 | Brand: Lello Category: Kitchen List Price: Buy New: $143.66 You Save: $56.33 (28%) New (1) Used (1) from $119.99 Rating:  248 reviewsSales Rank: 1317 Color: STAINLESS STEEL Shipping Weight (lbs): 19 Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 9.5 x 12.5 Model: 1375 Release Date: October 1, 2006 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Tell A Friend Add to Wishlist | ||||||||||
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| Editorial Reviews: Product Description Lello Ariete 1375 Espresso/Cappucino Maker | |||||||||||
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Lello 1375 Ariete Cafe Prestige Coffee Maker
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Impressive unit for the price June 8, 2006
ReplyDeleteSteven Brown (sebastopol, CA)
182 out of 192 found this review helpful
I will give this five stars. Not the same five stars I would give something along the lines of a Gaggia Carezza mind you. This five stars should be taken as a rating relative to its price. If this were the same cost of the Gaggia I would probably have to give it a 3.5
I should note I prefer americanos, cappuccinos, lattes, etc over straight espresso. I bought this for a second house. If I were to be drinking a lot of straight espresso I would have bought the Gaggia.
One important detail which is not in the description is this unit will use ESE pods. The portafilter has inserts for single and double shot amounts, as do most machines. The single shot has a small ledge around it which is designed so it may be used for both single shots and ESE pods, with a pod fitting perfectly into the area created by the little ledge. This is a big advantage for those days when you are in a rush.
Construction. This thing is solid. When I ordered it I thought it would not really be steel, just chromed plastic. Well it is stainless steel. And the finish is beautiful. This has to be the most impressive looking espresso machine this side of $300. One plus of being so heavy is you don't have to hold it down when tightening the portafilter. Something I never liked about the lighter units.
Despite the description noting a rather weak looking 950-watt heater, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed at which it warms up. This had worried me at first, but now that I have it I have discovered no reason to be disappointed. While using the steam feature to froth it has enough power to be ready to pull a shot immediately with no need to wait. And after pulling a double shot it seems like it is ready in seconds for the next shot, well before I have time to remove the portafilter and get it cleaned and reloaded.
Another impressive feature here is the warming plate on the top of the unit. Once again, as with the 950-watt rating, I was expecting a rather weak showing on the warming front. Wow, another shocker. It works! I turn the unit on in the morning and prepare my first drink. Then I leave it on. Make sure at this point you clean the portafilter and place it on the unit empty. By the time you roll around to getting your second cup, the cups on top are nicely heated and the portafilter is warmed up as well.
The drip cup and water reservoirs are quite generous. The drip cup underneath the bottom plate even has an ingenious little pop up float near the back which raises with the water level. Instead of constantly pulling up the plate, you can tell if it is getting full by simply looking to see if the float is starting to pop up. What a nifty little feature!
There is one drawback. The portafilter is what Ariete calls their "Thermocream" design. The problem with this design is it is created to produce a "crema like" crema on the top of every cup. This somewhat hides whether or not you are doing your job right and the crema is a product of a good grind, good tamp, and good pull. I prefer the crema production to be a function of how well I doing my job, not a function of some little device that makes stuff that looks like crema even if it is not.
I would like to add that the Group Head (the thing the portafilter attaches to when you put it on) is not solid metal. Parts of it are plastic. But given the price I am not willing to deduct a star for this (or the Thermocream feature) as I would if I were comparing to the $200 machines.
Functional and well built. July 17, 2006
ReplyDeleteL. A. Kane (Seattle, WA USA)
65 out of 69 found this review helpful
Wow, a stainless steel unit for ~ $130. Seemed too good to be true but let me assure you that it's not. Solid and well built, it is quite functional and easy to use too. I live in Seattle, the coffee capital of the universe so I've got fairly discriminating taste in espresso and it has more than lived up to my expectations. The 15-bar pump-driven system provides good, strong pressure and brewing consistency. The drinks have frothy foam, excellent brew, and great taste. It is a bit bulky, roughly a 10" cube, but not overly large (it is actually 9.5" x 9.5" x 12" to be exact). Unlike some models, there's pretty good clearance between the nozzel and the drip tray so you can get a decent-sized cup underneath. Easy to take apart and clean too. I'm very happy with this purchase!
Mi Piace Molto Questo Espresso! December 29, 2006
ReplyDeleteJ. M. Kahn (Atlanta, GA United States)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
We've been using our Ariete Cafe Prestige for three weeks now and there is no question that this is an extraordinary product for the money. At about $90 I would say that it easily outperforms any machine three times its cost. It is solidly built, attractive, and relatively easy to use. I am an espresso addict who has lived in Italy, France, Germany, and Austria, and I can attest that this machine will make as good an espresso or cappuccino as you will find in the best European cafes. Of course, the quality of your end product will depend on a number of factors, not the least of which are the coffee beans and grind; but with a little practice and attention to detail, you should be able to make a superior cup with this machine using even the most ordinary ground espresso coffee. Note that this machine--which is distributed in the U.S. by Lello Appliances Corp. under the Ariete nameplate--has several other clones. In the UK it is available as the Morphy Richards "Roma" (Product Number 47505) and in Australia it is sold under the Sunbeam nameplate as the "Cafe Crema." Whereas the multilingual user manual which comes with the Ariete is somewhat skimpy, the Morphy Richards and, in particular, the Sunbeam provide much more exhaustive instructions. You can find these manuals on the Web at the respective proprietary sites (which Amazon will not allow me to post here). You can also find a useful thread about the Ariete Cafe Prestige with handy tips on espresso and cappuccino-making techniques at the FatWallet Website (search for "Lello 45900 Ariete").
Well Built- Fantastic Results July 3, 2006
ReplyDeleteAndy O. Williams (Wichita, KS)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
This is the most solid, well designed kitchen appliance I have ever used. The removable drip tray alone feels like it weighs 5 pounds, and the machine itself is beautiful and works magnificently. Steam is available quickly, and the pump is more than adequate to make 3 or 4 double espresso cappucinos in just a matter of minutes. It's easy to clean, and it looks great sitting on the counter. I believe anyone looking at this maker would guess that it cost 3-4 times as much!
As good as machines costing 8x as much! December 12, 2006
ReplyDeleteChris Cowen (San Diego)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
For $90 delivered (plus $25 worth of free stuff if you can get your total over $125 and get $25 off), this machine blows anything else away.
Mine came this week, and I would say that the issue w/the filter holder having to be twisted past the "lock" mark is correct. Big deal! So the espresso doesn't come out exactly parallel to the base. The bottom line: this unit makes great espresso.
My last machine was a $1,000 Saeco superautomatic type machine. This one makes esperesso just as good, or even better, than that.
Get a decent burr grinder and you're set. The machine is high quality, sturdy, looks great, and most importantly, makes great espresso.
One tip - run about 5 seconds of hot water through the machine before you put the coffee in the filter holder. This will ensure that your espresso is hot as opposed to luke-warm.
Another tip - after you put the filter holder on the machine w/the coffee grounds, turn the water on for about 5 seconds to "pre-wet" the espresso. Then run the regular shot.