I love the charm of a classic manual coffee maker, but for those who are new, all those dials and knobs can be intimidating. De'Longhi's newest espresso machine is the first of the La Specialista lineup to feature a touchscreen, and it's a very helpful one at that.
This new release came to the U.K. on March 1st, and won't be out in the U.S. until later this year. It retails for £699 at De'Longhi (about $900, although I don't know what it will cost in the U.S. yet) and is De'Longhi's smallest bean-to-cup coffee machine. Considering my main gripe about the La Specialista Maestro was its size, I was excited to see if the Touch would be a better fit in my kitchen, so I shoved to the very front of the line to get my hands on this gorgeous number.
I'm working on a full review of the La Specialista Touch right now, but for those who just can't wait to hear how it compares to the best espresso machines, I've already got a lot of thoughts. There are three features in this machine that I'm absolutely loving, and one that's proving to be a bit of a learning curve. Here's what you need to know.
What I love
1. BeanAdapt brilliance
This machine helps you dial in. Not sure what that is? Let me explain. Dialling-in is the process of setting up your grinder for your new bag of beans. It's an unavoidable bit of trial and error that will result in optimized extraction for every new bag you buy. Coffee nerds often do this manually, breaking out one of the best coffee scales and measuring down to a fraction of a gram to hit that sweet spot.
The sweet spot in question is an an extraction that will take between 20 and 30 seconds, and give you ropes of thick and consistent coffee. Too slow? That means your grind size is too fine, and your water is struggling to get through. Too fast? You need to grind a bit finer, because your puck isn't providing enough resistance to the pressure of the water flow.
When setting up this machine, the La Specialista Touch helps you dial in from the very first use. It guides you through, asking you about the type of beans (which should be Arabica, FYI) and the color, which is a more accessible way of finding out how they've been roasted.
Then it walks you through the grinding and tamping process (more on that later), timing your final extraction to see if it hits the mark. If it's too slow or too fast, you'll be back to square one. It will suggest a grind size though, and talk you through the process again and again until it's happy with your espresso. In short, the La Specialista Touch literally won't let you brew bad coffee. And as someone who hates bad coffee, I approve.
2. Tactile tamping
A lot of coffee makers these days come with a tamping guide. It screws onto the top of your portafilter and allows you to keep all your grounds within the basket as you tamp. It's less messy, and also keeps you pressing straight down. No funny angles here.
This is a feature you'll find with a number of De'Longhi's other machines. It's also a feature that comes with the Ninja Luxe espresso machine. The thing I like about the La Specialista Touch's tamping guide is that it comes with a base that keeps your filter flat for an easier tamp, and it also has a smart tamper with levels printed onto it that will indicate if you have enough grounds in your basket. Too much? There's a smart level that slots into the top of the basket and will shave off any excess. Too few? Pop it back into the grinder, and it will top you up with a few more beans.
Given how easy this machine makes it to brew good coffee, this step will make you feel involved. Even if, let's be honest, it's the machine that's doing all the heavy lifting.
3. Smart steaming
Let's just say I wasn't top of the class at barista school. So whenever I get the chance to steam milk by hand, as someone who only drinks milky coffee every now and again, I'm jumping at it. But if you're less concerned with mastering your hands-steaming, the La Specialista Touch will do the hard work for you. It even has a temperature probe that won't let you burn your milk, and this can be used whether you're steaming by hand or letting the machine do it.
Just put your milk in your jug and put it on the drip tray, milk wand inserted, and let your La Specialista Touch do the steaming. I was impressed by my cappuccino. It was super frothy without being dry or stiff. And the milk achieved a lovely micro-foam that I'd probably have struggled to achieve by hand.
My one complaint
I keep denting my puck
See that? That's a dented puck. The culprit? This machine's hot water dispenser. Now, I drink a lot of Americanos, so you won't catch me complaining that the La Specialista Touch will top up your espresso for you automatically, but the dispenser is very close to the group head where you screw in your freshly-tamped portafilter.
I'm a klutz at the best of times, so if you ask me to screw my portafilter into an unspecified part of the machine that's not clearly visible, I'm going to rely on some trial and error to figure out the best way to do it. And with this machine, the trial and error has resulted into some run-ins with the hot water dispenser. I do wish De'Longhi had found a way to shift this out of the danger zone just slightly. But with time I'm pretty confident muscle memory will kick in and I'll be spared from any more mishaps.
So there you have it. While my full review is in progress: spoiler alert, I'm a big fan of the De'Longhi La Specialista Touch. In fact, I can't wait to tell you more about my time with this machine. And as soon as the sun comes out in London, you best believe I'm putting that cold brew technology to good use.
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