With some reluctance, I sold the Sama Export to a local barista/commercial roaster just a few minutes ago. He has a booth at the upcoming trade show in Seattle. He even promised me a ticket to the show!

Anyway, the proof for him was the single shot of espresso of a week old Celebes. Amazing crema and obviously a pleasing taste to him and his lady. He commented how correctly the Poppery I roasted the beans and showed me inner layers of a roasted bean and what he was looking for. Using jargon that showed his expertise, he was very friendly and helpful to this home roaster who quickly understood my place in the pecking order of roasters.

So, I had 11 months with the Sama and learned a lot about espresso and lever machines. The Gaggia Factory now assumes full time duty. I have no regrets with the Sama but am very pleased with the espresso that the manual lever is making. It's also nice to downsize once in a while.

... so why did I buy yet another Trosser grinder on ebay last week?

I was considering going in the other direction, selling my La Pavoni and getting the Export. The Lusso I have been using is great. You gotta tell me more about your decision, please

Fullsack wrote:I was considering going in the other direction, selling my La Pavoni and getting the Export. The Lusso I have been using is great. You gotta tell me more about your decision, please

Sure! The grass is always greener on the other side. And shinier too!

Simply put: I prefer the flavor of the espresso coming out of the Gaggia than I did on the Sama Export. It seems fuller and less likely to become over-extracted given the same amount of liquid. But the Export delivered some outstanding shots during its final week here.

The Export required a gentle touch when tamping. There were several times that handle took its sweet time to move back up. A couple of times the portafilter unscrewed under pressure and made a mess. But after cleaning around the gaskets that never happened again. But I was always leary.

On the Gaggia I have yet to come close to a clogged pull. The gauge is nice to have but now that I'm used to the machine some, I don't rely on the gauge that much.

But understand this: the Sama I bought last December was a refurbished unit, not new. It was at least 20 years old. Joe refurb'ed it (at the Good Coffee Company) and made it available for sale when I was looking at a new Ponte Vecchio Export. The PV's were having some import troubles and Joe's $$ was held up somewhere in Italy (imagine that!). So there were no new units there at the time, except for a couple stainless Lusso's for $700 or so. Seems like a bargain now. But I digress...

Point it, a new Export might have been different than the used one. I wondered about the strength of the spring after 20 years, not knowing if Joe put a new one in. I kind of doubt that there was an issue with the spring, though.

Fullsack, your Pavoni is a classic, an icon. The PV's are more utilitarian but still a classic in their own way. Since I don't need or want two machines I sold the one I used less. Psst, wanna buy a used ThorTamper for the Sama? Cheap. And it doesn't hurt that the Gaggia reminds me of the Wizard of Oz somehow....

Good luck in your decision making!