Rocket Appartamento

[mentasm]

This machine has definitely caught my eye. I'm about 4 years into my relationship with my silvia and rocky. Intslled a PID about 12 months after buying it. Makes great coffee, but the upgrade bug is starting to bite.

We just reno'ed our kitchen and included a coffee making hutch which fits the silvia and a grinder with some room to spare, but this means I need to stay in the same ball park in machine size if I upgrade.

Biggest problem I have is I live in Adelaide. I guess I might need to look into making a trip to Melbourne at some stage as I don't think anywhere over here really sells these prosumer level machines.

Does anyone know of anywhere capable of servicing Rocket machines in Adelaide. Espressotech has been servicing my Rancillio, but their website doesn't mention Rocket.

Is the rocky going to be up to the task? Or will I have to factor in a grinder upgrade too? Whats likely to be good enough without being much bigger in size than the rocky?

[AntC1946]

Experiences with a new Rocket Appartamento.



History. Earlier this year I realised I was getting unable to use our Portaspresso / Bellman system due to arthritis. We returned to the Breville Infuser but the coffee just wasn't the same as that from the Air PG. What to do?

I started to research HX machines and found the VBM Domobar Junior and the Rocket Appartamento and contacted Chris at Talk Coffee. We arranged a visit to take a look at both machines and for a demo; then booked our tickets to Melbourne from Tassie. After some good discussion and coffee tasting with Chris, we left having ordered the Appartamento together with a Macap M2D. Two boxes were delivered to Launceston the next week and the fun began.

Having struggled with the Infuser and Sunbeam 0480 grinder to get the best out of the kit I think we have some idea of the basics. The Portaspresso had shown us what good espresso is like. So how did we go dialing in the new setup. Not too badly actually. Initially I was using a roast I had done about a week ago - but the roast was flawed (for our palate) after going too far into 2nd crack. I had forgotten that happened! Having thrown that out we then tried to use one of Chris's roasts which had come with the package. Not sure what happened with that one but it didn't quite work and so it was put to one side (the packet said use 12 days after roast and it wasn't yet 12 days). It was then necessary to take a quick trip into Launceston to grab a bag of beans from Ritual Coffee, 3 days after roast and a blend we know. With this I had the grinder set for a 25 sec 30 ml brew midway through day 2. The results began to match our expectations. By the end of day 2 all was very good!! A couple of days later I returned to Chris's beans and they too were working well with their chocolate flavours appearing. I drink straight espressos only every now and again and so invited a friend to visit and act as quality controller. He enjoyed the espresso using Chris's beans and so did I. Now the espresso basics are in place I can experiment with different roasts, blends and single origins to keep things interesting (and tasty).

Texturing milk was another matter. I was able to produce latte art quality milk with the Infuser. It takes a fair while though to heat the milk with that machine and you have plenty of time to get the air in before invoking the milk swirl. The steam pressure on the Rocket was something else!! After two weeks I am now able to fold in the air before the temp gets to 20°C - but still not every time!! Sometimes too much, rarely too little. Initially I was producing heated milk with no texture and the first time I managed a "proper" milk Sue was very pleased. There had started to be rumblings about spending so much on a shiny box - in jest you understand to start with but I knew I had better start producing the goods soon.

So here we are, 2 weeks in and friends have started to drop in around coffee time so we must be doing something right!

Thanks Chris - you were a great help.

[RiverDixon]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

On the Grinder front I have a Breville Smart Grinder. Paired with the 820 It has always been set about 2/3rd's the way on the Espresso Scale so I have no idea how it would pair with a better quality machine, will it grind fine enough?

>Talk_Coffee you mentioned earlier in this post that you had sold a few appartamento's. Any Feedback as yet?

(I'll have to fill out more profile info too, I/m located in Maitland NSW)

[sprezzatura]

Grinder is 80% of a good shot. Maybe more!

[TC]

Welcome RiverDixon,

dumiya's on the money there. Your machine will have been checked for pressure at the group in the bench test at the importer and then a second time by resellers who bench test before they sell gear. We run a bench test on every machine we sell. We do frequently make minor adjustments and occasionally reject a machine as well.

Find an outlet that tests their gear and you will be fine. If you're in Melbourne and would like to see one in action, we have an Appartamento and a whole heap of other machines on our demo bench.

Happy shopping.

[dumiya]

I think the most important gauge is the boiler pressure guage. This indicates that the water/steam temperature is correct. Some of our site sponsors will check that the brew pressure is correct using a commercial pressure tester under brew conditions. You can ask what pressure they have set it at for Australian type beans. (9bar?) You only really need the boiler pressure gauge. My old Rocket has one gauge and it makes superb coffee - using a Macap M4D grinder. My newer 2 gauge Rocket at home is really challenged even with a Mazzar Kony-e grinder. It is the grinder that is the critical component not the number of gauges.

[RiverDixon]

Hi All,

My first post.
The time has come for me to upgrade from my Breville BES820 and there is something about the Rocket Machines that has me captivated.
I really like the look of the Appartamento, so my question is, with no gauge to indicate pressure at the brew head will it be harder to learn on/ get the best extractions?

Any advice/ opinions welcome. Thanks.

[TC]

The panels are easy to remove for swapping and for cleaning

[ScottyF]

I've seen the Appartamento on the bench at Di Bartoli. It's a very attractive little machine. I quite like the copper coloured panel. I did wonder if cleaning the cutouts would be an issue if you get anything (e.g. coffee) in them.

I'm a big fan of Gail's Seattle Coffee Gear reviews. Her review of the Appartamento is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYEhmabfEfs

[BISHY]

How have the bench tests been with the Giotto v3 in comparison?

[WhereHaveYouBean]

I wished my budget could stretch to get this... certainly was in my shortlist with the VBM Jr and the Bezz BZ10. I actually like the retro holes on the side. But agreed with the plastic cup rails. They had to cut some costs somehow but still retain the Rocket soul.

[TC]

G'day symphonie,

We haven't used Mater since 2013- partly because the Expobar ones work really well and they are readily available- so time will tell...

The good thing is that domestic pressurestats are inexpensive. I guess we'll all know in a couple of years.

The (plenty of) Appartmentos we have sold so far have been excellent in bench test and the only significant adjustments we have been making is to increase boiler pressure a little as our Scace has them running a touch cool out of the box.

[symphonie]

Yes- confirming Mater pressurestat.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...erheating.html

As per the link back in 2013. Is it still true that expobar is the only domestic one that seems reliable?

[TC]

Yes- confirming Mater pressurestat.

[andybean]

It appears that the Apartamento uses a Mater domestic pressurestat. This is according to Rocket Appartamento | Talk Coffee which would be very accurate.