Tale of Two Espresso Machines

I am an avid coffee drinker. From what I can remember I started drinking coffee when I was about 13 years old, not much but once in a while. Later during high school it became my breakfast, sometime during college my partner in crime - especially whenI needed to be awake due to pending papers, homework and upcoming exams, or to get me through till that last class. Since then my coffee intake had dramatically increased. Just a few weeks ago, I told The V. I would like to get us a real espresso machine, one that does all the work, with just a button. The big question is - which machine and up to how much do we want to pay for it. Let me tell you, the prices of those espresso machines are sometimes unbelievably expensive. I don't get it why they cost more expensive than the most expensive washing machine ( a miele high tech machine where clothes come out dry and needn't be ironed!!!). After all, they do just make coffee.

After reading reviews and discussion in forums which machine is suitable for us and our budget. I found this nice machine. It has lots of extra function and looks relatively good. Here it is a Delonghi Esam 3400. It cost a bit more than what I originally wanted to spend but heck, I will indulge on this one. At home, machine tested and made a few cups.. wow. this is just like in a posh cafe. The next day though The V. found it leaking. Somewhere, somehow. We brought it back to the shop and ask if we can get a new one. Unfortunately, that was the last one they've got and the shop gave us our money back.

With this experience we decided to forget about Delonghi and go for a different model. This meant going to the shops again and researching in the internet again!!!) ... finally, we found a new model. A Bosch TCA54F9.

Went home, made a cup of coffee.. yummy ... and then saw something unusual. After each rinse cycle , we had a feeling that it just disposes too much water. We didn't want to panic and decided to call the service hotline the next day. The guy at the other line told The V. that we need to send the product for repair. That water is just too much. So we went to the shop(again!) and this time we just asked to have it repaired without getting the money back. We're done with that option, we just decided to stick with him through thick and thin.

So patiently waiting for that machine we went back to our old boring filter coffee. That is not easy let me tell you after being spoiled with freshly grounded beans and espresso or cappucino with milk froth. After almost 2 weeks, got the call from the shop and went to pick up our machine. They claim there isn't something wrong with it which we doubt but heck, that extra water doesn't do any harm, we just want to drink good coffee again. Got home, drank our espressos and cappucinos.. well until a few days. The machine started to blink and wanted to do some decalcing and cleaning. Huh?? After about what, 15 or 20 cups??? We thought, yeah maybe because of the tests done with it. But hey, that wasn't it, it just won't do the cleaning. So what to do? Pack the machine, brought it to the shop, sent it for service (again to nth time!!!).

Now we're back to our filter coffee, it tastes bland, almost like water. Funny , it never tasted so bad before. I guess that's how it is when you've tasted real, good coffee. This story has no happy ending yet but hopefully I can go back to this entry in 2 weeks (that's the procedure with service) with a good cup of coffee on my hand. What about you, do you have any coffee stories to share??