DeLonghi Gran Dama 6600 Espresso Machine

Rated 5 out of 5

Posted By:
vicky johnson

Love this machine....Im a barista but my husband who isnt found this machine very easy to use. Its beautiful in many ways... Very hot, great foam with cappuccinos, like the feature of whole beans on one side and middle with decaf or flavored coffee pre ground in the middle per cup. Alot of features must read the instructions for more options, like steam milk only, etc...Looks great on my kitchen counter.

Rated 2 out of 5

Posted By:
Dave Feldman

The Grand Dama was boxed up and returned. My experience was not as horrible as some folks. Nothing broke, the foam was great, but the quality of the machine, and more importantly, the quality of the coffee was lacking. I replaced a Capresso J5 with this expecting newer technology, better coffee, etc. Head to head: Pro's: easier menus-usability Milk attachment is still better than Jura Foam is excellent Negatives: Expensive--not a $2500 system Weak coffee, even after multiple tweaks Poorly constructed--this wouldn't have lasted only 60 oz of water Programming is limited to 4 pre-sets for coffee size, whereas Jura spoiled me down to the ounce. This model appears to be being replaced by $2999 version which may be worthwhile if Delonghi addresses the concerns above. I liked the milk system which many have complained about. It's easy to clean (self-cleans) and worked fine. If you can buy this for $1200 on the used market, it may be worth it.

Rated 1 out of 5

Posted By:
T C

The worst cappucino maker ever. Yes you are paying a delicious price tag. I was too. In the 14 months that I have owned this machine, it has been in "delonghi service for non-functioning" 8 times and continues to break down again always for the same reason..... At this point I have put it on a side walk with a sign "FREE" on it for anyone to take. The only good thing is its milk frother. Other than that......... the grinder consistently gets stuck aside from the fact that when it occasionally doesn't get stuck (hooray!! good morning for me!!!), the "espresso" has such variable quality in taste and aroma without me changing any setting that no Italian would stick to this. Appalling and shame on delonghi. They may stay in business but I can guarantee you that it is not because of me buying and using any of their products ever again. Not even if they gave it to me for free.

Rated 5 out of 5

Posted By:
Eric Moore

Has owned for:
Less than 1 month
Ability Level:
Connoisseur

Expensive but worth the money

I spent several weeks looking at various automatic espresso machines before deciding to purchase the DeLonghi 6600. At $2500, it is one of the most expensive machines available which caused considerable concern among our family. After using it for several days, however, everyone was sold (even the kids). The espresso is some of the best I have tasted and the cappuccinos and lattes are also outstanding (equivalent to what I have tasted in Italy and France). The beauty of this machine is that it allows for infinite variations - coffee strength, volume output, bean grind, etc. It can be programmed to deliver just what you want and, since it's digital, it delivers the same thing over and over (no fumbling with a dial). After watching the DVD (it only worked on my computer, not my DVD player), I was somewhat concerned about the complexity of the machine. However, once you start using it, it's really very simple. Since I like my espresso strong, but my kids like their cappuccinos rather mild, a press of a button does the trick. It's also easy to clean. The machine is beautiful to look at and of solid construction. It does make strange noises which can be a surprise when the autostart mode comes on in the morning. Most importantly, however, it makes outstanding coffee drinks which rival the European coffee houses. It's worth the money.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

Less than 1 month

What's Best About this Product?

Outstanding coffee drink quality. Infinite variations on programming. Solid construction.

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

Play with it until you find just what you want.

My Experience With Using This Product:

Connoisseur

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Pete's French Roast

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

DVD did not work in my player (my player is somewhat old, however).

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

Saeco

Rated 5 out of 5

Posted By:
Elvis

Has owned for:
Less than 1 month
Ability Level:
Connoisseur

this machine is THE BEST !!!

this machine is THE BEST !!! we use it every day, several times a day and it works great and makes delicious coffee, expresso, cafe late etc. one cup at a time!

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

Less than 1 month

What's Best About this Product?

you can make one cup at a time and it just works all the time and the maintenance is very low

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

do what the machine tells you

My Experience With Using This Product:

Connoisseur

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

illy

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

I don't know

Rated 4 out of 5

Posted By:
Bill Stannard

Has owned for:
6 - 12 months
Ability Level:
Coffee Lover

Damalama

Considering it almost cleans the kitchen, this is a nice machine, but it does have some draw backs

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

6 - 12 months

What's Best About this Product?

Simple. almost any idiot can use it with a little instruction

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

on start up, put water in the frothing container and run through 2 cycles of frothing to get the temperature up. Then your first latte will have a good froth at about the right temperature

My Experience With Using This Product:

Coffee Lover

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Sweet Maria's Monkey Blend

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

Consistency of the heating elements. One coffee can be nice and hot, while another isn't. Glass or solid water container (the plastic one warps quickly, and then is difficult to slide back into place

Rated 3 out of 5

Posted By:
Bob Moore

Has owned for:
1 - 6 months
Ability Level:
Professional

Grande Expense, poor implementation.

