Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
From what Ive read, the Brewtus certainly has much to recommend it, most especially the twin boilers and the electronic, adjustable temperature control.
But also from what Ive read, the mission statement was to achieve all that at the cheapest possible price. Commendable, but have there been compromises, shortcuts etc in order to achieve that?
Its at a similar price to the Giotto, but--again, from what Ive read--the mission statement for Giotto was to cut no corners, and infuse a machine with all the best Italian design has to offer, but without bells and whistles.
It poses a tough choice: a Giotto which is a stunner and one can be confident of its build quality.... or a Brewtus, which does not have the same pedigree but tries to compensate by offering more features.
Glad I dont have to agonise over that one.
Robusto
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Wow- it sounds as if you may just have received a lemon
...I guess that can be a risk when you adopt early :-[...
That said, CG members have given them very favourable reviews. There machines are chock full of electronics, so there has to be more opportunity for things to go wrong. In addition, they are manufactured to a price-point. I love the Giotto and Diadema machines for their simplicity- they rarely break down and have a great reputation, reliability and build quality.
Id be hopping mad though and taking it up with Expobar- as well as your supplier (Where is he by the way???....One of the reasons that its worth doing business with CS sponsors
8-))
Expobar have made a heap of revisions to the new Minore/Brewtus II http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/co...ewtus/orianm42and I still intend to buy one and put it through a thorough bench test at home and at the academy. Stay tuned for the brewtus/giotto shootout...
Chris (aka 2mcm)
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Another update on this sad excuse for an espresso Machine
Turned it on Saturday after a 5 days without turning it on started it up went to sit down and the Machine started to make a noise like a lose muffler hitting the side of the car I turned it off checked everything and restarted it and all was normal? I had it I put to the supplier and to the importer to either replace the machine or give me a refund and I don’t know how it will go but we will see what happens.Realy with the things I read on the web and my personal experience I would only get one of these machines if you enjoy returning it to your supplier to get it fixed
over and over again and its 5 mths old what happens when it’s out of warranty.... >
Originally posted by coffee_nuts link=1142837947/0#3 date=1142931866Hi
I dont want to put you off but I have a Minore I got just before last Xmas and I would not recommended it to any one
1st problem was after it was on for an hour old and it was leaking after a fair bit of stuffing round 4 days later it was back
2nd problem sticking brew switch and after it going back to Melbourne importer to fix its problems it came back to me with a new steam wand new digital heat control list of other dough full things that were checked or so they said but the brew switch wasn’t fixed so in the end I fixed it, Very pore finish quality
Again I would not get one of these machines.....
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
FYI all- expobar in now talking May on this item.... :-[
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
RobustoI had considered it but i havent had a look into it as yet. I wasnt sure whether I would be able to simply buy a single hole tip (that would fit my arm) or if I had to buy the whole steam arm. However, I will look into it.
Sounds like the holes in the steam wand may be a tad big. I personally like 2 x 1.2mm approx.....have you investigated a replacement tip? Alternately, hows your technique? If you can survive on a San Marino with 4x1.5mm hole tip and a 300ml jug, its heading in the right direction!
2mcm
Thanks guys for the other pointers, i might try and find something narrow to froth in.
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Quite true, Javaphile. Last night I suffered a severe attack of MDB --male domestic blindness---and could not find the small steaming jug.
So I gave up looking and used the stand-by large one. Now, I reckon I make pretty good microfoam without any bubbles. But the big jug for just one latte for SWMBO was not a good result. As you say, milk depth--or lack of it, is the problem.
Robusto
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Id have to agree there Mauricem. My experience has been that the depth of the milk is more important than the volume. Using a smaller diameter pitcher works like a charm when frothing smaller volumes of milk, especially on the big boy power house machines.THen one day when I couldnt be bothered waiting for the jugs to be washed I grabbed a tall narrow "highball" type glass and easily produced some of the best microfoam of my "career" Cool. So for me a narrow steamnng vessel was much more effective with this steam tip, maybe woth a try to see if it helps.
If the depth of the milk is too shallow frothing becomes a real challange if not outright impossible. To make the frothing as easy as possible my experience has been that you need a minimum of about 2cm depth to the milk. The deeper the milk is the easier it is to foam.
Java "Foaming around the mouth" phile
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
going ot from the original thread here but...Originally posted by 2muchcoffeeman link=1142837947/0#8 date=1143437181Sounds like the holes in the steam wand may be a tad big. I personally like 2 x 1.2mm approx.....have you investigated a replacement tip? Alternately, hows your technique? If you can survive on a San Marino with 4x1.5mm hole tip and a 300ml jug, its heading in the right direction!Originally posted by robusto link=1142837947/0#6 date=1143099549Clint, you say theres not enough time to produce microfoam before the milk is gets hot. Do you keep your jug in the fridge? That will give you a few more degrees to warm up and therefore more time.
