COVID has made many people do things and make purchases they would have never normally made. Buying and using the DeLonghi Dedica Espresso Machine Black EC685BK coffee machine is certainly one of those decisions. Due to COVID I was spending a lot of time working from home and craving barista made coffee at home. So I decided to invest in a good home coffee machine and be my own barista.
In beginning my quest for my first ‘proper’ home coffee machine my ‘short’ list of specific requirements were as follows:
- Must be manual and take coffee grounds
- Small and space saving
- Not have to refill water on a daily basis
- Cost effective
- Must have a manual milk steamer (because I’m very particular regarding my milk texturing)
- Should not be an eye sore each morning
- Should have great reviews, preferably used by people I know
So why didn’t I purchase the same coffee machine that I was already familiar with from making coffee at work? Good question! And I will answer this question as well as provide my full review of the Breville Duo Temp Pro Espresso Machine BES810BSS.
So does my DeLonghi Dedica EC685BK satisfy my fussy tastes? Let’s examine in this Delonghi Espresso Machine Review.
Table of Contents
Delonghi Espresso Machine Review – Pros of the Dedica EC685BK
1. Manual / Takes Coffee Grounds
In embarking on my search for a home coffee machine it was important for me to have a machine that is manual and takes coffee grinds. Unlike automatic and pod machines like the best Nespresso Machines or the best automatic coffee machines.
The DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica Black EC685BK is manual and takes coffee grounds. The coffee temperature is configurable to low, medium and high as is the water hardness, to soft, medium and hard. The auto-off standby is also configurable to 9 min, 30 min or 3 hours. The 1 shot and 2 shot buttons have been pre-configured to extract the perfect shot quantities. These settings allow me to have as much control as I would want from the extraction process to make the perfect home coffee.
As the machine uses coffee grounds, this allows me to purchase both coffee grounds and coffee beans (using my Breville Smart Grinder Pro BCG820BSS) providing the maximum variety from my machine. Unlike say a full automated machine that used coffee beans only or a pod style machine.
Having said that many coffee machines on the market are manual and take coffee grinds.
2. Small and space saving
If you are like me and are forever buying the newest kitchen gadget on the market, navigating limited bench space may be an issue when buying an at home coffee machine.
This is where the DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica EC685BK won me over, being one of the smallest form factor machines on the market being only 32.99 cm Height x 30.28 cm Length x 14.9 cm Width and 4.2 Kilograms. This is smaller than some of the best Nespresso Machines and fits perfectly on the kitchen bench.
3. Sizeable Water Tank Capacity
One of my criteria for a good at home coffee machine is a machine that requires minimal refilling.
The DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica Black EC685BK has a Water Tank Capacity of 1.1 Litres. It easily makes me 4-5 coffees including steam for milk texturing without needing a refill. I find myself refilling about once every 2 days. This works for me as I don’t want to refill too often nor have any water left in the tank for more than a few days. To refill, the tank can either be removed and brought to the sink or left in place with water bought to the tank with the conviently shaped lid.
4. Cost effective
My budget for a home coffee machine was $300 and under.
After doing my research it was clear that I was going to be hard pressed to find a cheaper machine in the compact form factor I wanted that performed all the functionality I was looking for.
5. Comes with Manual Milk Steamer
I’m very particular regarding my milk texturing so it was a home coffee machine with a manual milk steamer was a non-negotiable for me,
The DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica Black EC685BK has a cappucino spout for additional foam. Or you can remove the spout for texuring milk for the perfect flat white. KEY TIP: The first few times I tried texturing milk without the cappucino spout, the nozzle bit popped off due to the pressure. This was very frustrating. Then I recalled a friend of mine has the same machine and had McGuyvered a solution by wrapping an elastic band around the nozzle to ensure it doesn’t pop off. This worked a treat!
6. Aesthetically Pleasing
One of my requirements for a home coffee machine were that it should not be an eye sore each morning.
The DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica Black EC685BK is endowed with a sleek modern design and is available in red, metal, red and white. I prefer the classic simpliclity and clean silhouette of the black. I also happened to get a good deal on a black one so winner winner winner chicken dinner!
7. Great Online Reviews
Being a review fanatic, I googled the De’Longhi Dedica Espresso Machine Black EC685BK and saw the following online ratings:
Amazon AU: Rating: 4.5 · 185 reviews; Amazon US: Rating: 4.3 · 1,070
EBay: Rating: 4.5 · 13 reviews
Delonghi: Rating: 4.4 · 48 votes
Goodguys: Rating: 4.5 · 100 reviews
Product Review: Rating: 4.2 · 45 reviews
And as previously mentioned, a close friend of mine has the machine too, I had previously made a few coffees using it at his place and turned out great so I was sold.
Delonghi Espresso Machine Review – Cons of the Dedica EC685BK
I’ve been using the DeLonghi Coffee Machine Dedica Black EC685BK for 2 years now and really enjoy using the machine. , However, there are a few niggly things that bug me, which I have to work around.
1. Size of Cup / Mug Space
If you are like me and love drinking and holding a large coffee mug, you may fiund the the cup/mug space on the DeLonghi Dedica Espresso Machine Black EC685BK too small. Even when I remove the drip tray I still struggle to fit larger mugs into the allocated space. This is not a major issue as I can use smaller cups, however the largest height cup I could fit without spilling coffee is 12 cm (so might be worth keeping in mind if you decide to purchase).
2. Detachable filter not firmly secured
The little detachable filter within the portafilter (or group handle) pops out when banging the used coffee grinds out too hard – annoying. Though I have found a solution which is to do an initial hard bang on the knock box and then some softer bangs to remove the remaining coffee. This seems to work to keep the filter in place (rather than having to retrieve it each time from within the knock box.
VERDICT
How do I rate this machine for a home espresso machine? As you may have deduced from this Delonghi Espresso Machine Review, I like to think of the DeLonghi Dedica EC685BK as the Richard Dean Anderson of the home coffee world. It’s efficient and compact with sleek good looks. While its great value for money, there are a few minor niggles and quirks.. but nothing a you can’t work around through some McGuyvering. I would agree with the above reviews at 4.5 out of 5. Would I buy it again if this one needed replacing and my requirements didn’t change? For SURE!