Coffee Nomad

I got to try out the ECM21 today, Mr. Coffee’s Coffee and Espresso Machine Combination.

The coffee portion works the same as any other 8 cup Mr. Coffee coffee maker. Internally it features the usual Mr-Coffee rotating splash-preventing drip arm.

It also has a removable water reservoir:

The espresso half took me a few minutes to figure out. Having worked at Starbucks a few years ago, I expected the machine to do most of the thinking for me, but alas, this time I had to read the instruction manual.

First I tried guessing where to pour the water for the espresso half (and guessed wrong — I poured water into the steam spill-over compartment). Then, I found out from the instructions that one must first unscrew the plastic filter, then pour water into the hole to which the filter connects:

Another thing I discovered by trial and error that I wouldn’t have known from using Starbuck’s highly automated machines is, without water in the espresso compartment, the steamer won’t work. So, when you’re adding water to the ECM21 (if you buy one), be sure to add however much you need for the espresso plus some for the steaming machine.

Note: The steaming wand on the ECM21 is a bit short. It is only long enough to make one regular sized cappuccino or maybe two lattes. Keep this in mind if you try to pull more than two cappuccinos’ worth of espresso, since the espresso can get old quickly (you should add the espresso to hot milk as soon as possible to preserve its flavor/quality).

The foam quality wasn’t too bad considering this if the first latte I’ve ever made with this particular machine.

The ECM21 supposedly retails for around $100.00, but you can find better deals through online vendors.