Delonghi Dedica EC685.M Coffee Machine Review

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Delonghi Dedica

The Delonghi Dedica, an authentic Barista experience in your home

The Delonghi Dedica is a stylish bean to cup coffee machine for your home, offering fantastic features but allowing you to be fully involved in the process. You either love it or you hate it. Everyone wants a cup of coffee that tastes just like a professional barista has made it in their favourite coffee house. Some people want a coffee machine they can press a button and it works its magic for them. It grinds the coffee beans, tamps grounds, and produces their favourite cup.

Others prefer to be involved in the process, they want to be the home barista. They want to grind their coffee themselves, then tamp it to perfection. Lock the portafilter in place themselves and feel it. They also want to froth their own milk with a steam arm. This is me! I am this person! I love to be involved in the whole process. Then when the coffee doesn’t taste right I can tweak every detail and till it tastes great.

If you are also this person, this machine is the one for you!

Overview of the Delonghi Dedica

As I have mentioned above this machine is ideal for someone who wants the authentic barista experience at home. Another great feature that I love about the machine is its size. For what it does it is very compact. Thanks to the steam arm and no milk reservoir, the fact that it doesn’t need space to store beans or even grind them for that matter, it allows it to be compact. Delonghi has done a great job of making something that looks great and takes up very little space, this would be an ideal coffee machine for someone who lives in an apartment or has a smaller kitchen.

The home barista

Delonghi Dedica

Back to the manual process that I really enjoy. The Delonghi Dedica requires you to either buy pre-ground beans or grind your own. If you buy into the whole barista experience you will want your own grinder, check out our review of the best coffee bean grinders to see some of the options. The process of grinding your own beans in a grinder is enjoyable and creates a fantastic smell!

Once you have ground your beans you can fill one of the 3 included pressurised baskets that you have put in your portafilter. The Delonghi Dedica comes with a scoop to get just the right amount of ground coffee and the other end is a tamp. Gently tamp your coffee to get the perfect taste and lock the portafilter into position.

By this point with your apron on, you are getting the full barista feel. You can now choose from 3 different programmable temperatures and set which style of coffee you require. It is a very clever machine for something that has such simple controls. Holding down the buttons as explained in the manual allows you to set up customised settings for each coffee.

The final professional barista experience with the Delonghi Dedica comes from the steam arm. Once you have purged the steam arm into a separate cup you can begin to froth your milk. I would always recommend that you purge any steam arm first as the last thing you want is water in your milk. You can create a fantastic froth in your milk with this steam arm and it gets up to temperature very quickly thanks to the independent water and milk boilers used.

Steam arms

One thing that you always have to be careful with, when using a steam arm is it gets the coffee machine up to a very high temperature, one that isn’t safe to then make another cup with instantly. Most modern bean to cup coffee machines enters into a state where they cannot be used until they have cooled to an appropriate temperature to safeguard against this.

The Delonghi Dedica goes one step further and allows you to pass cold water through the steam arm from the water tank. This does several things firstly, it acts as a cup warmer if you do this process into the cup you are about to use, secondly it cleans the steam arm through and thirdly cools the steam arm down. The machine is then ready to operate again at a safe temperature.

Delonghi Dedica

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Positives and Negatives

The Delonghi Dedica is a great machine with many positives, some of which are listed below. There are some negatives too, albeit some of the things we would like or that are missing you probably wouldn’t expect at this price point.

Positives

  • Wait time, hardly any at all
  •  Brew time, from selection to in the cup is very fast
  • 3 different variable temperature options
  • Auto descale functionality
  • Stainless steel structure, which not only looks great but is easy to keep clean

Negatives

  • No cup warmer
  • Can only dispense one cup at a time
  • A little light, if you knock it on the worktop it’s not as sturdy as some of the competition

Gallery

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Conclusion

In conclusion, if you are looking for the home barista experience, something with a real authentic feeling then you can’t go wrong with the Delonghi Dedica. For its price point, it is very impressive. However, if you are after something that you pour beans into, it grinds them and produces your drink this perhaps isn’t the one for you.

Did you enjoy this review? Why not check out our review of the Delonghi Magnifica?

Ratings

Delonghi Dedica
  • Features
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleaning
  • Price
4.3

Summary

The Delonghi Dedica is a fantastic machine that gives a real authentic coffee shop experience. Allowing you to tamp, froth your own milk and make fantastic coffee.

About Chris Sharples 68 Articles
I love a good gadget! Whether it's something that makes my home smart, saves me time or just looks great. I blog about gadgets and technology in and around the home. Follow me on my journey to avoid the pitfalls and find the best.

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