I an a newbie here.

I recently picked up a non- Hx Vibiemme Domobar at a local flea market from a seller who replaced it with a nespresso machine. Could not believe my luck, Anyway although the machine was originally purchased in 1998 it appeared to have seen little use and had been mothballed for 5 years. After getting some useful instructions from the local current Australian distributor now find it easy to use and it makes a good coffee.

Now having this machine I have found it a bit of an enigma and am curious about its development over the years. I gather it was originally marketed as a Domobar as against a Domobar Super for the Hx model which I gather is more widely sold along with the double boiler versions. I understand mine has also been sold as a Levetta, Vashetta and Manual. The current Australian distributor calls it a Piccolo to distinguish it from the Hx Super model.

Mine has a 1.5L boiler. The Australian Piccolo has a 0.75L boiler and I gather a 1.8L boiler version is sold in the US.

Can anyone provide any more info on this machine. Am interested in how it is sold in countries other than Australia and any info on changes that might have been made to its design over the years.

Here is a pic from the leaflet which came with mine.

I was wondering why no one had replied to my post until I read a reply to another query by someone else on Coffee Geeks that no one imports the non HX Domobar into the US.

Is Australia the only country this macjine is now sold? To broaden out the question are there any other non HX single boiler E61 group head espresso machines sold in Countries other than Australia? A number of these machines are sold locally as well as the Domobar Piccolo including the Diadema (La Valentina in the US) Perfetta. On the other hand the non E61 Rancilio Silvia seems widely marketted. I assume its lower price makes it affordable to a wider market.

Regards
Ted from Australia

Hi Ted - cant help other than suggest you post on or search through http://coffeesnobs.com.au/

Be wary of some of their comments as they are for the most part very biased around the sites 'sponsors'

It is currenly sold in Denmark and I would guess you could find it in many other european countries as well (you can probably find out exactly where with google). I own one myself.

Here is a link to a danish shop that sells it with some specs:
http://kaffe-agenterne.dk/product_info.php?products_id=321

Christian, thanks. Looks as if the model sold in Denmark is the same as the one sold in Australia. Both have a 0.75 L boiler. My earlier one has a 1.5L boiler. I note that in Denmark they are stll calling it just a Domobar where as in Australia it is now marketted as a Domobar Piccolo to differentiate it from the Domobar Super (HX model).

deity6667, I had previously posted on http://coffeesnobs.com.au/ and got a response from a previous Australian importer. I also spoke to the current importer as I mentioned in my post. Unfortunately no one on Coffeesnobs was able to advise on when or why VBM changed the boiler size from 1.5 L to 0.75L. The previous importer suggested the move to the smaller boiler may have been because the larger one was an overkill and increased the time it takes to go from coffee mode to steam for cappuccinos. However he could not remember VBMs reasons for doing so. VBM have had 3 different importers into Australia over the last 10 years or so.

Regards
Ted

another_jim wrote :These machines are superb for straight espresso. But because the boiler is so large, the time it takes to switch from brewing to steaming is much longer than for smaller single boiler machines. So, if you want high end straight shots, this machine, especially when PIDed, is a great choice. If you do daily milk drinks, I would think you'll become unhappy with it fairly quickly.

Thanks Jim. That probably explains why the seller got rid of it. They must have been mainly making milk drinks. Anyway I picked it up for a song and will probably keep it as a back up machine in case our Diadema (La Valentia) Junior Plus (Hx machine) has to go in for repairs or we have to cater for a large group.

If time permits I might try to PID it. Would be an interesting project.

Regards
Ted