Stylish, gorgeous coffee!

I've had my cream Artisan Espresso machine for about a month now and I'm delighted with it. I had wanted to move on from stove top mocha express devises and had been researching pumped Espresso machines for a while, the KitchenAid took me with a first glance! This is a stunning piece of industrial design, infinitely better looking in the flesh than in pictures and if you fall for it's looks than nothing else will do!
So how dose it perform? Wonderfully well! The very first shot of Espresso pulled was just great including a near perfect creama, what more could you ask for? There is no point in me regurgitating the technical specifications of the machine but I'm sure that the twin boilers are a considerable asset because the brew water is never over heated while you have steam ready all the time and of course once you are adept you can brew and steam at the same time. I'm inclined to think that a commercial grade 58mm chrome plated brass portafilter is essential as this really dose hold its temperature and leads to greater consistency. The supplied tiny plastic tamper is really quite inadequate other than to get you started, I've now purchased a Reg Barber one which is an immense improvement allowing the ideal compacting of any grind of coffee into the portafilter, this is important as it's one of the greatest influences on the extraction of the coffee. The supplied milk jug is nice but a little on the small side, only suitable for single helpings of Cappuccino, no big deal really as a twin shot of Espresso makes one Cappuccino!
Negatives! Right, the largest hassle with the Artisan is the change from steam to hot water and this dose take a bit of time, your expecting water but end up with spitting steam, the manual dose remark on this but it's a pain, you need a largish jug to dump this into because it's quite messy, no, very messy! I was making Americano the other day and got this wrong, we are talking coffee everywhere here! This is something I have not as yet sorted out, again no big deal as a kettle is simpler anyway!
In conclusion this is a great Espresso machine and I am recommending it, there is also a matching coffee grinder that I will be purchasing soon, these will look beautiful together and I will post my experience with it soon.
If you are considering a pumped Espresso machine and you like the look of the KitchenAid, just go for it! It is the real thing!

Francis Francis X1 is ace!

I disagree with Caramac girls review. My Cappuccino cups fit fine under the spout and the plastic pouring spouts also fit properly. It looks cool, makes great coffee and the frother/ milk heater is more powerful than some. Buy it.

COMPLETELY HAPPY

i've had this machine now for over two years. With regular cleaning (and by regular, I mean only 15 mins every month!) it has caused me no problems whatsoever. The problem some have had with the beans not falling into the grinder by gravity isn't really a major issue. It only really occurs if you fill the bean holder totally. Seeing as I tend to like my beans fresher, I never totally fill it. If you're spending over £600 for a machine, surely looking after the beans should be a major factor to you? Anyway, it essentially just reminds you that you need to put more beans in. Not exactly a hardship!?!
I've had 2 previous Gaggia models. Both were excellent. Both were messy and time consuming though, due to only wanting my coffee to be freshly ground.
This model grinds the beans and compacts the coffee and then ejects it into a nice little container. You can just empty this container once full, and rinse it. How easy is that?
The timer function is great too. I set mine to warm up depending on the times I get up. Quick, easy dependable.
I'm not made of money, so this purchase was a hard decision. I've never ever regretted it.