Starbucks Barista Coffee and Espresso Maker

Got this on a recommendation, mostly that these old Starbucks Barista machines make the best shots. WOW did it surprise me how good they are! The seller said it made better tasting shots than his $1000+ machine, I think he is probably right. The Zia is a smaller unit, same guts I believe as other Barista models, smaller water tank. No need to tamp grounds because filter is pressurized. Directions are easy to follow in manual. (I might have been confused without manual, unless you are familiar with pump driven machines). I use a regular coffee blade grinder, grind it as fine as I can get it, prime the machine, dump the grounds into the filter, attach and brew and it is done in a few minutes. Heats up really fast. Steam wand works great for froth, and rotates on a ball joint for various angles. Again, need to know how a pump machine works, since the steam is heated by the same element I think, so it needs to adjust for a minute between steam temp and brew temp. You need to find relatively short cups to fit under the filter to brew. You can brew two 1 oz. shots at a time, or one double, as well as one single with simply less coffee. It is basically manual, so you have to watch it and have some sort of way to measure the shot as you brew. Great crema. I had one prob, mine was in storage for a while, and some how some valve on the pump got seized, the pump turned on but wasn't pushing water out of the out-side, I just unscrewed the covering, unhooked the hoses, pushed on what looked to be a valve spring, tested to see if it was pushing air, then hooked up the hoses and tested for water flow, and bingo, it worked. I assume should keep working for quite some time, we'll see. We have a big family, so it'd be nice to make more than 2 oz. at a time. But it is pretty quick, so not so bad. Guess I'll need to get another one, or a bigger machine if it bugs me bad enough...

This is a first rate quality machine. I purchased one from Starbucks about 9 years ago and used it daily for 6-7 years. I only had one problem and that was able to be solved by contacting the Barista service phone line where a technician guided me through making a simple adjustment with a small screwdriver and it was fixed. I gave my unit to a family member who continues to use it today. I was missing my old machine and started to shop for a similar unit only to find that Starbucks was now selling a different more expensive unit that didn't have better reviews. I searched online and was able to get an almost new unit with accessories for under $200 that works perfectly and I am sure will provide many more years of great service.

This is the home espresso unit to purchase !!!!

My wife and I are truly "Starbucks-aholics" (should have purchased stock years ago!). My In-Laws have this same espresso machine, so it came highly recommended. It is always a treat when we visit to see if my Father-In-Law can make a "sugar-free vanilla 5-splenda latte" exactly as they do at our neighborhood Starbucks. Now that we have a machine of our own, we get to play around with recipes ourselves to see if we can duplicate it as well. Looking forward to many years of wonderful coffee treats with a high-quality machine at a great price. Thanks!

We bought this product because we wanted a small but efficient espresso maker.
This is an excellent espresso coffee maker. It's easy to use and coffee tastes great, it makes real espresso coffee.
We own three of them, we have one at home, one at the office, and the other one for vacation use, wherever we go!!! Yes, it's really portable.
This Barista Espresso Maker compares favorably with commercial espresso machines.

One of the best home espresso machines you can get for the price. Sturdy, reliable, and makes a mean cup of coffee. Frother works great (unlike many cheap walmart brand espresso machines) and works on a pivot that allows you to move it side to side and up and down to accommodate for any just about any size of cup. The only complaint I can think of is that it might be just a little noisy, but otherwise I am quite pleased with it.