Any recommendations on coffee machines. Looking at the range below the cafe’s but still quite nice. Something that can make an espresso and froth milk at the same time.
Best description comes from the Coffee Snobs site:
Brewing Equipment - Pointy End ($1500-$3000)
Pointy End ($1500-$3000) will find machines that are capable of making espresso at the same time that you are texturing milk. This end of the market also tends to get some real design flair and lot and lots of shiny stainless. Mostly the machines in this category are direct descendants of Cafe class machines
I don’t know anything about which brands are good, and which to stay away from. Also, where to buy them? I would like to stay away from Harvey Whinger and the like…
I’m taking it that it for your home or office? In the lingo, you’ll be after a one group or single group machine. A decent machine will set you back a fair bit. And you’ll also want to factor in a quality conical burr grinder ($500+), a well weighted tamper ($100 give or take), a matt and bucket … it all adds up. You’ll then need fresh good quality beans, and to know how to use the machine it and maintain it, if you want to make a decent cup.
A friend of mine who is a former restaurateur had a very good recommendation when buying a machine and that was to buy them secondhand at auctions of insolvent restaurants. Most restaurants are only using these single group machines but they are still good quality, with boilers that can handle pouring shots and steaming milk for more than one or two cups at a time.
The best single group machine that I’ve personally used is a Rocket Cellini Evo. However I really haven’t had much experience with many of these high-end domestic machines. This one from Bar 9 looks pretty schmick too.
Totally agree with above centiment, especially with regards to bang for buck. My favourite is a Chemex pourover. But to be honest comparing filter and espresso coffee is like comparing apples and oranges.
As previously pictured, the otto is great bang for buck, and I can do a bit of a discount on them too…
Otherwise for a decent one group machine you’re looking at minimum $2500, plus extras as DICE mentioned.
Second hand is a good option, coffeesnobs has some good ones on there that have usually been very well looked after and often its just coffee geeks upgrading to a more expensive machine. There was a Giotto Rocket on there for $1500 recently…
My work sells the Wega Mininova Classic which is a great machine and I can discount a bit on that too.
Email me ben@genovese.com.au if you want to check either the Otto or the Mininova out.
Mrs supermarket bought an ECM Giotto and a mini mazzer at mates rates before leaving hospitality. Neither have missed a beat in 6 years. Not cheap though
I’ve got one of these and it’s fucking fiddly. It takes a lot of patience to understand how to properly use it (grind/heat source and timing) but damn it can extract a good coffee for only about 3 bar pressure. If you have the time check it out, otherwise if you want to bang out a brew just use an aeropress (use this in the office).
