Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1196 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Delonghi
• Model: BAR14
• Released on: 2003-10-15

Features

• 15 Bar Pressure
• Swivel Steam Pipe
• 1 Litre Water Reservoir
• Filter Storage Compartment
• 3 Button Operation

Manufacturer's Description
The BAR14 Pump Driven Espresso machine offers quality at an affordable price. With 15 Bar pressure you are sure to get the best tasting espresso and/or cappuccino with no limit to the number of cups produced. The machine operates using Ground Coffee. Simple to use with 3 button operation. Ideal machine for your first step into the world of coffee making.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Punished for Two years and Four Months
I surprise myself by writing a glowing review on the day the thing has broken.

I had only ever thought of it as my 'great new espresso machine'. Neither had I realized the time that had gone by.


Usage Statistics and Inadvertent Destruct-Testing

I have been making an average of 11 double espressos per week. Always when I have been tired and clumsy.
I have forgotten to top up the reservoir at least once every six weeks. and so have been rushing to give load back to a pump that was screaming as it raced with nothing but thin air.
3 days out of seven I have forgotten to turn it off and it has remained on for up to 8 hours.

It has worked perfectly until today when the pump just quietly hummed and only a few drops dribbled out.


Quality of Output and tips for use.

I achieved crema four days out of seven and have still not worked out what I need to do to make it predictable. This is a skills rather than hardware issue but I mention it for competeness' sake.

I achieve good coffee every day ... except when I do not 'pre-charge'. This has been mentioned before and I will reiterate: Switch on and wait until red light comes on. Do a 'blank' espresso ... filter bowl attached and pouring into the cup UNTIL the red light goes off. Everything gets fully warmed and the water is primed. Remove filter bowl and full with coffee. Tamp down. By this time the red light has gone on and you are ready to reapply filter bowl and pour your espresso.

I confirm that extra fine-ground coffee must be used or you are guaranteed RUBBISH. I have always used Lavazzaa. I once had nothing except medium-ground filter-coffee and in desperation tried it. The result was watery ... insipid, tasteless slop.

The milk frother is stable and effective. The frothing widget on the end of the pipe does its job. My previous three Espresso machines had standard pipe which, though effective, required some concentration and coordination. This one heats the milk quickly when dipped low and creates masses of thick froth when dipped shallowly. I use Skimmed Milk straight out of the fridge. I used to use semi-skimmed until one day I accidentally got skimmed and found it made a stiffer and thicker foam.

Some reviewers have mentioned the plastic reservoir imparted a slight taste to the coffee and recommend rinsing and refilling it often. I had not noticed this problem ... could it be because I was using it daily and thus my natural frequency of topping up bypassed this issue?


NEWS FLASH: It is working again. I remembered I had a sachet of liquid descaler and decided to apply a 'farewell' attempt before finishing this review and ordering a replacement.
Here follows a VERBOSE account of the descaling process I used including unexpected twists and surprises:

Since the 'evidence of breakage' was that the pump motor was hardly making any sound except a tiny hum, and only mini-dribbles of water were coming out, I emptied the respire and put the sachet and minimum about of extra water to top up to just above the opening of the intake tube which hangs just above the bottom. This tiny amount of concentrated descaler sucked up very slowly and due to the heat of the boiler, got into the pump mechanism and proceeded to froth and vaporize ... forcing through and creating a massive pour. Having achieved initial 'movement' I added more water to the reservoir and poured what had come out .. back in again. I kept this running cycle of pour, pour back into reservoir and repeat .. leaving to cool down a bit and cycle again for about half an hour, during which time the action became progressively easier.

I then went into rinsing procedure ... cycling fresh water through the system until it ran clear. I then put the steam switch on and opened the steam valve until that ran even steam .. no splats or blips.

THEN Surprise ... I went for a final normal rinse though the coffee pouring part of the system and it was again running dark brown and sedimented. So .. back to running clear and ..... Another Steam heat and opening of steam valve as above and back to normal operation with more brown water and sediment. Eventually that also ran constantly clear.


After all that I returned to this review to record the process and then made a test expresso. Crema .. yes. And tastes as good as before it broke.

Well .. I do hope this has been useful to you. I will come back in a couple of months to report the on the stability of its 'mended' condition.

Great starter machine
After reading some of the more negative reviews on this unit, I thought twice about buying but then saw it extremely cheap on a well known auction site and made a purchase a month or so ago. And I am so glad I did.

The espresso comes out hot and strong and great for any use. Providing you leave the 'steam' switch on until the 'ok' light appears, the steam is strong and powerful enough to froth a good few cappucinnos. I agree that the water resevoir has to be emptied, rinsed and refilled every day as it does end up making the coffee taste plasticky, also the steamer is a little low down so I have to use short cups to steam the milk with. Other than that, this is a great starter unit and I would recommend it to anyone.

Only one problem....I walk around constantly wired now as I am drinking far too much coffee :)

Great coffee and a good price
At last we're paying the same price as the yanks!
Followed the instructions, and felt like I was in cafe. The espresso comes out thick and black (or lighter if you prefer) and the steamer actually makes really good froth. (Remember to use chilled milk). First cappucino I made was good - now just getting better at it and making better and better coffee.
The machine is also REALLY easy to clean. - Negative points - it's slightly noisy when the pump is going - but that's only 30 seconds so who cares. Well done Delonghi.