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Main
Date: 24 Apr 2007 21:51:54
From:
Subject: Machine Advice
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Hello all, I am hoping for a little advice on choosing an espresso
machine and grinder. I have budgeted around $1300-1500. I currently
make around 2-3 double shots in the morning, my wife makes tea, and on
weekends and some evenings I make milk based drinks. I am hoping to
get a machine that with normal maintenance would be expected to last
6-8 years. I am looking at the Silvia, Livia, Expobar lever, and the
Isomac Venus or Tea. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated! Thanks
Catarino
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Date: 26 Apr 2007 12:49:30
From: Dave b
Subject: Re: Machine Advice
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On Apr 25, 1:23 pm, Ross Wentworth <r...@sonic.net > wrote:
> catarino.fernan...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Hello all, I am hoping for a little advice on choosing an espresso
> > machine and grinder. I have budgeted around $1300-1500. I currently
> > make around 2-3 double shots in the morning, my wife makes tea, and on
> > weekends and some evenings I make milk based drinks. I am hoping to
> > get a machine that with normal maintenance would be expected to last
> > 6-8 years. I am looking at the Silvia, Livia, Expobar lever, and the
> > Isomac Venus or Tea. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
> > appreciated! Thanks
>
> > Catarino
>
> I recently purchased a Jura-Capresso Impressa E8. I can't comment on
> the long term reliability of this unit as I haven't had it very long.
> However, the quality of the espresso is outstanding (when I use decent
> beans). Always a nice layer of crema, even when I tried out some cheap
> decaf ground espresso from a can. At the moment I'm experimenting with
> different beans to find the perfect brew. Several pounds of Blue
> Mountain are expected in the mail any day now.
>
> Having a super-automatic espresso maker will spoil you. I love just
> pushing a single button and getting a fast shot. I don't think I could
> ever go back to a manual unit.
>
> With this and other super-automatics, you won't need a grinder since it
> is built in.
>
> Features I like:
>
> It's fast. Once the unit is warmed up it can pump out a shot every 30
> seconds. Warm up time is a couple of minutes. It's default is to turn
> itself off after two hours of non-use.
>
> Frother works very well, even for me, and I sucked at frothing with my
> old Braun and Krup (both fully manual low end units).
>
> Easy controls, spin the dial for a shot size of 1 to 8 oz in 1/2 oz
> increments. Two couple button gives you twice that amount. I've never
> tried two 8oz cups, so I don't know what it will produce when asked to
> pump out 16oz. I use the 2oz setting when pouring into my trendy
> espresso cups. 4oz when making a latte, cap, or mocha.
>
> Pre-ground bypass hatch. Good for tossing in a couple of scoops of
> preground decaf or flavored coffee. Yuck.
>
> Feature I wish it had:
>
> Water hookup. This model does not support a direct water supply line.
> I can live without this, but might be important if you have heavy usage.
>
> Automatic turn on. I wish I could program it to turn on and warm up
> around when I'm waking up so I don't have to stand there waiting an
> entire two minutes - which seems like forever first thing in the morning.
>
> ---
>
> This model is running about $1000 online.
Heretic!
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Date: 26 Apr 2007 14:50:49
From: Ross Wentworth
Subject: Re: Machine Advice
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Dave b wrote:
>
>> I recently purchased a Jura-Capresso Impressa E8. I can't comment on
>> the long term reliability of this unit as I haven't had it very long.
>> However, the quality of the espresso is outstanding (when I use decent
>> beans). Always a nice layer of crema, even when I tried out some cheap
> Heretic!
Do you dislike super-automatics, or are you just jealous?
