Thoughts and Opinions on La Colangeli Alexis

[coffee-wolf]

Just purchased a second hand La Colangeli Alexia 2gr. Looks like a great dual boiler machine with some nice feature. Any thoughts or opinions? I have a hard time finding some background. Below is some information from another one which is for sale elsewhere:
(I will pick it up tomorrow)

The La Colangeli Alexia Espresso Machine is the outcome of a collaborative design effort. From baristas, roasters and machine technicians in Australia and the Italian manufacturer. With industrial design for the external skin conducted by Australia's John Colangeli of Coffee Machine Technologies. The result is a sleek, cafe class espresso machine that handles the high volume coffee output of any busy cafe with ease and precision. DESIGN FEATURES
* larger than industry standard, on top cup storage
* Extended drip tray for resting milk jugs, provides easier texturing
* High cup groups enabling the use of larger 16oz cups
* Sleek, elegant design for aesthetic appeal
* Programmable volumetric touchpad with shot clock
* Three programmable buttons for hot water levels: cup, teapot & long blacks

SPECIFICATIONS
This machine is one of the most thermally stable machines available, due to having:
* true La Marzocco style group heads (industrially leading design)
* extra large boiler (21lt), more than standard machines
* larger than standard heat exchanger (800ml), to ensure the most efficient heat transfer possible
* variable thermo-syphon restrictors, adjustable to suit individual blends (as required)

[coffee-wolf]

It actually is a Brugnetti Alexia with a some extra features.

[TOK]

Congratulatiuons on buying your machine. I hope you get loads of satisfaction and great performance from it.

With specific regard to your question "...any thoughts and opinions..."

Firstly, as you have already bought it, it's a little late for that. Posters may be happy to congratulate you, but they are going to be less likely to give you their honest opinions IF they for example, have personal experience and didn't like it. Its not good form to bag someone elses pride and joy.

For the rest of it. Do keep a realistic outlook when looking at blurbss written by interested parties.

For example:
"...The La Colangeli Alexia Espresso Machine is the outcome of a collaborative design effort. From baristas, roasters and machine technicians in Australia and the Italian manufacturer....."

Fine, but there are a multitude of brands/models that do the same thing. Manufacturers listening to their importers, agents, resellers and service agents to improve their products and design and build new models for various markets. That's necessary R & D. Also if someone wants to pay the ransom to have a purpose "designed' and rebadged machine for themselves, the manufacturers will of course do it (in fact...I can arrange it for you).

"...With industrial design for the external skin conducted by Australia's John Colangeli of Coffee Machine Technologies. The result is a sleek, cafe class espresso machine that handles the high volume coffee output of any busy cafe with ease and precision...."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and by far the greatest proportion of commercial espresso machines ("cafe class") out there do the job they were designed for, with "ease and precision".

DESIGN FEATURES
* larger than industry standard, on top cup storage
...what "industry standard"? Depends on size of body and they are all dfferent.

* Extended drip tray for resting milk jugs, provides easier texturing
...compared to which? They are not all the same sizes...many different brand models

* High cup groups enabling the use of larger 16oz cups
....if this is important to you, others also have this.

* Sleek, elegant design for aesthetic appeal
...eye of the beholder stuff.

* Programmable volumetric touchpad with shot clock
...everyone has a programmable touchpad and volumetric cup level, some have a shot clock some dont.

"This machine is one of the most thermally stable machines available
..so are quite a few others, and depends on type of model and internal design and type of use.

due to having:
* true La Marzocco style group heads (industrially leading design)
...a claim designed to induce the reader into thinking he is getting the "performance" of an LM (whatever that is, generally speaking, given there are so many different models with different internals).....is that a really dodgy bit of marketing that LM themselves would like to get their hands on for a bit of legal foreplay?

* extra large boiler (21lt), more than standard machines
hang on....you advised above it is a dual boiler machine. Dual or single boiler? Because this would appear to be at odds.
If it is a HX single boiler 2 group machine with a 21 lt boiler, it would appear to be overkill because there are enough good performing 2 group machines out there with boilers down around the 15 litre size. Sure, 21 litres is bigger ad will help temperature stability at times when you are being smashed, but if you are being smashed you will more than likely want a 3 group machine and then you will have a similar boiler size anyway...Additionally the size of the boiler is only one "component" and the equipment as a whole is not the sum of a bunch of components. It is whatever it is as a result of the way it performs in toto, over a range of commercial use scenarios. And if you are not being smashed, you certainly dont need a 21 litre boiler...

* larger than standard heat exchanger (800ml), to ensure the most efficient heat transfer possible
...again....there are plenty of others that already work well and *whatever* their heat ex=xchanger diameter is, even if it is smaller. there is more to the efficiency of heat transfer in the HX, than the diameter of the HX including the angle of the positioning of the HX in the boiler. The idea is t fit at the most efficient angle, then inject at the appropriate place at the appropriate speed etc etc etc. It is unwise to apply a "bigger is better" approach without regard to the overall performance of a machine in situ because in the immortal words of the great Normie Rowe, "it aint necessarily so..."

* variable thermo-syphon restrictors, adjustable to suit individual blends (as required)
ah yes....been done before. Can go either of three ways:
a) Allows any barista to play with technical stuff they really oughtn't to, stuff up the coffee, then blame the roaster OR
b) Allows suitably expert roasters and baristas to actually use them to advantage (very few in the scheme of things) OR
c) will be left on original default setting because people dont know what to do with them.

I have spent considerable time writing this up for you. Not to be obstructive, but to hopefully have readers realise, that not all that is written is as it seems.

