Generally, when new products in a range are announced, it is because they receive an additional function. The Specialista Arte coffee machine, the new little sister of the Specialista, has had its arm amputated.
We are now familiar with the Delonghi Specialista semi-automatic coffee machine with grinder. This relatively atypical model seduced us not only because of its manufacturing quality, but also thanks to the manufacturer’s proposal to involve the user in the preparation of his coffee via the multiple settings to be taken into account before running the coffee. ideal espresso. However, with that freedom came a tamping arm dubbed Smart Tamping, promising to make this step as easy as possible. Indeed, it is not always easy to compact the coffee powder evenly in the filter and baristas get the hang of it after long years of practice and, it happens, some tendonitis.
The Specialista Arte is the latest model in the Specialista range and Delonghi has chosen to return to childhood the art of coffee preparation with a device stripped of the famous Smart Tamping arm. This is replaced by a barista kit which includes the tamper, therefore (this pestle which is used to pack the coffee), and an accessory so that the filter does not move during the operation. It should be noted that a cup booster is also provided for the espresso cups – the other Baristas machines have a retractable grid which fulfills the same function.
Apart from this notable difference, the rest of the machine is very similar and we find, for example, the pressure of 15 bars to make an espresso worthy of the name, as well as the steel grinder which can be adjusted to eight levels of grinding fineness. The control panel should come as no surprise to those familiar with the Specialista series. The wheel on the far left allows you to determine the quantity of coffee that will be ground, while the right one is used to select one of the three recipes offered: espresso, americano, hot water. You can adjust the temperature of the drink and the number of cups delivered (one or two) thanks to the buttons placed on either side of the main switch, under the famous control gauge. Finally, a last button on the right of the control panel replaces the knob of the first Specialista of the name to deliver the steam. It should be noted that this is used to heat and froth the milk in the carafe provided. You can therefore make cappuccinos or latte macchiattos, but also try your hand at latte art.
According to the data sheet, the water tank of the Specialista Arte reaches 2.5 l, but it does not give any information about the capacity of the bean container. Indeed, the manual recommends filling the latter with the quantity of beans for a coffee in order to always have fresh coffee. We can therefore assume that the latter is devoid of a seal, like the one found on the Philips, in particular.
At the time of writing, the Specialista Arte is available at select merchants for €549.