Upside down question: I have a grinder - which espresso machine to pick now? - Page 3

#21: Post by **homeburrero** » August 2nd, 2021, 4:35 pm

cafeIKE wrote:Everyone should read The Insanely Long Water FAQ

Agree wholeheartedly!

cafeIKE wrote:The only non-scaling water is distilled and it makes terrible espresso and coffee.

I think you'll find plenty of agreement that you should not use distilled, because of taste, corrosivity, and water sensor issues. But I must disagree about distilled being the only non-scaling water. If your calcium hardness and/or alkalinity numbers are low enough, so that the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) is negative (the FAQ discusses LSI nicely), then the water should tend to dissolve rather than deposit limescale. Water with zero hardness, like the R. Pavlis water that is very popular with HB members, is non-scaling and many of us think that it makes tasty espresso and coffee. Much discussion about that can be found over in the water forum.

P.S.
I think that continued discussion along this line might be best to bring up over in the water forum.

#22: Post by **BaristaMcBob** » August 2nd, 2021, 6:50 pm

Big heavy hardware with no features trumps small lightweight hardware with plastic parts, tiny boilers, and some bells and whistles which make you think it can do it all. IMHO.

Having to wait 30 seconds to steam is a deal breaker. That means your shot will be sitting there for nearly a minute before you pour your latte. By then there won't be much crema left.

So, if it was me, I'd start with a rotary pump as my #1 must have feature then go from there.

#23: Post by **cafeIKE** » August 2nd, 2021, 8:47 pm

So, if it was me, I'd start with a rotary pump as my #1 must have feature then go from there.

Gee, millions of us with vibe pumps that brew and steam simultaneously must be delusional

Who knew?

#24: Post by **Jeff** » August 2nd, 2021, 11:11 pm

I've never seen any supportable claims that a rotary pump, by virtue of being a rotary pump alone, makes better espresso. If anything, for a moderately skilled home user, the more gentle action of a vibe pump can be more forgiving of imperfect puck prep. There's not enough evidence for me to pick a machine for in-cup quality based on rotary vs. vibe pump alone.

August 5th, 2021, 10:49 am

Thank you all once again for you amazing support! The machine just arrived today and I will set it up tomorrow and play around with it over the weekend. I'll share my experience in the respective threads!

Happy to be part of the community now!

August 18th, 2021, 7:45 am

Just a quick 2 week update for everyone who helped: just wow! I was expecting a difference but I wasn't expecting THAT! Much more balanced coffee, much easier to dial in with way less waste of coffee, easier to handle etc. And I haven't even explored all the possibilities of that machine.
So, I'm actually happy with the choice and wanted to say again: Thank you all so much!