De’Longhi La Specialista Opera Review

Introduction

A proper manual espresso machine is capable of the best results, but there’s always a bit of effort and faff to get the best shot of coffee. The De’Longhi La Specialista Opera is designed to make the job as easy as possible, with some automation to take the hassle out of pouring the perfect shot of espresso.

Capable of pouring excellent coffee, and even making cold brew on tap, this coffee machine is flexible, powerful and well-priced.

Design and Features

• Five drinks choices
• Integrated grinder and tamper
• The quick-start guide could be clearer

Decked out in stainless steel, the De’Longhi La Specialista Opera certainly looks the part. At a shade under £800, it’s a higher-end coffee machine than most, but is capable of delivering some quality results.

Although a manual coffee machine, this one is designed to make life easier, with some automation.

In the box, the group handle comes with four portafilters: two doubles and two singles, with the difference that one set is for hot coffee and one for cold coffees (espresso cool, and cold brew).

Once clipped into place, the handle can be clipped into the SmartTamping station, and you can hit the x1 or x2 buttons to grind coffee into the filter. It’s a shame that the machine doesn’t automatically detect the filter being used, which the Shark Luxe Café Premier Series does.

There’s a hopper on top that will accommodate a typical bag of coffee, and a choice of 15 grind settings. It’s good to start quite low, but if you notice that there’s not much coffee in the filter after grinding, you’ve probably gone too far, and should go for a coarser grind.

There’s also a dose level dial that runs from Min to 40, but the quickstart guide doesn’t explain what this is; you have to download the full manual from De’Longhi’s website to get a better idea of how the dose level and grind size interplay.

Cleverly, the coffee machine has a system to prevent overfilling the filter, and it will cut off if you’re likely to end up with too much coffee.

Once ground, there’s a handle on the side for tamping. Two swings forward deliver a nice, levelled-off set of coffee grounds, ready for pouring a drink.

The dial at the top lets you select the type of coffee type you want; you select the x1 or x2 button to choose the dosage and then hit the OK button to have the machine pour the right amount of coffee (there are default volumes, which you can override).

For espresso-based drinks, there’s a handy pressure dial on the front: you want it to move to the Optimal Zone in the middle, which should result in the coffee dripping through like molten honey.

If the pressure dial goes too high (or coffee doesn’t pour), you need to go for a coarser grind and potentially, adjust the dosage; if the pressure is too low, you should go for a finer ground and/or increase the dosage.

It’s also worth adjusting the temperature setting, based on the coffee you have: higher temperatures are better for light roasts; lower for dark roasts.

All of this means that there’s a fair amount of learning involved, and the Shark Luxe Café’s Barista Assist makes for a faster journey; however, the La Specialista Opera is capable of pouring a better shot of espresso, as I’ll discuss later.

Cold brew is made using cold water with no heating, although you should still add ice to the drink. It’s handy having such a system, as cold brew is otherwise not a drink you can have on tap, and is something that has to be produced days in advance.

Milk frothing is via the steam wand on the side. Turn the dial and the coffee machine heats up to steam levels, and then starts dispensing. It’s worth doing this once before the wand is in the milk, to eject any water, and then frothing.

As the wand is large and flexible, it’s pretty easy to get it into the provided jug and froth, although you can switch and use a jug of your choice.

A large 2-litre water tank at the rear holds the drop-in descaler bags, which should be replaced every three months. They prevent scale from clogging the machine and give you a better-tasting coffee.

There’s not too much maintenance on this coffee machine. It should be wiped down with a damp cloth, focussing on the shower head and grinder. And, the drip dray should be washed off every day or so; if you leave it too long, the pop-up sign lets you know it’s full.

Coffee Quality

• Excellent espresso
• Needs some fine-tuning
• Neat americano

As is true of most manual machines, this coffee machine requires some fine-tuning to get the best results. I started with my dark-roasted Fairtrade Peruvian coffee beans, which needed quite a fine grind and a high dose level to get the right amount of coffee into the portafilter.

However, the results were excellent. A smooth, long-lasting crema on top, with a nice oily-consistency to it, and the high acidity and deep tones of the coffee coming through. It’s hard to get much better than this.

I then made an Americano, which the De’Longhi La Specialista Opera poured automatically: it made the espresso and then topped up with hot water, leaving a nice crema on top, and a slightly more mild, mug-full of drink.

Cold brew is a neat trick with this coffee machine. It uses cold water and a slow-pouring method to get the coffee out and into a cup full of ice. Proper cold brew is arguably better: the longer extraction time and concentrated formula give it a smoother taste; however, the De’Longhi La Specialista Opera isn’t far off, and its result is instant.

With a smoother, less bitter taste to it, the cold brew here is a nice drink to have on a cold day, and far better than hot coffee poured over ice.

Milk Frothing

• Easy to get good micro foam
• The wand needs to be cleaned

Milk frothing can be done using the provided jug, or a jug of your choice. As the tap on the side makes the machine heat up before dispensing steam, there’s a delay between turning it on and steam dispensing.

I found it best to point the wand into the drip tray, and turn it on to eject water. Once steam came out, I turned the dial off, inserted the wand into the jug and then started steaming.

It’s pretty easy to get the right angle and start circulating the milk, warming and frothing it. Once done, I could pour tightly-packed milk into espresso to make a flat white.

It’s worth purging the steam wand at the end, and then wiping it down to prevent milk sticking and clogging the wand. If the wand does get blocked, De’Longhi provides an unblocking tool with a pin on it.

Should you buy it?