Imusa Espresso, Cappuccino Maker

by Mike
(Florida, USA)

Imusa Espresso, Cappuccino Maker

I purchased this unit from Amazon about 6 months ago. I was a bit cautious of the low price. I have had inexpensive, and yes, even some cheap espresso cappuccino makers in the past. For the most part, you get what you pay for.

Almost any of them will heat the water and shoot it through the espresso grinds adequately. That’s not really rocket science. Of course the faster and hotter it can make the water and perform that task, the better the end result will be.

What makes or breaks the experience for cappuccino drinkers is the frothing of the milk. Espresso drinkers don’t need this feature, as that is pretty much what differentiates espresso from cappuccino. With cheaper units, usually all you get is warmed up milk, and no froth, and that is basically a latte.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the Imusa heated the water and got it through the process and into the glass carafe. The markings on the carafe as in pretty much all these types of machines say they do up to 4 servings. But as a typical American, who supersizes far too many things, I double my serving size, so I get 2 nice cups of espresso at this point.

I also enjoy cappuccino as well, so I had to try the frothing system. You will do yourself a great favor if you start out with a small metal pitcher to do this in. The colder the milk the better, and don’t use non fat or low fat milk. Non fat won’t froth at all, low fat will, but not as nice as whole milk. I wish I would have known these tips when I first tried to make home brewed cappuccinos long ago, but at least those who read this can benefit from my trials and errors.

This unit did very well on this as well. I’ve had Mr Coffee and Hamilton Beach machines, under 50 dollars, and had usually poor to sort of okay frothing experiences. This one did better than those, steaming the milk quickly and hit enough to make the nice thick froth that floats so well on top of the brewed espresso, and makes sipping through it the luxurious experience it should be.

So the bottom line is, you can’t really go wrong with this unit. It is inexpensive, small, powerful, and not too hard to clean.