Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300

Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300

By / / Coffee lover

Lavazza BLUE Classy Mini is the perfect machine, in term of efficiency and ease of use. Intuitive and practical in its elegant and exclusive dark blue color, is ideal for satisfying the desire for an espresso coffee at homes, in a SOHO office, or in a hotel room. (Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300).

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The exclusive design enhances the chrome details and the elegant Italian styling embellished with attractive, smooth lines. Its neat design has won the most sought-after prize in the sector, the reddot design award. Fitted with 2 touch controls, for espresso coffee or lungo coffee, it adapts to any type of situation thanks to its 5.3″ width.

Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300
Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300

Technical Specification – Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300

  • Power Supply: 110V
  • Frequency: 50-60 Hz
  • Nominal Power 1250W
  • Material: ABS
  • Sizes: 5.3″ x 13″ x 10.2″
  • Weight: 7.7 lb
  • Stand-by function for instant use and energy saving

Key features

  • Stand-by function for instant use and Energy saving, ABS
  • Works with Lavazza Blue capsules
  • Visual alerts: fitted with a visual indicator to show when the water tank is empty or the capsules drawer is full.
  • 2 Coffee selections: simple touch controls, 1 programmable free dose and 1 pre-set.
  • Capsule drawer: maximum capacity of 5 exhausted capsules.
  • Removable cup support: can be adapted perfectly for any type of cup, from espresso cups to mugs.
  • Transparent water tank capacity: 0. 2Gl

Pros & Cons – Lavazza blue classy mini

THE PROS
-It takes up very little counter real estate, which is important for me.
-It’s very easy to use as you only have two buttons to work with. Espresso and Lungo. Most of the Blue pods will be Espressos, but the occasional pod is a Lungo.
-Lots of pod flavors. I ended up buying a variety pack to find which one I liked best for cappuccino vs espresso. (Separate review for variety pack)
-Most importantly – it brews a great espresso. The temp, the cream, the flavor all come through.

The CONS
-The fluctuating price of the machine. Yes, that bothers me. It is significantly cheaper now than when I purchased it. When prices spike and dive like that it makes me question the durability of the product.
-Difficulty in acquiring pods. Not being a regular espresso consumer buying 100pods at a time is irritating.
-While the product is easy to use – you do have to read the directions to operate it properly. It’s not completely intuitive.

Lavazza blue classy mini single serve espresso coffee machine lb 300 Customer review

I may not be the same as most espresso drinkers but I may be like a small percentage of you. This review is aimed at that small percentage who have only tasted the beverage a few times in their lives, probably after a special occasion fancy dinner, the person who never goes to Starbucks and never before dreamed of making their own at home. Yep, that’s me.

I think this machine was created for people like me. I do after all love the taste of coffee and my experiences with espresso were pleasant but those multi-thousand dollar contraptions with all of the shiny chrome pipes and dials intimidated me. This one is as simple, compact and easy to use as my Keurig brewer, in fact it is almost identical in size to my Keurig Mini.

UNBOXING

When you first unbox it you’ll find more than the average tape, cellophane and other protective materials. Check carefully so you don’t miss any. After that the setup process is pretty easy, just run a full tank of clear water through it.

Let’s stop here to discuss the first of several things that make ownership of this product a frustrating experience. I am a much more technically proficient individual than average, I can figure most things out on my own without instructions or tech support. Looking at this thing I was baffled. Between their pretentious overuse of Italian words with no translations and a Rube Goldberg design nothing was intuitive. I spent the first half hour reading the very detailed instruction manual just to know where to start.

THE QUEST FOR CAPSULES

After the cleaning process I faced the bigger and even more frustrating obstacle – finding coffee capsules to use with this device. Not only don’t they include any samples there is not one word of guidance anywhere on the machine or in the owner’s manual to explain anything except that you can only use blue capsules with it. Does that mean they are blue in color? Or is blue a brand name? Where do you find blue capsules and what makes them different from the dozens of other styles of coffee capsules on the market?

I went to my supermarket and searched the coffee aisles. There were a lot if K-cup and Nespresso capsules but nothing that had the word blue on the box, not even those from the Lavazza brand. I bought some anyway but when I got home they were obviously too small. I decided that any criticism of the lady who had problems with her capsules falling right through her brewer were much too harsh, she probably faced the same dilemma as me trying to find those elusive blue capsules.

I went to fancy specialty stores that have exotic coffees for aficionados and they never heard of blue capsules. I searched every word of Lavazza’s extremely poorly designed website but nope, not one word about capsule compatibility and comparisons and no specific way to do a search for pods compatible with this particular model. I finally ordered a case of a hundred of them from Amazon, far more than I wanted or needed, and even so they offered no help in deciphering the pretentious Italian words into any meaningful description of what darkness and intensity the roast is. Choosing was a shot in the dark.

RICKIE DON’T LOSE THOSE INSTRUCTIONS

Preparing a cup of espresso proved to continue the frustration but not quite as annoying. Oddly the user must first press either of the two buttons quickly, being sure not to hold it in. This starts the water heating. After about three minutes the lights will stop flashing and remain steady. This is your cue to lift the chrome trim piece on top of the machine as far as it will go, drop a capsule in sideways, and close the lever. If you do this right the brewing process will begin and the spent capsule will fall into a hidden drawer inside the unit.

More advanced users will learn that one of the buttons is preprogrammed to always dispense four ounces while the other button can be trained to fill larger cups. You’re on your own to figure out when or why to do this.

WAKING THE FAMILY

I expect espresso to be a strong wake-up jolt and that’s why I drink it. What was unexpected though was the sheer noise the brewing process makes, enough to wake everyone in the house. I can’t believe how much noise such a little device can make. It doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that the machine can take all that vibration and be able to survive for long.

LIKE

The small size of the machine, speed of brewing, convenience of using the pods and minimal cleanup and maintenance.

DISLIKE

Too many things, all discussed above. But to be fair they all have to do with the company’s abysmal way of communicating their message about pod compatibility and the almost impossible task of finding blue compatible capsules in any local stores and being forced to buy them by the case of 100 online. That is a gigantic negative against recommending this product. I’m not saying to avoid it, just go in with your eyes open that if it’s so difficult to find those elusive blue capsules now will you be stuck with an obsolete gadget in a year or two? A warning signal for that is that they’re already starting to deep discount this thing to near closeout prices.

By Amazon reviewer

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