Endo wrote:Form follows function. If the Dalla Corte works well enough and if it gets enough good reviews by the respected folks in the business, I'm sure it would suddenly start looking a lot better.
Endo, the DC got
lots of great comments from well-respected people, and if Sovrana hadn't have sold out, I'd have been the owner of one, long before (and for a lot less $$$) than Marshall!
Since the "new" DC has come onto the US market, a number of people whose opinion I respect (Marshall included) have touted the benefits of the Dalla Corte. Several things stopped me from considering it:
- The Dalla Corte Mini has no hot water tap, and that is a feature I use frequently.
- The Dalla Corte Mini is a pourover, and I wanted a plumbed-in model.
- The Dalla Corte Mini utilizes, in this day and age, an analog dial to adjust the temperature instead of a digital controller. A small thing, perhaps, but it bugs me in a $3,000 machine.
- The earliest models (when I was seriously looking) all bore the legend "Proof of Taste" on the drip tray, and I really hated that!
- The Dalla Corte Super Mini, OTOH, has a hot water tap and can be plumbed-in, but it's $1500 more, and still uses an analog controller!
Finally, when I saw one of the new Dalla Corte Minis (Super Mini? I don't remember now), that plastic "pineapple" looked even uglier (to me) than in its pictures. That, and "Proof of Taste," really turned me off.
Endo wrote:How do you think the E-61 was viewed the first time? I bet there were a lot of "chrome hockey puck" comments.
I actually doubt that. The Italians don't play as much ice hockey as the Canadians . . .
Endo wrote:Beauty is in the eye of the portfilter holder.

Agreed.
As far as the actual merits of the machine (
i.e.: aesthetics aside), I have very little doubt it's an excellent machine. But at $2,990 for the
Dalla Corte Mini, and at $4,490 for the
Dalla Corte Super Mini, the prices seem high to me. For example, the
Vibiemme Double Domobar Electronic Stainless Direct Connet w/PID is only $2,299. For me, that is a
significant price difference.
C'est la vie . . . Cheers,
Jason