Sanremo you

[JohnA]

I see that on Lance HEDRICK's latest video about latte art there is a sanremo YOU on the side bench.
I look forward to seeing a review of this from him

https://youtu.be/Wj2RvQgCgSs

[coffeemachine]

Yes, I noticed that as well! Looking forward to his dancing and singing review, should be a good one.

[Solrak]

Beatboxing with the San Remo You Lancey styleee

[JohnA]

Sprometheus has a highlight video up, lets see how much longer before the review gets uploaded

https://youtu.be/orKqokmrWTk

[JohnA]

It sure is. It's well done though.
I'm not a fan of his reviews in general, but still keen to see what he has to say about it

[coffeemachine]

That is a great video and one heck of a machine.

[Ronin]

If anyone I know took that long to make a coffee they would be sacked lol

[JohnA]

Having had this machine now for 8 months i thought id update my thoughts on it.

The machine itself is a thing of beauty, my mind has not changed there at all. I love looking at it and gives me great joy using it everyday.
Using the paddle is also a treat, i like that it gives good feedback, the resistance when pulling a shot is just enough to give good control, and i like that you get a digital readout of exactly where you are in the paddle range, so you can easily replicate the shot, rather then guessing like most paddle machines.
That you can program the paddle to go from left to right or right to left is a big bonus and you can limit the highest pressure in the touchscreen, so if the most you want is 6, 7 8 or 9 bar, you can set it at that.

There are more then enough presets to keep me happy, but what i have found is i stick to my usual 2 or 3 and thats only if making a milk based coffee to speed things up, otherwise prefer to use the paddle. I always knew i wasnt one to play too much, and this had confirmed it. For me all those presets are just a waste but a nice to have. If i was living on my own and didnt entertain much, id most likely have purchased a Slayer

The drip tray and overall design around the group head is still annoying. Its just too cramped around there. Even cleaning the group head with brushes is a pain as they keep hitting the cover over the drain valve. I was a little upset i could no longer use my espazzola grouphead cleaning brush. Cant even insert it into the group head, needs to be modified.
I ended up purchasing an artpresso design brush which fits but i dont think it does as good a job as the espazzola.

Steam, no complaints there at all, plenty of it and very dry, giving great microfoam for latte art.

Hot water tap...if mixed with tank or mains water say 30/70 or 40/60 mix its fine, but if you want boiling water straight from the boiler so set at 100% it just splutters and makes a mess everywhere. The lamarzocco is so much better at this. I do wonder if its because of how small the boiler is.
Talking of boilers, yes they are both very small which leads to very quick heat up times and recovery is very fast, i have done back to back lattes with no issues at all, have never run out of steam power and i have mine set at 1.6 bar, but you can take it up to 2 bar, which for me is just too powerful when only steaming for one cup

I dont like the timed power on off programs as its not a complete shut down and leaves the main screens screensaver on all night so to me its a pointless addition.
I dont use the stand by function either as prefer to just leave my machine on.

The fan we have spoken about, but now there is a new one with a new mounting kit. Id love to tell you that its better, but so far havent managed to get my hands on one, which brings me to my next point. Parts availability.
Its kind of no existent at the moment, i lost the float for my drain tank and emailed sanremo a few months back...said there was a shipment on the way and still nothing. Looking around online, i cant find any seller selling spare parts for it, so would hate to think how long a turn around if repairs are needed.
This really needs to be fixed IMHO. It is a little frustrating.

Quality of the coffee, well as good as the beans, grinder and barista i suppose. Between the lamarzocco and the sanremo when just pulling straight 9 bar shots, they are on par, when pressure profiling, i can no doubt alter the end result.

In use (apart from the fan) its one of the quietest machines i have used.

I believe there is a new drip tray coming also and with more firmware updates i think this will be a brilliant machine, they just need to sort out the spare parts situation.

Do i have any regrets, yes and no and they are personal ones, but if you were to ask me if i would purchase it again, id be hard pressed to answer it...
On one hand i love what it can do, but dont NEED that functionality, and would prefer the extra space around the group head, and the ease of purchasing spare parts quickly online.

[Ronin]

The hot water spitting at 100 deg is nor surprising, boiling water spits.
I doubt very much that the water from the LaMarzocco coming out is at 100deg which is why it is nicer to use, it would be an interesting test. Try adding in a small amount of cold, should solve the issue

[barri]

Agree with the timing and the fan although the fan noise doesn't bother me as much as it does for John. If the standby mode could be turned to instantly on like I could on the Decent then that would really suit me instead of waiting 30 minutes. Maybe a firmware update might help. A slightly larger drip tray would be nice as well although not critical. Coming from the Decent the fun of making coffees has returned. Even steaming, filling the water tank and backflushing is fun. I mainly use the paddle but have 4 presets depending on the bean and the shots are just as good or maybe better than the other machines I've owned including Rocket Giotto, VBM Domobar and Decent and there are others.
I've definitely had a few god shots or wow shots. If the future firmware and app updates are as good as the last then this great machine will get even better.

For those contemplating a high end machine then I would put this ahead of Rocket R91 and GS3. No regrets at all!

[JohnA]

Ronin, i do mix and its fine, was just saying, with my lamarzocco straight from the boiler, no mixing with tank or mains water come out smooth and quickly, no splattering

barri, i dont have any regrets as it does do everything the GS3 did and more, i am just finding i am not using all these extra features, and do miss the space around the group, so IF i had to make the choice again, not sure which way id go

[JohnA]

so Sprometheus has the review of the YOU up

https://youtu.be/6Wzk-AwazeA

For once i think i just about agree with everything he has said in there about it

[Ronin]

He complained about the drain tray, but it looks to be in the shipping position. Pretty good otherwise.
I have to agree with the comments about manual shots. Most people will not use that function for long