DeLonghi La Specialista Touch EC9455

At De’Longhi the machine is called La Specialista Touch EC9455.M EX:2, colour silver, with the subtitle “One Touch, 10 drinks”. In the German shop category La Specialista Touch, this one machine is the only entry. The whole La Specialista range there comprises ten items in five models, some in several colours: Arte, Arte Evo, Opera, Maestro and Touch.

Our price box gives approx. €549.97 on Amazon.de. The Amazon catalogue listed €549.00 on 7 September 2026. In the De’Longhi shop it also cost €549.00 on 25 September 2026, as a promotion 22 per cent below the original price of €699.90; as the lowest price of the last 30 days, the shop showed €599.00. The product page gives no release date, but in its embedded data 1 June 2025 is stored as the start of availability.

The Touch is built for espresso and milk drinks from freshly ground beans, and for cold brew. The grinder sits inside the housing. In our portafilter machine comparison it is one of two machines in the La Specialista range, alongside the cheaper Arte. In our assessment, of the two it is also the one with the most settings you have to understand before the first espresso succeeds.

Layout: hopper at the top left, display in the middle

In the product photo the bean hopper sits at the top left of the silver housing. Below it is a recess which, judging by its position, is the grinding outlet you press the portafilter against. In the middle, above the brew group, sits the colour display, and the steam wand sticks out on the right. At the bottom the drip tray with its grid finishes the machine.

The display is a 3.5-inch TFT with touch controls. Inside the housing works a thermoblock; the manual gives the machine’s power as 1,450 W at 220 to 240 V and names 15 bar (1.5 MPa) as the pressure. The water tank holds 1.8 l, is removable and has a water level indicator. The bean hopper holds 180 g.

The sources contradict each other on dimensions. The manual gives 323 × 460 × 400 mm (length, depth, height), the product page 319 × 367 × 400 mm without saying which axis is which, and the Amazon catalogue approx. 31.9 × 36.7 × 40 cm. Width and height are close together, but on depth there is a gap of well over 9 cm. Whether the manual’s 46 cm includes the inserted portafilter cannot be read from the documents. We would plan with 46 cm of depth. The weight is 10.5 kg according to the manual, 10.4 according to the product page and around 10.8 kg according to Amazon.

Because the machine gives off heat to its surroundings, De’Longhi requires at least 3 cm of clearance to the side and rear walls and at least 15 cm above the machine. Under a wall cupboard, that means at least 55 cm of clear height.

According to the product page, cups up to 120 mm high fit under the spout. A data field on the same page gives 114 mm. If you have tall latte macchiato glasses, it is therefore best to measure.

According to De’Longhi, 10 recipes are preset: espresso, americano, long black, cold brew, cappuccino, latte, latte macchiato, flat white, hot milk and hot water. Americano and long black differ only in order: for the americano the coffee comes first and then the water from the separate hot water spout, for the long black the other way round. A single espresso runs in steps of 20, 35 and 50 ml and can be programmed from approx. 20 to 110 ml. According to the manual, you can create up to 9 own drinks with grind, brew and foam parameters of your choice. The machine dispenses hot water in steps of 150, 250 and 350 ml, programmable from approx. 25 to 420 ml.

In detail: thermoblock, 15 grind settings and what Bean Adapt does

A thermoblock does not hold a boiler full of hot water. It heats the water as it flows through a heated metal block, which is why it is quick to get ready and needs little space. The drawback of this design is temperature: without control, it fluctuates during the brew. According to the product page, De’Longhi counters this with active temperature control, listed in the page data as PID Temperature Control. Four brew temperature profiles are available, and the manual itself notes that changing the temperature has the greatest effect on long drinks.

On the 15 bar: espresso is usually described as being brewed at around 9 bar at the coffee grounds. A pressure figure on the data sheet of a portafilter machine generally refers to the pump, that is, what it can manage at most, and not the pressure present in the basket during the brew.

