I'm on to my second BES920 (first one died and I got a free replacement), but am increasingly seeing these as throwaway units. The pile of broken ones on a shelf at my repairer only reinforced this.
My repairer pushed the Isomac Tea Due as a like for like machine, and demonstrated it producing a shot while also producing steam, despite it having a single boiler. He mentioned a three minute warmup time. Commercial link removed as per Site Posting Policy
At this point, if tells me that the Breville is not worth repairing then I'd be looking for a machine that I can love forever (or at the very least get serviced and sell should I feel the need to upgrade) and I'd most likely be tempted to pickup the Isomac from him the same day. Assuming that he can come close to matching the $2150 price that I found. Commercial link removed as per Site Posting Policy
Any reason not to? Any other machines that I should be looking at? Budget up to $3k for the machine, I have no idea on the gridner, another $750 maybe? In both regards I'm looking for the sweet spot where the law of diminishing returns only just starts to kick in.
I expect to also be needing a quality grinder to put under the Christmas tree, so suggestions in that department also welcome. I'm currently using the unit that came with the BES920 which seems decent, but I'm sure that it would be holding back a 'real' machines potential.
Oh, and for both the machines and the grinder, the aesthetic of the machine is very important to me. The Isomac scores only average point in that department, though of course that's subjective. My ideal would be a 1950's version of a futuristic looking machine, and would probably squeeze another $500 out of the budget for aesthetics alone.
Thanks in advance snobs! I'd not normally lean on you for advice like this, but time seems to be in very short supply at the moment...
My repairer pushed the Isomac Tea Due as a like for like machine, and demonstrated it producing a shot while also producing steam, despite it having a single boiler. He mentioned a three minute warmup time. Commercial link removed as per Site Posting Policy
At this point, if tells me that the Breville is not worth repairing then I'd be looking for a machine that I can love forever (or at the very least get serviced and sell should I feel the need to upgrade) and I'd most likely be tempted to pickup the Isomac from him the same day. Assuming that he can come close to matching the $2150 price that I found. Commercial link removed as per Site Posting Policy
Any reason not to? Any other machines that I should be looking at? Budget up to $3k for the machine, I have no idea on the gridner, another $750 maybe? In both regards I'm looking for the sweet spot where the law of diminishing returns only just starts to kick in.
I expect to also be needing a quality grinder to put under the Christmas tree, so suggestions in that department also welcome. I'm currently using the unit that came with the BES920 which seems decent, but I'm sure that it would be holding back a 'real' machines potential.
Oh, and for both the machines and the grinder, the aesthetic of the machine is very important to me. The Isomac scores only average point in that department, though of course that's subjective. My ideal would be a 1950's version of a futuristic looking machine, and would probably squeeze another $500 out of the budget for aesthetics alone.
Thanks in advance snobs! I'd not normally lean on you for advice like this, but time seems to be in very short supply at the moment...

I’ve plans to customise the finish, to a degree, so you may see me sharing somewhere in here in the coming weeks. Copper was out of stock so I’ll source my own copper inserts and hopefully also wrap the grinder to match.
Comment