I just got the Delonghi dedica Maestro plus .It is great! It was on sale before Christmas. It makes great espresso and capuccino . The steamed milk is easy to do on Auto. I did get an OXO burr gtinder and I have a wonderful local coffee roaster. I am enjoying making my DH and I a double shot capuccino every morning. I even managed this ! ( Trailrunner )

@rwiegand, not familiar with the Jura. Thanks for the post.

Factory refurbished machines can be a good deal; they are wicked expensive new. my home machine was refurbished. Given how well they work and hold up they are still a reasonable choice. I’ve had their higher end machines in my companies as well and they were flawless making a hundred espressos a day.

The light came on for descaling. I got the stuff and followed the instructions. Voila! My milk is back to the really thick foam we love. So it makes a huge difference.

I don’t have any interest in descaling once a month which is what it appears I would have to do based so far on our daily usage of 1 double shot per person. Our water is pretty hard .

So bottled Spring water is next . If anyone has other tips please pass them along. A water softener at the kitchen faucet ? Thanks in advance

@HU-113737678, spring water has minerals in it. You would need to use distilled water.

They say not to use distilled either. So I found the ion pack that you put in the water reservoir. Huge rip off $20 plus shipping for a 3x5 inch packet or buy 3 on Amazon for $51 no shipping! insane. I will continue using the descaler I bought . I got 2 bottles so Im good for a year. Will reevaluate then.

thanks for answering. C

The espresso will taste better with soft water. I’d use a softener or bottled water, rather than hard tap water.

I have a filtered water Brita pitcher. @John Liu the cappuccino tastes wonderful I was just trying to avoid the descaling process which takes quite a long time. I will get some bottled water and try as well. thank you for posting.

We are really enjoying the excellent flavor and fragrance of these beans. The local company is Roadmap. They are very good have won a lot of awards. 🙏

@rwiegand, thanks again for the Jura recommendation. I 'm not into the fancy espresso drinks so I bought the E4. It's so simple to use and quiet. I hope mine holds up as long as yours has.

jrb451: Combination espresso machines as in your OP are a trade-off: not the best grinder mech. and not the best brewer. First, go the home-barista.com (HB) and read all about their extensive gear testing and reviewing. Second, get separates and buy the best espresso grinder that you can afford, then buy the espresso machine. Read about this advice on HB. Used can be good. All 3 of my espresso machines were bought used (one on ebay and two on craigslist). But my commercial grinder was new because it is the most important (read on HB). Third, yes, espresso machine are expensive, like little cars; and like cars they need regular (or episodic) maintenance - best to choose a brand that has a distributor or shop in your general area - they are too heavy to ship to a service center. The shop likely has some refurbished models, anyway.

Cathi Thomas: please don't say that. Distilled water is extremely bad for the boiler. Not having any ions in it, it will pull minerals out of the heating element and boiler walls, i.e. corrosion. Good espresso or coffee requires mineralized water. I use the Pavlis water recipe by adding about 7 grams of potassium bicarbonate (NOT baking soda) to 750 ml reverse osmosis water made by using a ZeroWater pitcher. This recipe and many more can be found on the home-barista.com forum that is dedicated to espresso machine water. Minerals cannot precipitate out in the boiler because no evaporation can occur there; it is a sealed container under pressure. Mineral exchange can occur there, however, and calcium can replace other anions if excessively hard water is used, i.e. scale.

Crystal Geyser is a brand of mineral water that many home-baristas use right out of the jug. Store bought waters are also talked about on HB.