Hi, this is my first post here. I have been lurking for a little while here and wanted to let you all know that you have ruined my current espresso enjoyment. I am looking to buy a new machine in the next month and so I have been reading all the guides and reviews. So thanks for all the rich information, knowledge and wisdom. I had been planning on buying a Silvia and a Rocky. It is my personal reward for being accepted into a state medical school (TCOM). Well, I decided I would read what everybody had to say about my planned purchase and have since decided that I should cheat my budget a bit and now plan to buy a Quickmill Alexia. I won't be able to make any further upgrades for 10 years since I will be in medical school and residency, and I think that machine will serve me better. I plan on doing the PID upgrade, but that will likely wait for six months as I need to buy a grinder and that will be way too much money. All this to say that after reading everything that I have read, I just made a cappuccino on my current Saeco Aroma and Solis Maestro grinder. And it taste awful. My beans are a little old (1 month), but more than that after reading all the wonderful guides I think I was expecting something magic. It was far from that.
Well, I guess I will be waiting for my upgrade before I expect any major improvements until order my new gear. I should expect too much from a pressurized portafilter.
Last, does anybody have a suggestion on the grinder. I really am stuck with the $350 budget that the rocky fits in. Thanks all. Josh

Congrats! For $350 watch for Baratza Vario refurbished that they often have on Baratza web site. I think that is much better deal than Rocky.

You could also get a Baratza Preciso for about $300. There isn't too much information about the Preciso yet, but it looks very promising, with much more adjustability than Rocky.

Check out the Coffeegeek Quickshot Review on the Preciso.

http://coffeegeek.com/proreviews/quickshot/baratzavirtuosopreciso

That said, if you can get a refurb Vario for $350 as suggested above, that would probably be even better.

I would go one step further and e-mail the Baratza folks, plead your case, and see if you can be put on a waiting list for a Vario! Offer them free medical care, or a first round cadaver pick or something...

One more thing, if cappuccinos are your drink of choice you may want to re-evaluate the single boiler design of the Alexia. It is a great machine for espresso but the wait time in between brewing and steaming may become too much if you are entertaining or making multiple drinks. The Bezzera machines are recommended HX machines that are competitive in price with the Alexia. Just something else to think about.

OE's Pharos would seem a pretty strong contender for less money.

Wow. Thanks for all the responses!!! I guess I am hearing that the Baratza Vario is THAT much better than the Rocky. I will definitely chase down trying to get one refurb. The only issue is that I can get $100 off if I get the machine and grinder on the same order, which puts the grinder cost down to $250 with the Rocky (in perspective). But if you are all telling me that the Vario is that much better I will have to work on getting a bit extra money.

Now on to the Bezzera machine discussion. Let me start from the top. I do enjoy a cappuccino, but I am pretty sure if I were making good espresso I would primarily drink them. I loved them in Italy and at the occasional coffee house. And most often I would only be making 1 or 2 cappuccinos a day. I had looked at the Bezzeras, but I really liked the reviews on the quickmill. I also looked at the Expobar Office Lever (even though it is a bit more than the quickmill). I'd love to hear others thoughts, but I really like the E61. And like the idea of such a clean PID upgrade. Please give me your thoughts.

And again thanks for all the response and feedback.

Ultimately, it is up to on what you want, like, and need. For me, I wanted the ability to easily make milk drinks for myself and others so I knew that it was either Hx or DB. Next concern was cost and since I didn't want to spend an enormous amount of money on a machine, I narrowed the field to machines less than $1500. This left some of the Quickmill machines, the Vibiemme Jr. series, and the Bezzera twins. Even then I wavered and flirted with thoughts of the Vibiemme Domobar Super, but in the end the BZ02 won out. It's a great machine and fits my needs perfectly but your needs will be different. In the end, it comes down to what fits your needs and budget the best. Good luck!

I walked a similar road getting my espresso machine. Started out figuring I'd get the silvia (about a billion home espresso fanatics cant be [and aren't] wrong!) but then realized that once I added the pid, i was almost spending as much as an alexia, which I think has a lot more to offer in the stability/repeatability range. (Un?)fortunately, for a little bit more than the alexia, you can make another significant jump up into the range of e61 hx machines with larger boilers. I ended up getting a used quickmill vetrano, for basically the same price as the alexia.

Caveat: I'd only recommend getting a used machine if you are confident that you can troubleshoot and fix it yourself. That said, most machines (pid excluded) are mostly mechanical/non-computerized circuitry. If you are mechanically adept, you can figure them out. Plus there is an amazing support community @ this place called home-barista.com (thank you all so much.)

So: I am so incredibly happy with my vetrano. An added benefit of hx machines over the alexia is the hx cooling flush guide on this site. It really clearly spells out how to rock consistent temperatures.

If you like lattes now, you are going to like them even more with great espresso. Don't expect to give them up (unless your budget really necessitates it,) just because your shots are phenomenal on their own. Milk brings out different flavors in espresso, and I have brewed some coffees that I thought were actually more complex and delicious with a little milk in them.

The combination of a rotary pump and a brew pressure gauge (often listed in features as a dual manometer,) gives you improved control on brew pressure, the adjustment of which can help dial shots in to perfection.

As far as grinders go, having worked coffee, I know that Mazzers are phenomenal grinders, and that they are built like tanks. If the motor works, anything else is easy to repair. They last for ever so I think getting a used one (so long as its in working order of course,) would be a safe bet that would ensure that your grinder will never be a limiting factor. If you can find one in your price range, Id recommend the heck out of it.

Randy G. wrote:I would go one step further and e-mail the Baratza folks, plead your case, and see if you can be put on a waiting list for a Vario! Offer them free medical care, or a first round cadaver pick or something...

No need, they're available right now for $360.