Archive for October, 2008

Obtaining a true espresso machine has been long term goal of mine, however I’ve been repeatedly thwarted by a lack of funds combined with the high prices of a true 15 bar espresso machine.

Obviously this is a picture I just grabbed from the web. My attempt at photographing my machine was a complete failure and I have no time to try again, perhaps later.

However, now that I’m happily graduated and employed and happened to see good deal on woot, I made my move.

In the past few years, my interests had shifted more toward wine and away from coffee. Although my passion for wine has not diminished and coffee seems to be making a come back as my pallet continues to change. I am by no means a coffee connoisseur, my knowledge of wine far surpasses that of coffee, although I do enjoy a well brewed cappuccino and sorely missed the wonderful coffee experiences had in France and Italy. To put it simply, I wanted something more then the bland, bitter, watered down ,”latte” and “cappuccino” you get at Starbucks or Caribou. I was hoping to get a Rancilio Silvia, as this seems to be the standard in the pro-consumer barista market. This was not an option however – over the past few years the price ballooned from a reasonable $499 to $699. At $699 the Rancilio was out of my price range, and at that level I would consider waiting and purchasing a slightly more expensive Expobar or Pasquini. $150 for the Breville seemed like quite a deal, considering new the machine goes for $400 (despite being refurbished).

Upon arrival I first examined the exterior for any scratches or blemishes, as this was a refurbished machine I expected at least a few. Surprisingly there were none to be found and all the accessories and manual seemed to be in place. I machine seemed to be well constructed, as previous reviews I read earlier mentioned. The portafilter was nice and substantial, and the steam wand was positioned on a ball joint allowing it to pivot wherever it was needed (much better then the previous Saeco I had experience with). I filled the water reservoir with purified water and turned the machine on, letting it warm up until the heat light had turned off. I then went ahead and pulled one blank shot, and continued to do so until the reservoir was near empty. The first thing I noticed was the pump was rather loud comparatively but not unbearable, especially considering how loud frothing can get. I then went ahead and tried the steam wand, as well as the hot water dispenser. Although the machine was able to produce hot water at a good rate, the steam simply was not enough to heat or froth milk. I knew there had to be something wrong, so I first removed the metal sheath used to enhance the frothing process. This did not alleviate the problem and I continued to search for the issue. Finally, I removed the tip of the steam wand, ran some steam and water through it, and replaced the tip hoping any possible obstruction had passed. This seemed to do the trick and steam began coming out at a normal rate.

I’ve been using the machine for a good month now on a daily basis and am generally pleased with the results. The pre-infusion system seems to work well, and generally pucks come out moist but not watery. As many reviews have stated before the espresso lacks the signature thick chocolate espresso goodness and has far too much crema due to the unnecessary pressurized filter basket.  It should also be noted this machine drinks quite a bit of water.  I find myself refilling the water reservoir about once every three shots.  Keep in mind this is three separate uses, and each time I pull a blank shot to warm up the portafilter and shot glasses.  As recommended, I’ve already ordered the Krups filter basket to replace the current pressurized basket that came with the machine, hopefully this will further improve my results.

This machine works well for my needs and produced espresso far superior to Starbucks and other chain cafes. Individuals looking for a machine capable of producing world-class espresso should look elsewhere. The lack of a boiler combined with the small group head just isn’t going to get to the temperature stability needed to extract top end espresso. However for those like myself who simply want a well brewed cappuccino in the morning, this is hard to beat.

UPDATE: I finally recieved my Krups filter basket in the mail the other day.  If you own this machine I would HIGHLY recomend purchasing it.  It will durastically increase the performance of the machine, and give it the ability to pull truely great 20-30sec shots.  The only downside is the performance between shots is a bit scatterd compared to before.  I would make sure you tamp each shot properly and firmly, as well as warm the portafilter and shot glasses prior to taking your first shot, this will increase the quality of your shots dramatically.