The grinder is a conical burr grinder, made in Italy according to De’Longhi USA. That applies to the grinder, not to the machine: China is stored as the country of origin of the whole device in a data field on the German product page. You set the grind size mechanically at selector A3 on the bean hopper, 15 positions from fine to coarse, and only while the grinder is running. Grinding goes directly into the portafilter: you press it against the grinding outlet until it clicks, let go, and the grinding starts and stops by itself. How long it runs, you set per basket in steps of 0.5 seconds.

Then you tamp with the tamper C9. When you press down, it shows -2, -1, OK, +1 or +2. If there are too many grounds in the basket, you remove the excess with the Dose Adjust tool C10. De’Longhi USA gives 20 g as the upper limit for a dose. You choose the amount of pre-infusion in the drinks menu between short and long.

Bean Adapt is the part where advertising and manual diverge. The product page says the technology automatically optimises grind size, dosing and temperature. The manual describes a guided process of about 10 minutes: you enter the type of coffee (100 per cent Arabica or speciality, or a blend of Arabica and Robusta) and the roast colour (light, medium, medium-dark, dark), set selector A3 to 9 yourself and start the brew. The machine analyses the espresso, reports OK, too fast or too slow, and tells you what to change. After 2 attempts the result can be saved, up to 6 bean profiles. Our reading: the machine assesses and advises, but you have to do the turning.

How does the Touch manage cold brew in under five minutes?

With cold or room-temperature water and a longer infusion time instead of heat, as the manual describes it. According to De’Longhi USA, the water bypasses the thermoblock in the process. According to the footnote on the product page, the five minutes apply to one cold brew recipe as a single serving.

There is no separate spout. You grind and tamp as for espresso and attach the portafilter to the brew group. The amounts: single 90, 110 or 130 ml, double 150, 180 or 220 ml, freely programmable between approx. 90 and 220 ml. According to the manual, the glass should hold 3 ice cubes for a single and 5 for a double.

The preparation is the catch. Before Cold Extraction drinks, the water tank has to be emptied, rinsed and filled with fresh water, and De’Longhi recommends a cold rinse beforehand. If the cold brew comes out warm, then according to the troubleshooting section a hot drink was made shortly before, and the cooling rinse that the machine suggests helps. Espresso in the morning and cold brew straight afterwards from the same tank is therefore not the intended sequence.

For context: in the classic method from our guide Cold brew at home, coarse grounds steep for 12 to 18 hours in the fridge. The method shares the cold water with the machine, but the contact time on the Touch is more than a hundred times shorter.

Milk: Auto LatteArt in position A or M

De’Longhi calls the steam wand Auto LatteArt, and it has two positions. In A it froths automatically according to the chosen foam level, in M you work by hand as with an ordinary wand. The product page gives 5 foam levels and 4 milk temperature settings, while the manual shows only the choice of min, med and high for temperature.

The wand is built as a cool-touch steam wand, which De’Longhi justifies with safe handling and easier cleaning. If you turn it back to OFF after frothing, the nozzle releases a small amount of hot water and steam and so cleans the inner steam circuit. A milk jug is included.

Accessories in the box and what De’Longhi leaves open

The manual lists the following as included: portafilter, 1-cup basket, 2-cup basket, dosing funnel, holder for a small cup with drip tray and grid, tamping mat, tamper, Dose Adjust tool, milk jug, cleaning pin for the steam wand, cleaning brush, water hardness strip and descaler. It limits this itself by noting that type and number may differ depending on the model.

Both baskets are single-walled according to a data field. Single-walled baskets build up pressure only through the coffee grounds, so the grind size has to be right. A double-walled pressurised basket, which compensates for mistakes in grind size, is not in the manual’s scope of delivery. As optional cleaning accessories, De’Longhi recommends ECO MULTICLEAN (EAN 8004399333307).

