I have recently gone back from using a large commercial group machine- to using my little ol Caravel. For home use commercial machines are really overkill: unless it is your passion and/or you have a large household.

I just think it's a little silly to heat up maybe 10kg's of steel and brass to make a 30ml shot at home.... call me crazey.

Since I learnt to heat my milk in a stainless jug in the Caravel boiler- and made a naked pf with PV 45mm 16gr basket- I am hooked and the speed, efficiency, small footprint- great looks- superlative espresso- ease of maintenance- low cost of running, spotless stainless boiler- etc. Less really can be more.

I have suffered attempted character assassination in the past for expressing this view - but I am loving my daily coffee. Having said that I also loved having the commercial sized group- and it is a different experience... just not for everyone.

sorrentinacoffee wrote:I have suffered attempted character assassination in the past for expressing this view - but I am loving my daily coffee. Having said that I also loved having the commercial sized group- and it is a different experience... just not for everyone.

I actually agree with you. As someone with ample access to commercial gear and often required to use only the commercial machine available on site, I have found that part of the joy of being a home barista is having the luxury to use a variety of machines like Creminas, or Caravels, or something as edgy as a Strega. My GS/3 was a total buzzkill because it was always on and I just sort of defaulted to using it. Plus I hated leaving something on all the time (well on its timer, 5am to 8pm). But big machines that are always on have their benefits...I have yet to find them to outperform the manual levers as far as my shot quality goes, but there are a lot of convenience and ergonomic benefits that just don't exist on small domestic machines.

What I really want is a light commercial size version of my Eurobar that can be plumbed in...is there/was there ever such a thing?

Hey, alright! It looks like OE's Faema President has been sold. If I where in the position to have purchased it just for kicks I would be more disappointed, but frankly I'm happy to see the temptation gone.

Congratulations to whoever purchased it.

Russel, 13 years ago most all the reviews said the Wega Mininova was that machine. That was why I bought it back then. Still have it and its about to back in action for the winter season when I serve more milk baseddrinks, but right now, I'm enjoying the Cremina!

I guess I'm unclear on that machine...Wega made a Mininova that had a manual lever group?

It had an e61 group that had a lever on the side for something not sure what as thats not the model I have and may have misunderstood what you were asking but I thought it was a semi commercial double boiler that could be plumbed in.
My bad!