple to use with perfect espresso draws every time. The capsule system works great and reduces the hassle of using ground espresso. This does come at the expense of less control over the brewing and less selection of individual coffees that you have using ground espresso and possibly increased cost per cup. Then again in a side by side comparison the pod machine did as well or better then the ground espresso unit and was more consistent and less messy. Also tried the Nespresso system which was nice and offered more coffee capsule options, but the Illy machine produced better tasting espresso despite trying different coffee types in the Nesptesso unit. Also the Illy machine produced espresso that was identical to the draws from the ground espresso machine which wasn’t the case with the Nespresso unit. The milk frother works great and clean up is a breeze. The machine is well made for the price and doesn’t take up much counter space. Unless you are OCD about your espresso this is a great way to go.

Pros Very good consistent espresso with no mess and no effort Powerful pump provides steam quickly and as long as you need it Great looking design Cons using 2 capsules a day (for a fairly standard grande latte equivalent) creates a LOT of waste in your recycling bin. That is not for everyone Steam wand is way too short - you can only use fairly small milk cups and you have to hold it pressed up against the unit. A longer wand would make it easier to hold the milk and see what is happening. As it is, the cup is stuck up under the main unit. I have made gone through (5) 21 capsule tins, meaning over 100 shots and this thing works great. I will report after 6 or 12 months.

While coffee snobs are probably scoffing at this little beauty you need to remember two things: first, they paid thousands of dollars for their equipment that they spend hours of their life roasting and grinding beans for, and two, when they finally fire up their espresso machine to make a cup there's a huge mess to clean up. I'm more than happy to trade off a smidge of authenticity, a smidge of freshness and a smidge of higher quality bean for the simple fact that I can turn this baby on and have an incredibly tasty shot of espresso in my hands in about 60 seconds - and that includes the amount of time it takes to throw away the pod. And yes, it's uber tasty. All this has done is create problems with my wife, though, because I've become an espresso fiend. It's so easy and quick that I find myself spending all of my free time drinking these beautiful little blasts of bitter coffee goodness instead of doing chores around the house. And don't even get me started on a shot of dark roast topped with frothed whole milk that is fresh from the farm a few miles up the valley from my house... If that isn't the perfect breakfast I don't know what is. There's a Tim Hortons about a two minute drive from me and I haven't visited it once since this wonderful little angel was set down on my countertop, so I guess one other negative is that it's hurting the local economy.

The unit is good (not great) while working. The espresso it makes is very good. Unfortunately, after only a few months it started beeping and flashing the warning light rapidly. The manual indicates it needs to be descaled. Did this but it did not resolve. Descaled 3 more times and switched to distilled water, and the unit malfunctions so much it is unusable.