Café Affetto Automatic Espresso Machine + Milk Frother | Built-In & Adjustable Espresso Bean Grinder | One-Touch Brew in 90 Seconds | Matte Black, 1.2 Liter, (C7CEBBS3RD3)

I used to work at Starbucks. So while I don't know what it's like to compete for best barista titles, I do know what bad quality espresso/coffee can be. So far I've used dark french roast type beans as well as a dark medium roast type. When adjusted for grind level (feature availabe on the espresso machine itself), the espresso is fantastic! I also loved its simplicity of options for an Americano (espresso + custom amount of water selected via the app), a "MyCup" which allowed me to choose 2 espresso shots and hot water. There's a second spout that can deliver hot water as well as steam milk. I found the steamer to be just as good as the several thousand dollar espresso machines available. There is a waste dispenser as well as a magnetic drip tray that make disposal and clean up easy. My suggestion is to keep a rag on top of the drip tray to not only keep it clean but also to keep the stainless steel free of scratches. I do wonder how long it will last as the machines make a lot of noise when making the transition from espresso to hot water/steam. I bought the extra warranty to account for that potential failure. This may not be an accurate critique 5-7 years from now but I don't want to chance it as this seems to be the first semi automatic espresso machine offered by the GE Cafe line. I also think that this has a little bit of a learning curve that Nespresso or Keurig machines just don't have. It's hard to beat the simplicity of dropping in a pod versus more control but I would welcome anybody who is used to those machines to try a semi automatic or a regular espresso machine. They'll find that there's more control over flavor, and the actual character of their coffee. Overall, I think this was a great purchase for me. Flavor and quality control but the reduced cost of not having to buy Nespresso pods every month was worth it. If you're wondering the cost breakdown when comparing the repeated purchase of pods versus switching to this? It's about 15 months for a break even point.

I had this for a year and LOVED it. I am so sad to write this review, but feel I need to for public safety. I’ve maintained and used according to the manual and have had no issues. I made a perfect espresso almost every day. Today it caught fire and I’m lucky I was home. If I was not home I don’t know what would have happened to my home or cat and that really scares me. I made my coffee like usual in the morning, cleaned the tray as usual and left it alone. About 3 hours later I started smelling something burning. I was not sure what it was and was trying to see where the smell was coming from. It was an electrical wire burning smell. Finally I got to the kitchen and there was smoke and a very strong smell. I panicked thinking it was something on the stove or the oven. Then I followed the smoke and it was the espresso machine. Smoke was coming out of the top and it smelled so so strong. The right side of the machine was extremely hot and smoke was billowing from the top of the machine where the pieces connect and behind the espresso dispenser. I immediately unplugged the machine and had the fire extinguisher ready. I was really scared. The machine was hot and it was undoubtedly burning inside. I watched the machine for about 10 minutes with my fire extinguisher and 911 ready to dial. Unplugging it was proving to slow the smoke over time and the machine did cool after about 30 minutes. When I felt it was safe, I called the company and will say I was not on hold at all and spoke directly with an agent who was kind, calm, and knowledgeable. She helped me submit a claim today. I do not know what the outcome of the claim will be, but I appreciated their agents time, concern and help. I am writing this review just for public health and warning. It really scared me and scare me to think what if I hadn’t been home. I would caution and leave this unplugged when not in use…. UPDATE** Disappointed with the outcome of reporting this to the company. I was told that because I was outside of the warranty (by 5 days) they could not offer any cash value refund, but instead could offer a replacement. While in a usual circumstance I would take a replacement, I had to decline here because what is to say that in another year from now the replacement would not catch fire. Overall, I would seriously avoid this product for safety concerns.

Everything I needed: the ability to pull a shot with a single push of a button. I love espresso and have a Picopresso and a Capresso Pump I use for travel/work. I definitely know how detailed it can get when pulling god tier shots of single origin beans: this machine is not for that. At this point I don’t need that at home so this machine is incredibly fit for purpose. Pros: -Simple, but still has some room to tweak settings via the app -Balanced espresso shots -Small footprint size -Nice aesthetic -Easy to clean Cons: -Frequent refills needed (depends on your volume – we do 4 to 6 shots in a morning) -Won’t pull as much crema as other machines or methods -Flavor clarity: will be tougher to tease out the tasting notes of high end or single origin beans We’ve had this machine for 15 months so far and really love this thing. Easy enough for my wife to use and very decent espresso for only pushing a button. Considering the amount of volume we do, I’d say the durability is well within expectations. If the machine happens to prove me wrong on that point I’ll use the Asurion plan and update this review. I’m not particularly skilled in milk froth or texturing, but for my needs (cordadito/Cafecito) this works very very well. Heat up time isn’t instant, but fast enough and lasts long enough to heat ~300mL to at least 150. This machine solved for meeting my wife’s preference for iced lattes/americanos and my preference for espresso/cortados. It’s definitely on the list of top purchases I’ve made in the past 4 years. One note is that I’ve descaled the machine 3-4 times in the 15 months and recommend regular cleaning to ensure operation (rinsing the group head, etc).

