Hi! Thank you in advance for your replies.

I currently have no equipment, and am looking for purchasing advice.

I enjoy capps and lattes, and am usually just making 1 or 2 but occasionally make 3-4 drinks at a time. I have used a Silvia paired with a breville smartgrinder for about a year, with pretty good results. I also have used a la spaziale S1 paired with a mazzer mini a few times. I love the ability to pull a shot and steam a drink quickly!

I am thinking about getting a quickmill anita and pairing it with a rocky grinder. Any thoughts on this? I know the rocky is very durable- any Anita users that have had their machine for 5 or 10+ years? One of my biggest concerns, if I am going to shell out that kind of money, is longevity.

My other thought is to pickup a rocky and get an entry level machine like a gaggia for now, and upgrading the machine a few years down the road.

I have a rocky and its time for me to upgrade, it served me well for 7 years but it is a stepped grinder and can be hard to dial in at times because of that, but it has sufficed by playing with the dose.

Don't buy with a view to upgrade, its way too expensive. Knowing you will upgrade is money wasted. As for the Rocky, it is stepped and less than adequate for espresso. Get the best grinder you can afford. The Quickmill machines are good, will last but if you are going to pull multiple milked drinks at the same time, you'll need a double boiler. The double boiler will also make better espresso.

Marvin

oregonian wrote:I currently have no equipment, and am looking for purchasing advice.

How to choose an espresso machine and grinder at the "right" price includes an introductory video:

oregonian wrote:I am thinking about getting a quickmill anita and pairing it with a rocky grinder.

Many agree that the Rancilio Rocky has ceded the title of "serious" go-to grinder to its modern competitor, the Baratza Vario. Rocky's heft earned it lots of admirers back in the day, but the high cost, lack of stepless adjustments, clumping, and thread slop in the adjustment renders it harder to recommend at full retail.

iginfect wrote:The Quickmill machines are good, will last but if you are going to pull multiple milked drinks at the same time, you'll need a double boiler. The double boiler will also make better espresso.

Unless you're catering, a good heat exchanger will have no trouble keeping up. Typical time for back-to-back drinks is 90 seconds. A fast double boiler like the La Spaziale Vivaldi can cut that time in half and a full commercial unit like the La Marzocco GS/3 is even faster.

Heat Exchanger vs. Double Boiler Espresso Machines presents the tradeoffs of a heat exchanger like the Quickmill Anita versus a double boiler like the La Spaziale S1 you tried:

Based on the machine & grinder pairings you've used and what you're considering I'd suggest focusing a bit more on the grinder. Upgrading from the Rocky to a Super Jolly was a significant improvement back when I had my Silvia and I still use the Super Jolly today. I'm not going to attempt to tell you what grinder to get but definitely ditch the Rocky.

Short answer: I wouldn't pair the Anita with the Rocky, unless you only do milky drinks.
Long and round about answer: I have been using a Rocky daily since 2005 without any mechanical problems. It's really built like a tank. The problem is its stepped, so its harder to adjust if you need to, and produces a clumpy grind, even with new burrs. If you get this grinder you will need to WDT for sure, i.e. stir the grounds in the portafilter to get a better pour. Using it with my Silvia, also purchased in 2005 when its reputation was better, and recently updated with an adjustable OPV and PID, it makes a bitter espresso. This is great for milk drinks where the bitterness stands up to the steamed milk, but not really great for straight espressos. My only experience with another grinder is with a Pharos hand grinder I recently purchased from Orphan Espresso. The difference between these two grinders is night and day. The Pharos is a hand grinder, so it's not as convenient as one with a motor, but it has a large conical burr set, and is about 80% cheaper than the motorized grinders with the same burrs. Its grinds are fluffier than the Rocky's, so no need to WDT, and from a totally subjective point of view, its more fun to use. Gone is the bitterness. I found the advice that the grinder is more important than the espresso machine to be true in my case. If I was just getting into home espressos today, and knowing what I know now, I would definitely be looking at either an Anita or PID Alexia, and a conical grinder like the Pharos grinder, but that's just my opinion.

I've had an Anita for 4ish years now, and I've been very happy with it. The biggest problem I've had with it is I've had to replace the pump several times. This is not something I blame on the Anita specifically though, as any E61 HX machine has the same basic design, and pretty much any vibe pump machine uses the same Ulka pumps. Many people feel like the quality of the Ulka pumps has gone down hill since the company was purchased by Ceme. Many people have had better luck than me, but I'm hardly unique in my pump issues either. The good news is pumps aren't that expensive, and they are fairly easy to replace.

No espresso machine is maintenance free, but other than my pump issue all my Anita has needed is the occasional descale and some gasket replacements.

As to grinder, I'm familiar with the rocky as well since a friend has one. It will get the job done, but if you can afford it I recommend something better, with a rocky you will be looking to upgrade sooner rather than later. Baratza preciso or better yet vario would be good choices.

OP is concerned with longevity, so I would recommend commercial grinders. A super jolly or better is where you wanna be.

oregonian wrote:Hi! Thank you in advance for your replies.

I currently have no equipment, and am looking for purchasing advice.

I am thinking about getting a quickmill anita and pairing it with a rocky grinder. Any thoughts on this? .. One of my biggest concerns, if I am going to shell out that kind of money, is longevity.

My other thought is to pickup a rocky and get an entry level machine like a gaggia for now, and upgrading the machine a few years down the road.

Sounds backwards. Start by getting the best grinder you can reasonably afford. Yes, the Rocky will last a long time.. years and years of average to mediocre performance. There are much better grinders. Check Baratza. They have refurbs which come up now and then. Used Mazzers can also be good return for the money.

At least here on HB, generally speaking, most of us have gotten past recommending stepped grinders, and few recommend the Rocky any longer. If "Exceptional Espresso" is what you are striving for shop for your grinder first.