Coffee machine reviews for home workers – De’Longhi Icona Pump Espresso Machine

Coffee machine reviews – best for a home working break

Making coffee is probably the most popular reason for home workers to take a break, and we’re often fanatical about how we make it and how we drink it. The following coffee machine reviews have been carried out by home workers to test the best coffee makers for those that work at home.

De’Longhi Icona Pump Espresso Machine

Design ***

The De’Longhi Icona is a stylish coffee machine and a coffee maker that any barista would be proud of. It’s well made and most of the parts appear sturdy. It has an ample water reservoir that lasted me all morning before I needed to refill it. There’s also an inbuilt crema and frother, plus a cup warmer that lets you warm you coffee cup prior to serving.

My only criticism is that there is very little room for anything other than the smallest of cups underneath the filter-holder, making things a little awkward and probably means you’ll need to invest in some new crockery.

Easy to use ****

For all the De’Longhi Icona’s professional looks it really is very straightforward to use. Fill the filter holder with coffee, tamp down with the inbuilt coffee tamper and then clip into the machine. Touches of a couple of buttons and you have espresso. Use the built in frother for lattes and cappuccinos. The machine will also take easy serve espresso pods, but we didn’t have any for this review.

Pleasant to use/nice ritual as break from home working ****
The De’Longhi Icona isn’t a machine that you can switch on, leave and come back to get your coffee. You need to be there and work the buttons, otherwise you’ll flood the drip-tray and possibly your kitchen worktop, but this is a coffee break your taking isn’t it?

Easy to clean ****
There are quite a few parts that need attention, including drip-tray and cover, but all clean easily and there are no fiddly clips or other things that need negotiating in order to get them off and onto the machine. The filter holder needs cleaning between each brewing, but this is easily achieved under the tap without needing any  elbow-grease. The machine itself, wipes clean very easily and there is no need for any special cleaning products. All of the parts can be cleaned in regular soapy water and don’t require special cleaning chemicals.

Economical to buy and use *****
The De’Longhi Icona itself isn’t cheap, retailing at around £150-160, but it uses no more coffee than you would for the same amount of drink in a drip machine or cafetiere. You might spend more if you’re going for lots of cappuccinos or lattes, but the machine doesn’t rely on fancy capsules to make an equally fancy drink, that’s down to you. It will take easy serve espresso pods but they are optional not essential.

Quality of coffee ****
Excellent, you obviously get what you pay for in terms of the filter coffee that you buy, but the De’Longhi Icona converts the black gold into hot and tasty beverage every time. The drawback is the same as the issue I had with the design above, due to the cup size limitations, quantity can be an issue.

Score overall 4 ****

Best for
Any espresso based coffee drink, and taking a proper break from your work, while you’re brewing. Perfect for one.

With thanks to De’Longhi for supplying the machine for our home working coffee machine reviews.

Buy a De’Longhi Icona ECO310.BK Pump Espresso Machine