Where to start..

MattH Right — I cool the 9Barista under cold water, and streamline the process by starting the water heating process for the second shot, and then grinding and putting the top on while the water is heating up.

I once timed myself doing back-to-back shots with the 9Barista. I wasn’t rushing to set a record — I wanted to see what the real-world experience would be.

After pouring the first espresso, I started my stopwatch. I went to the sink and ran cold water over the 9Barista until it was cool enough to take apart the three sections. I released the safety valve, rinsed out the bottom and middle sections, and dried them off with a towel. I filled the bottom reservoir with water, screwed the middle section on, put it on the stove, and turned the heat on.

While the water for the second espresso was heating up, I popped the basket out of the top section, took the puck screen out, and knocked the puck out. I cleaned the top part, the basket, and the puck screen, and dried them off with a towel.

Then I measured out the coffee beans for the second shot and ground them, I filled the basket, tamped, put the puck screen on, and attached the top part to the middle and bottom sections that were on the stove.

At this point my stopwatch was at 5 minutes 24 seconds. I was close to when the water would be boiling, as I could see bubbles under the top of the middle section as I was attaching the top section on. (This doesn’t always happen. Since I did this timed run, I have a new grinder that’s faster — 10 seconds instead of 35 seconds for grinding — and so I can get the top section on quicker. This won’t affect the total time for the back-to-back shot, just this part of the process.)

Espresso started coming out 17 seconds later. The extraction time was 29 seconds.

So the total time from starting to cool off the 9Barista right after pouring the first shot to finishing the extraction for the second shot was 6 minutes 10 seconds.

Given how close the water was to boiling when I attached the top section to the middle and bottom sections, my sense is that the main bottleneck from one shot to the next is the time it takes for the water to heat up. So washing out the middle and bottom sections first, and then getting a headstart on heating the water for the second shot is a really good move.

In my experience, the workflow for doing back-to-back shots is pretty straightforward, and if you do this on a regular basis, I think anyone can get it down to 6-½ minutes or less.

If you can collect from Gosport I have very reliable Sage Barista Express you could have for £200. I’m emigrating to Spain tomorrow night and I’m buying a Bianca when I arrive.

-Mac Safe travels!

MattH I wonder if I need all the bells and whistles and instead just need a simple workflow to make good coffee (and anything to stop me continously tinkering)

You can make good coffee with a V60 which costs about £10. So you ask: why bother with fancy machines? It depends what you want. With the MaraX, you can make excellent coffee, same with the Pro-400. The Bianca has a quiet and rotary pump - which doesn’t impact the quality of the coffee. But it has a flow control valve, and allows you to have a fine control of the brew temperature and steam temperature, along with some pre-infusion features.

I don’t remember which machine you have, but upgrading is a very complex decision. I myself found slight overwhelming when upgraded from my Gaggia Classic.

Ultimately, find what you want and plan ahead. The worst possible outcome is that you to for the Pro-400 and then start wondering if, for a given coffee, you’d have been better off with some of the features of the Bianca.

It’s worth pointing out the joys of ownership factor and other aspects which don’t necessarily impact the quality of the coffee and can factor differently for different people.

Aesthetics being the obvious one.

The rotary pump is also mentioned above. There’s a significant difference in volume, some people could literally not care less, for some they couldn’t imagine going back to a vibration pump.

Maintenance. An E61 machine needs regular minor disassembly and lubrication. It’s not a big job by any means but it’s a job nonetheless.

Dual-boiler. This is a bit more of a functional one. If you drink a lot of milk drinks I’d personally say it’s almost imperative that you go dual boiler for efficiency and temperature stability when steaming milk.

It’s an expensive purchase and there are arguably more factors than just ‘great coffee’ which most of the available machines are ultimately capable of.

It’s how I ended up with a Linea Mini. On paper it does less than the Bianca I had which is an incredibly capable endgame machine but I enjoy owning and using the Linea more.

Ernie1 Whole Latte Love reviewed the Bianca a while back and they mentioned some of the fit and finishing was a bit rough and ready.

I wouldn’t expect a dual boiler at £2K to be comparable to a machine that costs twice as much in terms of finish, it has to compromise somewhere to be that price.

Lelit Bianca in the classifieds £1200 and a niche job done