Buy equipment with your eyes wide open, with a view to getting a nice machine that performs well in the circumstances that you are hoping to use it in, regardless of the mumbo jumbo sales pitches and pamphlets designed to simply have you buy one machine over another, for the wrong reasons.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your "new" machine

[coffee-wolf]

Thanks for all that. I bought it second hand fairly cheap. I opened it up pictures will follow. My question was for honest opinions good or bad. So thanks again for your dtailed and insightful reply

[fratellimacchina]

La Colangeli LEVER

Hi TOK and coffee-wolf,

I have also recently purchased a used La Colangeli Lever which as I understand is also just a modified Brugnetti Alexis. I called the company that was selling them here in Australia and they said there were only a handful of the Lever model made for Australia as they were not as popular as they should have been especially given they have a brew tank with a PID which from my research is unique as I couldn't find other Levers with the same feature, however, my Google skills may be a little rusty. I have added a few images.

Does any1 know of of another Lever with duel tanks (steam and brew boiler + PID), also, as far as espresso goes these machines pull a mean shot and I contrast that to a single group Linea which I use as a benchmark. I was surprised when I heard these machines retailed for 12k + a few years ago and yet they now sell for a pittance by comparison.

Congratulatiuons on buying your machine. I hope you get loads of satisfaction and great performance from it.

With specific regard to your question "...any thoughts and opinions..."

Firstly, as you have already bought it, it's a little late for that. Posters may be happy to congratulate you, but they are going to be less likely to give you their honest opinions IF they for example, have personal experience and didn't like it. Its not good form to bag someone elses pride and joy.

For the rest of it. Do keep a realistic outlook when looking at blurbss written by interested parties.

For example:
"...The La Colangeli Alexia Espresso Machine is the outcome of a collaborative design effort. From baristas, roasters and machine technicians in Australia and the Italian manufacturer....."

Fine, but there are a multitude of brands/models that do the same thing. Manufacturers listening to their importers, agents, resellers and service agents to improve their products and design and build new models for various markets. That's necessary R & D. Also if someone wants to pay the ransom to have a purpose "designed' and rebadged machine for themselves, the manufacturers will of course do it (in fact...I can arrange it for you).

"...With industrial design for the external skin conducted by Australia's John Colangeli of Coffee Machine Technologies. The result is a sleek, cafe class espresso machine that handles the high volume coffee output of any busy cafe with ease and precision...."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and by far the greatest proportion of commercial espresso machines ("cafe class") out there do the job they were designed for, with "ease and precision".

DESIGN FEATURES
* larger than industry standard, on top cup storage
...what "industry standard"? Depends on size of body and they are all dfferent.

* Extended drip tray for resting milk jugs, provides easier texturing
...compared to which? They are not all the same sizes...many different brand models

* High cup groups enabling the use of larger 16oz cups
....if this is important to you, others also have this.

* Sleek, elegant design for aesthetic appeal
...eye of the beholder stuff.

* Programmable volumetric touchpad with shot clock
...everyone has a programmable touchpad and volumetric cup level, some have a shot clock some dont.

"This machine is one of the most thermally stable machines available
..so are quite a few others, and depends on type of model and internal design and type of use.

due to having:
* true La Marzocco style group heads (industrially leading design)
...a claim designed to induce the reader into thinking he is getting the "performance" of an LM (whatever that is, generally speaking, given there are so many different models with different internals).....is that a really dodgy bit of marketing that LM themselves would like to get their hands on for a bit of legal foreplay?

* extra large boiler (21lt), more than standard machines
hang on....you advised above it is a dual boiler machine. Dual or single boiler? Because this would appear to be at odds.
If it is a HX single boiler 2 group machine with a 21 lt boiler, it would appear to be overkill because there are enough good performing 2 group machines out there with boilers down around the 15 litre size. Sure, 21 litres is bigger ad will help temperature stability at times when you are being smashed, but if you are being smashed you will more than likely want a 3 group machine and then you will have a similar boiler size anyway...Additionally the size of the boiler is only one "component" and the equipment as a whole is not the sum of a bunch of components. It is whatever it is as a result of the way it performs in toto, over a range of commercial use scenarios. And if you are not being smashed, you certainly dont need a 21 litre boiler...

* larger than standard heat exchanger (800ml), to ensure the most efficient heat transfer possible
...again....there are plenty of others that already work well and *whatever* their heat ex=xchanger diameter is, even if it is smaller. there is more to the efficiency of heat transfer in the HX, than the diameter of the HX including the angle of the positioning of the HX in the boiler. The idea is t fit at the most efficient angle, then inject at the appropriate place at the appropriate speed etc etc etc. It is unwise to apply a "bigger is better" approach without regard to the overall performance of a machine in situ because in the immortal words of the great Normie Rowe, "it aint necessarily so..."

* variable thermo-syphon restrictors, adjustable to suit individual blends (as required)
ah yes....been done before. Can go either of three ways:
a) Allows any barista to play with technical stuff they really oughtn't to, stuff up the coffee, then blame the roaster OR
b) Allows suitably expert roasters and baristas to actually use them to advantage (very few in the scheme of things) OR
c) will be left on original default setting because people dont know what to do with them.

I have spent considerable time writing this up for you. Not to be obstructive, but to hopefully have readers realise, that not all that is written is as it seems.

Buy equipment with your eyes wide open, with a view to getting a nice machine that performs well in the circumstances that you are hoping to use it in, regardless of the mumbo jumbo sales pitches and pamphlets designed to simply have you buy one machine over another, for the wrong reasons.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your "new" machine