Vibiemme double boiler PID espresso machine on the way - Page 4

[HB]

Dan, any update on your review of the DB PID VBM machine?
thanks

From what I've heard, they are holding to their announced shipment schedule. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Bench review research should begin in late April. Like the Vibiemme Domobar Super writeup, it will be a Dave and Dan tag-team effort.

[jasonmolinari]

Late April? Oh...thought it was supposed to be march-ish.
Darn, i was just authorized a new espresso machine for my 30th by the misses, and it's pretty much between the vivaldi and the VBM....although i do wonder if there is a Vivaldi 3 coming soon.....

[LeoZ]

From what I've heard, they are holding to their announced shipment schedule. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Bench review research should begin in late April. Like the Vibiemme Domobar Super writeup, it will be a Dave and Dan tag-team effort.

any chance there will be a 'jam' or' titan project' or 'bench trial' where other members can pay for shipping and check this thing out for a couple days?

hehe.

[networkcrasher]

From what I've heard, they are holding to their announced shipment schedule. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Bench review research should begin in late April. Like the Vibiemme Domobar Super writeup, it will be a Dave and Dan tag-team effort.

I heard differently. Does anyone else have any information that confirms the shipping as Dan mentioned?

Never mind. I was wrong

[Grant]

Late April? Oh...thought it was supposed to be march-ish.
Darn, i was just authorized a new espresso machine for my 30th by the misses, and it's pretty much between the vivaldi and the VBM....although i do wonder if there is a Vivaldi 3 coming soon.....

Bench review date and expected delivery/availability date of the Vibiemme's may not be the same mind you....

[stefano65]

Machines should be able to ship to the preordered customers by the 17 of April
sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately this things are out of our control
Italy is Italy............ I know I'm from there after all

[cannonfodder]

Bench review date and expected delivery/availability date of the Vibiemme's may not be the same mind you....

Keep in mind, we usually put some time on a machine before the first post to avoid knee jerk reaction comments. These reviews take a LOT of time. 100-200 hours is what I put into them, not to mention the 20 or so pounds of coffee.

[1st-line]

The last delay was caused by a full steamship that could not take our container. We received confirmation that the container loads Monday, and then ETAs in NY harbour on March 31st. Hence, the boat can be delayed into the port, then the FDA and Customs have their say, and if they want to hold it 2 weeks, they can, and then there is the trucking company to get it out of the container yard, and delivered.

This is the good news. The bad news is the entire 1st batch is sold out - meaning I do not even get one. There may be a few distributors who will have an extra one or two. Next batch is due May 1st or shortly thereafter.

[jasonmolinari]

Thanks for the update Jim.

[annp]

That means barring giant sea monsters and misplaced hurricanes, my VBM should be here shortly : )

Ann

[multigl]

The last delay was caused by a full steamship that could not take our container. We received confirmation that the container loads Monday, and then ETAs in NY harbour on March 31st. Hence, the boat can be delayed into the port, then the FDA and Customs have their say, and if they want to hold it 2 weeks, they can, and then there is the trucking company to get it out of the container yard, and delivered.

This is the good news. The bad news is the entire 1st batch is sold out - meaning I do not even get one. There may be a few distributors who will have an extra one or two. Next batch is due May 1st or shortly thereafter.

Jim, if there's anything you can do to bump Caffe Luce up to the top of that distributor list, I would greatly appreciate it

[LeoZ]

Keep in mind, we usually put some time on a machine before the first post to avoid knee jerk reaction comments. These reviews take a LOT of time. 100-200 hours is what I put into them, not to mention the 20 or so pounds of coffee.

200 hours!!?

assuming you spend 1 hour a night after work, and 4 hours on weekends, thats 13 hours/week. it takes 4 months to review? wow. you should receive a salary for that amount of time

[HB]

it takes 4 months to review? wow.

Yes, four months start-to-finish is the typical review cycle. The Bench threads give you a good idea of the time invested in each one. Of course that doesn't include the actual final writeup, copyediting, peer review, and layout. Over time I've learned to streamline the process. Of all the reviews, I spent the most time on the Buyer's Guide to the Cimbali Junior. The acknowledgments hint at the amount of background research and peer review involved:

This guide is the culmination of a year's worth of on-and-off research and the help of a growing circle of espresso enthusiasts. It is my pleasure to know and learn from the staff at Counter Culture Coffee, specifically Daryn Berlin, Cindy Chang, and Peter Giuliano, who enthusiastically share their knowledge and espresso lab every Friday at 7:30am. Cindy and Peter took weekend time away from their family to host the group taste comparison, demonstrating their professional dedication and passion; the CCC staff truly lives their company motto, "Coffee Driven People, People Driven Coffee." By the way, Peter, thanks for your regular reminders over the past year that "it's all about the coffee, man."

I am grateful to my fellow baristas who double-check my results and offer valuable suggestions: Cliff Beringer, Richard Bone, John Conte, Geoffrey Corey (owner of my favorite local café, Pheasant Creek Coffee), Craig McNeal, David Morris, Steve Robinson, Lino Verna, and Mike Walsh. In addition to their helpful peer review comments, I wish to recognize Rex Blankinship, Ken Fox, and Jim Schulman for offering their practical experience with Junior. Gentlemen, you saved me precious time and coffee!

That said, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.

[cannonfodder]

Yup, that is a lot of time be we pride ourselves on doing an extremely thorough job on the review. After all, someone is going to spend a bunch of money on a machine and the review will be a big factor in their decision. Doing anything less would be a disservice. I will spend several weekends doing nothing but pulling shots and steaming from dawn to dusk just to see how hard the machine can be run and if anything will break under extreme use as well as taking pages of notes. It is not unusual to run 5 pound of coffee in a week, or less at the beginning. I have literally worn the chrome out of a portafilter in 3 months. Then there are all the hours spent with data-loggers and thermocouples stuck all over the machine to tweak and tune it so you don't have to go through that curve. It takes a lot more time than most people think.

I don't think I have ever spent less than one hour on any one testing session, it is usually two or more hours after work which makes for some very long days at times. Going to bed at 1am is not uncommon; I get up at 6am for my real job.

[stefano65]

there are finally some official shots from the factory that I just put on my web page
Stefano

[multigl]

I was just told they're all delayed until the end of May

[DavidBB]

Hurry up and wait. I guess I always expected delays if I thought about it. Hope mine's here before Xmas.

[stefano65]

The first batch of DOUBLEDOMO Domobar Super Double Boiler
( this is the official name for the new DOMOBAR Super double boiler machine)
are HERE, the shipment was delivered to the importer today,
all the pre-oredered units will be shipped out before the end of this week
thanks for your patience
Stefano Cremonesi

[annp]

Yesterday the nice people from Stefano's called me to figure out which shipping address would be the best as we live in a odd area with a difficult driveway and delivery trucks don't make it up here.

Our UPS driver is well trained though, and since my husband works at home, they will work something out with his pickup truck.

So what is ironic is - Friday after this one, probably two days after I've got my machine set up - I have surgery. That in itself is not a bad thing, but part of the recovery involves 2 weeks of not driving, vacuuming or lifting.

I'm not sure how this applies to operating an espresso machine - but I have to slide Anita out from under the cabinet and swing her around to fill her reservior. My insurance company offered a home health care nurse, but what I really need is an assistant Barista - at least to wrestle my machine around and tamp my shots.

So everyone is going to be miles ahead of me of getting to know your machines and all the tweaks.

ARRGGH!

Ann

[qha000]

So, how about the second batch? Would there be another pre-order for that or will there be enough shipped to keep in stock? Thanks,