I began my quest for a perfect shot of home brewed espresso after a visit to Europe. In every cafe throughout Paris and London,coffee was served "crema style," which is a pressure brewed cup of very dark roast (a shot of espresso made larger and less powerful with the addition of extra water.) The intensity, aroma, and richness of this brew can't be beat and no restaurant that I've ever visited in the U.S. makes a cup that compares.

At home I had one of the little espresso makers that retails for $79 that are quite common at Wal Mart and Kmart.
I could never get espresso to brew with any crema on top whatsoever. (Crema is the rich creamy top of a shot of espresso that contains most of the essence of the roast. It looks a little like tan whipped cream.) Furthermore, milk would never froth.

I assumed all at home espresso centers performed similarly. I was dead wrong. If i loved my Barista Athena any more, I would be sleeping with it.

I purchased my Barista Athena at a local Starbucks for $600. The Barista Athena differs from the standard Barista in that the Athena pre dispenses measured one or two shot espresso servings. With the standard Barista, you control when the water stops flowing through the grounds to produce the desired amount of espresso.

The Athena comes with a one year warranty, the unit itself, a drip tray, a Rapporto Filter, a filter insert so pre measured coffee pods can be used in place of ground coffee, and an insturctional video. I found the video to be most helpful and required viewing for anyone new to the machine.

On the front left of the machine is an on/off switch, a steam switch, a button for one shot of espresso, and a button for two shots of espresso. On the right side of the machine is a knob which turns the steam on and off. At the rear of the machine is a removable plastic water holder which slides out sideways.

This is how it works in a nut shell. After adding water, you flip the unit on,then prime the unit. To prime, you leave the steam switch in the off position. Place a cup under the steam nozzle and turn the side knob used for turning the steam on to the on position. Let a half cup of water flow through the steam wand. Turn the steam knob off. Next, place the same cup under the area where the espresso is dispensed. Press the two shot button and let water flow through in the same manner.

Now you are ready to froth milk. Flip the steam button to the on position. A light on the top right of the machine will illuminate when the unit is ready to steam milk. Fill an ice cold stainless steel frothing pitcher half full of ice cold milk. (Starbucks recommends low fat to produce the most froth, but I've found any milk works fine with a machine this powerful and I like the richness of whole milk. Wish my waistline felt the same.) Place the nozzle of the steam wand just under the surface of the milk. Turn on the steam knob. Now is where you are gonna need to practice to get the results you like. Position the wand so as to create a swirling "cyclone effect" in the milk. If you are doing this correctly, the milk will begin to raise in the pitcher. Keep raising the wand so the tip of the wand is just below the surface of the milk. In no time, you should have half a pitcher of foam. Turn the steam nozzle to the off position before removing the wand from the milk OR YOU WILL BE SCALDED WITH SPLATTERING MILK. (Remember this unit is very powerful.) Flip the steam switch on the front of the unit to the off position. Wipe the milk from the steam nozzle.

Now it's brew time. This is where the difference between this unit and the $79 discount store special is readily apparent. Because the Athena is PUMP DRIVEN (water is pushed through the grounds at a high pressure) a thick head of crema is produced. The pump is not a standard feature on low end models. Prime the unit exactly as you did before. Wait for the ready light to illuminate. Place ground espresso in the raporto filter and tamp lightly - or place a pre-measured pod in the rapporto filter with the adapter for pods in place. Secure the filter to the top of the machine. When the ready light illuminates, press the one or two shot button with a cup under the brew head. (Two cups may be used if you are making two shots.)

Espresso will flow through into the cup with a thick, rich topping of crema. This is where I add a teaspoon of flavored syrup (almond and caramel by Fontana are delicious and they also make sugar free. You can't tell the difference.) Top the espresso with about a half cup of milk. Spoon over the whole thing the froth from the pitcher. Sprinkle with ground chocolate, cinnamon, or brown sugar and get ready for a ride to heaven along the coffee highway.

As you can see, this is a great deal of work for a cup of joe and if you don't love coffee as much as I do, you probably won't want to take the time. Priming is what constitutes so much of the prep work - but the end result is worth it. (I have a high end Capresso C1000 that does everything for you but doesn't even come close to making espresso this good at twice the price of the Athena.) Another drawback is that the water container is made of a flimsy plastic and is difficult to get out of the back of the machine for water refilling. (The original Barista has a much easier built in container filled by flipping the top up at the back of the unit. Yes, I had one of those also.)
If you are into colors, the Athena only comes in black while the original Barista comes in every color imaginable. Finally, for a machine this expensive the tamper, frothing pitcher, milk thermometer to measure the temp of the frothing milk, and shot glasses should be included. They aren't Problems with the product require a call to a toll free number. You are pretty much in their hands from there. They won't allow you to return the machine if they can fix it or if they determine that what you call a problem isn't actually a problem at all, you're stuck with the unit.

Positives are that Starbucks makes fantastically durable products. The cord on the Athena is heavy duty. The Rapporto filter is very heavy and looks like it is of a commercial quality. The pre measured coffee pods available at Starbucks or Williams Sonoma (Illy brand) are very convenient.

I love this product and would definitely recommend it to any coffee afficionado.

Recommended: Yes