Fantastic, commercial-like quality machine in all regards. Results prove it. I very highly recommend it.
Positive Product Points
Makes fantastic espresso once mastered; two gauges which looks cool and allows one to monitor the machine's performance; easy to clean; comes with two groups including a blank for cleaning; excellent instructions and support from Chris's Coffee and Chris himself if you call; very reasonable price; very heavy - seems to be very well made. Love the way you can back flush the machine to clean it. It has to be well made to handle that. Two hole steam wand that doesn't get in your way and cranks out quite a bit of steam to produce outstanding micro-foam.
Negative Product Points
No major negatives; water reservoir could be larger but it's not an issue for me. Steaming power is not of commercial level - but I don't think I could master steaming milk if it were. So, again - not an issue for me.
Detailed Commentary
This is my first "real" machine and once I mastered it (which took a good month, honestly) I absolutely love it! I could never say enough good things about it. And, at $995 you won't find anything even close to this in terms of quality and appearance. The boiler, levers, gauges, group and filter are totally commercial quality. I've owned fully automatic machines (embarrassed) that cost more than this and they performed poorly, inconsistently and ultimately made very mediocre quality coffee. I never realized that a machine of this high of quality could be had for this price!
Buying Experience
Chris's Coffee is fantastic to deal with. They were extremely prompt and professional. I spoke to Chris himself before I purchased the machine and he was willing to talk for a long time (I had to cut him off finally)!
