I upgraded from a Gaggia Classic about 13 months ago to an Expobar Office Lever plus from WLL. I had a budget of $1,200 and wasn't going to stretch it. (If I did, I would have gone for the Expobar Brutus for about $500 more). This had all the features I was looking for, good build quality and the service from WLL (for me) has been fine. I like that I can plumb it in and the dual gauges. Anyway, it's all in what you are looking for and I couldn't be happier with mine. Good Luck!

So after 13 months of use, are you satisfied with the reliability of your Expobar? If you could have improvements what would they be? What were some of the features that they provided that satisfied you?

I am very satisfied with its reliability. I have not plumbed in my machine as of yet. I love having the option, but haven't talked myself into the necessity since it's simple to lift off the top (cups & saucers in place) and just pour filtered water into the reservoir. The plumbing is the easy part for me, it's figuring out and getting the appropriate filter system, but that's for another thread.

When I was searching for my new unit, I knew I wanted an E61. So I made a spreadsheet that listed the features of each machine. The list included: Brewtus IV-R, QM Vetrano, QM 67, for the double boilers and, Expobar Office Lever Plus, Fiorenza Volante, Quick Mill Anita, and Bezzerra BZ10 for the HX machines. I decided that I didn't want to spend an extra ~$700-$1,000 on a DB, since I mostly do straight espresso. The Office Lever Plus was $400-$500 below the competition, with the exception of the Fiorenza Volante. I think I would have picked that one (Volante) if it had been available (out of stock with no date) due to the fact that they were identical in features (E61, Rotary Pump, Plumbable, and Dual Gauges)with the exception of the Fiorenza coming with the rotary pump as compared to the Expobars Vibe pump. So, I guess the only thing I would have liked better would be a rotary pump, but for the $350 savings, I could probably upgrade in the future? (Oh, and as I'm looking at the spreadsheet, the Expobar has the largest boiler of the bunch at 1.8L, the others are 1.5 and 1.6 for the Anita.)

I pull a 2 doubles every morning and occasionally pull more when entertaining or if I feel I need a boost.

Well that settles it! After much debate, and further research, I decided while a HX machine would help the convenience factor, I believe that my initial concerns should be pulling great espresso. That and I kept justifying if i go for a great HX machine then im only a few hundred away from DB status. I started my searches over, and about a week later, found a killer deal on a Quick Mill Alexia which arrives Monday. With the money saved, I took advantage of the 1st line sale on Quamar M80 grinders and was able to snag both of them for less than the price of an HX machine.

Thanks for all of your encouragement, and advice! What a great place!

Pictures soon to come!

Have an Alexia PID.
EricS thermometer is a great addition to you your machine.
PM me if you want any tips.

gregisdangerous,

That's good news!

Be sure to come back and post your First Impressions when you've used both machine & grinder a bit.

-- BR

Here is a quick update on the grinder/machine:

I ordered the Alexia on Thursday, and the Grinder on Friday. The Alexia arrived on Monday and the Grinder promptly on Tuesday. For anyone interested in ordering from Chris' Coffee (where i ordered the Alexia from) or from 1st-Line Espresso (the Quamar M80) I received nothing but the best communication, customer service, time, and advice. Both companies weighed out the pros and cons of each machine, advised me that a small upgrade was well worth investment, but I never once felt like I was being "pressured" to spend more money. I would happily order from both in a heartbeat!

I readily stocked up on a gallon of milk and about 5 gallons of distilled h20. A quick harness test revealed im safe to use the water for brewing! Lets get started......

The Alexia is straight forward. Well packaged with some cleaner and a new 58mm tamper that I also ordered. The machine came with the excellent Chris Coffee instruction guide and a service certificate that the machine was bench tested and approved before shipment. I filled the boiler, engaged the heating element and awaited the warmup time. I used a hand grinder the first day to test out espresso pulling and steaming before the real grinder arrived. I used a fresh batch of Counter Culture Apollo dosed to 17 grams and pulled. To my surprise my little grinder was a little too fine! The shot was choking the machine so i aborted and started over. The 2nd shot was way too fast, so the reset button was again struck. Third time is a charm! 8 sec to flow good body, 25 sec produced a 1.75oz shot. Unfortunatly it was unbearably sour! Time to disassemble the machine and observe the boiler thermostat.

