CASABREWS CM5418 Espresso Machine, Espresso Coffee Maker with Steam Wand

I am not one to write reviews very often, and I am not a coffee snob obsessing over everything to do with the perfect espresso shot. I do have lots to say about this machine though. My previous Mr Coffee Cafe Barista machine died after many years and I wanted something that would allow me to steam my own milk instead of it being done for me. I also didn’t want to spend more than $150 either as my circumstances are not great right now… Anyway, after reading many reviews on similar machines, I settled on this beaut. I am more than happy with my purchase! The machine is small and takes up half the space my old machine did, which earns high spousal approval. The all stainless steel body looks good and durable and wipes down easily. It looks good on the countertop. It heats up fast for a thermoblock design, and while the water capacity in the tank isn’t the greatest, a full tank is enough to pull two espresso shots, steam two jugs of milk, plus allows for preheating the group head and portafilter and flushing everything afterwards. The machine pulls a pretty decent shot with pre-ground espresso and leaves a hard puck after extraction, something I always had issues with on my old machine which would always leave a soupy mess. I do weigh my dose (13 grams), use a WDT needle tool, distributor, tamper and puck screen. While I do not have control over everything, you can set the volume of water dispensed for each of the buttons on the panel. The single shot button is set at 30 milliliters. I can’t get a full 15 grams into the portafilter for a true 1:2 ratio but it’s close enough. The milk frother is fast and steams the milk in about a minute and actually produces some good results. The wand seems durable and the rubber grip is well placed so you don’t scald your fingers. This does a great job for frothy cappuccinos or silky lattes. The pump is not loud either which is good for a machine at this price point. Please follow the instructions to prep the machine when you first set it up. Run a few shots through the machine before you start using it to remove any trace particles in the water lines and pump. And plastic smell from the water tank will be removed by doing this. For a basic espresso machine, this is a good buy. It seems to be well made, and it suits my present financial circumstances. Sure, I wouldn’t mind a more mainstream brand and probably a better quality machine, but for the money, don’t hesitate in buying this machine. I got mine for $129 in early 2025 and I’ve seen this at $99 before over the holidays. It’s a simply delightful espresso machine that I’m glad to have.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into the espresso game, so I wanted an economically priced machine to start. I’ve had this machine for about a month now, and have zero complaints. It’s simple to use and pulls a great shot of espresso. It’s compact and doesn’t take up a ton of counter space. The frother isn’t amazing, but it gets the job done.

This a fantastic little machine that delivers exceptional coffee in under two minutes. Heats up quickly. Easy to use. Easy to clean. Delicious crema. And it looks beautiful on my countertop :)

This little machine does a pretty good job at making your cup of espresso. It does extract a lot of flavor out of your coffee. The milk steamer does work really good and makes a great hot froth for you espresso. The size is great as well since it has such a small footprint. The style is wonderful looking and makes it look like an expensive machine. It does have some issues as far as how much you will get out of an extraction. But I am comparing it to a friend's that is much more expensive. Another issue is once you use the steamer the machine get to hot. You will then need to either wait until it cools off to make another shot of espresso, or run the steamer to release the heat. One other thing, the grounds are not pressed into a hard puck after an extraction. They will be a little loose and still wet. Be careful when you empty the grounds since they are wet. It can splash a lot trying to empty them. The plastic press it comes with is very weak. You need the metal one with some weight. The machine is decent and will save you a lot in the long run compared to buying it from a shop every day.

