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Which machines meet my simplistic requirements?

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  • Newbstarr
    replied
    I actually took the advise served here so thank you all for your time. I was looking at some Italian stainless steel stuff and some built in to the wall stuff. My partner pointed out people in the thread were constantly pushing the breville dual boiler so why not give it a go. I checked out the breville dual boiler, with its loud af vibration pump which is also a tank set up and not plumbed in but serves my requirements otherwise. The steamer is not generally ready when the infuser is but the whole thing was cheap and crucially does make a decent tasting drink.

    So instead of putting in what I was initially thinking about, I've gone this dual boiler way. The dual boiler stands up to our 10+ cups a day use and didn't seem to have an issue not being used when no one is around. Given the purchase price of just on $1k aud I'm happy enough with it, my reality is very modulated from my initial ideal. I was finding stuff under 4k that was reasonable but the start up times were just crazy long compared to this appliance level machine which ultimately wins for that reason. Its not as nice but its sufficiently pretty and it works. I wonder if my partner would appreciate a similar appraisal.

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  • EspressoAdventurer
    replied
    Originally posted by tompoland View Post
    .Although I'm not sure why I'm still trying to help by posting here, given that newbstarr hasn't posted since April 19th.
    Yep an alltime classic Dorothy Dixxer this here Tom.
    Although I note Caffienator very recently returned serve with the more than appropriate classic 'Kyrios' underarm drop net serve!

    Leave a comment:


  • tompoland
    replied
    The Decent warms up in 4min 30 seconds (yes, that is literally 4.5min - I've tested it) so it is possible for sure but not at that price range.

    Manual machines like a Flair (non 58 variety) or Portapresso can also be ready to go in less than a handful of minutes but you get group head temperate stability issues with them and most people don't want the faffing around that they require. I quite like the faffing with the Flair and Portapresso but then again I only use them when travelling so it's more of a novelty that would probably wear off with daily use. But if you are OK with faffing...

    Although I'm not sure why I'm still trying to help by posting here, given that newbstarr hasn't posted since April 19th.

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  • dbun
    replied
    The 5 minute warm-up is impossible, however, can be managed with a smart plug that you can set to come on early enough to warm up properly, or you can trigger to turn on remotely so by the time you get home it's had some time to warm up.

    I have a Bezzera BZ-10 that warms up fast due to the heated group head (non-e61), however I like to give that machine a solid 20 mins to fully heat up.

    Leave a comment:


  • Caffeinator
    commented on 's reply
    Unobtainium. Buy a POD machine and a milk whizzy thingy.
    Yep- Budget and expectations are nowhere near aligned, unless you are thinking used or an appliance machine and then you still get to forget about 5 minutes and plumbing it.

  • AtomicGrog
    replied
    For something as low as 4-20 shots/day most prosumer machines should be able to cover it. I've had a ECM Electronika for last 8 years and recently calculated based on coffee purchases that it's averaged 4.8 shots a day. It's not been completely faultless but wasn't really at fault either (being tipped on it's side while tank was full had some side effects...). It has both plumbed and tank option i believe with the rotary pump via a lever/switch.

    I went for the Electronika over the other variants because of ease of use (you might well be able to manually time a coffee well but in my experience the wife and teenagers simply dont get the point) and leave a lovely mess behind...

    As for 5 min warmup.. unless you want to serve up acid flavour shots don't even try, these things take their time to warm and they need to stabalise, i dont use at less than say 10-15 mins.

    JetBlack Espresso has some decent pics/details as Amberale mentioned, and just happens to be where i got mine all those years ago.

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  • amberale
    replied
    When you say manual lever actuated do you mean a lever machine ( Londinium, Izzo Alex/Valexia, Cremina) or an E61 machine with a small lever to operate the pump (Bianca, ECM Synchronika, Profitec Pro700)?
    A good starting point would be a search on JetBlack's home page for home machines/plumbable/duel boiler.
    Then you could move on to other site sponsors websites.

    Leave a comment:


  • tompoland
    commented on 's reply
    Newbstar agree with Ronin but I'll up it by 1k so unless you go for a Breville Dual Boiler you are looking at 4 to 5k for a new machine. Quality used machines pop up for sale here regularly so if you have a bit of time that's a really good option for you.

  • Ronin
    commented on 's reply
    Honestly if you want a new machine with these requirements I would add about $1000 - $2000 to your budget.
    A good quality heat exchanger will suit on the cheaper end, dual boiler on the pointy end.
    5 min start up time is unrealistic. Allow 20min

  • Barry O'Speedwagon
    replied
    *You don't mention where you are based. Make sure that whatever you get can be serviced locally.
    * the issue of being able to deal with days of low/non-use is a non-issue unless you are planning to leave town for a long period
    *do you already have a decent grinder?
    *as above, all steel / copper e-61 machines are going to a lot longer than 5 minutes to warm up. Get a timer.
    *prices have crept up over the past few years, you might finding something by ECM/Expobar/Diadema/Lelit/Profitec at the upper end of this range
    *serving 20 people at one meeting is going to take you some time, regardless. But I guess you know that. A machine with greater boilier capacity will probably help the consistency of shots in this regard.

    Leave a comment:


  • Newbstarr
    replied
    I was hoping to keep the budget under 3 thousand hence this forum 1.5k … 3k. I’ve been looking around a bit and want something that fits my use. An all metal, manual lever actuated dual boiler plumbed in machine I could use for a 6 to 8 years or more would be great for the new place. I was thinking a straight cafe or large office machine would require a certain amount of use while my use is home mostly with get together and occasional meetings etc.

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  • amberale
    replied
    Hey Folks
    I am afraid that your warm up time is unrealistic/unobtainium.
    What is your price range?

    Leave a comment:


  • Newbstarr
    started a topic Which machines meet my simplistic requirements?

    Which machines meet my simplistic requirements?

    • Quiet, preferred. Prefer manual to automated, no automatic milk steamers please, they are disgusting, soy sticks to them etc.
    • Can pump coffee, steam milk and chew bubble gum at the same time, suspect dual boilers.
    • Can start up and make coffee in minutes, 5 or less.
    • Can service 1 to 20 people comfortably with typical use in the 2,3 … 20 cups a day at the notice while handling no use or little use days. Typical 4 cups a day. It’s not actually an office, it’s a personal use machine so handling light no use for short periods of time rather than requiring regular harder use but also semi regular groups.
    • Prefer plumbed in option, would prefer to fix a water line rather than a tank but if the machine hits the other requirements then a tank would be tolerable.
    • Easy maintenance, prefer to avoid plastics, current dual boiler metal and plastic thing with noisy magnetic pump has nasty plastics. It lasted an extremely long time, like 8 years but it’s pretty skanky looking where I suspect metal would do a better job.
    • I’m thinking something prosumer but will they start up fast from idle/off and deal with lower use days?
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