Espresso Machines

[smico]

Friend of mine bought Lelit PL041 PID, and it turned out to be the worst of a kind.  Temp drops to 89 during the shot, sour espresso every time.  Why they would add PID on this tiny machine with so little thermal capacity, except to steal money:  http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_mod/lelit/lelit-pl041-pid.htm

Then next in line was Silvia, but he decided to skip the Silvia phase, and jump right into HX world:
http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_mod/bezzera/Bezzera_BZ07_semi.htm

Any thought of BZ07?  Is it worth adding PID?

Thanks,

Miroslav

[staylor]

In your opinion and experience what do you consider to be the Cadillac espresso machine for the home user?

The one that comes with leather seats.

[John F]

The one that comes with leather seats.

Exactly.. the only way to save what Peter killed. 

[John F]

So we're back to the universal answer to every question: "It depends."   

He sneaked in a bit of wisdom on the "have you had any killer shots to calibrate with" bit.

I'd add something about the ability to stretch beyond those parameters or constructs and explore the landscape from a place of understanding the construct and using it to "ground" with but not be grounded to it but  somebody would roll their eyes at me.

[grinderz]

So we're back to the universal answer to every question: "It depends."   

He sneaked in a bit of wisdom on the "have you had any killer shots to calibrate with" bit.

I'd add something about the ability to stretch beyond those parameters or constructs and explore the landscape from a place of understanding the construct and using it to "ground" with but not be grounded too but  somebody would roll their eyes at me.

You asked for it   

[John F]

You asked for it 

Animals Please Don't let me be Misunderstood.

[milowebailey]

After looking at these I should restate the question, what is the best home unit available that has U.S. distribution?

If you want a Speedster you can order it direct from Kees van der Westen, or order one through a local distributor. Three of note include 49th Parallel in Canada, and Visions Espresso (Seattle) and Gimme Coffee in the US. 

[milowebailey]

In your opinion and experience what do you consider to be the Cadillac espresso machine for the home user?

The one that comes with leather seats.

It also comes with a Kilt and a man-bag!murse!

[EricBNC]

Another mystery solved!

Judy Collins Send in the Clowns

[Tex]

So we're back to the universal answer to every question: "It depends."   

He sneaked in a bit of wisdom on the "have you had any killer shots to calibrate with" bit.

I'd add something about the ability to stretch beyond those parameters or constructs and explore the landscape from a place of understanding the construct and using it to "ground" with but not be grounded to it but  somebody would roll their eyes at me.

Huh?

[John F]

I'll try it like this;

Eventually you need a known good espresso.

This is vital for the newbie to have a stable platform to work from.

Eventually you need to expand beyond that platform. The issue here is that both your feet need to leave the platform in order to expand. It sets up a situation where you could float off into silly town with no grounding so you have to be able to leave the platform but look at it once in a while for perspective.

You need the known good but you can't cling to it or let it totally escape either.

Any better?

[MMW]

So we're back to the universal answer to every question: "It depends."   

He sneaked in a bit of wisdom on the "have you had any killer shots to calibrate with" bit.

I'd add something about the ability to stretch beyond those parameters or constructs and explore the landscape from a place of understanding the construct and using it to "ground" with but not be grounded to it but  somebody would roll their eyes at me.

Huh?

I think he is setting up the plot to one of those Christopher Nolan movies...kind of a Inception meets Memento but with caffeine type deals.

[John F]

Yeah..good example.

I talked to lots of people that didn't understand Inception. 

[Tex]

I'll try it like this;

Eventually you need a known good espresso.

This is vital for the newbie to have a stable platform to work from.

Eventually you need to expand beyond that platform. The issue here is that both your feet need to leave the platform in order to expand. It sets up a situation where you could float off into silly town with no grounding so you have to be able to leave the platform but look at it once in a while for perspective.

You need the known good but you can't cling to it or let it totally escape either.

Any better?

Your argument is flawed; there is no such thing as universally accepted "known good espresso". I contend that it's an evolutionary experience, or "Try this and if it tastes good do it again, but if it doesn't taste good try something else."

This goes hand-in-hand with my advice to noobs, "Never let anyone tell you what tastes good in your cup!"

[John F]

We have to start somewhere..

Smooth, sweet, chocolate, slight spice, lots of Brazil ~2 oz pump driven comfort food shots  are a fair platform to step off of IMO.