Photography: Pete Cottell
The milk frother also exceeded expectations. The unit has only one boiler, which means you can’t froth milk while making a drink, but the ability to do all this in your kitchen makes up for the extra minute it takes for the steam wand to heat up when you turn the dial on the right side of the machine from “Off” to “Ready to Steam.” Once the white light on the dial stops flashing, you are ready to start steaming the milk.
There’s a six-second delay between turning the knob to the steam setting and starting the actual steam, and it took an average of 55 seconds to raise 6 ounces of whole milk from 45 to 145 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight frothing action. . My latte art skills are rusty since I left the coffee world behind in 2022, but the texture of the foamed milk was perfectly malleable and up to par with a basic leaf or rosette pattern.
no nonsense
A deeper dive into Casabrews’ settings menu reveals very few adjustable parameters other than the aforementioned grind time for each brew type, as well as the hot water outlet temperature, which uses a vague three-point “Hotter” and “Colder.” scale. A flush function quickly pumps out any liquid left stored in the group head and steam wand, and a monthly descaling cycle is recommended to keep the unit dirt-free.
I never considered myself a consummate professional in the bustling Pacific Northwest coffee industry, but I knew enough about the craft to make a simple, quality product with as little nonsense as possible. The Casabrews 5700PRO aligns perfectly with my allergy to silliness, but it’s hard to ignore the preponderance of amenities offered by comparable machines from better-known brands within this price range.
Ninja, for example, recently entered the space with the $500 prize. ES601 unit. It includes handy storage holes for your accessories, as well as all kinds of visual support for people who don’t know anything about the science behind extraction, but love when their appliances sing a little song when what they’re doing is done.
I’d rather spend a few weeks learning the ins and outs of a well-made machine that does what it’s supposed to do and little else. Maybe someday I’ll decide that I need (Tim Allen voice) more power in my espresso machine, but until then I’ll enjoy sipping shots in my kitchen, with or without pants, thanks to the Casabrews 5700PRO.