De'Longhi espresso machine, La Specialista Touch

For home coffee drinkers who want to get involved in making espresso but would appreciate guidance along the way, the De'Longhi La Specialista Touch combines a grinder, brewing controls and milk frothing in one machine. Its touchscreen offers guided adjustments, while the semi-automatic approach leaves room to work with different beans and customise drinks. It also offers automatic or manual milk frothing, so there’s a choice between letting the machine handle the texture and practising it yourself. The trade-off is that this is not a fully hands-off coffee maker: grinding and brewing are part of a more involved routine.

Key specifications

A built-in conical burr grinder has 15 grind settings and prepares a dose for single or double espresso and cold brew drinks. Bean Adapt provides interactive guidance for grind, dose level, pre-infusion and brewing temperature, with tips and feedback to help you adjust for different beans and roasts. There are 10 preset recipes, including espresso, americano, long black, cold brew, cappuccino, latte, latte macchiato, flat white, hot milk and hot water, each can be customised.

For milk drinks, the automatic steam wand offers five froth levels and four temperature settings, with choices based on the selected drink and milk preference. A manual mode is also available for hands-on frothing and latte art. Cold Extraction Technology is designed to make cold brew and espresso cool in minutes, the listing specifies cold brew in under five minutes. Based on the listed details, the appeal is the combination of guided controls and customisation, rather than a simple push-button routine with no adjustments.

Who it’s for

It may suit you if you want to learn more about espresso extraction without starting from a completely manual setup. For example, you could switch beans, use the touchscreen’s suggested adjustments, then refine the drink to your taste. The preset recipes also give you a starting point for familiar drinks before you experiment. It may not be the best fit if you want a machine that does every step for you with minimal involvement, or if you prefer a simpler appliance with fewer settings to manage.

What's included

The listed kit includes a portafilter, two single-wall filter baskets, a dosing and tamping guide, a tamping mat, a stainless steel milk jug and a precision tamper. The tamper is intended to provide feedback while preparing a dose of up to 20 g. That’s useful for someone who wants the accessories to practise espresso preparation at home, it also means the setup is geared towards active use rather than brewing without handling a portafilter.

Before you decide

Can you make milk drinks without frothing manually? Yes. The automatic steam wand has selectable froth and temperature settings, while manual frothing is an additional option.

Does it include cold brew? Cold brew is one of the 10 preset recipes, and the listing says the machine can prepare it in under five minutes.

Can you adjust the preset drinks? Yes. The 10 recipes are customisable, so they’re starting points rather than fixed outputs.

Final verdict

Choose the La Specialista Touch if you want a grinder-equipped espresso machine that guides the process but still lets you adjust recipes, extraction settings and milk texture. Its range of presets and included tamping tools make the learning process more structured than a bare-bones manual setup. Skip it if your priority is the fewest possible steps: the semi-automatic format is built around hands-on preparation, and its many settings are only useful if you’re willing to engage with them.