Nothing stresses you out more than having your almost $700 automatic coffee maker break right before the holidays, and then getting kicked back and forth between their customer service and Amazon when you try to claim the warranty. I’ve only had this machine a little over a year, and we treated it with so much care, followed every instruction, descaled whenever the light came on, and were very cautious with the coffee beans we used. GE customer service line told me the only solution was to replace the brewer, which cost another $100+ and apparently “needs to be replaced every year.” and the machine still doesn’t work. When I reached out again via email, they gave me a number told me to call their Factory Service Tier II, which turned out to be the same person on the phone at first contact, telling me there’s nothing they can do because the one-year warranty is up. Amazon won’t help, GE customer service won’t help, and now this after tax nearly $700 machine (plus the extra $100 part) is basically a brick on my counter. It’s really disappointing because GE used to be known for quality, but ever since they were bought by Haier, things just don’t feel the same. If you haven’t bought it yet, there are plenty of better options in this price range. If you just bought it, you may want to use your return window wisely.

I recently purchased this in black after getting tired of going out for coffee daily. As a new mom I am unable to spend a lot of time preparing my espresso and with weighing out beans, grinding and tampering etc it can be quite the process. I was unsure what to expect with an automatic espresso maker however I am pleasantly surprised by how easy the process is and when hooking your machine up to the SmartHq app it's great to have a reminder of when to add water, beans and when to descale your machine. The taste of the product is delicious every time as I followed instructions and went with a non oily espresso bean. When it comes to the steam wand you will have to keep in mind this is not an expensive machine compared to some on the market and the milk may still be cool after the first steam. I do double steam which seems to do the trick and is not a very big bother to me as the rest of the machine works amazing and is at a great price point. I would highly recommend especially if you are someone short on time or a new mom like me who finds getting a free moment hard.

This is my second one of these machines, and both have failed well before they should have. The first broke down after 15 months, and when I tried to get it repaired, GE's warranty service vendor couldn't even source the replacement parts. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and bought a new one — this second unit stopped working after just 9 months. Trying to get this resolved through GE's warranty services has been a nightmare. The vendor is completely unresponsive — I've followed up more than a dozen times with no real progress. After several phone calls and emails to customer service, I was finally told they no longer manufacture this model and would refund my purchase price. That was a while ago now, and I still haven't received the refund. Two failed units, no available parts, and a refund promise that hasn't materialized. I can't recommend this product or GE's after-sales support based on this experience.

This is a tough one. When my old Breville espresso machine sputtered out it was time to look for something new. I spotted this machine and was immediately impressed by its design. The deep matte gray/black exterior with copper accents looked like it would have a nice presence on the counter. After reading reviews I thought I'd give it a try, and I did however here are some observations that I would have thought about or known before buying the machine. - The same design that looks good in pictures is actually a curse in reality. The machine is long and narrow so that means while it doesn't take up as much width on the counter it takes up more in terms of depth. Also because its a solid gray block it effectively acts as an unaccepted divider on the counter. - Usability impeded by the design. Face it, most of us have cabinets above our countertops and give the height and depth of the machine its very awkward to fill the water reservoir, let alone add beans. To combat this a rolling cutting board served as the base on which the machine was to rest. Again, because of the depth of the machine, it is almost teetering at the edge of the counter before you have enough clearance to get to the water reservoir. Really bad design. Speaking of which, the water reservoir itself is quite small and feels very flimsy and cheap. Even adding beans requires having to pull the machine out from beneath the cupboard, its simply not as easy as it should be. - Cheap accents, this cheapness also applies to the drip tray which looks nice with the copper highlight but since its plastic, it will assuredly scratch off. The other problem is that the drip tray is held in place by two very weak magnets, I repeatedly knocked the drip tray off the front of the machine. Speaking of cheap, the steam wand is plastic and is sheathed with metal however the wand itself was never quite straight, small irritation but I didn't have confidence in its longevity. - I did like the way the spout could be adjusted - raised or lowered - depending on the cup and the LED light was a really cool accent. - I didn't like the warm-up/rinse process that the machine went through ever time I used the machine (once in the morning and again once in the afternoon). - It really is a one-serving machine. With my previous machine I could pull two espressos at the same time, this machine is a single-serving machine, kind of a pain if you have more than one coffee drinker in the house. I will say that it made a fairly ok espresso and cappuccino but it simply had too many user experience issues to overcome. Yes, its a good-looking machine (until you have to slide it around to fill it), yes, the price is often really good and it does make a decent espresso but the reality is that every time I used it I found myself fondly remembering my Breville and so, even after trying really hard to get past the practical issues I had with it, I boxed it up, returned it and promptly bought another Breville. Chances are you'll be better off doing the same. My one caveat is that if you are single; if you want a very automated experience and are new to espresso machines and on a really limited budget then this could maybe me ok. Maybe.

Fantastic. This thing makes a good shot quickly and I was very happy with it for a long time. The criticisms I have are of the cleaning of the device. It dumps the wet grounds out into an internal compartment you have to clean, but some of those grounds will end up splattered on inside walls of the device. If you don't clean out the grounds for a few days, they will mold. If you are okay with cleaning it out every time you're done brewing coffee, cool! The other thing is that while you can get good steamed milk out of the wand it's too inconsistent. Forget learning latte art with this. Still, you're getting good espresso drinks at home for a great price with Keurig-like levels of ease.

I’ve been using this machine almost every day for half a year. So far no issues - hope it will stay this way. I am only using espresso beans and mostly choosing the espresso setting for my morning coffee. Highly recommended!

Very disappointed. It won’t work after 7 months. For the price it should last years! Amazon has been awful. GE Canada won’t warranty it because it was imported from the States. Amazon won’t do anything because it’s over 1 month old. GE US won’t do anything because I’m in Canada. Let the fighting begin for this overpriced junk.