I own a Strietman, it’s beautiful in its simplicity and design but “shock horror”, it’s always the FL58 I go back to for feedback about my roasting and very often if I’m experimenting with different styles of shots.
I’m probably wrong but I think the new love affair with the smaller basket maybe because they help to hide flaws in the roast and make everything less transparent . Gloop & ? more perceived sweetness/mouth feel over clarity whereas the 58 basket holds no prisoners in comparison. Having said that I would still love to try the Graph step down in my Flair.
Even with the Gabor PPK kit your sort of in the right area, the same with temperature management. It’s not a finger in the wind or imprecise but it’s not exact and the shot volume capacity , whilst adequate, is not as large as the FL58.
I did consider a Cremina direct lever but apart from the milk steaming capability, the Strietman won out hands down:- Incredibly well built and balanced with minimal maintenance, no chance of boiler overheating, you can pull back to back shots, it’s not under pressure so the seals last for an incredibly long time, you have excellent support from Wouter, a finish that doesn’t flake off ( I’ve read the new Cremina Chroming process has had its problems ) , less parts to fail and although not cheap the Strietman parts are less expensive that parts for the Cremina and probably more easily accessible for the U.K.
If I really wanted to go to town with fine tuning temp, pressure, flow, volume etc then I would go for something like the Decent. It seems to be a bit of a Chameleon in a good way with its different profiles capabilities ( you don’t need to pull on a lever to have a lever profile 😆) . I don’t know much about what other machines have to offer as it’s only the Decent that has ever really peaked my interest but I’ve always thought that John Buckman has done an incredible job with it and offers so much support and opportunity to learn.
I wouldn’t however swap my Strietman for a Decent but I would the Flair , unfortunately no chance of that happening 😆
