[Spyder]

Wondering what type/brand of espresso machine all of you own... Contrary to popular belief, great espresso can be achieved at home with decent equipment... Thanks!

[bigmike787]

Well as previously posted, I have a La San Marco 85e and a Mahlkonig K30 grinder. My grinder recently had a complete refurb done by Gary Horne at Mahlkonig. He replaced the entire motor/grind assembly with the new anti-static ring and a brand spanking new set of burrs. He also replace a board in the grinder, which was the whole reason I sent it to him. My machinery is overkill for a home environment, but my mamma spoiled me as a child, so what can I say.

[Spyder]

Yeah that is a nice setup for sure. Overkill is a relative word according to some. I have a friend that started out with a KitchenAid Pro Line machine/grinder. I modded his grinder by transplanting Mazzer Mini burrs into it, which was a huge success but does require some ingenuity to make it all fall into place. He was OK with that setup for awhile until he just had to ask me what I'd want for the ultimate home grinder. Told him the K30 without question. Then he placed a last minute bid on one and won the thing. As if that wasn't enough he just had to have an Elektra espresso machine as he considers them to be the pinnacle of all things espresso. He soon bought a nice used Elektra Semi Automatica.

Granted this is a very nice setup and to each his own, but he uses it to make an average of 2 milk based drinks WEEKLY. Then covers any existing flavor with vanilla syrup to boot. Simply put he has that setup way more for bragging rights than any other reason. Sad thing is he is still no better barista than he was with the Pro Line setup. I wouldn't touch his straight espresso with a 10' pole.

[bigmike787]

I've struggled a bit with this new machine and I'm still not there yet. Part of the problem is the bolt that holds the shower screen, it's huge! So I ended up buying a tripple basket and only dosing about 16g of coffee into it. That's the way I've had some success. With the double basket, I kept getting that pronounced bolt imprint in the middle of the puck. That was only dosing about 12g of coffee too. I'm thinking of putting an accumulator between my pump and water bottle too. I think the pulsing of the pump is throwing things off a bit.

[Spyder]

Dialing in a machine to a grinder to a specific bean can take some time. Too often I read about people thinking if you have decent equipment it all falls into place right away.

Funny you mention the accumulator as I've thought about installing one in our mobile operation for several months now. When it was built just a pump was put in to feed the espresso machine and sink faucets and it pulses on and on. As you probably know rotary pumps build pressure relative to incoming pressure. The pressure gauge on the Aurelia will hit a high of 7.5 bars~ then slowly drop down to maybe 6 bars, then pulse back up. Thing is the extractions are excellent and I almost look at it as a default pressure profiling system. If I have slightly higher/more steady pressure I should be able to grind a bit finer and get more of an extraction out of the puck. Also, having an accumulator will help the pump last longer because it won't work as hard as it is now.

[jonesmary150]

Keurig B60, Keurig B40 and Keurig B70 are the best coffee machines which I have.

[KoffiePit]

I have an Expobar single group commercial machine with built in burr grinder.

[bigmike787]

I had an Expobar Office Pulsar, but had a lot of problems with that machine running way too hot. I put a flow restrictor in and it did help, but I was still having to flush way too much water. I ended up selling the machine and upgrading to a Bezzera BZ99.

How is the onboard grinder? I've read a lot of bad things about the onboard grinders.

[KoffiePit]

Mike, I took the machine over from a client that upgraded to a 2 group La Scala and did a complete strip down and rebuild. Have been using it for about 18 months now and never had any problems. The grinder works without hassles so far. It's an uncomplicated machine, which I find to be very well built - good quality components and well put together.
Here is a pic of mine just after rebuilding.

[jayng77]

Hi,

if you are interested in espresso machine, you can drop me a call @ 8121 5558 and perhaps you can drop my my office to take a look. I have beans and machines. I've Cimbali, Wega, Mahlkonig and Fiorenzato.


Thank you
Jay