kenyabob wrote:Ive also gone down the road of the lever machine, but dont want to deal with buying and sourcing old or vintage parts.

With Caravels you wouldn't have to. There are 3rd party parts sold new. Plus they're made so beautifully simple you could even make some of them yourself.

Francesco has one right now, selling for 330€.

kenyabob wrote:Jay - I think youve been relatively unimpressed with reservoir + e61 preinfusion though, no? I imagine the trick of turning the pump on and immediately off, waiting 5 or 10 seconds, and then running the rest of the shot would work for either e61 or Pro 300.

My issue is that E61s are fairly 1 or 2 dimmensional until you can plumb them. If I could plumb then I would love a beautiful Synchronika.

But compared to a 300, I'd prefer the little preinfusion you do have vs none on the Pro 300. It should make a tasty shot more consistently.

If I were the OP I also consider the Flair with the new pressure piston. That's a legit setup for straight shots. Or stretch and get a DE1PRO.

Many thanks for all your comments!!

Clive's overview gives a good understanding...
But for single boilers it states "Cons: Lack of precise temperature control"
Surely a single boiler with e61 & PID would have as good a temperature control as any?
Perhaps they are suggesting that in general single boilers are cheaper & use cheaper components, or that flipping between steam & brewing throws off the accuracy?

(It also states the ECM Casa V is an HX, is that correct?)

Regarding the water: I will take your advice with the baking soda & epsom salts, & buy a water hardness tester kit.
& lets hope my machine will keep running for a nice long time

For espresso only I am very glad I did not buy an HX & indeed it appears I received incorrect information regarding espresso quality & also maintenance.

Regarding Lever machines: I thought long & hard, & originally planned to buy a La Pavoni. But I read so many conflicting views & in the end concluded the machine may well make an amazing espresso, but suffers from inconsistency & over heating. If entertaining I may need produce quite a few shots one after another. I will however keep a eye out for a 2nd hand, as it could be fun to experiment with.

The ECM Classika PID is a beautiful looking machine, but in the end it was 50% more expensive for a steam want & a larger footprint.

So I bought the Quickmill Carola & it's turned out to be the best choice for my needs. It looks great, much smaller & there is a certain "hand made" quality & Italian craftsmanship visible, kind of celebrating Italian industry, industrial design & production from days gone by.
& I can tell you, the quality of the espresso coming out, after only a few trials with some run of the mill beans...is outstanding!!!...& it can only get better right(?).

& on the odd occasion I may need to steam milk I might buy a Bellman Stovetop Steamer or just continue to use a mini-wisk to froth milk (I probably should not mention on this forum!!! . But hey, it keeps my girlfriend happy.

You'll do fine with Carola.

PID makes a single boiler very temperature stable. Without it there is a wide deadband due to the thermostat (instead of a PID). There are workarounds, but you don't have to worry about it. Just pull the shot once the machine has reached stable temperature and that's about it.

When entertaining you may have to wait a little if you're pulling many consecutive shots - depending of course on your barista skills and especially your speed with the next shot preparation. If I'm right, Carola's boiler isn't the smallest in single boilers which will help.

But still, just for the fun of it, have a look at the Caravel someday...

I've got an HX but still love to pull a shot with the Caravel every now and then. It's quite different. I once pulled a shot for a friend of mine who has a 2-group Synesso machine. He was a bit doubtful at first, but after having tasted the shot he looked very surprised and said: "What the h***, this is an excellent cup of espresso!"

The Carola has 0.75 liter boiler capacity. This is the same size as the Pro 700 has the same brew boiler capacity. The Carola is 850 watt, while the 700 is 1400 watts for both steam and brew boilers.

Why can't he pull shots almost back to back, or as fast as he would with a large, dual boiler machine?