If the Olympia is "mid-category only because it gets elevated by build quality," are you saying that the Olympia is actually a low-category machine with a high build quality? I'm confused.

Yes (taste/aufwand ratio), lack of OPV and way too high brew pressure which is inexcusable at the price point puts it right there and $3700 price tag does not help. IMO

I don't think that the aesthetic element can be emphasized enough.

As much as I love tinkering with my $250 dollar machine, my next one will have to be gorgeous. Tons of people spend thousands of dollars adding chrome, wood, or carbon fiber to as many elements as possible on their cars. It's not that they want to impress people - it's that they like works of art that they can use every day. Sometimes aesthetics and "soul" trump usability and even build quality.

another_jim wrote:I believe there's three sources of upgraditis. [...] The first is the simplest. [...] it's [...] more about being able to accommodate and afford the very best. [...]
The second is [...] the delusion that barista omnipotence is just around the next technological corner. [...]
The third is functional and fairly self limiting: needing to trust your espresso set up to produce the flavors nature and the blender/roaster intended for every coffee.

zin1953 wrote:One cannot overlook "peer pressure"

I concur.

Marshall wrote:The next great thing is chucking out your espresso equipment and buying a good bulk grinder, filter holder and pour kettle (most likely Hario). Seriously. I was discussing this trend with a WBC winner yesterday, and he tied it to the Slow Food movement, which I hadn't thought of, but which makes perfect sense.

Enjoy your hand-dripped Burundi with the local strawberries you bought at your Farmers' Market. Now, you're riding the wave!

Marshall, with all your good contributions, are you now defecting to the filter coffee camp?
Or are you ridiculing filter coffee or their brewers?
Or are you ridiculing people that buy expensive kit to brew something that cheaper kit could do as well?

Regards
Peter

Marshall wrote:No. The next great thing is chucking out your espresso equipment and buying a good bulk grinder, filter holder and pour kettle (most likely Hario). Seriously. I was discussing this trend with a WBC winner yesterday, and he tied it to the Slow Food movement, which I hadn't thought of, but which makes perfect sense.

Enjoy your hand-dripped Burundi with the local strawberries you bought at your Farmers' Market. Now, you're riding the wave!

Missed.

It will be a vintage hand grinder and a small open gravity lever machine.

CafSuperCharged wrote:Marshall, with all your good contributions, are you now defecting to the filter coffee camp?
Or are you ridiculing filter coffee or their brewers?
Or are you ridiculing people that buy expensive kit to brew something that cheaper kit could do as well?

I wasn't making fun of anyone. I was following up Jim Schulman's joke about the next hot espresso trend with an observation about what is happening in cutting edge coffee bars right now.

And I'm not defecting anywhere. I have enough commercial espresso equipment to open a (very) small coffee bar.

Marshall wrote:I wasn't making fun of anyone. [...] following up Jim Schulman's joke

Yes, I understood that was where you were coming from and hence suspected some innuendo, pun or, ridicule.

Marshall wrote:an observation about what is happening in cutting edge coffee bars right now.

As it is all about the coffee and not about the kit, try to get a decent "Jamaica Blue Mountain" or "Kopi Luwak" out of an espresso machine. These, IMO, should be restricted to French press.

As to the filter trend - my country went from stove-top percolator coffee cans to automatic filter machines in the 1960s and the debate about filter paper robbing the coffee of considerable amounts of oily or fatty substance and hence taste is ages old. Just not amongst the masses. In the process, we went from beans to pre-ground. Or introduced the propeller type grinders. Yuk.
I would advise those trendy bars and restaurants to move from paper filters to the gold ones - really an improvement in taste.
Or, would you not call that upgraditis for reasons of getting better coffee?

Marshall wrote:I have enough commercial espresso equipment to open a (very) small coffee bar.

Sic

Regards
Peter

As someone who just upgraded his machine this last weekend I'll share my reasons for upgrading. Control. I went from an Oscar to a Rocket Giotto Evo. I wanted to experiment with different blends and I wasn't happy with having absolutely no idea what temperature I was brewing at. Yes I could (and did) attach a gauge to the steam wand and figure out the boiler pressure. This didn't tell me much about actual brewing though. I'm hoping Eric's adapter on the new Evo will shed some light here. Steaming. Oscar was terrible at making microfoam in small pitchers. I blocked 1,2, and 3 of the holes in the 4 hole tip with little success. Microfoam is easy on the Evo even with skim. No idea why. So yeah, control. Or at least being able to verify control was my main reason for upgrading. I also like the fact that e61s are so ubiquitous among HBers which makes problem solving much easier. Of course the shiny stainless steel and chrome looks awfully nice in my kitchen too.

For the last several years, I have used an Elektra MCaL with a Mazzer Mini and have been very happy with this combination. I pull 2 shots and maybe make a cappa on most mornings. I might pull a couple of shots on a weekend afternoon if I'm home.

My wife and I have been planning a major home remodel for several years. I always planned for an espresso station in the new kitchen. You know: sinks, water hookup, several 20 amp outlets, maybe a 240v if need be. The time was finally here and I started to detail the espresso station requirements.

As I began my detail kitchen design, I decided to determine which espresso machine and grinder I wanted. I thought of the Vivaldi II and a Mahlhonig K30. Then, I wondered if the V II really produced the best shot. Then K30 issues surfaced and the hunt continued.

I looked at several commercial HX machines and the Bezzera 2006AL caught my fancy for a time. Finally I thought, the big kahuna, the great one, the LaMarzocco GS3 was the one. The Compaq K10 WBC seemed to be the best I could do in a grinder. I was somewhat worried about countless complaints about the GS3. Then, I read another episode in the life of a famous poster here regarding another failed grinder experiment and realized that he has had most machines and grinders found on nearly every 'wish list', but he has never had any sort of long-term contentment. This caused an epiphany: I'm happy with what I have. Instead of chasing perfection in hardware, I'm going to continue on my quest to make espresso that pleases me.

joat

Well said...

Yes, contentment. It is findable only within.