For those of you who get excited about having your morning coffee, stay tuned to hear my final thoughts on the Krups XP4050 espresso machine. I have made a few posts in the past about my trials and tribulations with the XP4050. My first impression with the machine was that it was cheap…and, it is. Anyone who has priced an espresso machine knows that $250 doesn’t get you squat. We had a bunch of gift certificates/cards at Williams Sonoma and I figured I would start out with the cheapo model and see how it went. After all, I had just started to drink cappucinos FOB from Italy.

The Smell Factor

The first thing I noticed about the Krups machine was that it made a pretty awful smell. There is quite a bit of plastic in this machine and it doesn’t take more than a few minutes with it plugged in to realize so. I am pretty sure that I took a year or two off of our lives in the first couple of weeks of using this machine. The manager of the store, who was helping me pick out a machine, told me she had returned hers because of the smell. She offered to take it back if I was not satisfied, so what did I have to lose? I made some effort to try and get the smell to go away and I think they did help. The removable water reservoir seemed to smell more than the other plastic when the machine was cool. I removed it from the machine when not in use to help it air out. I think this helped with the smell quite a bit. I also opened up the top lid (over the reservoir) and removed the waste water tray to give the machine a chance to air out, especially after use (when everything gets very hot). After a few weeks, the machine did not make any more bad odors for the most part. The bottom line with the smell factor is this, if you are super-sensitive to smell, then don’t buy an espresso machine with any plastic. Espresso machines generate a tremendous amount of heat. Plastic smells when it gets really hot.

Espresso Pods

One of the nice features of the Krups XP4050 is the ability to use standard ESE espresso pods. There are a couple of different types of “coffee” pods out there, this machine uses ESE espresso pods, not the coffee pods some people use. There is a guy in Orange County who runs the Pod Merchant which is all you need to know when it comes to ESE espresso pods. The ESE pods are individually vacuum packed, single serving pods. They are also great because they make zero mess, unlike grinding your own beans each day. The quality of the espresso is not quite as good as freshly ground, fresh coffee beans, but they are pretty darn good. We were partial to the Lucaffe Classic, Decaf and the Compagnia dell’Arabica Organic…which is probably my favorite pod we had. If you are going the ESE pod route, try the sampler pack, you get to try a crap-load of espresso and you usually get two of each.

The pro’s of using the pods are ease of use and clean-up. If you only have a few minutes to make an espresso or cappucino, then this is a great way to go. Plus, they may last longer due to the fact that they are individually vacuum sealed servings. The con’s are that you sacrifice some taste for the convenience.

Longevity

About two months ago, we stepped up and bough ourselves a Capresso Burr Grinder to grind our own beans each day. This is really the way to go if you want some great espresso. However, I am constantly amazed at how far coffee grinds are able to make it in the kitchen. I find little specs of coffee grounds all over the place every day. A cost of doing business. Around the time we started to use freshly ground coffee, the removable waste-water tray on the bottom of the machine (plastic) welded itself to something inside the machine. It was starting to warp a bit before that from all of the heat generated from making two-double cappucinos each morning. It wasn’t really a big deal to me as pulling that tray out with scalding hot water to clean it out each day was kind of a pain. So, I simply took the stainless grating off the top of the tray and suck out the water with a sponge. It takes about 5 circuits and it is dry.

A week ago, the machine started to hiccup a bit. The pump makes a bit of a squeaking sound most days (sounds like steam and/or water is getting by the seals somewhere), the steam wand won’t produce full-power steam intermittently, and on a few occaisions it has not had the pressure to properly make espresso. I am sure this is simply a fact of life with any machine that makes and requires high pressure and good internal seals to function properly. I am sure it can be fixed and I will probably tear the machine open to see how it all works once we have a replacement in hand. I will be looking into something that is stainless steel, has a pump that can be serviced and probably is manual rather than automatic.

Final Thoughts on the XP4050

Did I like the Krups XP4050? I would have to say yes. At first it was a bit rough as the smell was really bad. From what my in-laws have told me, their regular Krups drip coffee pot made the same types of smells when it was new. Go figure. Would I buy it again…maybe. I think the Krups XP4050 is a great first espresso machine. Making espressos for yourself every day is pretty tedious, but if you enjoy crafting things (for lack of a better term), then you may enjoy making espresso. I think it is an inexpensive (relatively) way of finding out if you want to make your own espressos or if it is worth it to you to buy your coffee and be done with it. We definitely got our moneys worth out of the XP4050. We must have run 5 to 6 cases of ESE espresso pods through there and 5 to 10 pounds of freshly ground coffee. That is probably around 750+ espressos that would have cost ~$3 to $4 at Starbucks…so, I think we did pretty well on that.

At this point, I will be looking into purchasing a new espresso machine. One that is serviceable as I think replacing pump seals and other parts are comparable to replacing brakes and hoses in your car. I will also be considering a manual machine to have a little more control over the brewing process. I would recommend the Krups XP4050 to anyone who has never made their own espresso before and is looking for an entry-level machine. I think it really makes sense to buy a low-cost machine at first to make sure that you are really going to stay on board with making your own espressos. Stepping up right out of the gates could be a big waste of money if you find out that making espresso is a real PITA. Cheers.

tags: espresso, krups, machine, review, xp4050