The Saeco Caffe Charisma is the crème de la crème of the Saeco fully automatic family of machines.  It is packed with features making it the most advanced machine available on the market today, in a small and compact footprint.  It features programmable cups sizes, opti-dose, self cleaning cycle, rapid steam, by-pass doser, and a cup warming surface.  

Add water, whole beans, push the button, and you have true perfection.  Espresso and coffee with a thick, creamy golden crème layer, and a flavor that will make you feel like you are floating in the clouds.  The Caffe Charisma grinds the whole beans, doses, tamps and extracts espresso, than the used coffee is ejected into an internal dump box.  Fantastic espresso without the fuss and mess of the old style traditional models.

Simply press the coffee brew button and let the machine do the rest. Gone are the days of having to grind your own coffee, tamp it, brew it, and clean the mess after you are finished. Thanks to the hands free brewing system, all you have to do is press a button to get your coffee. It grinds, tamps, brews and cleans...in less than 30 seconds! No more messy cleanup.

Select the desired amount of espresso you wish to brew. Just press the single cup button to make a "short" espresso or the large cup button to make a cup of cafe creme coffee. The machine will automatically stop when the correct amount of espresso is brewed.

You can tell the machine how much coffee is to be brewed. You can use the two factory preset cup sizes or program the machine to make any cup size you want - (Not on lower Saeco models!) When you press the brew button, the machine will automatically brew the correct amount of coffee each time. You can program the machine to make the same cup volume every time with cup sizes up to 6 ounces with varying strengths.

Automatic espresso machines are obviously very popular for their many conveniences, however not only do they easily make espresso, but they also excel at making "crema coffee".

Brewing coffee under high pressure is one method that is considered to be ideal for making coffee, as compared to the traditional drip coffee method. The machine will begin by making a standard shot of espresso (1-1.5 ounces) topped with a layer of crema (the fine cream that is produced by forcing the fine aromas, oils, and other essential elements from the coffee grounds during brewing). However, instead of stopping at one shot, the machine will continue to "brew" coffee by running more water through the shot of espresso.

It will continue to thin the strength going from the original espresso (very strong) to a weaker cup of coffee ranging in size from 1.5 ounces up to 6 ounces. The longer it brews, the weaker the coffee will be. The original amount of coffee grounds does not change, only the amount of water that is forced through the espresso shot.

In most cases once one tries crema coffee, they usually don't go back to their drip coffee maker. The taste is very fresh, aromatic, and full of subtle flavors that are missed by most other brewing methods. This is why most European restaurants now only serve crema coffee to their customers. It's slowly catching on in the United States.

This special feature allows the user to by-pass the coffee grinder and dump pre-ground coffee into the machine. This is great if you wish to use a coffee that differs from the beans already in the machine. For example, if there is someone in the crowd who wants a decaffeinated espresso but there is only caffeinated espresso beans in the machine, simply pour pre-ground decaffeinated coffee into a special funnel and the machine will do the rest! After brewing the pre-ground coffee the machine will reset itself to use the beans in the machine. You can use any type of pre-ground coffee for this procedure.

This allows you to choose from 6 to 9 grams for each of the three coffee amount presets. This allows you to determine the strength of the coffee despite the size of the cup for any kind of coffee - from small to large cups. 

The boiler is powered by 1250 watts allowing for continuous use, for large numbers of servings, in short periods of time making the Caffe Charisma ideal for home, office, or small commercial settings.

Heating and frothing milk for lattes and cappuccino is easy thanks to the powerful steaming arm. Virtually unlimited steam capacity makes large steaming jobs a snap because unlike many conventional espresso machines, the Caffe Charisma continually replenishes spent steam.

As long as the machine is turned on hot water can be instantly dispensed from the steam nozzle. This is a nice feature for teas, hot chocolate, or other hot beverages that need hot water. Many users make a shot of espresso then add hot water from the steam nozzle to make a popular "Cafe Americano".

The on board pressure pump produces a maximum pressure of 15 bars.

It uses an advanced automatic brew system. As the heart of the automatic espresso machine it excepts freshly ground coffee from the built-in coffee grinder. It tamps the coffee perfectly, pre-soaks the grounds with a special "pre-infusion" step, brews the coffee, and then dumps the used coffee grounds into the internal dump box. Once the brewing cycle has been completed, it resets itself for the next cup of coffee.

A professional quality conical type burr grinder is built-in. When the brew button is pushed, the grinder automatically begins grinding the exact amount of coffee beans based on the amount of coffee the machine is going to brew.

"Conical" burr grinding mechanisms are heavy duty and are usually found on more expensive coffee grinders. It consists of a "cone" shaped grinding wheel that turns slowly to precisely grind the beans consistently without burning them (common on low cost burr grinders). The grinding wheel is made of tempered heavy duty steel to provide a long service life and to resist small pebbles that may be hiding in the coffee beans. Maintenance is easy. Little or no service will be needed.

The Caffe Charisma makes it easy to refill the water tank by allowing you to add water while it's still on the machine or by removing it and filling it at the water tap. The tank has an easy grip handle making removal easy. Clear tinted ABS plastic gives you an indication of the amount of water remaining.

The built-in coffee bean hopper holds over a 1/4 pound of coffee beans. The hopper has a lid to help keep the coffee beans fresh. 

The internal dump box catches all of the spent coffee grounds left over from the brewing process. Its large capacity will hold up to 15 spent coffee portions. It removes for disposal and easy cleaning.

Small 2 oz. espresso cups up to large coffee cups 3.5" in height can easily fit under the adjustable coffee dispensing nozzle. It moves up or down to accept many cup sizes and can be moved during the brewing process.

All the controls are located in one convenient place on the front of the machine. They are laid out to be easy to understand and use.

It has a number of indicator lights that tell you when it's at operating temperature for brewing and steaming, that it needs to be cleaned, out of water, out of coffee beans, and more.

The Caffe Charisma has a convenient cup stacking surface that displays your espresso cups beautifully.

An indicator located on the drip tray tells you when the drip tray is full and needs to be emptied.

The bottom of the machine is equipped with a swivel base that allows you to turn the machine for easy access to the sides and back. This makes cleaning and service easier.

The Caffe Charisma requires no special services to be added for operation such as plumbing for water or waste, or special electrical outlets.

This machine includes a cleaning brush for the coffee grinder, a brew group maintenance tool, and detailed instructions on how to get the most out of your machine.

• Colors: Black with central silver stripe
• Power: 1250 watts - 120 volts 
• Size: 10.5”W x 15”H x 15”D
• Weight: 18 pounds
• Body Material: Molded plastic 
• Warranty: 12 month parts/labor