If one "feels better" to you both than the other, go for it. They are similar enough and you'll either find your choice sufficient for your desires, that making espresso isn't something you want to further pursue, or that you want to go deeper. In either of the two latter cases, you would abandon either machine

Good hack, and a lot cheaper than the wool felt I have been using on my PV. The wool is wonderful insulation and very friendly to human health and the environment, but it isn't cheap. Recycling old pillows is a nice idea. Jim

That sucks. Well, better to have a normal heart rhythm though. What do you do in the morning instead of coffee? Cry? :-) Thanks for doing all the work to find a tasty decaf. I'll be giving that one a try for sure. Could it have been coincidence that your heart was acting up when you were drinking it?

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I can appreciate that point of view. You can never know. Same goes for so many things. Maybe somebody died in your hotel bed. Or maybe the last person in the room had a communicable disease. Perhaps they stuck the door knob, TV remote, or the shower control handle up their rear end. When you go to a restaurant

Thanks, @Jake_G, that's the kind of dialogue I'm looking for. I certainly don't think I'm a master home barista, I'm just at the beginning of my journey, but I'm pretty good at tasting bitter and sour. Maybe the particular bean isn't my favorite in terms of roast level or tasting notes, but I can tell if it's been "well pulled"

I fill my machines with a 20 Oz steaming pitcher. Seems easy enough to fill pitcher and pour into boiler without too much trouble

I strike up a conversation with the barista well ahead of ordering my drink. "Wow, that's a classy Slayer Steam you have there, how do you like it?" Or: "I'm a straight espresso guy generally, do you have any single origin espresso on bar today?" Or, if I am eyeing a bag of beans they

I may be somewhat manageable if one is filling the boiler with a pitcher. In our kitchen the espresso machine stands next to the sink and the faucet is pull-out. In the morning my wife gets up first and fills the machine (Silvia till Argos arrives). I can imagine the bubbly faucet water in the funnel being much more

@GU2GD, I believe Ascension to be of the "owners/leaders want to make a good product, but the staff isn't delivering" situation. Perhaps there was some initial training, maybe it wasn't sufficient, maybe there isn't continuing training/feedback etc. I also recognize that there are likely, at least in this area, fewer espresso customers than there are cappuccino/latte/etc. customers, and