Tchibo Automatic Espresso Coffee Maker with Built-in Grinder - Fresh Ground Coffee Machine, No Pods Needed, Compact Red Design for Home & Office Use

This coffee maker combo does it (very nearly) all.Once the simple setup is done: remove packing materials, load the bean hopper with selected beans, and fill water reservoir,… it is time to select your brew.OUTPUTThe machine brews an espresso, and small coffee, or a large (nominally 8 fl oz) coffee. Or you can get hot water. But I can get that from my faucet, so NBD on that.CLEAN RINSEThe machine runs a quick clean cycle on startup resulting in a small amount of hot water which you can use to thin out the coffee or just to warm the cup (nice!).GRINDING+BREWINGWhen the coffee is size/type selected, it feeds beans from the hopper, grinds it, brews it up and dispenses through a spout that can be moved up and down for different sized cups. You can select espresso and two sizes of coffee.The coffee it produces (for me it was Kona blend) is excellent.Nominally, you can only brew up the three sizes and it has a default grind density. You can’t adjust the water/brew temperature or the bloom time.CUP SIZEIt will only make an 8oz cup at the largest setting, so requires a couple of passes if you want a bigger mug full OR, by holding down the size/type button while dispensing, it will change the output volume (Oooo…). This volume setting then becomes the default. Note that this will tend to weaken the brew a bit: more water, same amount of coffee, you know Also, it doesn’t have a milk steamer so I find I sometimes have to microwave a cup after adding my milk to the coffee—I like my coffee very milky. Since it makes really good coffee, these slight limitations are not a problem for me.GRINDThere is a grind density knob *inside* the bean hopper. This explains why I didn’t find it. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t read the instruction manual. I mean, who reads the manual?Note: you have to adjust the grind level *WHILE the grinder is actually grinding”CLEANING THE MACHINENot hard to do. Have to remove and rinse the brewing module in the side, and clear out the grounds tray at the front. It figures out that the grounds tray needs to be emptied by counting the number of brews that have occurred since the last clean out, not by any kind of sensor. So you have to clean the grounds tray *WHILE the machine is in an ON-STATE” otherwise it won’t register that the tray has been emptied. This information is also in the instruction manual. Ask me how I know…EXTRASBTW, Tchibo were kind enough to include three bags (light, medium, and dark roast) of their brand coffee beans with the machine. Haven’t tried them yet since I’m working through the Kona I got for Christmas. But it’s a really nice touch and much appreciated.SUMMARYI think this machine produces just about the best coffee I’ve ever had (excepting The Coffee Gallery in Haleiwa, HI). So take that, Starbucks!Heartily brewed and heartily recommended.