c.£1500 - what espresso machine to buy?

Uncletits

smallblueplanet Comparison oh and they’re a great machine

smallblueplanet

It does look good, any reason you have both or is it photoshopped?! :D

smallblueplanet

HarveyMushman Talking of repeating yourself… I’ve mentioned many times that the temperature stability of a saturated group has a beneficial impact on a single shot during extraction. Arguably more so than it’s ability to make multiple coffees at a constant temp which is something most dual boilers can do anyway regardless of group.

I’d go as far as saying the average Joe could probably taste the difference in a like-for-like shot of medium to light roasted coffee between an E61 and saturated group.

I have to admit to not knowing what that means. :) But looking through YT vid reviews and such I did come across a point about e61s that made me wonder. How long do they take to warm up, is it a long wait if you suddenly decide you fancy a coffee?

HarveyMushman

smallblueplanet

It’s hard to put a blanket statement out that says E61s take longer to heat up as there’s too many machines with other variables that impact that. Some are quicker than others but yes, in theory waiting for a big chunk of brass to fully heat up is likely to take longer than some other group types.

I may have remembered this incorrectly but I think the Lelit Elizabeth heats up fairly quickly? Perhaps some owners can advise.

Cuprajake

bianca is warm in 15mins

other e61 20-25 mins unless they now have heating tech in them

crazily £1500 isnt an easy budget, you are just off the top end dual boilers and just over the single boiler stuff

id always recomend a dual boiler as you have more temp stability, esp if you are a milk steamer

the liz is a vibe pump - one reason i never bought a liz, the noise

smallblueplanet

Cuprajake You know the worst thing is it always seems that whatever I’m looking for my chosen price point is midway between top and bottom! I never know which way to jump and in this case as soon as I think, be sensible I then think oh but you might regret not being able to ‘play’ with the settings.

I suppose I should look at HX machines to be fully in the middle. What about a ECM Mechanika Max? But am so not sure I want to spend that much. It looks cool though.

dfk41

Cuprajake the liz is a vibe pump - one reason i never bought a liz, the noise

the vibe pump in it is the ‘quiet’ vibe pump Lelit produce. It is certainly noisier than a rotary but much quieter than the usual. She over heats to 116 degrees then drops back down to in my case 93 meaning 15 mins and is ready to go. A feature I do like is if I decide I want to steam, it takes 5 maximum minutes to come to 140

FadedFrontiers

Cuprajake the liz is a vibe pump - one reason i never bought a liz, the noise

It’s definitely more pleasant on the ears than a Decent though isn’t it.

Vibe pumps get way too much hate for something that is functionally very similar and significantly cheaper to replace than a rotary, but do understand that many are willing to pay that for a quieter shot of espresso.

Uncletits

smallblueplanet this was the day the Elizabeth arrived so the Classic went. We’ve since gone to an ECM Mechanika Max as I wanted a traditional E61 with extras

Uncletits

HarveyMushman 20 mins and good to go

Uncletits

smallblueplanet look at Dave’s comments on this forum just search for the machine

DavecUK

smallblueplanet I suppose I should look at HX machines to be fully in the middle. What about a ECM Mechanika Max? But am so not sure I want to spend that much. It looks cool though.

It’s a good machine, I have one and I like it, I think I did a review on it on my YT channel…I also advised a bit on it’s development. I just checked I didn’t do a review…I really thought I had?

What I like about the Mechanika Max:

Almost dual boiler brew temp control
Minimal energy use and energy used for steaming isn’t wasted in a separate boiler that cools down
Runs at almost dual boiler brew boiler temps
ready to steam in 20 seconds e.g. put the steam boiler on at the start of a shot and it’s ready to steam by the time the shot finishes.

A clever and quite excellent machine.

smallblueplanet

Uncletits

So from Classic to Elizabeth to Max. I can’t help but believe you will have upgraded your grinder too?

Uncletits

DavecUK I think you did a little review on here or spoke about you using it anyway that and Marco turned me towards it

Uncletits

smallblueplanet yes a Niche Zero for me as I use medium to medium dark beans - never missed a beat

Uncletits

smallblueplanet actually had a Mechanika Slim too so a basic HX machine but built very well hence stayed brand loyal

smallblueplanet

Uncletits I think I’d better stop looking at the Max it really looks great, but I think too much cost for us #sensibleheadon

I’m looking at the Classika PID, but might checkout the Slim. Too much choice, lol!

Cuprajake

May have missed it but do you do milk?

If not jve always liked the look of these

https://bellabarista.co.uk/collections/single-boiler/products/ecm-puristika-1

But e61 groups can swing

The ring groups that are attached to the boiler seem to do better

smallblueplanet

Cuprajake We mostly do americanos, but that is because of the old Classic. Not sure what we’ll mostly drink when we get a shiny new machine. :) (PS can’t deal with the funny water tank of the Puristika :D )

smallblueplanet

I’ve had a think and I think we can’t afford the machine I’d like the Mechanika Max, so I think I might get the Profitec Go. But (unknowable question) will I be happy with it, because I won’t be trading up any time soon…?

dfk41

smallblueplanet You are buying a machine where I do not think anyone on the forum owns one. If there are any owners they are in the minority. Does that mean anything? Not in the slightest! If you think the Go has your name on it, buy it and be damned!

Cuprajake

With the go

Personally i wouldn’t

What about the mara x

smallblueplanet

Cuprajake

Why wouldn’t you? It’s probably top of it’s class?

Edit: But anyway I won’t atm as they are out of stock!!!

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