Like a lot of coffee lovers, I started out with a Mr. Coffee drip machine and a blade grinder. That worked for a while, until I upgraded to an AeroPress. The difference in taste was huge, and good beans really started to shine. I loved it so much that I eventually bought a second AeroPress, just so I could brew two cups at the same time.
But I kept craving espresso drinks, strong but flavorful americanos and comforting lattes. As much as I loved my AeroPress, it just couldn’t give me the body of real espresso. So I started shopping for an espresso machine. That was about two years and more than a thousand double shots ago.
Here’s my honest thoughts of my espresso machine that I’m using for the past two years. I picked, the De’Longhi Stilosa, and the two simple hacks that made it even better.
Shopping My First Espresso Machine
The first thing I learned is how easy it is to spend a lot of money on machines that are pretty similar. Prices run from around $100 to well over $2,000, and a lot of what’s in between does roughly the same job. So before buying anything, I went down the research rabbit hole: Reddit threads, James Hoffmann videos, and coffee forums.
One machine kept coming up for beginners on a budget, the De’Longhi Stilosa. People liked that it’s simple, has a real stainless steel boiler, and responds really well to a few cheap tweaks.
About the De’Longhi Stilosa
The Stilosa is De’Longhi’s compact manual espresso machine. Manual means there are no preset shot buttons, you turn a dial to start the shot and turn it back to stop it. In the box, you get a portafilter, two filter baskets (single and double), and a plastic measuring scoop that doubles as a tamper.
Key specs:
- Pump pressure: 15 bar
- Boiler: Stainless steel
- Water tank: 1 liter (33.8 oz), removable
- Portafilter size: 51mm, which is handy when shopping for accessories
- Steam wand: Manual, with a frothing sleeve
- Max cup height: About 4.2 inches, and only with the drip tray removed
- Power: 1100W
- Price: $149.95 on Amazon at the time of writing, though it often goes on sale
First Impressions
My first impression was a good one. The Stilosa is small enough to tuck into a corner of the kitchen counter, it heats up quickly, and it’s refreshingly simple to use. There’s one dial to turn it on, brew, and switch to steam mode, plus a knob that opens the steam wand. That made it a lot less intimidating as a first espresso machine.
Out of the box, the Stilosa uses pressurized baskets, which are very forgiving. They’ll give you a shot with a nice-looking layer of crema even with pre-ground coffee. That’s great when you’re just starting out, but I wanted my espresso to show off good beans the way my AeroPress did. That’s where the hacks come in.
Two Hacks That Made My Stilosa Even Better
Both hacks are popular with Stilosa owners, take just a few minutes, and are completely reversible. They’re not official De’Longhi fixes, though, so try them at your own risk.
Hack 1: Depressurizing the Basket
Each Stilosa basket has a plastic piece screwed onto the bottom with a small spring-loaded valve inside. The valve only opens once enough pressure builds up, which is how the machine makes that crema even with so-so coffee. It’s a clever trick, but it also limits how good your espresso can get.
Depressurizing simply means taking that valve out. You unscrew the plastic piece on the bottom of the basket, push out the valve, fit the metal screen back into its rubber gasket, and put it all back together. No drilling needed. Coffee YouTuber Lance Hedrick shows the whole thing in about a minute in his Stilosa video.
The catch is that a depressurized basket is much less forgiving. It needs fresh beans ground fine and evenly, which means an espresso-capable burr grinder. I use the Tuni G1, a 40mm conical burr grinder. With a blade grinder or regular pre-ground coffee, shots will gush through and taste sour and watery.
Paired with a good grinder, though, this is the hack that finally got me what I was missing with the AeroPress: espresso with real body, where good beans still shine. For a deeper dive on pressurized vs. regular baskets, James Hoffmann’s Espresso Machine Baskets Explained is a great primer.
Hack 2: The Zip Tie Steam Wand Fix
The steam wand comes with a metal frothing sleeve (often called a panarello) that pulls in extra air while you steam. It makes big, bubbly foam without much effort, but not the silky, creamy milk that makes a latte feel comforting.
So I took the sleeve off. Underneath is a small rubber tip that gives you much more control over the milk. The problem is that the tip is only pushed on, and without the sleeve holding it in place, steam pressure can blast it right off mid-steam. It happened to me more than once, and it’s every bit as annoying as it sounds.
The fix costs pennies. Wrap a zip tie around the rubber tip, right where it fits over the metal wand, pull it really tight, and trim the extra tail. Now it stays put, and my lattes come out silky instead of bubbly. Eric the Coffee Guy shows it in his Stilosa hacks video. When the tip needs a deep clean, just snip the zip tie and put on a fresh one afterward.
Care and Maintenance
The Stilosa is pretty low maintenance. My main routine is descaling it every two to three months with descaling tablets. De’Longhi recommends descaling about every 200 coffees, so with my two (or more) double shots a day, that timing works out about right. De’Longhi suggests its own descaler, but the tablets have worked fine for me.
To descale, dissolve a tablet in a full tank of water following the package directions, take the portafilter off, and set a large container under the group head and steam wand. Run the solution through in a few rounds, opening the steam wand now and then so it gets flushed too. Then rinse with two full tanks of fresh water. Don’t skip the rinse, because the manual warns that leftover descaler can make your coffee taste acidic.
Between descales, a few small habits keep it running smoothly:
- Purge the steam wand and wipe it down right after steaming, before the milk dries on it.
- Knock out the used coffee and rinse the basket and portafilter after each use.
- Empty the drip tray regularly.
- If the machine sits unused for a few days, like when you’re traveling, run some fresh water through it before your first shot. The manual recommends this after three or four days.
What I Liked and Disliked
What I liked:
- Real espresso, americanos, and lattes at home for a fraction of what most machines cost.
- Compact, simple, and quick to heat up.
- Easy, reversible hacks that make it a lot better.
- Two years of daily use, and it’s still my go-to coffee maker.
What I disliked:
- The plastic scoop-and-tamper combo feels flimsy. A proper 51mm tamper is a cheap upgrade.
- There isn’t much room under the spouts, so tall mugs won’t fit.
- It’s a single boiler, so pull your shots first and steam milk last. To brew again after steaming, run water through until the READY light goes off, or the shot will taste burnt.
- Coffee keeps dripping for a few seconds after you stop a shot, since there’s no valve to release the pressure. Stop a little early or slide your cup out.
My Overall Thoughts
If you’re coming from an AeroPress or pour-over and want real espresso drinks without spending a fortune, the Stilosa is a great place to start. It’s simple, compact, and surprisingly capable once you depressurize the basket and zip tie the steam wand.
Just budget for a good grinder, because the machine can only be as good as your grind. At the time of writing, the De’Longhi Stilosa is $149.95 on Amazon and the Tuni G1 is $79.99 on Tuni’s website, so the whole setup comes to about $230. When a café latte easily costs $5 or more, that pays for itself pretty quickly.
Some Amazon reviewers mention durability problems, so I can only speak for mine: two years in, it still makes my coffee every single day. Now if only it fit in my carry-on.
