Delonghi Magnifica Coffee Machine Review

Delonghi Magnifica Review – De’Longhi ESAM4200 Magnifica Bean to Cup Coffee Machine

There are several names synonymous with bean to cup coffee machines and Delonghi is certainly one of them. The produce fantastic coffee machines that bring the coffee shop barista experience to your home for very reasonable prices. One of their flagship models is the Delonghi Magnifica also known as the Delonghi ESAM4200. In this review, we take a look at its features, what makes it so great, how easy it is to get going with out of the box and take a look at some of the ways of keeping your Delonghi Magnifica going for many years to come.

About the Delonghi Magnifica

The Delonghi Magnifica is a fair priced cup to bean coffee machine that looks modern and stylish in the home. There are much cheaper coffee machines that produce coffee from pods starting now at prices of around £50. Whilst these machines are fantastic in their own right and produce much tastier coffee than just an average instant coffee, they still don’t have quite what it takes to cut the mustard.

When you want the coffee shop experience at home, in reality, you have three options. A piston based coffee machine or a pump machine, the pump can then be further narrowed down by one that gives you ultimate control or one that works with settings and pressing buttons.

Some people prefer the piston style coffee machine where you literally pull a lever that pressurises and forces water through the coffee grounds. This is usually used with a separate grinder and the coffee is tamped manually before pulling a shot of coffee.

The Delonghi Magnifica is a pump machine. Again, some give you much more control over manual tamping, manual grinding, etc and a degree of automation. The Delonghi ESAM4200, however, is a fully automated process. It has a brewing unit integrated into which deals with a concentration of coffee, auto tamping of the grounds, etc. You still have a great deal of control over your coffee, with the amount of water required, frothing your own milk through the steam arm, choosing the strength of coffee, one shot or two. But the process is simplified and it means that you can set your grinding settings, set your strength and forget. Next time you want your perfect coffee, add fresh beans and press a button. A perfect cup to bean coffee to your liking will be produced.

Features of the Delonghi Magnifica

Let’s take a moment to take a look at the impressive features of this bean to cup coffee machine.

• 2-Year warranty
• 15 bar pump
• Accepts coffee beans or ground coffee
• Adjustable height dispenser
• Cup warmer
• Thermo-Block dual boiler system
• Facilities to make 2 cups at once
• 10p a cup of black coffee/15p a cup of coffee with milk

Unboxing

When you un-package the Delonghi Magnifica, you will find it comes in several components. The coffee machine itself, the drip tray and the coffee grounds bin.

First off, you open the front door and slide the coffee grounds bin into place. You can then slide the drip tray into place and close the door. The machine is now assembled and ready for you to use.

There are a few things that we would recommend before you start. Firstly, don’t adjust the grinder, this allows you to set how fine you want your coffee grinding. It has been pre-set in the factory for an average grind, it’s well worth using it as is first and then adjusting as you go until you get your taste perfect.

[aio_button align=”center” animation=”none” color=”red” size=”medium”  text=”Find the latest price on Amazon” target=”_blank” relationship=”nofollow” url=”http://amzn.to/2kfKynf”]

[aio_button align=”center” animation=”none” color=”red” size=”medium” icon=”none” text=”Find the latest price on eBay” target=”_blank” relationship=”nofollow” url=”http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5575375024&toolid=10001&campid=5338330203&customid=&icep_uq=De%E2%80%99Longhi+ESAM4200&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg”]

Along with setting the grinder up, there are options for how strong you would like your coffee, the amount of water to be dispensed and a height adjuster for your cup. Personally, I would set the strength and water settings to the middle and obviously adjust the height setting to match that of your cup. Then with each coffee, you make you can make adjustments until you get the perfect coffee from your Delonghi Magnifica.

Steam Arm

One of the features I love about the DeLonghi Magnifica is the steam arm. Not all of the home bean to cup coffee machines come with this feature. Some don’t offer it all, others have an automated solution that deals with heating and frothing the milk for you. DeLonghi has included one on the side of this great machine and it allows you to not only feel part of the process but also have much more control over how much froth you create.

Whilst this steam arm isn’t ideal for creating latte art and not the most sophisticated on the market it does a really good job. What I would recommend is before you use it, you prime the steam arm by firing the steam into an empty cup a few times until anything in the pipe has cleared, such as water. Once you are getting pure steam through it then you are ready to froth your milk.

Positive and Negatives

The DeLonghi Magnifica is a fantastic machine with many positives and a few negatives, we take a look below.

Positives

• 2 Year guarantee
• Cup warmer
• Steam Arm
• 15 bar pump
• Accepts beans or ground coffee
• Self-clean automated before and after use

Negatives

• Steam arm not good enough for latte art
• Doesn’t include a milk jug, (we would recommend one like the following, as it comes with an inbuilt thermometer):

Gallery

[aio_button align=”center” animation=”none” color=”red” size=”medium”  text=”Find the latest price on Amazon” target=”_blank” relationship=”nofollow” url=”http://amzn.to/2kfKynf”]

[aio_button align=”center” animation=”none” color=”red” size=”medium” icon=”none” text=”Find the latest price on eBay” target=”_blank” relationship=”nofollow” url=”http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5575375024&toolid=10001&campid=5338330203&customid=&icep_uq=De%E2%80%99Longhi+ESAM4200&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg”]

Conclusion

In summary, the DeLonghi Magnifica is a fantastic home bean to cup coffee machine. We have reviewed machines 10x the price of this one and whilst they produce a different taste with a lot more features and time-saving benefits, this isn’t to be dismissed!

For the average home, this coffee machine will provide amazing taste, the home barista experience without breaking the bank. There really is a big difference between something like this and a pod machine such as the Bosch Tassimo Vivy. However, as always there is also a difference in price.

It’s2-yearr warranty offers great peace of mind and we have seen these machines last much longer when well maintained and looked after.

Did you enjoy this review? Why not check out our review of the Melitta Caffeo Barista.

Ratings