Pretty machine, but that is what you are paying a premium for, not it's quality or functionality
Positive Product Points
Beautiful machine, very refined asthetics No burn steam and water wands Easy fill water tank Can switch between plumbed and tank with flip of a switch
Negative Product Points
Poor value for the price Not all stainless steel construction Small drip tray
Detailed Commentary
The Rocket Espresso Cellini is a high quality espresso machine that looks beautiful, makes excellent espresso, and steams milk very well. However, in my opinion it is very overpriced and lower in quality considering the other options out there. To purchase this machine, asthetics and appearance must be what is most important to you, otherwise you will probably feel like you spent too much. I'll compare the Cellini to the Izzo Alex II HX, which costs $200 less then the Cellini and has all the same features and more.
Here are a few of the things that I think make the Rocket overpriced and lower in quality compared to the Izzo: - The frame that Rocket makes is a black painted steel that I believe will rust if exposed to water, where the Izzo machine is all stainless steel.
- Rocket uses an electronic solenoid to switch from tank to plumbed, and a pressurestat to adjust the temperature of the boiler. Izzo uses a heavy duty manual switch to go from tank to plumb and a PID to control boiler temperature, which I believe to be a better setup.
- Izzo has an insulated boiler and 1400 watts of power, where the Rocket boiler is not insulated and is 1200 watts of power.
- Izzo has cool touch sides to the machine and Rocket does not.
- Izzo has a much larger drip tray then the Rocket machines.
There are only a few things that might make the Rocket more attractive and these are: - More refined casing with a 3 inch smaller width footprint, if this is important to you.
- Rocket is easier to fill the tank, but with a funnel the Alex fills just fine.
- Rocket weighs less, but I like a heavier machine to hold heat.
- More space between the portafilter and drip tray, so you could put a latte cup underneath. On the Izzo, since the drip tray is bigger, you can only fit shot glasses or a cap. cup underneath the portafilter.
- Initially Rocket was the only one with no burn steam and water wands, but now Izzo has them too, so they are now equal on this.
- Both have rotary pumps, so they are equal on this too.
With Rocket Espresso, style seems to come first and that is mostly what you pay a premium for. I also purchased a bunch of the Rocket branded accessories and found them to be the same way. Rocket doesn't even make their accessories you pay a significant percentage over their normal price just because they put the label "Rocket" on them. Bottom line, when I decided to fork up the money for a high end machine, I chose to do this to get superior quality, functionality, and fantastic espresso shots, not pay an excess to get something that is the most shiny. Considering the above comparison, I would only consider purchasing this machine if it was at least $300 cheaper.
Buying Experience
This was my first prosumer espresso machine and from the videos that Seattle Coffee Gear does and talking with them on the phone, it seamed like the best machine. When it arrived it was very well packaged and when I took it out it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the first time I used it the pressure gauge fogged up and began dripping water out of it. The person at Seattle Coffee Gear said this has happened to other Rocket machines and probably happened in shipping. Fortunately they let me ship it back and I ended up exchanging it for the Izzo Alex Duetto II which I am extremely happy with. I won't ever buy another Rocket Espresso product again, but I have and will continue to buy from Seattle Coffee Gear in the future.
