FrancisFrancis! X1 Espresso Machine, Light Blue

The greatest, orangest espresso machine ever
This amazing, gorgeous machine was a gift from several friends who stayed at our house for a week, and it is hands down the greatest gift we've ever gotten.

First of all, it's orange. Orange! We don't even touch the coffee machine anymore, except when we run out of milk. Second, the espresso is delightful, frothy, thick -- and the foamer foams like nobody's business. And it's amazingly simple to clean up after-- we used to have a Krups that required three times the amount of post-cappuccino cleanup for a drink that was only a third as good.

Also, people marvel when they come over. They gawk and gape, openmouthed. "What is this beautiful orange thing?" they ask. We are the envy of the entire neighborhood. Men covet; women swoon.

Did I mention that there's a picture of little girl with her tongue sticking out on the temperature gauge? They're clever people, those Italian espresso machine makers. Such a delightful sense of humor.

Did I mention we...

Good machine with a few minor drawbacks
I bought this machine 7 years ago and since then I use it on a daily basis. It has given me much pleasure and I haven't run into any problems at all. I bought it together with an extra portafilter for using pods (more expensive, but very convenient since no cleaning afterwards is needed).

Pro's:
- design (temperature indicator needs a lot of time to adjust, so it should be considered as decorative only)
- reliable (I can only say its construction is reasonably good and it works already 7 years without problems)
- easy-to-use, no complicated switches/options

Contra:
- cup holder does NOT get warm. This is a serious problem, since you can't drink espresso in cold cups since then the coffe will cool down immediately. I 'solved' this by putting hot water from the espressomachine itself into the cups and then wait for 20 seconds before actually making the espresso. When you want to make 5 espresso's in a row it takes quite some time.
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Looks great, but makes lousy espresso.
This is a really great looking machine that makes really poor espresso. I've seen people say that they are making espresso that is as good as what they are buying. That's great, but most of us in the coffee hobby and trade consider mass market espresso to be swill. A good home machine should be able to make a shot of espresso that is BETTER than you are buying at Starbucks or the like. This machine is underpowered and unable to pull a good shot. Go look for a Rancilio Silvia or Gaggia Classic instead.

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