Does anyone here have experience using the Vesuvius espresso machine? There's a great sale on it at whole latte love and I was wondering what this community thought of the machine. With the sale, it's around the same price as the linea mini.

Save 2K...Lelit Bianca...

The two machines are quite different and I actually own both.

Which two machines? LM and Vesuvius? Can you elaborate more on the differences?

trunks235 wrote:Which two machines? LM and Vesuvius? Can you elaborate more on the differences?

Sorry I read the other guys comment, I thought you were comparing with Lelit Bianca and Vesuvius. I only have an opinion on the LM and the Vesuvius based on the actual specification of the LM. I think if you're actually considering a LM, you probably won't be that interested in my opinion of it.

DaveC wrote:I thought you were comparing with Lelit Bianca and Vesuvius.

I'm not the OP, and I hope he doesn't mind my highjacking of his topic, but I'd definitely be interested in your opinion of Bianca vs. Vesuvius .

trunks235 wrote:...I was wondering what this community thought of the machine.

H-B has a V.G. site search; just place Vesuvius or other topic of interest into the search link above and you will rewarded with a list of related topics that will answer the question you put forth.

I've owned the Vesuvius for about 18 months now and the machine continues to amaze me with its inherent ability to obtain the most from any bean I've tried. After tons of experimenting with different profiles, I've come up with a light roast profile, a dark roast profile, a lever profile, and a standard espresso shop profile.

I keep our old Breville DB at our vacation home and have been considering ordering a Bianca to replace the BDB as it is 3 years old now and in need of some light repair. The Bianca seems like an impressive manual pressure profiling machine. But, the key word there is "manual." The Vesuvius can do everything the Bianca can do and more and it can perform in "automatic" pressure profiling mode. Once you've tuned a profile for your favorite bean, you can be doing all the other things necessary to crank the 2nd and 3rd shots that will follow if you have guests. A good profile can take 30 to 45 seconds depending on the bean. Also, if beans are new and the first grind or two is too fine as you dial it in, the Vesuvius profiles can be set to save the shot and prevent bitter results after 45 to 60 seconds of pre-programmed reductions in pressure.

You simply can't do that with a standard machine that can't perform pressure profiling. The Bianca, in good hands, can probably yield the same type of "saving" shot but it can't do it automatically. Standing there holding that paddle and continuously adjusting it over 30 to 60 seconds is going to get real old after awhile, especially if you are pulling 5 or 6 shots and the overall prep time for all those shots will likely double or maybe even triple.

So, while I think the Bianca may just be one heck of a price breaking approach to manual paddle controlled pressure profiling, it simply can't do the same job with the optimum efficiency of a Vesuvius. Again, I may just buy a Bianca but it likely will remain my secondary machine.

Maybe I also got thrown off the track of comparing the Vesuvius to a LM. If so, I apologize. I can only say that I seriously considered the LM before purchasing the Vesuvius. Now that I have a lot of experience in pressure profiling, I would not consider an LM.

Hi Perry
I think we have owned the Vesuvius espresso machine for a similar period ( almost 2 years for me). Like you I am just amazed by the machine features and consistency. It is probably the best machine out there at present and I most importantly , it seems to have healed me from this terrible illness called Upgraditis ! The variable pressure profiling must be one of the reasons. Anyway I am very HAPPY about it and surprised to see it is not getting much traction in the USA or Europe!