Collected together, what is stated in none of the documents: the portafilter diameter (important if you want to buy a different tamper, a bottomless basket or a scale with a dosing ring), the brew temperature in degrees, the milk temperature in degrees, the pressure at the coffee grounds and in Cold Extraction, the material of the housing, portafilter, baskets and brew group (Amazon lists “Metall” only in the title and as a colour), the diameter and material of the burrs, the steam output and whether brewing and steaming can happen at the same time, the noise level, the capacity of the milk jug and drip tray, a descaling interval in weeks or cups, a visible heat-up time, the cable length and how long spare parts will be available. The page data also list a charcoal-type water filter as possible, but an article number for it appears neither in the manual nor in the scope of delivery.

Cleaning, water and descaling

Only fresh water belongs in the machine, no sparkling water and no distilled water. For hot-brewed drinks, according to the safety booklet the water in the tank must be changed at least every 3 days. You clean the tank itself about once a month with warm water of approx. 40 °C, if needed with a clean, non-abrasive cloth, taking care around the water level sensor.

The daily steps according to the manual: always clean the baskets with warm water and washing-up liquid and rinse them under plenty of running water. After every use, remove all milk residue from the steam nozzle with a soft, damp cloth, let it cool and clear the hole with the cleaning pin. Wipe the brew head with a clean, damp cloth after preparation, taking care with hot parts. Clean the bean hopper with a clean, dry, soft cloth, and the grinder mounting area and the coffee funnel with the supplied brush.

The drip tray has a level indicator. It has to be emptied before it protrudes from the cup tray, otherwise water overflows and can damage the machine and the worktop.

According to the table in the manual, the following may go in the dishwasher: the drip tray with cup grid and small-cup holder, the round dosing accessory (judging by the illustration, the Dose Adjust tool) and the milk jug. The machine, the bean hopper, the water tank, the portafilter with the baskets and the tamper with tamping mat must not go in.

Never immerse the machine itself in water when cleaning, it is an electrical appliance. Before cleaning the outside, switch it off, pull the plug and let it cool. Solvents, abrasives and alcohol are off limits, as are metal objects against encrustations, because they scratch metal and plastic surfaces. For the housing, the table provides for a cloth or ECO MULTICLEAN.

Descaling depends on water hardness. You measure it with the enclosed strip, which after about a minute shows 1 to 4 red squares, and you set that level. When it is time, the display shows an alarm. You fill descaler up to mark A and water up to mark B into the tank and place a container of at least 1.5 l under the brew unit, hot water spout and steam wand. Descaling takes approx. 20 minutes, followed by a rinse with a full tank. The manual insists on De’Longhi descaler. What that means for the warranty is covered in the questions above.

What else comes into question?

The prices are the guide values from our price boxes, and the rating is our editorial classification, not a measured value. The technical details come from the manufacturers of the respective machines; for the Arte, from De’Longhi’s page and documents for the EC9155.MB, the model behind our price box.

When the Touch suits you and when another machine does

Milk decides it. Anyone who drinks cappuccino or latte every day and does not want to learn frothing gets, with position A, the automatic function that the Arte lacks. Anyone who wants to froth by themselves anyway pays on the Touch for a function they do not use: the La Specialista Arte costs around €181 less in our catalogue, also has a 180 g bean hopper, but only 8 instead of 15 grind settings (15 only arrived with the successor EC9155.MB EX:2), a 1.7 instead of 1.8 l tank, 3 instead of 4 temperature levels and no display.

The Touch dispenses cold brew only by the glass. If you want a single glass on hot days, that saves you the overnight batch. If you drink cold brew by the litre and want a carafe for several days, stay with the fridge method from the guide.

If you already have a good espresso grinder, the built-in grinder is dead weight. In that case we would reach for the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro, which costs around €50 less with us and has a 58 mm portafilter. Without a grinder this does not add up: the Gaggia and a Eureka Mignon Specialita together come to €931.42 according to our price boxes. If none of the machines in the table fits, the coffee machine finder narrows the choice down based on your answers.

The Touch is the wrong purchase for any commercial setting. The safety booklet intends it exclusively for household use and expressly excludes: rooms set up as staff kitchens in shops, offices and other work areas, agricultural tourist facilities, hotels, room rentals, motels and other accommodation businesses. For the office kitchenette or breakfast at a guesthouse, it is therefore out of the question.