Crew Review: Saeco Xelsis One-Touch Espresso Machine – Redux!
It’s true that when you spend more time with someone you love, you learn more about them — their talents, their foibles, their stories, their jokes. And that same kind of familiarity can grow with inanimate objects, too, especially one as sophisticated as the Saeco Xelsis one-touch superautomatic espresso machine. Sure, it doesn’t have any tall tales or crazy puns to lay on you, but it does have an arsenal of mad skills, a couple of flaws and a few get-to-know-you functions that only really come to the forefront after you’ve had it on your countertop for a few years.
That’s why we asked Gail to take another look at this popular espresso machine. After playing with, demonstrating and using this machine for a few years, she knows a lot more about it than when she first used it. Find out her refreshed opinion of this glamorous machine in this updated crew review.
Compare: Saeco Intelia Superautomatic Espresso Machines
With a slimmer profile than their Xelsis and Exprelia models but with more water, coffee bean and puck capacity than the Syntia series, Saeco’s Intelia line of machines offer a nice compromise, size-wise. They also feature a simple interface, a bit of programming and three different case styles. In this video, Gail shows off the Focus, SS and One-Touch models so you can see how they compare with each other.
Brew Tip: Saeco Intelia SS Panarello Sleeve Retrofit
While we love the gorgeous metallic finish on the Saeco Intelia SS, we’re not super in love with the cappuccinatore functionality that comes as stock. So when Gail came to us with the idea that we could retrofit the machine with the panarello sleeve from the Syntia series of machines, we were excited!
Watch as she shows how easy it is to swap this out and then demonstrates how it performs.
Crew Review: Saeco Intelia SS Superautomatic Espresso Machine
We’re definitely diggin’ on the new Intelia line of machines from Saeco, especially on the metallic finish for the new SS model! It’s some kind of gorgeous in the hue department, comes with cappuccinatore functionality and whips up delicious espresso shots. Watch Gail take us through its features and demonstrate its performance.
SCG Crew’s Favorite Gear: Superautomatic & One-Touch Espresso Machines
There are people in this world that you will meet and you will realize that they have a somewhat disturbing affinity for robots. They vacuum their floors, they refill their dog’s water bowl, they wash their windows, they navigate their car long distances. In fact, their devotion to robots could be deemed somewhat dangerous, even a harbinger of an era soon to come in which our robot overlords rule us because we have lost all of our ability to vacuum the floors, refill the dog’s water bowl, wash our windows or navigate our cars long distances.
Add to that list of crucial skills that may soon become extinct, ‘making a latte’ … that is, if our crew’s favorite superautomatic and one-touch espresso machines have their way!
| Superautomatic Espresso Machines | One-Touch Espresso Machines |
SCG Crew’s Favorite Gear: Single, Hx and Dual Boiler Espresso Machines
Next in our series of the crew’s favorite picks covers the world of traditional espresso machines. Find out which single, heat exchange and double boiler machines the team digs.
Single Boiler Espresso Machines
Heat Exchange Espresso Machines
Dual Boiler Espresso Machines
The Reluctant Barista: Making the Case for Office Coffee Upgrades
Pick a Wednesday, any Wednesday. How much coffee do you need at work today to get over the hump? How many meetings do you have? Presentations to give? Deals to close? Sure, you can drink whatever office coffee sludge is sitting on the warming element as you pass from your desk to the conference room, but you deserve better, work friend. And so do your work compatriots!
Let’s cut to the chase, business people. Let’s get down to brass tacks and find the win-win and the net-net and the synergy for you all within one superautomatic espresso machine.
Two words: Saeco Intelia. This superautomatic espresso machine will boost employee morale and caffeination levels to previously unimagined heights. With one well-timed capital expenditure, the Saeco Intelia Focus will beat forking over $967 average annual expense for a latte-per-day habit. Take my word for it, or make your own Excel spreadsheet. With a 10”x17” countertop footprint, it is smaller than a paper cutter and much safer to have around the office.
Here’s what to expect: Push the small button for an espresso shot (ours is set to 1.5 ounces) made just for you and poured into your favorite Dilbert coffee mug in 30 seconds. Milk frothing took an additional 60 seconds with the panarello. There you have it, synchronization optimization with steaming and brewing for a latte in under a minute and a half. Don’t dig lattes? Push the big button for a programmable Cafe Lungo (ours is set to a hefty 8 ounces) in your cup or get hot water from the panarello for an Americano coffee in the same time or less.
Here’s a real world case study: I have a meeting regarding commercial equipment (yes we sell coffee and espresso machines for home, office and café!) and I will need a latte. I can pick any espresso machine. Semi-automatics take longer to prepare and one-touch coffee centers don’t get the milk hot enough for my taste. The Saeco Intelia, on the other hand, offers push-button espresso convenience combined with the control of a panarello to get the milk as hot and foamy as I want it. I leave my desk, whip up a piping hot latte and Bam! I’m in the conference room faster than you can recite the “Glengarry Glen Ross” speech.
We’ve got a winner here, send the requisite requisition forms to the purchasing department. Any way you slice it, the Saeco Intelia leverages price and performance to hit the sweet spot for office coffee. It is easy to clean, easy to maintain and so easy anyone can intuitively use it without a PowerPoint presentation. Sometimes the easy choice is the right choice.
Crew Review: Saeco Via Venezia – Redux!
The Via Venezia has been around for awhile, with a couple of different names and a few different styles. But its internals have remained pretty much the same and it’s still one of the most reliable, small single boiler espresso machines on the market.
We asked Gail to refresh her review of this popular machine because it had been a few years since it had received the attention it deserves! Learn all about its features, specs and functionality, then watch as she crafts a latte.
Compare: Saeco Poemia, Aroma and Via Venezia
A great budget espresso machine can be hard to find, but you don’t have to drop thousands of dollars to make coffee that you love.
Saeco’s smaller single boiler espresso machines feature quality components and easy-to-use functionality for a great price. Check out how the Poemia, Aroma and Via Venezia measure up against each other in this side by side comparison.
SCG Experiments: Non-Pressurized vs. Pressurized Portafilters
There’s many decisions one must make on a daily basis; some of them are highly personal and we’re really not going to get into them with you again, darling … but others are worthy of public exploration and debate. One such example is whether or not one might want to upgrade their Saeco single boiler espresso machine from its stock pressurized portafilter to the non-pressurized model produced by Seattle Coffee Gear. Is it worth the price? How about the work? Flavor-wise, how do the shots produced from either portafilter design compare?
We put Bunny in front of a machine and asked her to go crazy! She did that, but she also performed a few experiments. Watch as we try out a few different approaches using both the pressurized and the non-pressurized portafilters, taste the shots and then discuss how their flavors measure up.