All the right features... -e-61 & heat exchanger -dual gauges -cool touch steam & water outlets
Negative Product Points
-It ain't pretty -fit & finish is not top notch -water tank fill hole is a good idea, but poorly executed
Detailed Commentary
I started with a used Pasquini Livia 90...serial number 480. I used it for about a year and then the components started to fail. I replaced the pump and had two new solenoids put in as well, but just as I was assembling the thing for the last time, a fitting broke. That was the final straw. I decided I was ready for a new machine.
Chris’s Coffee had been gracious in the extra time they spent with me trying to figure out how to repair the Livia 90, I called up Chris and asked him to convince me to get the Andreja Premium instead of the Brewtus. All he had to say was “I’ll service it” and that was good enough for me.
I was looking for a two upgrades over the Pasquini: gauges (Yes, the Livia was so old it didn’t have any gauge) and an E-61 group. The cool touch steam attachments were a bonus.
The internal mechanisms are much better all around, and the E-61 is a big change from the Livia.
I bought one out of the second batch of Andreja’s, so Chris had already fixed the drip tray problem mentioned in other reviews here. My machine has the fill hole for the water tank though. Great idea, but the hole isn’t big enough to see the water level as you’re filling. Our machine regularly sits with a funnel in the fill hole which is used as a sort of tundish to fill the tank.
The other issue with the machine is aesthetics. Though it’s obvious the manufacturing process used to produce the sheet metal is more complex than that used on the old Livia, the lines are not as appealing, and the fit and finish isn’t as tight.
Unless I had enough money to jump up another class with the LM GS3 (when it’s available), I would absolutely make this purchase again.
Buying Experience
Chris is the BEST! Spent an hour on the phone with me discussing the various HX machines available when I was shopping. The machine came promptly double boxed for security.
When I sat down to write this review, I send Chris an email (it's after hours) about the gauge oscillating (just as in Aaron Tubb's review), and just now I received an email that the replacement part is on its way.