--
Ross
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Date: 26 Apr 2007 07:35:29
From: Dave b
Subject: Re: Machine Advice
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On Apr 25, 12:51 am, catarino.fernan...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello all, I am hoping for a little advice on choosing an espresso
> machine and grinder. I have budgeted around $1300-1500. I currently
> make around 2-3 double shots in the morning, my wife makes tea, and on
> weekends and some evenings I make milk based drinks. I am hoping to
> get a machine that with normal maintenance would be expected to last
> 6-8 years. I am looking at the Silvia, Livia, Expobar lever, and the
> Isomac Venus or Tea. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated! Thanks
>
> Catarino
easy choice:
http://tinyurl.com/28xyo9
dave
www.hitechespresso.com
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Date: 25 Apr 2007 10:23:51
From: Ross Wentworth
Subject: Re: Machine Advice
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catarino.fernandez@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello all, I am hoping for a little advice on choosing an espresso
> machine and grinder. I have budgeted around $1300-1500. I currently
> make around 2-3 double shots in the morning, my wife makes tea, and on
> weekends and some evenings I make milk based drinks. I am hoping to
> get a machine that with normal maintenance would be expected to last
> 6-8 years. I am looking at the Silvia, Livia, Expobar lever, and the
> Isomac Venus or Tea. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated! Thanks
>
> Catarino
>
I recently purchased a Jura-Capresso Impressa E8. I can't comment on
the long term reliability of this unit as I haven't had it very long.
However, the quality of the espresso is outstanding (when I use decent
beans). Always a nice layer of crema, even when I tried out some cheap
decaf ground espresso from a can. At the moment I'm experimenting with
different beans to find the perfect brew. Several pounds of Blue
Mountain are expected in the mail any day now.
Having a super-automatic espresso maker will spoil you. I love just
pushing a single button and getting a fast shot. I don't think I could
ever go back to a manual unit.
With this and other super-automatics, you won't need a grinder since it
is built in.
Features I like:
It's fast. Once the unit is warmed up it can pump out a shot every 30
seconds. Warm up time is a couple of minutes. It's default is to turn
itself off after two hours of non-use.
Frother works very well, even for me, and I sucked at frothing with my
old Braun and Krup (both fully manual low end units).
Easy controls, spin the dial for a shot size of 1 to 8 oz in 1/2 oz
increments. Two couple button gives you twice that amount. I've never
tried two 8oz cups, so I don't know what it will produce when asked to
pump out 16oz. I use the 2oz setting when pouring into my trendy
espresso cups. 4oz when making a latte, cap, or mocha.
Pre-ground bypass hatch. Good for tossing in a couple of scoops of
preground decaf or flavored coffee. Yuck.
Feature I wish it had:
Water hookup. This model does not support a direct water supply line.
I can live without this, but might be important if you have heavy usage.
Automatic turn on. I wish I could program it to turn on and warm up
around when I'm waking up so I don't have to stand there waiting an
entire two minutes - which seems like forever first thing in the morning.
---
This model is running about $1000 online.
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Date: 25 Apr 2007 12:05:41
From: CSME9
Subject: Re: Machine Advice
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<catarino.fernandez@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1177476714.026292.147800@t38g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> Hello all, I am hoping for a little advice on choosing an espresso
> machine and grinder. I have budgeted around $1300-1500. I currently
> make around 2-3 double shots in the morning, my wife makes tea, and on
> weekends and some evenings I make milk based drinks. I am hoping to
> get a machine that with normal maintenance would be expected to last
> 6-8 years. I am looking at the Silvia, Livia, Expobar lever, and the
> Isomac Venus or Tea. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated! Thanks
>
> Catarino
Those are good machines, a couple other HX options are Quickmill
Andreha Premium or the Anita. I owned a Silvia for 3 years without any
maintenace problems and is a very good single boiler with very good
reliability. I traded up to a HX machine and really like the ability to
switch instantly from brewing to steaming or brew and steam at the same time
.
I would consider the machine and the vendor's ability to deal promptly with
any questions before and after the sale along with any warranty problems
quickly . I bought a machine a few years back much lower priced than most
vendors were selling the unit, and had a few minor problems and the vendor
would not return my e-mails/phone calls for a
1-2 week's, with the help of many on this group we diagnosed and fixed the
problems.
WS
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