by luca on Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:16 am
Like many people, I'm afraid that I can only shed light on part of the equation ...
I have a Maver Marte (the Australian edition sold as the "Makin Espresso"). This machine is manufactured by BFC and is the 240V version. BFC manufactures a number of HX machines and I'm sure that they swap components in and out as it suits them. I would be that the group head and the boiler on my machine, the levetta version of the BFC junior and the levetta version of the Diadema and La Valentina prosumer machines, also manufactured by BFC, would be exactly the same. I don't know that that necessarily means that these machines will all perform similarly, though ... I know that David Makin did a bit of tweaking to the Marte before he decided to import them into Australia.
Anyhoo, those caveats out of the way, I'm prepared to say that I haven't found a prosumer machine that can best the Marte on espresso quality and I have tried almost everything that is available in Australia - that's why I bought my machine. The group head idles at a sensible temperature, so the "cooling flush" is very short and, frankly, perhaps unnecessary. In terms of steam, it's a bit slower than some other machines in the class and I thought that the steam tip that it now ships with was terrible, until I realised that it required me to change my technique from what I use at work. Steaming is fine for a single cappuccino, a bit slow for two milk-based drinks and you will watch the grass grow whilst steaming for two large milk drinks - although it's not entirely clear to me why anyone would ever need to do that. Pressure recovers very quickly after steaming. The drip tray is nice and deep. The stainless steel finish is as irritating to keep clean as on anything else and the over pressure valve is awkwardly positioned. My machine does not have the large commercial sirai pressurestat but, rather, a MATER pressurestat with about a 0.1 bar deadband. Given that my work machine has a tiny CEME pressurestat on the steam boiler and that this pressurestat seems to work quite well, I'm not particularly fussed. I sometimes wonder if a rotary pump, plumbed in, machine wouldn't produce better quality shots, though.
... anyhoo, I'm not sure how useful any of that advice is, given that you probably won't have any way of knowing if my experiences are applicable to your BFC machine.
I suggest that you try every machine that you are considering buying. Before doing so, go and buy a consistent, freshly roasted commercially available blend that you would be likely to use and arrange for that to be used for every machine that you test. Be sure to explain to anyone demonstrating the machine that you are more than happy for them to throw out a lot of shots dialing the blend in. The last thing that you want is to buy a machine based on the barista using it, rather than the machine itself. Buy the machine that is the easiest to use, has the best support locally and pulls the best shots.
To tell you the truth, unless you already are quite familiar with making espresso and have developed your coffee palate, it will probably be difficult for you to work out which machine will actually deliver the best results for the coffee that you want to use. You can, however, take solace in the fact that few people seem to sell a prosumer HX machine to buy a different prosumer HX machine.
Just my $0.02,
Good luck!
Luca
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