peacecup wrote:Or you could just start with the $399 Caravel that redbone is selling in the buy/sell forum. Most users agree that the Caravel is the little machine that could. There is something to be said for downsizing, and no other lever machine (except the Strietman) will gill you such precise control of temperature.

Thanks peacecup ( I concur with everything Jack said )

peacecup wrote:Or you could just start with the $399 Caravel that redbone is selling in the buy/sell forum. Most users agree that the Caravel is the little machine that could. There is something to be said for downsizing, and no other lever machine (except the Strietman) will gill you such precise control of temperature.

But will that meet his needs for making milk drinks for the whole family every morning?

Indeed. Dude wants to make primarily milk-based drinks and people are recommending a machine with no steaming capability?

Re plumbed vs reservoir: I think plumbed will be much less hassle, both for filling the reservoir and also emptying the drip tray. We have a L1 (not the P version) in our office, and somebody has to empty the drip tray everyday. It's to the point where we're thinking of "plumbing in" the drip tray so we don't have to deal with it anymore.

You also need to consider how hard your tap water is and what kind of softening system you'd need. The best way to avoid scale is to use good water.

Thanks for the suggestions on the Caravel. It sounds like a neat machine but I would need a good amount of steam for milk drinks in the morning/parties.

After diving in more on commercial spring levers and such I'm more leaning to getting a L1-P, especially with the exchange rate being so nice now but I asked the SO about plumbing it in and she completely nixed the idea. She doesn't want the counter to be broken up or drilled, a new softening system put in for that side (we have one on the other counter) and that we can't take the machine with us when we move.

So, that being said, it looks like it would be the L1. Is that machine still comparable to the L1-P in quality without the plumbing element (I'll do some more research in the meantime to see if I can find the answer to that question)?

Looks like I found my answer on the Londinum forums:

https://londiniumespresso.com/forum?vie ... d=4&id=595

Now I need to convince the SO if I can plumb since I got the space and want to get the best I can from light roasts (besides dark).

If not, I might go with a different machine like a Strega.