I'm a trained barista who owns a cafe. We have a La Marzocco Linea and Mahlkonig grinders. This Casabrew unit is pretty amazing for the price. It makes great espresso, and the steamer, while not powerful like the one at the cafe, works fine (it just takes way longer to steam). I've used other 'at-home' units like Breville (also nice but 3x more $), and this machine performs right there with them. I even like it better in many ways. The look is simple and classic unlike a lot of the weird-shaped bodies and gizmos many home units tend to have (think - your parents robo-wine opener vs a simple, classic wine key). The pressure gauge isn't just for looks; it works great when pulling shots (nice to make sure you don't over-under tamp your grind, or over-fill the portafilter). Basically, all these little home machines are quirky and kinda wimpy tbh. They can't compete with the $10k+ machines. At least not on efficiency and power. You have to learn these quirks, and how each one works to get the most out of it. Otherwise your espresso will taste cold, bitter or watery, and your steamed milk won't have microfoam. Look, this thing is a pony, not a stallion, but it can still deliver. I use it daily, and takes me a few minutes end to end. If you get one, also invest in a small AND medium stainless steam pitcher. They come in handy for cortados vs cappuccinos vs lattes. Also get a scale. I use a Hario V60. When you weigh your coffee, it comes out better. I also use my electric pour over kettle to heat my cups so the espresso stays hotter. If you take too long, your espresso drink will be warm at best. Know what? Just nuke it until you get better/faster. No one will know but your pet rolling it's eyes at you. ;D Making espresso: - hit power on the machine to preheat it. - Grind your coffee for espresso ONLY. A good grinder isn't cheap, but they last and really deliver. I use a Mahkonig. - Put dry/clean portafilter on scale and zero it out. Add 10-12oz espresso to basket. Pick it up, tap side gently til grind are flat-ish, then use the chintzy plastic 'tamper' to GENTLY tamp the espresso (don't push too hard or your coffee will be bitter when it takes longer to pull through filter!) - Heat your cup with hot water (ideally), empty water once it's hot to touch, then hit double pull button on the machine (not single) Note: Most espresso bar drinks are double shots. Using the double pull button on this machine allows you the option to cut a pull short, or do a full pull. I cut it a bit short when pulling into classic short espresso glass. The shorter the pull, the better the quality of espresso and crema. Otherwise, I let it finish out for drinks with dairy. Cap/Latte: This is a bit different. Get your coffee and cup ready. - Follow the steps above. You should have a loaded portafilter in the unit, ready to pull coffee. Just don't pull it yet. - also pre-heat your cup with hot water (if you want a nice hot drink) Now get all your dairy stuff squared away. - Put everything out on the counter so you're not frantically hunting it down while brewing. - Fill stainless pitcher 'almost' 1/2 way up with dairy (whole milk steams best because of the fat) - Hit the far right button to turn on the steamer. The pump starts building pressure. - Take a random mug and put under steamer. Then turn the knob all the way up and 'clear' the wand. - Once you see steam and not water, you're in business to steam your dairy — not until. Steam your dairy. - And don't move it all over the place when you do. It's just a few subtle movements, that's it. - In the pitcher, rest the wand head slightly below the surface to add some air to the dairy. - After some seconds, drop it down 2/3 depth along side of pitcher so it swirls and evenly mixes into silky microfoam. This unit is slow, so give it ample time to do it's thing. - Temp-wise, you know when it's done if it's too hot to keep your hand on the side of the pitcher. - Once steamed, QUICKLY set milk aside, putting something on top of pitcher to keep the dairy hot (dish?). - Then use hot water to wet part of a rag (aka a barista cloth) and wipe down the wand before the proteins can harden on it. Also blast steam out of the wand to clear it using the knob. All this should only take you 5-10 seconds tops to clean/reset wand. Pull your coffee. - Dump the hot water out of your cup and place it under the portafilter. - pull a double shot. Let it finish. - Grab the hot dairy with your other hand and pour it over the espresso (making the best damn latte art of your life of course!) Enjoy! Then clean up your mess. Or... TIP: I pull into a double-walled stainless tumbler. A smallish one. It heats way better, and has a lid so I can pop it on, clean up my mess, reset the machine, THEN go enjoy my still-hot drink. Beware: If the gauge is in the black, you probably over-stuffed or over-tamped your basket. It will taste bitter and undrinkable. If you don't tamp at all, it will be watery and weak with no crema. If you use old-ass coffee that's ground for drip, you will not be enjoying good espresso my friend. Just use your head. In the end, it takes time to get your routine down. Making good espresso drinks isn't hard. But it does take practice to get right. Most people can't be bothered. They will blame the machines, the beans, their spouses, anything but themselves. Coffee drinks want to be made right or they'll suck. Put in the effort, and you'll be a happy camper once you have it down. You might even impress someone! At minimum, your drinks will taste as good or better than many coffee bars out there. Not ours of course! It's nice to grab a great coffee drink from a local cafe we trust. But it has to be great for the price. When it is, we're getting so much more than just coffee; the whole ritual gives us a sense of reward, place, and being. It's what communities are all about. But it's also nice to make our own at home and save some money in the process. With coffee, I think people who love it can do both — have their cake and eat it too. Hope this helps anyone adventurous enough to actually read this long review!