The Alexia is really well built! OPV valve adjustment is located on top for easy access, and the thermostat is right behind the outer shell. I had the machine exposed in about 90 seconds. 6 screws wham bam thank you mamm! To my surprise, the thermostat was set at 85 degrees Celsius! I ramped it up to the bottom of the recommendation scale at 101 Celsius for brew temperature at 91 degrees. Shot had a much better mouth feel, more clarity and separation from the bottom and top notes. The shot still tasted a little acidic/sour but i believe this might be partly my barista skills and the SO nature of the coffee. I was never a huge Apollo fan but this was all the local shop had in stock.

Grinder arrives! Again, the box was well packed, and the machine came without a scratch! I was under the impression that I was able to receive a free gift of some burr cleaner and coffee with the purchase, but I got the grinder on a spring sale, and I was not disappointed in the absence of either. The burrs touched while the machine was on around 8, so i backed off to about 12 to start my calibration. I had some old beans from Tandem Roasters in Oregon that i ran through the machine to "break in." About 1/2 a pound. HOLY COW!!!!

This sucker is fast. 7 seconds yields a 16 gram dose. I was almost taken back by its quickness. Im so used to grinding per dose, and that would take about 250 cranks on my old hand grinder. Time to try the Apollo again.

First shot spit out like an exorcism from the group head. Way too coarse. I began to back off about 2 clicks on the steeps and finally found a good spot around 10. Pulled three shots to get a good balance of 9.6-9.7 bar of pressure, the crema is amazing on this machine, as is the noise. Many people have mentioned the noise of the Vibratory pump machines, and the noise of the Quamar M80 however, I believe they are complimentary in sound. The Vibe is a little loud but not loud enough that people can hear it in the other room. The Quamar to me runs quiet enough to be in a library, or im just plain deaf.....

Steam power; This thing can blow milk out of a pitcher. Im slowly learning to back off the amount of milk i use in a 10oz pitcher. I have cut my milk in half compared to my Pavoni. The steam time for about 5-7oz of milk is about 25 seconds. This machine is powerful! I dont drink large milk based drinks and cannot comment on users who enjoy the oversized latte, but going from my pavoni, this thing spinds and froths like a champ. Its great to finally graduate to a machine that I can struggle/improve on. I always suspected my pavoni was under powered, and the Alexia confirms it.

Today I tweaked the grind and tamp even finer, as some of the shots were still a little sour. If need be I might open up the Alexia and try to increase the temp by another 4 degrees or so so the brew temp is right at 95-96. I understand the want for the Eric's thermometer. I will be purchasing one ASAP. I plan to upgrade to a bottomless portafilter and thermometer in a few weeks. For now I want my technique to become as consistent as possible based purely on taste and routine. I feel the more elements for adjustment i add now, the more confusing it can become.


I have added a few pictures to the bottom of this post. The first being the setup on my office fridge (I live right above where I work and its easier to just go downstairs to turn the machine on in the AM than want to retreat to my kitchen to make a shot during the day. The second picture is a shot I completed this afternoon. The crema was great, and it stayed on the espresso for over 2 minutes telling me that I have plenty of time to steam and pour a cap if need be. I realize that the wait time is not optimum, but again for now I want to practice my steam consistency and shot routine before I even dream of upgrading to a better machine. There is something satisfying about being patient in your brewing as you learn. Ive gone through almost 2 lb of coffee adjusting the tamp, grind and brew, to also get the burrs calibrated, and break the grinder in.

The shot clarity and flavor is getting better. This grinder really wants to accent the upper notes i believe (more so than my hand grinder) being a 64mm burr set. The pictured shot had a nuttiness and chocolate undertone in the aftertaste that I was looking for as what i have tasted drinking the Apollo in local shops. I also realize the shots i was drinking were coming from 9000 dollar machines, and Im excited to compare and contrast my skill set against titan grinder and titan machine classes. It also still adds that excitement of getting an espresso at a cafe that is superior. Something to look forward to i guess.

All in all im thrilled with my purchase. Please friends, critique the shot, and my approach to coffee. Im here to learn. I have been enjoying my espresso out of a 5oz black cat not neutral cup and saucer, and will upgrade to traditional demitasse in the very near future, perhaps when I get the bottomless portafilter and thermometer. My Birthday is only 2 months away!

Cant wait to contribute my experience to forum discussions ect as the months pass with you. If you are ever in the columbus area, hit me up we will brew some coffee!





Greg-

-- deleted -- (duplicate post)

gregisdangerous,

Thanks for the update and glad to see your grinder and espresso machine arrived safely (despite the Shipping Gorillas) and that you're enjoying using them.

BTW, I see you have a very novel way of mounting your machine and grinder -- sideways (as seen in the picture above) -- but I find it easier if they are mounted right side up...at least it works better for me anyway (and for some reason, working with gravity seems helpful also).

-- BR