Espresso Machine

I got one. I like it.

It’s my first espresso machine, so I don’t have a great frame of reference. It’s pretty user friendly, pulls great shots. I don’t have any dislikes other than the kind of grindy twist on the portafilter that is a known issue. It’s tactilely displeasing.

I really wanted to like this machine and tbh I still do, but here are a couple of reasons that returned mine for a refund. First off the portafilter does not fit well. feels like metal grinding each time you put it in. Second a couple of times the operating screen blanked out. was able to fix with a restart…not terrible but for this to happen in the first few weeks?? The thing that made me return mine was the grinder continuously (at least once or twice a week over a 3 week period) kept jamming, and then eventually stopped working altogether. no error message just would not work. This is the same beans that I used in my breville barista plus for years, and typically only make one or two espresso drinks per day. Lastly customer service was terrible. After emailing them about the issues I didn’t get a response for a few days. then they wanted me to send a video of the grinder not working. i was informed it would take 3 weeks to fix and had to send it to them. Had to wait for more than a week to get a shipping label so at this point I gave up.

New owner here after upgrading from the Dedica. The machine is amazing it heats up in about 4 minutes, and within 9–10 minutes you can pull excellent shots. The scales are super helpful for volume extraction. The steam wand is powerful; I can heat 150 ml of milk in about 17 seconds on the highest setting. As for drawbacks, the steam wand is a bit difficult to clean and takes some time to get used to. The drip tray is plastic, and the wand tends to drip milk after steaming, so you’ll need to clean the tray more often or it can start to smell. I was able to get it below retail price, so if you can find a good deal, it’s a no brainer for a double boiler machine. P.S. I use a separate grinder, so I haven’t tried the built in Timemore grinder and can’t judge its performance.

Another tech person here that went down this journey ... I upgraded from a Sage Barista Impress to the Meraki and the machine is great. I loved the quietness from rotary pump, seamless workflow with integrated scales, strong steam wand, and the output was good. However, I've had repeated issues with my machine and the customer service from Meraki isn't great. I'd also recommend watching their descaling video as that's another negative for me: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rj9-ITDFqM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rj9-ITDFqM) P.s. If you do buy the machine, I recommend buying it from Origin. While the customer service from Meraki has been painful, Origin has been fantastic.

I purchased my Meraki through IndieGogo in 2024. Communication from Meraki during that process was excellent. My machine arrived in December 2024, and everything was high quality as expected and easy to setup. The espresso was immediately a huge improvement in quality over my previous Breville machine, and the quality improved further as I leaned how to tweak my machine for better puck preparation and extraction. I make a lot of cappuccinos and lattes, and the Meraki does an outstanding job steaming milk, half and half, or coconut/almond milk. A few weeks in, my portafilter handle cracked, so I filled out a service request on the Meraki website. They responded in under 24 hours (I think it was actually like under 2 hours), and I had a new handle within a week. The new handle is solid. Excellent customer service! There is very little I don't love about this espresso machine, especially for under $2,000. I evaluated a lot of different options when I decided to move up from my Breville, such as going with a separate grinder and espresso machine, but I did not find anything that I felt would make meaningfully better espresso without spending a significantly larger amount of money. I am approaching my one year anniversary of daily use, and I give the Meraki a grade of A+!

I picked up one during the BF 20% off and then Paypal 20% cash back also for Black Friday, so it was a decent deal. I'm an espresso newb and just wanted an easy workflow and decent espresso. So far, for my simple use (I make one latte every morning), it's been exactly what I wanted. Was pretty quick for me to dial in a predictable shot and the steam wand is really good.

" repairability will improve over time" I have my doubts about that for sure, this photo looks a lot like the Meraki espresso machine, something that was reviewed and deemed a nightmare for repairability. What I think China will do is bring us more "breville/delonghi" style espresso machines.... which are typically pretty unrepairable.