Today we’ll go into a little bit of depth about the Saeco Incanto espresso machine. We’ve spoken elsewhere about the many other Saeco espresso machines on the market, and I’m sure as time goes by, we’ll talk more about other Saeco machines and newer ones as they are introduced. What can I say, they make good espresso machines for your home.
From what I’ve been able to ascertain their are 4 main models in the Saeco Incanto line. There is the Saeco Incanto Deluxe, the Saeco Incanto Rondo, the Saeco Incanto Sirius and the Saeco Incanto Classic in no particular order. We’ll discuss about as much as we can regarding all of them.
The Saeco Incanto family
The Saeco brand of espresso machines are quite popular, in fact I recall Starbucks carrying them a little while ago. The Saeco Incanto line are great, because they’re all pretty much automatic coffee machines, but for that you will have to shell out a few shekels for them. Depending on which model of the Saeco Incanto line you buy you’re looking at anywhere from $500 to over $1000 depending on where you pick yours up from. All of the Saeco Incantos offer the following features: fully programmable drink settings, a durable and reasonably quite ceramic disc coffee grinder as well as sturdy all metal frames for durability and finish.
Let’s start with the Saeco Incanto Rondo. This stylish machine in black, is at the lower end of the Saeco Incanto line, and when I say lower end, I just mean that it is the least expensive of the four as of this writing. And with that of course, comes less features. Not a lesser machine in terms of quality, but just less features. For most users this would be fine. And if this is all that your espresso machine budget allows, then I’m sure you’ll be very satisfied.
The Saeco Rondo has room for up to 3 programmable drink settings, perfect if it’s just you or you, your spouse and teenage son or daughter. They promise rapid steaming with their panarello wand which is supposed to be idiot proof for making perfect latte or cappuccino foam. It’s not. You still need finesse and practice to make good foam. I haven’t met a wand that does it for you if you’ve never had experience before. It does however steam the milk pretty quickly for a home machine.
The ceramic disc grinder has an automatic shut-off which is handy and the Saeco Brewing System (SBS) basically allows you to control how much and the pressure of the water that goes through the beans. To me, this is worth the price of admission. I’m all about the espresso. I’ll forgive crappy milk, but I need to feel my espresso and allowing me to adjust the taste personally is what I’m really after. The 68 ounce removable water tank and the 10 ounce bean hopper aren’t huge, but this is small home machine and they sizes are fine. I also like the rotating base.
Another Saeco Incanto machine
Stepping up to the Saeco Incanto Classic espresso machine, we get more features and additional comforts. Not only do you get the ceramic grinder, but you can set the grinder amongst 6 different settings from coarse to fine grind. This is a terrific feature because adjusting the grind is a quick and easy way to adjust the flavor profile of your espresso. Not only that, but the Saeco Classic also allows you to use up to 12 grams of beans per shot. I love this ability. It also comes with a water filter that they call Aqua Prima.
Handy if you’re a purest, but frankly, if you’re that keen on getting the purest coffee flavor then in my opinion you should be using distilled water only. As with all of the Saeco Incanto machines, you get the SBS dial for more robust Italian style espresso to the right and more a weaker coffee flavor profile to the left. Your choice. The warming try up top is handy for keeping your mugs and cups warm, but an additional feature I’m quiet fond of is the bypass bean closer which allows you to use ground beans instead of the whole beans in the hopper. This is handy if you just want to make the occasional decaf beverage for example.
Alrighty, I always seem to run out of space and time. I have the best intentions of giving you all the information I possibly can, but things just start getting out of hand. Like here, so let’s finish this up with talking about the Saeco Incanto Deluxe espresso machine, the granddaddy of them all. In addition to many of the features found in the Saeco Classic the Saeco Deluxe offers your choice of using between 6 grams and 9 grams of beans per beverage. Not as much as the Saeco Classic, but a decent amount that should satisfy most palettes. You also get a practically fully programmable machine that can clean itself with choosing the appropriate maintenance settings. Now don’t get me wrong. This is a great machine from Saeco, but it has a lot of features and you know what happens with a lot of features? There are more things that can go wrong.
I personally like the old fashion espresso machines where you have to tamp in your own coffee grounds. Sure it creates room for human error but there is also less to go wrong. My steam driven espresso machine has lasted me around 5 years already, and I still enjoy a great cup of coffee every time. So please think about that. If you need the bells and whistles go for it. But if you’re an old fashioned guy like me, a regular Saeco Incanto Rondo will probably do fine if you’re looking for an automatic coffee machine. Personally, I like grinding coffee and tamping it into the espresso portafilter. But if you want something hand’s off, the Saeco Incanto could well be the machine for you.