Coffee machine

[Spinnekop]

What about one of these?

 

 

V12man.

 

I wish I had HALF your knowledge on this subject!!

Help regarding choices will be greatly appreciated.

 

Mostly budget orientated though.

I have seen the Braville running around R6k mark which seems not too bad for a "starter".

[Weight Weenie]

What about one of these?

 

 

You, Sir, are evil!

[101SCC]

Most barista's in SA are ABSOLUTELY clueless.... give them your Delonghi, and I guarantee a disaster...

 

The big machines are such a pleasure to use - once they are set up it is actually hard to get it wrong - yet lots of baristas with them do - quite how, I have no idea sometimes.

 

My least favourite is the one the Seattle at VW Hatfield Bryanston always seems to make - she makes the milk so hot it scalds your tongue... now where is 101SCC....?

 

You called?

VW SCC is closing end of July.

To use the term Barista would be an exaggeration.

It was supposed to be an empowerment thing and the 'empoweree's' just kept leaving!

[V12man]

You called?

VW SCC is closing end of July.

To use the term Barista would be an exaggeration.

It was supposed to be an empowerment thing and the 'empoweree's' just kept leaving!

 

Open to lowball offers on the GB5?

[V12man]

V12man.

 

I wish I had HALF your knowledge on this subject!!

Help regarding choices will be greatly appreciated.

 

Mostly budget orientated though.

I have seen the Braville running around R6k mark which seems not too bad for a "starter".

 

R6k for a thermoblock based machine is a waste of 6k - save up a bit more and do what WeightWeenie did - Great grinder and solid machine - will take him years to get everything possible out of those machines - you never want to feel limited by the machine.

 

My suggestion for you would be to acquire a great grinder - Mazzer, Compak, Maelkoenig or similar - spend your 6k there first and then look for a machine once you have used up the capabilities of your existing machine.

 

Breville do make a worthwhile machine - their double boiler - but I have NEVER seen it for sale in SA - it's about 1300USD in the states, and is good machine - reviewed extensively on coffeegeek and home-barista, but until you play with it you never really know....

 

And the NS Oscar at the moment (aesthetics aside ) is a great deal for a home machine, and hard to fault - I tried hard to get WW to spring for a Musica, which is the next one up in the range, but failed... The musica passes my aesthetic test... and has a few internal features that are better than the Oscar, but which can be added by a dedicated home mechanic/fiddler... (gigleur and OPV)

 

At the end of the day, the more you spend, the less time you fiddle with the machine to overcome it's limitations - although beyond a point, the gains are pretty marginal and the costs are high.

 

For me at home - I still like the look of the single group slayer.... when we move offices next year, we will probably put up a 2 group machine - a full commercial one - but which one exactly is difficult to decide... I know what I want, but they are like looking for hens teeth..

[DIPSLICK]

1 TIN OF RICOFFE

[101SCC]

Open to lowball offers on the GB5?

 

V12M,

 

Doubt we have a GB5 there, more than likely FB70.

It will belong to VW as they bought the equipment to set up the BEE venture.

 

We don't use GB5's we use FB80's due to the 'Seattle Blue' cover that is made exclusively for us.

We do have some spare FB70's at the office, in particular a 2 group that we had the cover sprayed in a 'Lexus Pearl White' beautiful!

 

Can't wait to set up the Strada that is on the way for our Roastery in CT.

 

On the milk discussion, that is of huge debate as I'm sure you know.

 

The 3rd Wave guys are going 'cooler' milk with 'lighter' single origin roasts and serving flat white's.

We are not convinced, preferring the darker blended roasts.

Scalding Milk we all agree is too hot!

The temperature before this point is a big discussion item.

WW likes his cooler and loads of other customers like it hotter.

 

The little GS3's are awesome, we have 2 and they are amazing little guys, not cheap, but must be pretty high on your aesthetic scale!

[101SCC]

V12man.

 

I wish I had HALF your knowledge on this subject!!

Help regarding choices will be greatly appreciated.

 

Mostly budget orientated though.

I have seen the Braville running around R6k mark which seems not too bad for a "starter".

 

Spider Guy,

 

I bought the Breville Grinder in December and I have been really impressed...being an Aussie Co their culture of Coffee is huge. It show's in their products, like duel boilers etc...

 

http://www.brevilleu...rt-grinder.html

 

I can obviously get Mazzer, Anfim etc but opted to go with this slightly 'friendlier' home grinder.

Not as manual as our aspiring Barista WW would like, but detailed enough for me.

Edited July 16, 2013 by 101SCC

[Zeffer]

I have a Cafelux machine if anyone is interested. It is a red one.

 

Friend bought it less than 6 months ago from Kalahari.com so it still under warranty. Still has some pods as well. Uses Nespresso pods as well.

 

Offers around R500

[Zeffer]

I have a Cafelux machine if anyone is interested. It is a red one.

 

Friend bought it less than 6 months ago from Kalahari.com so it still under warranty. Still has some pods as well. Uses Nespresso pods as well.

 

Offers around R500

 

 

...better still, will swop for a used 26" MTB fork which can still fit V-brakes (fix my wife's bike)

[V12man]

V12M,

 

Doubt we have a GB5 there, more than likely FB70.

 

Could easily be - I am not that good at identifying machines - can identify an old Linea easily

 

It will belong to VW as they bought the equipment to set up the BEE venture

 

Good... I have some contacts at VW...

 

We don't use GB5's we use FB80's due to the 'Seattle Blue' cover that is made exclusively for us.

