Cuisinart Buona Tazza Super Automatic Single Serve Espresso, Caffe Latte & Cappuccino Machine Review
The Cuisinart for illy Buona Tazza Espresso Machine is a fantastic espresso maker that also makes lattes and cappuccinos with a removable milk tank for easy storage in the fridge.
Ease of Use/Performance: 5/5
Convenience/Storage 5/5
Appearance/Design 5/5
How much I enjoy 4/5
Total: 5/5
The Cuisinart Buona Tazza Super Automatic Single Serve Espresso, Caffe Latte & Cappuccino Machine is a fantastic espresso maker that uses the illy Iperespresso capsules. The Cuisinart Buona Tazza makes espresso and espresso based drinks quickly and easily using the illy capsules but also has some other handy features to aid in fast and convenient espresso.
The Buona Tazza has a removable water and separate milk tank for convenient filling and storage of the milk in the refrigerator when not needed. The Buona Tazza comes with the machine itself, a quick reference guide and owners manual with a few sample capsules to get you started.
The illy Iperesspresso capsules are available directly from illy, at select stores locally and online at sites such as Amazon and Bed Bath & Beyond. The Buona Tazza has three size settings with a long and short shot and manual with the long and short settings adjustable.
The heat is also adjustable with two settings and a separate control for latte and cappuccino is also on the front control panel. The flip down small espresso cup tray is used for those small shot glasses while the drip tray below is for larger cups when using the latte or cappuccino function.
The frother milk tank and making espresso based drinks with milk is easy by simply moving the steam wand into your cup and pressing the appropriate drink button you want. The latte simply steams milk and adds it to your cup while the cappuccino function steams and froths the milk.
The front of the milk tank has a dial for more or less froth in your drinks while a burst of steam at the end of either cycle will clean the steam wand and frother mechanism. The milk tank can be cleaned using a simple steam burst from the front panel controls which cleans out the tubes inside or run clean water through it.
For a more thorough cleaning you can empty the milk and fill with clean water then run some water through the tubes using the steam function. The Buona Tazza should also be cleaned routinely with vinegar and water or demineralizer to keep internal parts clean and free of deposits.
Illy currently sells three different regional espresso varieties, three different roasts, a long shot and a decaffeinated blend in the Iperespresso capsules. While this is not as great a variety as a leading competition it does offer a good selection to choose from and is about the only down check I see.
The Buona Tazza espresso machine is an easy to use machine and does make excellent tasting espresso and espresso based drinks. I have used the machine for a month and put about a hundred capsules through it and can easily say it works very well.
For a quick and convenient way to make espresso, lattes and cappuccinos the Cuisinart Buona Tazza is a great machine and makes an easy recommendation. The Buona Tazza costs about $600 for the EM-500 fully automatic model with two other models that lack features of the full model I received.
Pros
Easy to use
Simple removable milk frother
Great tasting espresso in minutes
Cons
Only uses illy capsules