Share your espresso machine history - Page 7

#61: Post by **Strugs** » April 10th, 2019, 5:07 pm

1) 1994 Krupps cheap steam toy & whirly blade grinder
2) 1996 Starbucks Barista (Saeco rebranded pump machine) with factory pressurized portafilter & Braun burr grinder
2b) 2003 Same Starbucks machine with an aftermarket non pressurized portafilter. The Braun grinder could not grind fine/consistent enough so...
3) 2003 Rancilio Rocky Grinder
4) 2005 Wega Lyra heat exchange espresso machine
5) 2005 Mazzer Mini Grinder
6) 2015 Slayer Single Group
7) 2015 Ceado E73S Grinder - this grinder probably made the most noteable upgrade difference in terms of espresso taste and quality since going to a non pressurized PF in 2003

2017 Kafatek Monolith Conical grinder - not much if any noticeable improvement in taste/quality over the Ceado - just a lot less cleaning and fiddling
9) 2019 Arriving in a month - the new 3rd generation Monolith Conical
10) That's it! I'm done! (My retirement savings plan hopes that is true)

April 13th, 2019, 9:51 am

Espresso Machines:
1. Mr Coffee steam-driven toy from a yard sale.
2. Gaggia Coffee ("New" White Coffee w/o 3-way valve). Modded with a PID and Rajiv's table OPV.
3. Black Coffee w/ PID and adjustable OPV
4. KitchenAid Proline modded with dual PIDs
5. Breville BES920XL

Grinders
1. Some cheap burr grinder that sort of worked with the first Coffee
2. Cunill Tranquilo
3. KitchenAid Proline w/ Mazzer Mini burrs

#63: Post by **slipchuck** » April 14th, 2019, 4:53 pm

Breville cafe roma > Breville Barista Express > Breville infuser > Quickmill anita@ Bezzera BB005

Thanks

Randy

#64: Post by **lim.calvinb** » April 15th, 2019, 1:46 pm

Coffee machine:
Crossland CC1 (2013): I think this is the best machine in the entry level espresso machine range
Elektra T1 Sixties (2017): Found a seldom used machine made in 1999 on craigslist! This machine has served me very very well although its quite big and bulky

Grinder:
Lelit PL43 (2013): Not a big fan of this to be honest, the steps on the dose are not granular enough for good espresso
Baratza Vario (2017): Not a bad grinder, but definitely there are better deals to be had out there

#65: Post by **Dr. Enol** » April 22nd, 2019, 12:00 pm

All started with the PhD with those long nights glaring at data.

Devices:
2012 cafetier/French press for the office, paired with the cheapest squeakiest grinder from eBay with ceramic burrs.
2013 aeropress, handpresso, minipresso, prexo,... You know for the travels and novelty.
2017-18 flair signature, portaspresso pg, lelit pl41tem pid.

Grinders
Timemore chestnuts
1zpresso zpro
Ascaso isteel i1 flat
Eureka Olympus 75e

#66: Post by **TsurTriger** » April 23rd, 2019, 6:15 am

2010 - I started with capsules machine like Nespresso (but it was not Nespresso).
About a year later, the machine broken. The company didn't agree to take responsibility to fix the machine, so I threw it to the trash and decided to upgrade.

2011 - I bought my beloved Ranchilio Silvia
2013 - Trade my Ranchilio Silvia on brand new Bezzera Giulia + K3
2015 - I added HG 1
2016 - I added Elektra Semi-Automatica to the collection
2016 - I added my beloved and only Faema President lever 1 group head after about 6 months searching and one flight to Europe to get one.
2017 - I added Sette 270W
2019 - I'm still looking for Speedster that might cool me down a bit

(At least the Speedster looks so good, so I managed to get permission [The price kept as "not so expensive- look how pretty it is!" from the home CFO])
2020 - I probably will need to look a new place to live, after I'll be kicked from the house with all the machines

#67: Post by **undotcom** » April 24th, 2019, 10:28 pm

8 years ago: unknown pod machine + store ground beans
7 years ago: Simonelli Oscar + Baratza Encore
2.5 years ago: Quick Mill Silvano + Baratza Vario-W
2 weeks ago: Quick Mill Luca + Eureka Atom 75

#68: Post by **rbh1515** » April 25th, 2019, 1:29 am

1. 30 years ago I did not drink coffee, but I got married and my wife drank coffee. We were given a little toy espresso machine as a wedding present. Bought some Folgers and put it in the portafilter...don't even remember what it tasted like...remember, I never drank coffee.
2. Bought an espresso machine from Williams Sonoma for $250, and bought crummy grinder. The espresso seemed pretty good. WS had a "lifetime warranty" on the machine. Used it about 4 years, and I was lusting after a good machine. It finally died, and got my money back.
3. Bought a Silvia and a Mazzer Mini. I was in heaven! I visited a good friend in NYC that had married an Italian woman...I told her about my amazing new machine...turns out she had gone to school with Silvia, and they were good friends...small world. She said the family had a big yacht!
4. Sold the Silvia about 5 years later for about the same price I bought it for, and bought a Isomac Millennium. I was in heaven again, but after 5 years sold it and bought an Astra Gourmet.
5. Loved the Astra, but lusted after the new LM GS3 when it came out.
6. Sold the Astra and bought the GS3. Loved it for 5-6 years until I started having issues, including a leak that fried the brain box. Fixed it and sold it.
7. Bought a Salvatore semi auto. I had bought my dad one a couple of years before, and it was a great, well built machine. We bought a vacation home, and decided to move the Salvatore there. One of my good friends, Vlad, convinced me that a spring lever was the best way to go. I bought a Londinium, which is my main machine currently. It's paired up with a Monolith conical from the very first batch. I didn't include my complete grinder history: K30, Versalab, then the Monolith. I think I have the setup I'll keep for a long time...at least a few more years!!!
Rob

#69: Post by **physh** » May 24th, 2019, 1:37 am

1 year ago, bought a used and very rough Breville BES860XL from a friend who was moving out of the country. Cleaned it up but was never that satisfied with the built-in grinder, or steaming power.
6 months ago, bought a Quick Mill Silvano on Craigslist. It was quite dirty, gaskets were shot and it was missing a water tank. But I figured for US$400 it wasn't bad. Cleaned up nicely, and paired it with a Sette 270Wi. It's been quite good overall and I used it until last weekend. For a while I was lusting over proper E61 machines but couldn't justify spending $1000+ on one.
1 week ago, bought a very lightly used Rocket Classic, for very very little money. After a backflush, descaling and a few gasket replacements, it turned out to be a great machine.

#70: Post by **barneyfife** » June 26th, 2019, 9:12 pm

Around 1999 bought a Caravel and a West German era hand grinder...skip to present still using both. When the money rolls in it will be one of those beautiful Bosco levers and a nice quiet quality grinder.