CASABREWS 20 Bar Coffee Machine

I took a spent a long time looking for a decent espresso machine that would not break the bank. Most of the mainstream brands top out at 15 bar and this was one of the few that goes up to 20 bar. I also wanted a machine without any bells and whistles and it came down to this and the Smeg retro one: this being half the price, 20 bar and largely stainless steel meant it won out.So, first of all, I think this machine is excellent, especially at this price point. It does one thing well: heating up water and pumping it: either through the portafilter at pressure for coffee, or through the nozzle for hot water or steam. To do this it has a pump that apparently goes all the way up to 20 bar, which should be enough to make an espresso even through the finest espresso ground coffee. So far it's had no problem with the slightly courser, general-purpose ground I've been using and I'll update this review once my finer ground espresso I ordered arrives.The machine doesn't weigh a great deal, which is both good and bad: it means it's pretty easy to unpack and set up and, if you want to stash it in a cupboard, it would easy to move about. The light weight means you do have to hold it in place when inserting or removing the portafilter though, despite the suction feet it's equiped with. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.Unlike a Nespresso pod machine, this does take a little experimenting to bond with, as you'll need to learn what the flashing lights mean, how to dispense water to lower the internal temperature after steaming, &c. I found it takes about thirty seconds from cold to initially heat up, during which time three lights on the front flash. Once up to temperature the lights all come on steady and it's ready to go. Changing to steam mode is almost instantaneous but you might reed to run the water to get the temperature back down for coffee again after steaming.The portafilter (handle bit you put the coffee in) comes with two inserts: one for a single- and a second for double-shots. I've primarily used the double-shot insert as I like my coffee quite strong and this one stays put in the holder even when dumping the grinds into the bin. The single-shot insert was quite loose however, and fell into the bin when tapping out the grounds, so I'll probably not use that one again. If you do need to swap them, there's a gash between the cradle and the portafliter you can use with a spoon or something to lever the insert out. The portafilter locks into place within the machine quite easily but, as mentioned, you'll need to hold the body of the machine in place as you lock it in as it's not heavy enough to stay put on the worktop.The machine also came with a plastic spoon and tamper. I actually bought a metal tamper at the same time so I've not used the plastic one, but it's good that the machine comes with everything you need (apart from coffee and water). The water tank is on the back of the machine and lifts off easily. This makes it really easy to fill up. It also has a dust flap on the top so that bits of bread and flies, &c. don't find their way in. The machine arrives with a red plug on the water tank you need to remove before first use but there are numerous stickers and notes in the manual about this. I found the water had a medicinal smell initially, so it's worth running a tank through the machine to clean out whatever sterilisation product they've used in manufacturing.The machine has two buttons for espresso: one for single- and another for double-shot. The only difference is the amount of water dispensed and, from the manual, it's possible to adjust both of these, so I'll probably reprogram the buttons so the single-shot button actually dispenses a long coffee instead. The espresso extraction is pretty uneventful: put your coffee in the cage in the portafilter, tamp it down, lock the portafilter into the machine, add a cup and hit the button to extract the coffee. There's an initial noise as the machine starts pumping but it's not that loud and it doesn't last very long. A few seconds later you have a cup of espresso with a nice crema. The dial on the front of this version of the machine shows you the pressure the machine got up to, so you can experiment with different grinds and tamping to get the perfect pressure.On the right side of the machine you can dispense hot water through the metal nozzle by using the tap on the side of the machine. The pipe and nozzle is pretty similar to those on professional machines and not one of the wider, straighter ones you get on other domestic machines. In use, I found you might get a mixture of water and steam initially (in water mode), but keep the tap running and you'll get steady hot water after a few seconds. If you keep a glass to hand you can catch the initial spluttering. Whilst dispensing the pump makes a rhythmic noise that is not massively loud but is not exactly quiet either. If you want steam to froth milk, pressing the steam button will cause the machine to heat the water hotter and I found it gets up to this hotter temperature for steam almost immediately. Dispensing in this mode you can catch the initial water in your glass before swapping out for your milk jug once it has stopped dribbling. The pipe is not massively long so you'll want a small 300ml jug if you're making single cups. Even then I have to put the spout by the pipe to get the depth I need to froth the milk initially.The steam frothing is excellent: it takes no time at all to froth the milk if you keep your jug slightly tilted and the nozzle right at the surface of the milk. I generally froth soya milk which it does very easily, but I've also made a few with cow milk too which is only marginally more difficult. You basically want to make a whirl on the surface of the liquid by having the wand near the edge and the jug tilted. Once it's frothed up enough you can put the nozzle further in and the milk heats up to the temperature you want: you can do all this just by keeping your left hand on the jug handle and your right hand under to sense the temperature, then your right hand is free to turn the steam off when you're done. After that I tend to dispense some steam to clean the wand, turn the steam mode back off and then dispense in water mode into my glass until the temperature has dropped back down and I get hot water againThe machine has some overheat protections you should be aware of. I thought I had a malfunctioning machine after my fourth or fifth coffee when I ran out of water in the tank, because it refused to dispense coffee even after I refilled it, and all four buttons flashed instead. Even switching it off and back on did not resolve the problem. However I figured the machine had gone into some overheat mode after running out of water on the heating element, so I left it alone for a couple of minutes and it worked just fine again when I got back. So I assume there's a bimetallic strip or thermistor or something inside that won't let you use it if it gets over 100℃ until it's cooled back down again.Cleaning is a breeze: you can clean out the steam nozzle by running some hot water through it and wiping the outside with a damp cloth. Any crusted on milk comes off easily with light use of a scouring pad or microfibre cloth. The body being mostly stainless steel (only the bit around the dial between the top and front is chromed plastic) means this also cleans easily too. Drip tray slides out for easy emptying and the tray on top of this is stainless steel too.Looks wise the machine looks great on the countertop. It's not too wide, so doesn't take up too much room. The portafilter does stick out quite some way but you can take this off and store it on top if you need the workspace. Talking of the top, this is also a heated platform you can heat your cups on, but I find it much easier to just dispense some hot water into the cup to heat it up instead. It would have been nice to have had the choice of a wooden handle portafilter on this machine, but the plastic handle portafilter is completely understandable. I have wondered if the wooden handled ones available on Amazon are compatible.So all told I'm very happy with this machine. It makes a nice espresso and froths milk well whilst looking good on the countertop and not costing the earth. I've seen other reviews complaining about the espresso temperature but this is not something I've noticed.Edit: I've made about twenty coffees in this machine now and it's great. No complaints at all. One confusing point is the machine's behaviour when it runs out of water, which is explained in the manual. When it runs out of water the element may overheat. When you refill it you may get all lights flashing and the machine unresponsive. If that happens you're supposed to run the water (side knob) until the lights go out. Then it'll reheat and you'll be back in business.Edit: I've had this a couple of months now and it's still working perfectly. On the finer espresso ground coffee that I've switched over to it works perfectly. After a few weeks I started to wonder what the red bit of plastic in the drip tray was all about, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to work out what it was for!