We do have some spare FB70's at the office, in particular a 2 group that we had the cover sprayed in a 'Lexus Pearl White' beautiful!

 

That is a great white - been thinking of using it for an old car of mine...

 

Can't wait to set up the Strada that is on the way for our Roastery in CT.

Pressure profiling or not? I quite fancy those - played with the one at Bean there a bit, but not pressure profiling.

 

On the milk discussion, that is of huge debate as I'm sure you know.

 

The 3rd Wave guys are going 'cooler' milk with 'lighter' single origin roasts and serving flat white's.

We are not convinced, preferring the darker blended roasts.

Scalding Milk we all agree is too hot!

The temperature before this point is a big discussion item.

WW likes his cooler and loads of other customers like it hotter.

 

Of course - the 3rd wave guys like espresso a lot more - they sell milk dinks because America buys them.... and they will put syrup in it too...

 

Personally - I like the lighter roasts in Espresso - but often they are BADLY suppressed by adding milk - so depends on what the customers buy - Commercially, darker roasts are probably preferred by the average SA consumer - with milk, and a quality light roasted single origin will mostly not be a good choice for a café currently.

 

The little GS3's are awesome, we have 2 and they are amazing little guys, not cheap, but must be pretty high on your aesthetic scale!

 

I have 1 only... Aesthetically I prefer my Mondiale... functionally I can't really tell the difference (OK - I know what they are technically... but I don't think my pallet is good enough to be definitive on a blind test)

 

http://www.isomac.it/model.asp?id=1 - although mine has stainless levers and portafilter handles.

 

What I really like aesthetically is some of the older lever machines from the 50's... not many around in SA.

 

 

 

 

[101SCC]

Thanks V12M, good reply

 

I started my home coffee affair with isomac from importalia.

Great start, admittedly I never had the machine you own, went on from there to the GS3 as obviously we have a relationship with La Marzocco.

 

Our supplier has some awesome Linea 2 Group's at a low price as they were bought in whilst the Euro was still our Friend!

[Weight Weenie]

Having some Kenyan Peaberry from Legado Roasters now. Dunno, not really making an impression. Not bad but not impressive either.

[Weight Weenie]

R6k for a thermoblock based machine is a waste of 6k - save up a bit more and do what WeightWeenie did - Great grinder and solid machine - will take him years to get everything possible out of those machines - you never want to feel limited by the machine. - Agree. Breville is still a home appliance maker and not a coffee machine maker so keep that in mind.

 

My suggestion for you would be to acquire a great grinder - Mazzer, Compak, Maelkoenig or similar - spend your 6k there first and then look for a machine once you have used up the capabilities of your existing machine.

 

Breville do make a worthwhile machine - their double boiler - but I have NEVER seen it for sale in SA - it's about 1300USD in the states, and is good machine - reviewed extensively on coffeegeek and home-barista, but until you play with it you never really know.... - @Home is the local Breville agent. Enquired about the 870 model and they weren't very helpfull, granted they probably can't bring in 1 unit but still. Doubt the DB will be available here.

 

And the NS Oscar at the moment (aesthetics aside ) is a great deal for a home machine, and hard to fault - I tried hard to get WW to spring for a Musica, which is the next one up in the range, but failed... The musica passes my aesthetic test... and has a few internal features that are better than the Oscar, but which can be added by a dedicated home mechanic/fiddler... (gigleur and OPV) - I think for the upper entry level home user the Oscar is perfect. The musica is nice but about double the price and personally I don't like the look. The red flake on the Oscar has grown on me.

 

At the end of the day, the more you spend, the less time you fiddle with the machine to overcome it's limitations - although beyond a point, the gains are pretty marginal and the costs are high.

 

For me at home - I still like the look of the single group slayer.... when we move offices next year, we will probably put up a 2 group machine - a full commercial one - but which one exactly is difficult to decide... I know what I want, but they are like looking for hens teeth..

[V12man]

Thanks V12M, good reply

 

I started my home coffee affair with isomac from importalia.

Great start, admittedly I never had the machine you own, went on from there to the GS3 as obviously we have a relationship with La Marzocco.

 

Our supplier has some awesome Linea 2 Group's at a low price as they were bought in whilst the Euro was still our Friend!

 

Luckily I started as a pro in what is now a 3rd wave shop when I was at varsity in the US for a year - they had a sign up looking for a trainee... I needed something to do in the evenings.... and I think meeting girls was also on the agenda..

 

My first home machine was a small Isomac Brio - packed it away in a box after about 3 months of no success at all and bought a Tea, then a Millenium because it looked better... then the GS3 off the firesale in the USA, then the Mondiale. Took the Brio out of storage and took it to the office a few years ago - then modified it a bit to include a PID, OPV etc, and it works - after a fashion.... still better than a super auto.

[101SCC]

Luckily I started as a pro in what is now a 3rd wave shop when I was at varsity in the US for a year - they had a sign up looking for a trainee... I needed something to do in the evenings.... and I think meeting girls was also on the agenda..

 

My first home machine was a small Isomac Brio - packed it away in a box after about 3 months of no success at all and bought a Tea, then a Millenium because it looked better... then the GS3 off the firesale in the USA, then the Mondiale. Took the Brio out of storage and took it to the office a few years ago - then modified it a bit to include a PID, OPV etc, and it works - after a fashion.... still better than a super auto.

 

Girls, I reckon all of us had that in mind when choosing coffee as a profession!

My wife (italian) does not even drink coffee, so there was a flaw in my reasoning.

 

If you're ever in the mother city feel free to pop in and visit us at the roastery...