costa lot less than costa (Bravo Plus)

Member Name: tuftyclub

Product:	Bravo Plus
Date:	18/12/01 (399 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tastes great

Disadvantages: only make a few at a time

Krups are famed for their coffee makers and I would be surprised if you did not get a decent cup of coffee out of any of their coffee machines. They vary in price from the basic entry models at around £70 to more complex machines costing hundreds of pounds.

Now, I like a good cup of coffee to the extent of being happy to pay a fair amount for it- but there comes a point where, for me it isn't sensible to pay any more. For me that comes at about £50, so I had thought that a Krups one was out of my price range. Fortunately I espied a bargain, a local shop, Cash Generator was doing these Bravo Plus models, but 'graded' for £50. Now cash generator is a glorified pawn shop- where people sell their unwanted goods, I don't think that type of business is particularly moral and am not happy taking advantage of other people distress to get a bargain. For that reason I wouldn't buy anything second hand there. But graded goods are fine. Maybe the box is a bit scruffy, but the contents are fine. I checked out on dealtime.co.uk and it seems that this particular maker would cost about £70 elsewhere. Curry's do them

So, it is a expresso maker with a foamer to allow you to froth milk for cappuccino. It makes up to four cups of expresso and you have the choice of decanting into cups, or using the provided glass pourer. Probably suitable for one or two people as you have to let it cool down a but before using it again.

The quality of the expresso depends on the pressure that the water is pushed through at. This isn't a pump machine, a Krups pump machine will be 15 bars- similar to a machine in a special coffee house, and this one forces the water through at around 3 bars. Better than the average machine but not top notch. As an aside, I wonder if you are slightly paying for the name as a 3 bar one from another company might not cost as much. But as this is the only machine I have tried, and it was £20 less than retail price
, I can't really comment.

The coffee is excellent and easy to make. Basically you pour the water in the back- add the coffee to the nozzle and away you go. There are marks on the nozzle dependant on whether you want two or four cups. It takes about 2 minutes to brew and then the coffee spurts out the front. As it come out, you can froth your milk for the cappuccino. The nozzle is very easy to clean as the coffee is so compressed and dry as the water has been forced through it. So you just give it a shake and it comes out. I have also noted that, if after your expresso jolt, you want a normal cup of coffee, you can just bung a whole mugful of water in the back, use the remainder of the expresso and you get a full mug of normal coffee as well.

It makes a pretty terrifying noise when it is making it and there is usually a fair amount of steam about. My one concern is not knowing when the machine is empty, and being concerned that I am continuing to boil on the equivalent of an empty kettle. It's fine for adults, but a child could get a nasty fright/burn, especially if they were playing with the steaming arm.

All in all, for me, it's an excellent investment and well worth the money. I even think it's worth the full price. Makes good expresso, cappuccino and looks pretty good on your worktop.

Summary: