Hi all !

I'm currently the owner of a pretty good espresso machine, the Lelit pl41 plus pid. It can be seen as a Rancilio Silvia imitation with a pid : a nice looking SBDU machine with a 0.35 cl coffee boiler. That machine is excellent with italian roasts, but, due to its lack of temperature stability, it's disappointing with light / 3rd wave roasts. Thus, I'm lurking for another gear.

As I don't drink so many capuccini or latte, a QM Alexia or an ECM classika pid seems fine. The problem is that the Alexia is not sold in France... Then my choice seems rather thin : only the ECM has a big enough coffee boiler (0.75cl). However, I wondered about it's inner-shot thermal stability. I asked about that to the ECM info service. They answered me that they made some tests with a SCACE thermofilter, but those data are not public

The fact that ECM doesn't want to communicate about such an information is a bit worrying. Does it means that its temperature stability is really bad ? With such an answer, I think so, but anyway, perhaps some people here made some temperature measurements ?

My 2nd question : what espresso machine with a price below 2000$ can produce some great espressi, rather similar to what we get with a La Marzocco ? Note also that I'm very fond of ethiopian and kenyan coffee, with fruity and floral aroma.

Thanks for your help,

The search feature is your friend...
ECM Classika PID - "my type" of a review

I have used my Classika PID daily for about a half year now, with 18g and 20g VST baskets and IMS shower screen (holes in plate, not mesh). I get very consistent results in the cup, and if I raise or lower the temp I get an immediate different taste (example bitterness at 94C and not at 93C). I therefore think that the PID is doing a great job at keeping the temp. I'm glad I can adjust the taste as I could go up to 94 with a acidic Kenya, which also could run up to 35-40 secs, while the one I have now get bitter at 94 and can not run more or less than about 31 secs. Remember, the boiler is insulated, and the group head is guiding the temp on the way out as well. And there is about 0,6l water at the correct temp and you need just a small amount.

I flush about 4 secs before I take out the portafilter and then I dry and fill it, and a 2 sec flush right before I insert the filter and pull the lever. I see the flushes as warming flushes and getting the group head to the right temp. As said, consistent results in the cup.

There is a Buyer's Guide to the the Quick Mill Alexia in The Bench forum, but boiler is not insulated and it's not the exact same machine, but a good read non the less.

Sorry, the Alexia PID kit came with an insulator jacket. The PID is not the same one as in the ECM? But the mesurements were actually very accurate, among the best the tester had seen. I don't know how the ECM compares as I do not have a SCACE (yet )

Compass Coffee wrote:The search feature is your friend...
ECM Classika PID - "my type" of a review

Thanks. I already read that thread. But there's nothing about the temperature stability, no comparison with high end machine, and we don't know what kind of beans the owner use.

Hi
I did not run any temperature stability testing.
The beans that I am using are mostly : Filicori Zecchini Gran Crema Forte, and Lavazza Super Crema. I tried over the time other types of beans too but the above are 90% of what I am using.

Thanks
Shutter-man