Surely the Synesso would have superior steaming performance compared with the Decent?

Which machine would be better for banging out a few drinks in succession? Eg for those who entertain guests at home etc.

HH wrote:I'm not sure if you're being serious here or not Erik, as sarcasm don't always come through well on forums. If you're being serious, can you explain why you think it's better? It can't do flow profiling at low levels, can't do blooming shots, doesn't have proper manual control of flow or pressure, is limited in the profiles it can follow, is hugely expensive etc etc. There must be some integral part of this that makes it 'good' that I'm missing aside from that it's got 'Synesso' on the side of it?

I'm being serious. If you want bragging rights to have the most options, usefull or not you need a Decent. The Synesso has all of the usefull options that'll do 99% of what you need when your technique is right. And the most important one is consistency which the Decent isn't. The Synesso is of a complete different planet for components used compared to the Decent. So yes I'd much prefer the Synesso over a Decent.

I don't feel I know enough yet about the internals of the Synesso to comment here really, but I'm happy with the quality of the DE1. If the Synesso improves on these that's awesome, but I'm not sure how it would translate to better coffee. Consistency-wise I haven't had any problems here, and Lance's take surprised a lot of DE1 owners as it runs contrary to our experience with the machine. It's useful to note though, and agree the DE1 can be very sensitive to puck prep. If the Synesso is less sensitive to prep I agree this can only be a good thing.

It's good to have more modern options out there, and I'm certainly interested to find out more about the machine as it gets into more benches.

About ten years ago I asked the founder of Synesso, Mark Barnett, about a platform for raising an espresso cup. He sent me this stainless steel platform with the same design as the drip tray.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote:How's about some 'under the hood' pics.

Here are a couple I snapped earlier.




I'll have to open it up again this weekend for some better pictures.

HH wrote:I'm not sure if you're being serious here or not Erik, as sarcasm doesn't always come through well on forums. If you're being serious, can you explain why you think it's better? It can't do flow profiling at low levels, can't do blooming shots, doesn't have proper manual control of flow or pressure, is limited in the profiles it can follow, is hugely expensive etc etc. There must be some integral part of this that makes it 'good' that I'm missing aside from that it's got 'Synesso' on the side of it?

I considered the DE1 for a while, but there were too many negatives for me personally. These are just my personal preferences.

• Drip tray, drip cover did not have the aesthetic I was looking for. This goes for a lot of other design choices between the two, the ES.1 through and through is premium. Everything I see, touch, and move is fantastic.

• I didn't like the open water "reservoir", or bowl to be honest. The reservoir size, combined with the boiler size lets me brew quite a while without having to refill. I didn't want to have to install any other external water sources. I also love the top fill reservoir.

• I hated the sound of the decent machine.

• The steam left something to be desired on the decent, and I wanted commercial like steam.

• I wanted a dual boiler.

• I wanted to interact a bit more with the machine and preferred the ES1 "paddle", the tea tap button, and the steam lever (love the feel of the steam lever).

• The saturated group has been amazing on the ES1, I wanted rock solid temperature stability after coming from my Flair.

• I liked that the Synesso was built in Seattle.

• I really wanted a tank, and the ES.1 delivered. It certainly won't be fitting in a suitcase.

• I have a Flair 58 to brew "profiles" the Synesso can't. I personally find a coffee I like and stick with it, I wanted repeatability on my favorites.

I honestly compared the San Remo YOU to the ES.1 more than the Decent. I just could not get past some of the design choices on the Decent that lowered the quality feel I was looking for. So far, I had a bit of buyers remorse with the initial lack of control I had until getting access to the "advanced user" settings. I hope there are more features and adjust-ability added in the future. I still haven't run a profile yet, but the manual mode has been fun on the ES.1. I need to rewire my brain to watch the screen outputs versus my scale timing. I'm still brewing how I used to with my Flair with scale time and weight.

Sivs wrote:Here are a couple I snapped earlier.
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I'll have to open it up again this weekend for some better pictures.

Thanks for this picture.

It shows the heart of profiling capabilities, which appears to be a proportional solenoid valve teed into the discharge of a normal, tried and true Fluid-O-Tech rotary pump.

This emails how you can set the pressure in the firmware, rather than having to adjust the bypass valve on the pump.

Handy.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote:How's about some 'under the hood' pics.

Sivs wrote:Here are a couple I snapped earlier.

Thanks for posting pics. I hope there will be more to come.

My initial thoughts are that it's a premium built machine. It looks complicated, cramped, a lot of plastic tubing, difficult to work on.
The design element that I see and find disappointing is that the rotary pump and motor are mounted horizontally underneath what appears to be a boiler. I've never liked that idea, although a lot of machines are built that way.

Most importantly, how's the coffee; how's the machine's forgiveness factor? How are you doing with the milk steaming and the whole milk thing?

I look forward to reading more about your coffee adventures.
Congratulation on acquiring such a beautiful machine. I'm sure you will enjoy making and drinking great coffee!

Congratulations on the ES.1. You have to be one of the first to get to experience this machine. This is one of the machines I am looking at upgrading to. I'm down to the LM ES3-MP (which given my slant towards modern technology I have mostly ruled out at this time), the Synesso ES.1, and the Sanremo YOU.

In terms of the Synesso ES.1, I was hoping you can tell me the exact height dimension to the top of the screen? Their dimension drawings on their website say 18", but the text specs say 17.5". Believe it or not, this is literally a deal breaker for me unless this screen is more than 12" in length from the back of the machine. I have a set of shelves in my beverage center that are 12" in length and are at a height of 17.75" above the countertop. Moving the shelves is not an option due to the backsplash, cabinetry, etc.

Any chance you can take an exact measurement to the top of the screen, and/or validate that the screen is more than 12" away from the back of the machine?

I look forward to seeing your experiences on this beautiful piece of espresso machinery!!

BaristaBoy E61 wrote: It looks complicated, cramped,

Unless it's a big commercial machine, it has to be for a machine with this many features.

a lot of plastic tubing,

Those may be silicone tubing.

The design element that I see and find disappointing is that the rotary pump and motor are mounted horizontally underneath what appears to be a boiler. I've never liked that idea, although a lot of machines are built that way.

Since the heat rises, it's better to keep the motor away from additional heat source.