I have a Gaggia Titanium that I purchased a year ago and was looking for an upgrade to put into my new home. I really liked the look of the Delonghi 6600 in the picture and based on the price it seemed like this would give me a better coffee and all the other drinks that my wife likes to create. Well, imagine my first impression when I opened box and set it on my counter next the to 1 year old Gaggia. I was dumbfounded. My dear Gaggia looked so much more finished, especially with it's stainless steel body. I had a pit in my stomach when I was immediately trying to rationalize why the 6600 was a $1000 more. Only one left to do and that was to try it out and hope I could taste the difference and that it would be easier to use. I spent probably 2 hours and 2 pounds of beans tweaking the grind, the dosage, the temperature and coffee volume. I found that the 7 grind settings we not really enough to match the control I was used too with the Gaggia that had 18 settings. While this may not be an issue for alot of you, I do make espresso as well as coffee. To get a proper espresso I found that having fine tune control of the grind setting was the single most important feature. Without that you will can easily under extract or over extract the espresso and that is not something I wish to compromise on. I found that I could a decent shot, but once you are used to something better you really can not down grade and feel like you made the best choice. Milk frothing on the Gran Dama 6600 was different. The Gaggia Titanium uses 2 separate devices so you can choose which one works best for you. They are very straight forward and are easily cleaned. The 6600 has this fancy milk frothing device that seems pretty cool in theory. The removable milk container allows you to take any left over milk and put it into the fridge so you can use it latter. My experience with that was less then favorable. The idea of left over milk sitting in a container for even a day made me want to smell it throughly before I would re-use it and I would taste the steamed milk to discover any possible spoilage before I would add my milk. Maybe I am paranoid, but it really took away from the experience. The milk would have a bit of a skin to it, the sides of the container would have a ring.... I like the idea, but the reality was a big "no thank you". After a couple of weeks I found myself going back to the Gaggia. It has almost all the features - sans milk container, but does a better job with them.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

1 - 6 months

My Experience With Using This Product:

Professional

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

Gaggia Titanium, Krups

Rated 5 out of 5

Posted By:
Denise O'Connor

Has owned for:
Less than 1 month
Ability Level:
Coffee Lover

I am in love with my DeLonghi Gran Dama 6600. It is so easy to use and clean.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

Less than 1 month

What's Best About this Product?

The milk and water container access in the front for easy filling and emptying. I love cappucinos and lattes and my husband loves coffee so we easily both get what we want.

My Experience With Using This Product:

Coffee Lover

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Lavazza

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

The milk and water container should be glass for this price, and I wish the amount of milk dispensed could be adjusted up or down per drink.

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

FrancisFrancis!

Rated 5 out of 5

Posted By:
alan freeman

Has owned for:
1 - 6 months
Ability Level:
Coffee Lover

Great Machine

I've been holding off on doing a review until I had a few months with it. The purpose of getting an all in one machine is that I got tired of my wife spending $5 a day at Starbucks even though I own stock in the company. There had to be a way to reduce our daily cost. Additionally, I wanted to be able to have an espresso in the morning before I left for work. We tried a manual machine and just found it too time consuming for first thing in the morning. I know there are probably a ton of people who think that I'm just being lazy, but as the person who makes the coffee and has to get out the door first, I really like to keep such time to a minimum. After doing a lot of research, I was down to two units, the Grand Dama and the Jura S9. As ease of use was absolutely key, the wife (then Fiancee) demanded something that took no more than 30 seconds for her to make an espresso, the ability to just 'plug in' the milk container wone me over. We are absolutely thrilled with our purchase and while the unit isn't perfect, it makes a darn good espresso and a latte that is far superior to that $5 cup my wife was gettign.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

1 - 6 months

What's Best About this Product?

Ease of making drinks, fit and finish, milk container that fits right into unit, self-cleaning, quality of taste. I did read a concern about the lower cost version with regard to not being able to froth the milk manually. While this is true, the unit does allow for steaming or frothing at the push of a button for as long as you let it go. I find the froth just fine.

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

This is going to sound redundant with a lot of other machines but the quality of the beans make all the difference. I'm still playing with beans and probably will never end!

My Experience With Using This Product:

Coffee Lover

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Tilly's, Lavazza

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

I wish the milk container was glass and had a tight seal. As it is, I can let milk stay in there a day, but I wish I could fill it and just ignore it until I had used all the milk up. Additionally, I wish it held more water, but I don't think that any machine would really be much better in that regard.

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

Francis, Capresso, Nespresso

Rated 4 out of 5

Posted By:
Huub Blom

Has owned for:
1 - 6 months
Ability Level:
Connoisseur

In use since dec. 2006, our european DL 6600 is known as `Prima Donna`. It makes excellent cappuccino´s, machinato´s and latte´s with a single touch of a button. Easy to operate, very easy to clean. The frothing part is easy to clean and operates perfectly. The grinder is the most silent one i´ve ever heard. Allthough I can´t say that the espresso quality is greatly improved compared with our 2 years old DL 3500, it is only slightly surpassed by 1 superautomatic: the AEG 6600 CG. But the DeLonghi 6600 is defintely much more fun to work with.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

1 - 6 months

What's Best About this Product?

The luxery feeling and beautyful looks of it.

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

Put the grinder at a really fine coarse. Use the best coffe you can find.

My Experience With Using This Product:

Connoisseur

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Geels, Ionia, Single orgins

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

Both water- and milkcontainer should be made of glass.

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

DL 3500 Magnifica pronto, Lately: AEG 6600 CG