OK so its 2nd hand, but Im still as happy as a pig in mud

The ECM Botticelli that I bought from a fellow CSr arrived by post yesterday around lunchtime. It was so exciting to open her up and look upon the shininess that is the Bott (so much cleaning! but all worth it.)
I spent most of the arvo and evening cleaning/descaling/backflushing etc, so that I had a great baseline to start with, then it would be down to the bozo behind the machine to get the rest right.
So I hear you ask, what is she like? Well, there are a few differences between the Sunbeam Ristretto and this baby - did I say a few? Can you say chalk and cheese
The weight and size difference in PF handle is pretty big - 53 to 58mm, + overall weight is about double.
When dosing on the SB I had to dose and tamp to within about 1mm from the lip, on the Bott it is much lower because of the showerscreen position - dosing is going to take some getting used to.
This being far more professional in set up means that none of my cups fit under the PF properly as they are mostly mugs etc - when money starts growing from the trees again (or we use some credit card points for gift vouchers!) I will have to invest in some decent cap and espresso cups
OK so lets talk steam - on the SB it was not uncommon for me to take over a minute to steam a 300ml jug to temp. The Bott almost through me across the room on half strength ;D ;D Once I have this sorted life is going to be sooo much easier to make multiple cups, but again it is going to be a steep learning curve to get some nice microfome out of the tornado that is the steam wand!!
And finally how was the outcome of all this?? In a word - BBAAAAADDDDDD ;D ;D ;D
I am back to the start of my espresso making days. At best I have made 3 average coffees so far, all have that bitter tinge to them of over extraction, even using milk the bitterness cut through it.
All is not lost and I am by no means disheartened by this - in fact having spoken to quite a few of you here I am encouraged by the fact that once I get my bearings on this baby, I will have a lot of fun and time to spend drinking good coffee. I know that it is not the machines fault that the coffee is not right, so I have to ramp up my techniquesto match the capabilities of this shiny beast
On with the caffeine shakes that comes with drinking WAY too much coffee in WAY too short a space of time ;D
The quest will continue, stay tuned........


The ECM Botticelli that I bought from a fellow CSr arrived by post yesterday around lunchtime. It was so exciting to open her up and look upon the shininess that is the Bott (so much cleaning! but all worth it.)
I spent most of the arvo and evening cleaning/descaling/backflushing etc, so that I had a great baseline to start with, then it would be down to the bozo behind the machine to get the rest right.
So I hear you ask, what is she like? Well, there are a few differences between the Sunbeam Ristretto and this baby - did I say a few? Can you say chalk and cheese

The weight and size difference in PF handle is pretty big - 53 to 58mm, + overall weight is about double.
When dosing on the SB I had to dose and tamp to within about 1mm from the lip, on the Bott it is much lower because of the showerscreen position - dosing is going to take some getting used to.
This being far more professional in set up means that none of my cups fit under the PF properly as they are mostly mugs etc - when money starts growing from the trees again (or we use some credit card points for gift vouchers!) I will have to invest in some decent cap and espresso cups
OK so lets talk steam - on the SB it was not uncommon for me to take over a minute to steam a 300ml jug to temp. The Bott almost through me across the room on half strength ;D ;D Once I have this sorted life is going to be sooo much easier to make multiple cups, but again it is going to be a steep learning curve to get some nice microfome out of the tornado that is the steam wand!!
And finally how was the outcome of all this?? In a word - BBAAAAADDDDDD ;D ;D ;D
I am back to the start of my espresso making days. At best I have made 3 average coffees so far, all have that bitter tinge to them of over extraction, even using milk the bitterness cut through it.
All is not lost and I am by no means disheartened by this - in fact having spoken to quite a few of you here I am encouraged by the fact that once I get my bearings on this baby, I will have a lot of fun and time to spend drinking good coffee. I know that it is not the machines fault that the coffee is not right, so I have to ramp up my techniquesto match the capabilities of this shiny beast

On with the caffeine shakes that comes with drinking WAY too much coffee in WAY too short a space of time ;D
The quest will continue, stay tuned........
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