[Daniel]

Just purchased an espresso machine yesterday.. I must say how happy we are with it so far.. Despite being on my 30th cup of coffee and a little jittery, things are good.. Its pretty expensive but, it comes with a William Sonoma lifetime warranty.. The thing costs around a grand and was recommended over machines that cost three times the amount.. Because I purchased it before March 31st I am mailing away for a free automatic milk holder frother thing.. Does anyone have any experience with this machine..

[rancho_gordo]

Daniel, on Mar 11 2007, 04:30 AM, said:

Just purchased an espresso machine yesterday.. I must say how happy we are with it so far.. Despite being on my 30th cup of coffee and a little jittery, things are good.. Its pretty expensive but, it comes with a William Sonoma lifetime warranty.. The thing costs around a grand and was recommended over machines that cost three times the amount.. Because I purchased it before March 31st I am mailing away for a free automatic milk holder frother thing.. Does anyone have any experience with this machine..

No, but can you post a photo?

[Orik]

Is that the fully automated thing that gives you no control over the pull? (stick beans here, water here, press here, hope for the best?) if it's the one I'm thinking of, it's very reliable, but the results are not as good (crema/tempreature wise) as some of the more manual machines.

[Daniel]

I am sorry to say I dont know what the Pull means .. My knowledge of espresso comes from ordering it at restaurants.. It gives you five settings to choose from for the fineness of the grind.. It also allows you to choose three settings between mild, standard and strong.. If you put the grind to the finest setting, it grinds 50 percent more beans then the most coarse setting.. I only know this because I just watched the DVD it came with.. The crema happens to be pretty impressive because of the high pressure, the temp I have no control over.. But yeh, it does appear to be pretty automated.. There is a water filter, it self cleans, its a matter of pressing buttons and turning knobs..

[Eddie L]

Orik,

The Impressa is a superauto, so yeah it's got less control than a semi-auto with separate grinder.

Espresso snobs look down their nose at superautos because of the lack of control, but for many people it's a much better solution than a full-on manual setup. There are times when I wish I had something easier to use, rather than the grinder/tamper/HX machine song and dance.

There's a thread on eG where ya-roo was asking about superautos. She had a lever-pull Gaggia that many of us were lusting for, but she found it too fussy. It's perfectly reasonable to find an easier path to espresso if it works for you.

[Daniel]

Ahh geeze.. I dont know enough yet to be a snob but, already I think I would prefer a semi-auto for personal use.. I have large groups of people over so I need to be able to bang out 18 or 20 cups of espresso quickly.. The super auto will work well in that scenario.. The down time between double pours is a 20 or 30 seconds..

[rancho_gordo]

Is this it? It's beautiful!

[Daniel]

Daniel, on Mar 12 2007, 10:30 AM, said:

For short ribs, mine takes at least 20 hours.. I do one of two things.. I either smoke them for a little.. Then brown, then add celery, carrot, black pepper corns, bay leaves, onion,at least a bottle of wine, (also demi glace most of the time) and a little thyme.. Return the ribs and let that cook for at least a day (12 to 15 hours)on low.. About 5-7 hours prior to eating, I will defat the mixture.. Then, I add a second set of browned ribs to the pot.. I like to have the stewed shredded ribs as well as large pieces I can serve on the bone.. I will sometimes put a little cinammon in the mix to add an interesting spice..

Thats the 3600 or 4600 dollar version and it is gorgeous..


I have the 1000 dollar version, still attractive but, that guy above is like a center piece..

[hollywood]

$1,000? Is there a reliable, low maintenance, no brainer machine that turns out good solo and doppio espressos for mid-three figures (or less)?

[Melonious Thunk]

I switched from a full manual Olympia to a semi-automatic Rocky Silvia and I am very happy with the result. The taste and crema are far better than I was getting with the Olympia. Blame it on me,since I probably wasn't packing or pulling the lever with the right force or speed every time. And since I could not duplicate the pressure manually the results varied from cup to cup. The Silvia does the "pumping" or "pulling" and I just need to count the seconds for a single or double.

Truth be told, i felt like more of a coffee geek with the Olympia, but the end result was more important.

What grinder are you using, Daniel?

[hollywood]

Looks like a clean machine, Thunk.

[Behemoth]

hollywood, on May 23 2007, 06:23 PM, said:

Looks like a clean machine, Thunk.

I think several of us have the Silvia. It is a great machine, at about $700. We had a superautomatic before this but the quality to (actually very minimal) work tradeoff was totally worth it for us. The only caveat is that you get the best results if you buy a good grinder too, but that puts you again in the four-figure range.

[Melonious Thunk]

Yup. The grinder makes a huge difference. I have a Mazzer mini in the city and a Rocky Rancilo at the lake house. The taste of coffee is so much better with these grinders.

[figs]

Melonious Thunk, on May 23 2007, 07:15 PM, said:

I switched from a full manual Olympia to a semi-automatic Rocky Silvia and I am very happy with the result. The taste and crema are far better than I was getting with the Olympia. Blame it on me,since I probably wasn't packing or pulling the lever with the right force or speed every time. And since I could not duplicate the pressure manually the results varied from cup to cup. The Silvia does the "pumping" or "pulling" and I just need to count the seconds for a single or double.

Truth be told, i felt like more of a coffee geek with the Olympia, but the end result was more important.

What grinder are you using, Daniel?

My guy is a semi auto also, I just throw the beans into the machine.. Press how many ounces, how strong a coffee and the thing goes to work.. So no grinding pumping or pulling for this guy.. Its been rather lonely actually...

[Ron Johnson]

hollywood, on May 23 2007, 06:33 PM, said:

$1,000? Is there a reliable, low maintenance, no brainer machine that turns out good solo and doppio espressos for mid-three figures (or less)?

Francis Francis X5. But, mine broke after 3 years. It's probably something simple, but I have no idea what or who can fix it. No lifetime warranty with Francis.