Interesting and informative read, thanks for posting! Kees van der Westen certainly makes some far out looking machines but are not our typical made-for-home equipment. I think the Mirage goes for around $12K US. In reading through their write up, they mentioned a couple times that they modified their Hx/E61 system to improve upon it and gain brewing temp stability but I don’t think our common household Hx machines get this level of mod when we pay $1,500.
The article mentions a short cooling flush, 30-45cc which is pretty small but as I think back to E61 Hx machines I’ve used, that’s in the range I recall the flush to be, only takes a few seconds and yes, if you dwell too long, you will need to wait a few minutes before brewing to allow the temp to get back to brew temp.
Thing is, a lot of people buy mid level prosumer machines and spend a lot of money but end up making milk based drinks in which case, did they over spend? ha ha Yeah, I know I did. I had planned on drinking mainly espresso but my wife likes latte’s and in order to get a nice microfoam froth, I need to use enough milk for two and I don’t like to just throw the extra away, so I cave and drink latte’s with her most of the time. Oh well, I like my machine anyway even just to look at it :-)
The article mentions a short cooling flush, 30-45cc which is pretty small but as I think back to E61 Hx machines I’ve used, that’s in the range I recall the flush to be, only takes a few seconds and yes, if you dwell too long, you will need to wait a few minutes before brewing to allow the temp to get back to brew temp.
Thing is, a lot of people buy mid level prosumer machines and spend a lot of money but end up making milk based drinks in which case, did they over spend? ha ha Yeah, I know I did. I had planned on drinking mainly espresso but my wife likes latte’s and in order to get a nice microfoam froth, I need to use enough milk for two and I don’t like to just throw the extra away, so I cave and drink latte’s with her most of the time. Oh well, I like my machine anyway even just to look at it :-)

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