Hi All, first post here, been lurking for a few weeks and thought I'd ask for some advice.

I've been addicted to coffee for a year or so, and espresso a much shorter period but I'm definitely hooked! My flatmate bought a little delonghi bar14/treviso/ec410/whatever a while ago, whilst making a passable (by this I mean drinkable, not that enjoyable!) latte is possible, making nice espresso with it is a huge challenge. Added to the difficulties the machine itself presents, it also has a leaky boiler (which could easily cost more than the cost of a replacement machine to fix) which really doesn't help things.

I bought an Iberital MC2 grinder a month or so ago, I'm led to believe that the grind is of a similar quality to something like a Vario but with little (read very painful) adjustment as it's got a worm screw. It isn't a long term grinder but I hope it will last 6-9 months, during which time I will be on the lookout for a Mazzer SJ or similar on ebay.

I've gone from looking at Gaggias and Silvias to Izzos, Expobars and Rockets in the space of a couple of months but I figure that if I know I'll end up with a HX or DB in the end then buying intermediate machines seems like a waste of money to me.

Being in the UK the best place to buy from seems to be Bella Barista as I've heard a lot of positives about it and a lot of negatives about myespresso and coffeeitalia which seem to be the main alternatives. I definitely don't want to spend more than £1000 so my main choices seem to be:
Expobar Office Leva dual boiler (Brewtus III-V to most of you)
Izzo Vivi II
Rocket Cellini Classic
Expobar Office Leva HX (£150 cheaper than the above)

It seems to make sense to me that going with the Brewtus would be a good idea - no long cooling flushes and PID control - but when I've been searching it looks like the brewtus might be a bit less reliable than the others, anyone have experience with this?

My coffee is fairly evenly split between espresso and latte/cappa so steaming is important.

Does anyone have any input on the relative merits of these four? Which would you go for and why?

Having no experience whatsoever with any HX, I can say that I do not regret going for a dual boiler myself. No cooling flushes, and the possibility to just use the brew boiler if I'm in the mood for espresso is great.

That Expobar Office Leva looks really nice, wish I had a PID on my machine

Thanks for the input!

One of the downsides to the Office Leva dual boiler is that you can't turn off the steam boiler if you just want to brew. This might be to do with the brew water being pre heated by a hx in the steam boiler but I'm not sure.

The other thing that seems a bit odd is that I believe it gives preference to heating the steam boiler over the brew boiler, again possibly because of the above but I'm not sure.

That's a shame about not being able to shut off the steam boiler. But does that mean that the system as a whole uses less power to heat steam+water than, for example, my machine with both boilers on? Also, it could be that the design makes it really temperature stable, which is a good thing...

I would highly recommend the Brewtus III-V with PID. I got a Rockett Giotto premium plus first but when it was working had trouble getting any consistency with my pours. The steamer was also hard to use - perhaps a bit too much power for a single serving of 6 oz milk for a cappa. It quit after a couple of months - and I replaced it with the Brewtus III-V with PID.

The change to the Brewtus was like night and day. All of a sudden I was able to get consistently good tasting (and looking) shots and could steam like the videos show,

The PID meant I now knew what the temp was doing, the brew pressure gauge helped to show visually whether I had a good grind setting and dose. Whenever it was in the 8 to 10 bar range I usually got the 25 - 32 sec 2oz good to great tasting shot. Less than 8bar and usually it was too fast (12-17 sec) and sour/bitter.

A naked portafilter was crucial in aiding me to refine my pulls.

I even learned that trick to making the 1st shot as good as the second...I flush the brewhead for 5-6 ozs of water if it's the 1st shot or the machine has been idle for over 15 minutes. If I make a second shot right after the first I only flush about 2 oz (helps clean the head too) and then pull the second shot. No waiting for the water dance or complicated flush and go routines.

Wouldn't worry about not being able to turn the steam boiler off. If the cost of electricity is that much of a factor where you are, it wouldn't make much sense to get any electric espresso maker that can be left on during the day so it's ready when you are.

Final thoughts...I struggled with the HX vs DB thing for months before buying my espresso machine. I went for looks and got the Giotto even though I was still thinking the Brewtus might be better for me. Well, I found that beauty was only skin deep. I like to be able to enjoy my date with a cappa and the Brewtus III-V PID does not disappoint.

BTW - the Vario is a solid choice for grinder if you can afford it.

Wouldn't worry about not being able to turn the steam boiler off. If the cost of electricity is that much of a factor where you are, it wouldn't make much sense to get any electric espresso maker that can be left on during the day so it's ready when you are

Well, at least for me it's not a question about money, but about unnecessary spending of energy. That's also why I keep my machine on a timer, so that I don't have to have the machine turned on all day. I also try to avoid taking my car to work when I can just as easily take my bike, etc etc.

+1 expobar leva III

I had mine since the end of 2008 and it has been working flawlessly. I can get deeper (more focused) and more consistent flavors than when using the Gaggia classic. With PID it is very easy to get the correct temp. With a heat exchanger it will be faster to find the best temperature since you can change the temperature on the fly without waiting (when used with Erics adapter). But a trick I use to find quickly the best temperature of a coffee when using the PIDed brewtus, is to pull shots as the machine warms up to a higher temperature while looking at Erics adapter (reads 6.5F higher than at the puck).

Cheers

@Steve,

Thanks for your lengthy post, it looks like you went through the same logic that I went through, and I think I might be reaching the same conclusion as you!

After these responses I think I'm gonna go for the Expobar dual boiler. The pricing in the UK makes them seem a lot of machine for the money. At the end of the day any of these machines would be a good choice I imagine and from what I've heard about Bella Barista the after sales service quells any concerns I have about reliability as I know any issues will be sorted promptly. I'll rarely be making more than 2 lattes/cappas at once so I think a bit of a reduction in steam pressure might not be such a bad thing.

In terms of grinder I think I've got my heart set on a Mazzer at some point, and if I don't find a deal on one on ebay in the next 6 months I might buy a new Mini perhaps.

@Sir Anselm,

I plan to do exactly the same and have a timer plug, coming on twice a day during the week and I'll probably just override it at weekends when I'm home and have it on all day for on-demand caffeine!

@Arpi,

Thanks for backing up what Steve said. I'll have to get a digital thermometer at some point to work out/set the offset as I believe the pid displayed temp can be quite a way from the temp at the puck, although I guess it's just one time you have to set it.

I think you will be very pleased! I am a bit jealous of that PID as I said earlier, and all in all it seems like a fine machine!

And the timer solution is perfect. I have a programmable timer, so if I wanted to I could have it turn on or off at different times every day of the week, very practical!

lookseehear,

glad my info was useful for you...let us know how you make out

steve