Word: x7
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...with those consumers in mind that illycaffè, the innovative Italian maker of espresso machines (and the top European exporter of coffee to North America), recently made an audacious claim: Its new Francis Francis X7 would consistently create a "perfect shot of espresso." You can get a machine now for $395 at illyusa.com the X7 will be rolled out to national retailers shortly. I tried the machine for a week and have to concur; it did, indeed, produce perfect shots. Simply, cleanly and with no fuss--complete with a thick layer of crema atop the espresso...
...does the X7 make foolproof crema? "Pressure--this is the old story," says Andrea Illy, 43, a grandson of the company's founder. After years of research, "we ended up discovering we had to change the way espresso was prepared." Thus was born illy's iperEspresso brewing system. The X7 brews shots from capsules you purchase--prepacked plastic thimbles that hold about 7 g of espresso. Though the system sounds similar to what a competitor, Nespresso, has been selling for years, illy says the X7 has a unique, two-stage process: hot water is injected into a chamber and infuses...
...noticed one odd side effect, however: though quieter than the Silvia, the X7 makes a small, pneumatic hiss during brewing that consistently sent Sticky into heavy-panting, tongue-lolling shock. One morning the noise made the dog jump into the shower with my daughter--and Sticky hates water. Illy says he has never heard of such a thing but notes that even perfection can be perfected. "There is never an end to possible improvements," he says. "It's an endless process." Perhaps. But I still love to fiddle, so I'm sticking with Miss Silvia. You can pry her from...
BABE MAGNET Next time you head to the beach, you might tote along this cool-looking boom box. The $200 ZS-X7 from Sony is not only splash resistant, it also comes with a handy shoulder strap and a sturdy stand to keep it from tipping over in the sand. Antiskip technology is built into the CD player, a car and a boat adapter are included, and an all-black model is also available. With any luck, and with the volume up, it will get enough curious stares to help you break the ice with at least one hot beach...
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