---
title: Hit me with your best shot
description: "- Newsweek - Review of Saeco, FrancisFrancis and De\\' Longhi espresso coffee machines. It’s easy to find the perfect shot of espresso at a neighborhood caf"
---

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# [Hit me with your best shot](https://eseconsortium.com/media-coverage/hit-me-with-your-best-shot)

 Scritto da [Consorzio E.S.E.](https://eseconsortium.com/media-coverage/author/consorzio-e-s-e-) | 25/02/2008

- Newsweek -

Review of Saeco, FrancisFrancis and De\' Longhi espresso coffee machines.

It’s easy to find the perfect shot of espresso at a neighborhood café. But for those who prefer to drink their first cup of the day while wearing pajamas, home brewing is a bit iffier. Thankfully, a handful of luxury machines on the market can bring a slice of [Starbucks](\"javscript:void(0)\") into any kitchen.

Espresso is made under pressure, and machines are rated by how many “bars” (think barometric pressure) they have. Melissa Niosi, coffee education manager for Saeco USA, a maker of quality coffee machines, says it takes only nine bars to make a great cup of espresso. Yet all top-shelf machines offer between 15 and 19 bars. The perfect espresso has a good dose of “crema” on top, that frothy, foamy brown skin—really an emulsification of the oils in coffee beans—that gives texture to your drink.

The price of a machine depends on its ease of use and construction materials. Near the top end, Saeco’s Primea Cappuccino Touch Plus prepares two cappuccinos or latte macchiatos at once, using a built-in ceramic grinder to freshly grind the beans each time, a colorful illuminated touchscreen and nanotechnology to fully clean itself. It looks cool, too ($2,900; www.saeco.com [http://www.saeco.com]).

The Illy Francis Francis X6 is the iconic Italian espresso machine that has added pizzazz to kitchens for 20 years. Funky, fun and serious, the 18-bar X6 now uses premeasured Illy paper pods (about 70 cents apiece) instead of loose grounds to make each cup. Milk is steamed the traditional way, through the attached nozzle ($500; illy.com).

The DeLonghi Lattissima is a one-touch phenom that uses a choice of 12 espresso pods (made by [Nestlé](\"javscript:void(0)\")’s Nespresso, about 45 cents each; nespresso.com) to effortlessly make all manner of coffee drinks. One touch brews the coffee and froths the milk ($699; delonghi.com).

[Breville](\"javscript:void(0)\")’s Gourmet Single Cup Brewer makes American-style coffee, tea and hot cocoa from 150 different varieties of easy-to-load prepacked cups. A stylish backlit screen allows for a programmable start time and four brew strengths ($300; breville.com). Your local barista will miss you.

—Tara Weingarten

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