Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28038 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: De'Longhi
• Model: ECO310.R

Manufacturer's Description

This Stunning Scarlet Red 15 Bar Pump Espresso Machine is stylish in design and easy to use with a simple 3 button operating system.

This machine is a must for any budding Barista. The 2-in-1 professional filter holder enables the machine to use either ground coffee or Easy Serve Espresso (ESE) pods. The stainless steel manual milk frothing arm, with variable steam emission, mixes steam, air and milk to produce a rich creamy froth for a great Cappuccino. A separate coffee and steam boiler ensures faster use and optimum temperature control.

Other features include a removable 1 litre water tank, cup warmer, removable stainless steel drip tray, built in tamper. The De'Longhi Icona ECO310.R comes complete with a free tin of Illy Easy Serve Espresso Pods.

Box Contains

Customer Reviews

De'Longhi Icona Pump Expresso (black).
Never having an espresso machine before, I was bogged down with all the reviews and opinions of people who considered themselves "coffee experts".I wanted a simple machine that performed well, looked good at a reasonable price, and I think this model ticks all the boxes, (yes I know that I have little to compare it to).On my first attempt, the machine was extremely noisy, and no coffee appeared, having repositioned the water reservoir, I produced a decent espresso. I tried the Illy pods that came with it, not too bad,and great to use them at breakfast when your in a hurry. Got the hang of the frother the second time I used it, easy to dismantle and clean. In all very pleased with my purchase, and I'm sure I will improve with practise.So if your looking for good, simple machine that a novice can use, consider this one.

Impressive entry level pump espresso maker.
Looking to upgrade my moka, I was on the market for a pump machine. However, aside from the very expensive KitchenAid Artisan 5KES100BER Espresso Maker Red, none caught my attention. When I laid eyes on this beauty I just had to have it - it's affordable, looks fantastic and it matches my De'Longhi Icona KBO3001.R Jug Kettle, 3kW (Scarlet Red). I couldn't resist buying the toaster while I was at it and the trio look fantastic!

I did a little research and the competition is the Dualit 84202 Espressivo Coffee Maker. I actually think it's the same machine but I prefer the design of the De'Longhi. However if I didn't already have the kettle I would have a hard time deciding between this machine and the Dualit. This machine has separate boilers for coffee and steam. I'm unsure whether this is the same thing as the thermobloc element in the Dualit. I haven't had any problems with speed - you switch on the machine and within seconds you can start pulling your espresso and seconds after that you can start to steam your milk.

I have been using the machine for four days now and I am very impressed. The unit is compact and looks fantastic on the counter. My first try was with the supplied Iley ESE pods - YUCK! I would recommend you throw them away. I ground up some beans and tried again - what a difference. Every pull since has been perfect, never burnt. I was a bit concerned when the filter arm, with the filter fitted, would not turn all the way to the right, but this does not seem to be a problem as it still seals tight. Just turn it as much as you can. I was under the impression that you had to spend a lot of money to get great espresso at home so on the espresso side I'm very impressed. No complaints.

My only gripe with the machine is the steam wand. I purchased a 500ml pitcher but find the steam wand too short. Coffeegeek recommend that you 'surf the hole' to get great steamed milk on these types of home machines, however you won't be able to do that on this machine (unless you get a really tiny pitcher). My first few attempts at frothing the milk were useless. But keep going, you can get pretty good. I don't think you can get latte art quality milk. I don't think the pressure is strong enough ... maybe with practice? The instructions say insert only a few mm of the wand in to the milk - you must follow that or your milk won't froth. It would have been nice to get a pitcher and thermometer but at this price maybe I'm asking for too much.

The cup warmer is useless. The instructions advise that you leave the espresso cups on the warmer for 15-20 minutes before use. I'm not waiting that long for my espresso! It's quicker to run them under the hot tap. It's still a nice place to show off your stylish cups ;-) The Dualit has an accessory holder and it would have been nice to have a place to store the filters. There is a built in tamper which is fine for me.

The green light that indicates when the machine is ready to use switches on and off but the instructions do not indicate that you need to stop pulling your espresso if the light switches off. The manual recommends that you run the espresso for no longer than 45secs and the steam for 60s. It would be really handy for the light to switch off when that time had elapsed. Or to have another light to indicate when the time was up.

Overall the niggles are minor. I would wholeheartedly recommend this machine. It has excedeed my expectations because I thought good home espresso machines were expensive. I'm glad I finally took my first steps in to the coffee geekdom. It ticks all the boxes and I can now have perfect espresso whenever I want. It's actually quicker to use this machine from start to clean up than it is to wait for my moka and, in the mornings, that's a huge bonus! I'll be drinking a lot more coffee!

Great coffee maker!
Ordered this machine a few days ago and turned up yesterday. Already set up and making coffee within 10 minutes of opening the box! The machine comes with 18 Illy ESE Espresso pods, these are really great tasting but you need to be careful not to overheat the milk as it can burn the taste of the coffee. The milk frother is great, but would have benefited from a milk jug and thermometer so that you can get it to the magic 60 to 70 degree temperature! Not really an issue though, as you can pick those up for around £12 extra. Cleaning is also easy, the book recommends that the machine be thoroughly cleaned every 200 cups, and the only regular cleaning is the milk frother arm which detaches easily and can be cleaned with a damp cloth. The detachable water tank at the bank is a brilliant idea as it makes filling and cleaning really efficient. The pump is a little noisy the first time you turn it on, but it does seem to have settled down now that its been used a few times, I wouldn't say it's any noisier than other machines.

As mentioned in the previous review the cup warmer on top will take a long time to warm anything, however if you plan on leaving the machine on for a few hours in the morning then I think it would be fine. The frother arm is a little short and I would have expected a greater angle of movement from it, still managed to create hot frothy milk on the 2nd attempt so not really a huge problem.

All in all i'm very pleased with this coffee machine, for the price it certainly delivers great tasting coffee in a matter of minutes!