smasha Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2012 Posts: 32 Location: Cambridge Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Oct 28, 2012, 2:44am Subject: HX shortlist quickmill, ecm and rocket
Well it turns out that the Iberital that I puchased from ebay needed to be plumbed in so will have to go back. Vendor simply copied and pasted details from manufacturers website with out actually reading it. So I have to wait 8 days for ebay to step into our dispute and refund my monies and cover my postage. Bloody numpty. furthermore he simply wrapped the machine in bubblewrap so it obviously got damaged in transit and says it is not his fault. My shipping insurance will not cover it as it was not in a box. so the dispute is ongoing. </rant>
So that brings me back into the market a for HX machine. Ideally I am still looking for a decent second hand machine but for now on the new side I have reviewed a few of the HX machines and got down to the following units: Quick Mill Anita, ECM barrista, and Rocket Cellini.
Isomac is out because of the stainless steel boiler. Expobar is out cos it only has one pressure gauge for the grouphead. I would like to know what is going on with the boiler for steaming.
The Anita is cheapest with 1.5 L boiler. £899 from Coffeeitalia (bad rep) The ECM is on par with the Rocket and they have 2.1 L and 1.8 L Boilers respectively. ECM £1099 from bellabarista (good rep), and Rocket £1065 from Espresso coffee shop (dont know anything about them).
Most of the other features are the same.
I do not really like the look of the Anita and prefere the Rocket over the ECM.
I mostly do milky drinks one to two per day. Very rarely do I have to do more than one drink in a row, but I guess when I get a machine I may get more people coming around for coffees. So recovery time is not a big issue but I am thinking more future proof as I may be in situation later on where on the weekends I am pulling more drinks in a row. I would like to have people over and pull a few shots one after the other without fuss. This situation does not occur often so is not a major requirement.
grinder is yet to appear but I am planning on Mazzer mini.
Cheaper is better and £200 step up from anita is a lot. But in the long term it is not a lot if it means it can handle my making more drinks especially if the machine lasts a life time. I suspect all of them can last a life with proper servicing and a bit of love.
So under what conditions will I notice the bigger boilers offering benefit? What other features should I consider?
any other machines available in the UK/EU worth considering? I am unlikely to go beyond these prices. Any finer detail that I may have missed that better differentiates these machines?
JasonBrandtLewis Senior Member Joined: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 6,099 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 - La Valentina -... Grinder: Mahlkönig K30 Vario -... Vac Pot: Yama 5-cup Drip: CCD, Chemex Roaster: No, no, not another...
Posted Sun Oct 28, 2012, 11:03am Subject: Re: HX shortlist quickmill, ecm and rocket
Larger boilers (roughly) equate to the ability to make more drinks quickly. You will make more drinks than you think: a) your personal consumption will increase, and b) your friends will come by more often. ;^)
Any of these machines will fulfill your needs. IMHO, when all else is equal -- i.e.: when choosing between machines of equal quality and capability -- what comes to the fore is: a) aesthetics, b) equipment reputation & warranty, and c) vendor reputation and the ability to service the machine when needed.
When I bought my present HX machine for my home, it was between two machines of equal quality, build, and reputation. Same vendor, same warranty, so that wasn't an issue. The more expensive machine, however, was (IMHO) the better-looking one. Even better, my wife agreed that it was the better-looking machine, and so it ended up being an "easy" decision. It's been in my kitchen now for many years, and not only have I never regretted the purchase, I still think the machine looks gorgeous in our kitchen*, and we still get compliments on it all the time.
Cheers, Jason
* If you're going to live with the machine in your home for years, do not underestimate the importance of how it looks.
NobbyR Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 1,611 Location: Germany Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Poccino Opus One, Ariete Grinder: Eureka Mignon Istantaneo,... Vac Pot: N/A Drip: Melitta Linea Unica de Luxe Roaster: N/A
Posted Mon Oct 29, 2012, 2:30am Subject: Re: HX shortlist quickmill, ecm and rocket
The Mahlkönig Vario Home (aka Baratza Vario) is capable of grinding fine enough for espresso and with its more than 200 settings virtually stepplessly adjustable. In a word: yes, it is.
*** "This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee)
smasha Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2012 Posts: 32 Location: Cambridge Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Nov 7, 2012, 2:16pm Subject: Re: HX shortlist quickmill, ecm and rocket
finally got ebay to agree to refund my previous machine and it is in transit tonight ... I am expecting a full refund tomorrow.
in the meantime I couldn't wait anymore and decided to order the rocket tonight! yay :)
I have gone for the cellini evo v2 with rotary pump model. the black gauges really sold it for me ... oh and of course the rotary pump for future plumbing in.... very excited! also ordered my vario so both should be here in a few more days.
I contacted espressocoffeeshop and got a discount code which gave me about EUR70 off and free delivery. happy days ....
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