"Doesn't really have anything to do with the Vetrano though..."

As a newbie who has just taken the plunge - I mean leap - from a Gaggia Carezza to my just-arrived Vetrano, I am anxious to read the initial appraisal of those more knowledgable than I - preferably in terms that I can somewhat understand w/o a degree in astro-coffee-physics .

But that's just me.

hed1117 wrote:As a newbie who has just taken the plunge - I mean leap - from a Gaggia Carezza to my just-arrived Vetrano, I am anxious to read the initial appraisal of those more knowledgable than I - preferably in terms that I can somewhat understand w/o a degree in astro-coffee-physics .

But that's just me.

If you were referring to my shot temp series post, that's ok, not that many months ago I wouldn't haven't understood what I was saying either! Hang around here awhile, HB can be a quite educational as well as confusing site.

Compass Coffee wrote:Of interest might be the heater would always be kicked on end of wiggle which was start of 1min PF simulated fill timer. Heater would kick back on once during the 1min between 34 or 24 sec left depending on the previous shot temp pulled. (for about 5sec) The 6 200F shots I noticed it consistently kicked back on right at 24 or 25sec left of the countdown off at 20sec left. It was always just about ready to kick back on again per the gauge when the 1min elapsed but never did until starting the flush and go. Might be even more consistent hitting desired shot temp if waiting for heater to kick back on the second time and immediately starting flush and go at that point, something I'll likely play with since when pulling actual shots I'm not using a timer between shots! (but have timed what it actually takes me a couple times the past few days) Would slow me down a bit when pulling a series of shots but if it proves to be more shot temp accurate, so be it!

Mike -

Did you insulate your Bricc's boiler? Mine is insulated, and I have a thermofilter showing up in the next week or so. Would be an interesting comparison to see uninsulated Bricc v. insulated Bricc v. insulated Vetrano.

Wasn't able to spend as much time as I wanted on it yesterday, but I'm still trying to dial in the best grind on some beans I'm using (Caffe Fresco Organic PNG), but also having issues with distribution/tamping. My tamper seems to be at least 1mm smaller in diameter than the basket I'm using -- will need to take a caliper gauge to quantify the dimensions -- and getting channeling every third shot or so. So it's making things slower than I'd like. I did turn out a couple of very nice shots, so I'm getting closer, but will need to get the dist/tamping thing worked out before I can hope for enough consistency to know if the grind setting is right on.

BTW, naked Rancilio portafilter/basket from Chris Coffee, Espro 58mm flat tamper, Mazzer Mini-E doserless grinder. I have a convex tamper arriving in a few days...maybe that'll help. Otherwise I may need to rethink the basket/tamper combo.

I will say that flushing is easy on this machine -- gotta love that E61 head -- and the rotary pump seems powerful and is very quiet (compared to every vibratory pump I've used/heard). The no-burn fully-articulated steam wand has lots of oomph, but perfecting microfoam operations on it will wait until my primary objective -- consistently good/great shots -- is achieved. After I get the PNG nailed, I want to try some Ambrosia Blend and Black Cat to learn what subtle grinding/temp changes are called for.

I would be very cautious about insulating the boiler.
We've talked about this in the past.

LOL - the way you put that sounds awfully dramatic.

I've still not seen anything that really shows there is any impact (positive OR negative) to results in the cup based on boiler insulation, only that the machine consumes a little less energy with the consequence of a little more overshoot with the boiler pressure. Given the inherently unexact and pseudo-zen nature of temperature control on a HX machine, I don't really see what the impact is that demands a "very cautious" approach.

I would certainly agree that a temperature surfing methodology developed when a machine was uninsulated would have to be revised after the machine was insulated - but why isn't this just an issue of revising the required surfing technique?

malachi wrote:I would be very cautious about insulating the boiler.
We've talked about this in the past.

I too am confused. Your review said:

malachi wrote:And, of course, life would get a lot easier if the machine (or at least the boiler) were insulated.

I searched the forum and couldn't find any gotchas. Though I haven't insulated my boiler yet, figure I'll wait until the Monster is done and decide what mods to do all at once.

I had hoped that the Vetrano, combining many of the components of the Andreja Premium PLUS the desirable rotary pump, would be considered at least as good ie quality and value, as the Andreja.

So far the comments I've read - granted they have all been speculative and/or literally "first look", as the first 30 machines only shipped this past week - have risen only to the sober heights of "it's got to be quieter than my Silvia"...

Any new insights?

I have an insight....Let Dan do the review(to completion) and let people get the machine in their hands before speculating on performance.

Sean

"I have an insight....Let Dan do the review(to completion) and let people get the machine in their hands before speculating on performance."

Point taken.

I will wait patiently ...