Updated 2/25/25 - after being contacted in January by Casabrews and keeping the machine rather than returning it… it now leaks water all over the counter out of the bottom of the water container when I’m adding water and when I’m making espresso. I’ve taken it apart and put it back together - didn’t help. Video attached. Turns out the Bambino is worth the price. I do not recommend this machine - it is NOT made to last. Alright… longest story short - I’m directly comparing this machine to what seems to be the highly coveted Breville Bambino Plus that costs 3.6% more than this machine. For the overall response without reading any further - get this one over the more expensive option! For the longer version keep reading. I need a new machine to replace my very old espresso machine that isn’t working properly anymore. I didn’t want to go too crazy with spending if I didn’t have to. So many people seem to LOVE the Bambino Plus. I bought one three days ago. I returned it two days ago. It made espresso, but not well, and the auto milk frothing, two out of three times, did not stop and boiled fairly hot milk over the pitcher and everywhere. Not a good feature. Not worth the extra $200 they add for that feature over the regular Bambino. The regular Bambino is still slightly more than 2x the price of this machine. This morning out of frustration I opened Amazon and looked for the highest rated/reviewed machine that I could get TODAY before 3pm. Helped narrow it down out of thousands of machines quickly. So here we are. Why 3 stars? Here are the pros and cons for me (and mind you I’ve made ONE drink - the video that is attached). Pros: It’s cute / kinda retro looking with the guage. Which due to filming and watching the coffee flow I realize I didn’t even look at it so I don’t know if it is helpful or not yet. It’s very compact and is smaller than most drip coffee machines. It should cause zero space issues for anyone. It seems fairly sturdy despite the price. It didn’t rattle my cup around etc. Yes I had to hold onto it for the portafilter - but not in an agressive way. The Bambino felt like I had to hold onto it more so. The box and the directions it comes with - they really do cover a lot of information for people who are new to espresso making - which I think is a nice added touch. Cons: The steam wand, turned all the way up, does a terrible job at frothing. If you want hot milk that doesn’t get any real texture - that was my experience. Again - first use - but I steam milk everyday and this steam wand was a let down. The portafilter, the baskets, the "tamper"…. All three need to be replaced immediately. The portafilter is very lightweight and the baskets have to be turned and placed inside with little slots. They feel very low quality overall. The tamper is the flat side of a plastic spoon. I didn’t open the bag with the spoon or the single basket - I didn’t bother trying to use it. I used one I already have. No milk pitcher included. Casabrews does sell upgraded portafilters and baskets and a tamper. I don’t know if I am going to keep this machine (I make milk drinks all day and that steam wand is rough for me) - but if I do - I will spend the extra for the better accessories (bottomless portafilter - non pressurized basket etc). For a budget machine though - overall I’d say this machines reviews are pretty accurate. I did follow all the instructions - and I’m going to go make another coffee now. Update: 1/7/25 - I will still leave my rating at 3 stars because of everything I said a couple of days ago. After a couple of days with this machine and many espresso drinks made - I wanted to add a couple things. First - it really does not froth milk. I’ve tried three different kinds and it just gets it really hot with zero texture and zero froth. Massive letdown for me since I like milk drinks. I also meant to mention in the first review, the steam wand is not the insulated kind - so it gets VERY hot. Just something to be careful with if you aren’t aware that not all steam wands are made the same. I tested the machine with coffee ground for espresso machines and it did not like it. With the pressurized basket it comes with, the machine does better with a more coarse grind (similar to a drip coffee/sea salt texture grind). That would be a plus if you want to use pre ground coffee from the grocery store. The instructions for the machine also say that you cannot use the steam wand and then make another espresso shot right after. If you try to do that the machine goes into heat protection mode. It locks the machine and there is a sequence you run that ends up using a lot of water in your reservoir to cool the machine back down. If you wanted to make a milk drink for someone and make another drink right after for someone else, you can’t. Or you can’t without either waiting an unknown amount of cool down time OR running the routine to cool the machine first. HOPEFULLY this review helps in someone’s decision making. If you ONLY drink espresso shots - this machine is probably tidally worth it! If you like milk drinks…. Maybe try it out and see if you have better luck than me. Today I had to use my old espresso machine’s steam wand to go with my espresso shot from this new machine.

I love my espresso machine! I was a barista for a few years out of HS and always enjoyed making drinks. I don't have a lot of counter space to house a large machine, nor do I need something crazy fancy. I just wanted a machine that is reliable, consistent, sturdy and makes a great shot. This checked all my boxes based on reviews when I originally purchased it. I've had it for almost a year now and have had zero issues. It runs great (is a bit noisy but that's expected.) I did purchase a cone burr grinder separately that has an attachment for a direct grind into the portafilter, which has been a great addition to the machine. The only thing I wish this machine had was a rinse button to quickly clean between shot pulls. Instead I empty the portafilter, rinse in my sink, attach it and run a 1 cup shot then rinse again and wipe dry. Otherwise, this a great machine. I'd recommend it and is great for people who have no experience as a barista. Very user friendly and non complex like other machine can be.