Although it is really quite early days, I've only had this machine for less than a week, I am loving it. Making coffee like this is quite an art, I have a new respect for Barista's. Once you start to understand how the grind level of the beans, the consistant level of the tampering affects the flavour, heat and strength of the coffee, you begin to make coffee that is as good as any cafe. This has been a steep learning curve, and I am still learning, but much joy and fun has been had whilst doing it. Frothing the milk is another art form and skill that I am still learning, but getting better all the time. With this Casabrews machine in just a few days, I am making coffee that is really really good and equal to that from my local Barista in my opionion. To make your coffee consistantly the same everytime, you do need to do things exactly the same each session though. For example, if you are grinding your own beans, time it to exactly the same amount of seconds each time (info on Google as to how long to grind beans for espresso coffee), invest into a calabrated sprung loaded tamper to get the same pressure every time and if necessary measure the amount of coffee each time properly by weight. If you do that, this machine will help you produce really nice coffee again and again. What you have to remember is that all this weighing and calabration is done automatically on a big Barista's machine, the operators are trained to repeat the process exactly the same each time they make your coffee. A machine like this one for home use, you need to consider all of that and find a way to replicate those automated processes that Barista's have in place.This is a very good machine, I chose this one because of the reviews and that it was a 20 bar pressure machine over a well known manufactures product. I am very pleased that I did. Also worth noting that Casabrews support are very keen to help you make the best of this coffee machine, I received an email with lots of information and links to videos to help me get started. I don't think other manufactures would go to this length. I would recommend this to anyone.

Only had this machine for a day and made about 3 coffees. The pressure is very good (20 bar) and makes an excellent espresso. The milk frother is ok. Takes about 40 secs to heat the milk enough. Up to now I'm quite impressed. Just a bit annoying that the coffee filter cup is quite tight in the holder.

Very impressed with this machine looks great and makes a great cup of coffee and is very easy to use and making the so called perfect coffee is child's play. Steamer also works well and is very easy to clean. Why pay silly money just buy one of theses and spend £25 on a bean grinder and you will still have saved yourself a ton of money over buying some branded nonsense.

With home brewed coffee that tastes this good and has the perfect crema, coffee shop’s better watch out! With the cost of living crisis this little gem brings the coffee shop experience to your own home at a fraction of the cost! 💖

Great coffee machine at a great price so simple to use,coffee in a couple of minutes.also very quick and easy to clean.

Machine won't turn on anymore.Totally broken and no way to return it.

Love this machine, makes fabulous coffee. High quality machine, easy to use. Highly recommend.