Robusto
2mcm
I had all sorts of problems steaming small amounts of milk, eg for 2 lattes, with the 4 hole tip on my cimbali. Tried varying size and shape jugs and even plugged two holes in the steam tip which improved things but the microfoam was still nowhere near as good as on the Napoletana or Silvia which I used to own. Things got way too hot before the milk was stretched and texturing would just scald it further. With a 2.5 ltr boiler and 1800watt element 300mls of milk would boil in a few seconds.
THen one day when I couldnt be bothered waiting for the jugs to be washed I grabbed a tall narrow "highball" type glass and easily produced some of the best microfoam of my "career" 8-). So for me a narrow steamnng vessel was much more effective with this steam tip, maybe woth a try to see if it helps.
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
FYI all I am led to understand that the boat "got lost"
- i.e shipment is delayed. Expect a further delay of up to six weeks...
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Sounds like the holes in the steam wand may be a tad big. I personally like 2 x 1.2mm approx.....have you investigated a replacement tip? Alternately, hows your technique? If you can survive on a San Marino with 4x1.5mm hole tip and a 300ml jug, its heading in the right direction!Originally posted by robusto link=1142837947/0#6 date=1143099549Clint, you say theres not enough time to produce microfoam before the milk is gets hot. Do you keep your jug in the fridge? That will give you a few more degrees to warm up and therefore more time.
Robusto
2mcm
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Robusto
thanks, coincidently i started keeping the jug in the freezer on the weekend, so it does extend the heating time alittle.
i am getting better, i can now produce foam for a capuccino (where i couldnt before) but i am still not quite there on the microfoam. i suspect it is the combining part of the milk heating that is not happening for me.
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Clint, you say theres not enough time to produce microfoam before the milk is gets hot. Do you keep your jug in the fridge? That will give you a few more degrees to warm up and therefore more time.
Robusto
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
I got the Minore about a month ago and i have no complaints at all. Other than my inability to make microfoam, Im still getting hot milk (although i am getting better at it). i think the problem for me is with the twin tips the milk is up to temperature in about 30 secs so i dont have the luxury of time to make up for short comings in my technique.
From all the reivews i had read off the net over the 2 month period i was researching it was clear that the finish was no where near the likes of the Giotto. i had read (not sure where) that expobar in designing it in conjunction with whole latte love built the machine to a list of features and with a price point in mind. as such, the exterior finish was a bit of an afterthought. i think they went for function over form.
so i went into it knowing the shortomings, i.e.
1)noisy pump (its not that loud, but i dont really have anything to compare it with)
2)lack of handles on the cup warmer. thats an easy fix, there are pre drilled holes that apparently fit normal drawer handles. i plan on having a metal fabricator relative make me up a proper stainless rail so that should fix that
3) probably not the best fitment on the drip tray (its not really that much of an issue)
4) perhaps not the best asthetics, but that is a subjective point, i think it looks great.
but there were also a lot of pros in the machine for me. there is a good article here that lists out the additions to the miore II
http://www.wholelattelove.com/Expobar/brewtus.cfm
also checkout the brewtus user group
www.brewtusgroup.com
having said that i am a bit of a novice. i am particular about my coffee and have a list of cafes i wont go to from bad past experiences. i have used about a krups machine (not sure of the model but it was around the $450 mark) at my parents, but i was never really happy with the quality of the coffee it was producing. i think the grinder had a bit to do with that too.
so i am still on the steep end of the learning curve. however, to my taste the quality of the coffees i am producing with the minore are far better than a lot of cafes. my espressos are much better than my milk based drinks.
so at the end of the day i am more than happy with my purchase
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Interesting feedback and good to know. Please note that the Minore has been updated and is now the minore II- i.e the Minore is now an outdated model. There are a host of changes/improvements to the Minore II. Will be good to have a play with the demo model...
Chris
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Re: Expobar Minore/Brewtus II
Hi
I dont want to put you off but I have a Minore I got just before last Xmas and I would not recommended it to any one
1st problem was after it was on for an hour old and it was leaking after a fair bit of stuffing round 4 days later it was back
2nd problem sticking brew switch and after it going back to Melbourne importer to fix its problems it came back to me with a new steam wand new digital heat control list of other dough full things that were checked or so they said but the brew switch wasn’t fixed so in the end I fixed it, Very pore finish quality
Again I would not get one of these machines.....
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