I should have written this review a long time ago as I bought this machine over two and a half years ago. It gets to operating temperature very quickly and makes very good espresso with nice crema. The frother is also ready to steam very quickly. The compact size is a plus. It's an excellent machine at an extraordinary value. A speaking of extraordinary, what prompted this overdue review are recent interactions I had with Casasbrews customer service over some technical questions I had. Despite being well past warranty period, they were extremely responsive and helpful. For a basic espresso maker this one is hard to beat - highly recommended.

J'ai longtemps hésité à commander cette machine à espresso, cherchant à avoir un bon café de qualité sans trop y mettre d'argent. J'ai finalement passée ma commande et reçu la machine le lendemain. Je pensais sérieusement que j'allais devoir faire des essais-erreurs avant de réussir à avoir un bon espresso. J'ai préchauffé la machine comme recommandé par la marque, en faisant couler un 2 tasses, sans y mettre d'espresso, avant de faire une vraie tasse. Hé bien, mon tout premier espresso était vraiment excellent. J'ai choisi un sac de café Lavazza "crema e gusto" moulu finement que j'ai trouvé au supermarché, j'ai mis 11-13g dans mon portafilter, et dès ma première gorgée j'ai été grandement surprise. Aucun arrière-goût, aucune amertume. Un café très doux, mais fort en même temps. Points importants à noter: - Le mousseur à lait prend parfois un peu de temps à être bien chaud et je n'ai pas réussi à faire mousser mon lait au complet, mais ce n'était pas ma priorité. - Le mousseur est aussi très bruyant, au point de faire siler mes oreilles. - J'utilise l'eau chaude du mousseur à lait (sans mettre l'option steam) pour allonger mon espresso, mais parfois l'eau n'est pas aussi chaude que j'aimerais qu'elle le soit. Je suis très contente de mon achat, et après une semaine à me faire des café régulièrement je n'ai aucun problème majeur avec la machine. Je recommanderais clairement cette machine pour ceux qui souhaitent se faire des espressos, ou allongés de qualité, sans trop dépenser (surtout considérant que certaines machines à pods sont encore plus chères que celle-ci). Évidemment il est possible de "modder" la machine en changeant le portafilter, mais honnêtement, étant quelqu'un qui prend de 2-5 cafés par jour, je ne vois pas l'intérêt pour le moment puisque le café est très bon! Je recommande!!

Estoy muy satisfecho con este producto. La calidad y como se ve es muy buena!

Great coffee machine. It’s slim and take a little space on my countertop. This already second one, first had an issue with programming after two years of hard working in our family (three adult coffee addicted person - it’s definitely hard life for appliances). The taste of coffee rich and froster for milk works perfectly. I do recommend this brand and their products. Other word what to say about customer service - friendly and fast answering all of the time with wise suggestions.

Muy buena con accesorios mas adecuados hace maravillas

I have a bit of a love dislike relationship with this machine. I have been using it for just over a week now for my daily lattes so I am still getting a feel for it. We purchased this one after my old Breville began to seem like it was about to go. We have had the same machine for about 10-11 years and it just started going after we were travelling back and forth with it to our cottage. They don’t make the model we have anymore so after some research my husband thought it was worth trying the casabrews. I am a hard core espresso connoisseur by any means. I don’t weigh my beans or shot, etc. but I do have a bit of a picky taste and don’t like just any espresso. Here is what I like about the unit It looks nice and sleek. Because it is such a sleek model it doesn’t take up a lot of space on the counter and is easy to move. The pressure gauge on the front is something I haven’t had before and I like seeing that my grind is in the right range. It makes a good crema on top of the espresso The machine automatically stops when the 1 or 2 cups of espresso have brewed. This took a little getting used to as I haven’t had that before. So sometimes it feels a little too much water is in. But you can always just stop the pour if you prefer it a little stronger. I have only frothed milk once as it is summer and I prefer iced. But it worked well and it quickly heated the milk. Much faster than my old machine. Seemed to make a good foam. Here is what I don’t love. Because the machine is so lightweight you have to hold the machine while trying to lock in the espresso holder. It’s not a big deal but I often have a baby of child in my arms while making coffee so it’s a bit of a pain. Not a dealbreaker just worth noting. After you use the frothing arm you have to run hot water for about 8 seconds so the machine doesn’t overheat. All of this is detailed in instructions. If you don’t the lights on the 1 and 2 cup buttons just flash on and off and you can’t brew. It will also just flash like that and not brew if the overflow on the bottom of the machine is full and needs to be emptied. I had this happened and I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get the machine to brew. It was so frustrating and I was ready to pack the machine up and send it back. My old Breville didn’t have any of that automation so it takes getting used to. Now that I am getting the feel of things I am pretty happy with it. The real test is how long it will last.