Chert wrote:It would be nice to have a kit to take out the overlarge boilers and retrofit with brew boilers or heater coils. Energy efficiency would improve and you could store your old unused 20 lb dumbbells in the surround. That weight is needed for stability against the heavy brew group, but heating that much water should no longer be needed.

The issue is that in many machines the group is bolted to a neck coming out of the boiler, and so the chassis isn't designed to take the load of the lever.

A brew boiler should work well with groups that are not mounted to the boiler neck, as famously done by the Coffee Machinist: https://coffeemachinist.com.au/andys-londinium/

Pompei. next to Lambro. The giant.
Stupendously huge.

HB team, genuine thanks for all the feedback on the Bosco, close cousins and distant relatives. Some good nuggets worth consideration for sure. I really truly appreciate all the engagement.

As of now I'm still on the Sorrento path of righteousness, time will truly tell if I stay the course!

As anticipated there may have been some misreads on my comments regarding craftsmanship. As I tried to state in the opening post, handmade does not equate to poor tolerances or fit, unbelievable high level tolerance can be held "by hand" with the right people, tools, set-up and critically, time. As mentioned I don't fault Bosco for their specific result, I see it as a choice being made that is indeed reflected in the cost. I was plainly calling it out as a reality of the circumstance that is certainly not a positive.

Separately there has been some talk about "bling". I would like to clearly go on the record that bling is unequivocally not what I am searching for with this purchase. Excellence in craftsmanship does not under any circumstances have anything to do with "bling" or purely aesthetics of the outer skin. Ironically, adding "bling" in a traditional sense is an age old design trick to mask poor craftsmanship.

I know that you have rejected the Lapera, but if you want excellence in craftsmanship, that machine is the ticket. If you want a proven traditional machine, I don't think you'll go wrong with a Bosco from owner reports or from the other highly recommended levers. If I were in your position, and I am not, I might wait a bit and think about why I wanted the Bosco in the first place and whether I would be regretting that I didn't make another choice. I rebuilt my own commercial lever from the rust bucket that it was and have a special loyalty to it with no desire to upgrade. If I were to upgrade, I would probably choose a Faema Lambro or the smaller footprint Bosco.

Primacog wrote: I am biased but I find the nurri looks better than the idrocompresso ...anyway the idrocompresso isn't really a comparable machine as it is not available in single group configuration and it is also many times more expensive...

Agreed but when we talk about sexiest machine of the bunch everything else is irrelevant.

The idro does look good but I think the belle of the ball smong the kvdw machines is the speedster...too bad kdvw doesn't make it available with the idro lever option.

CaptainAhab wrote:HB team, genuine thanks for all the feedback on the Bosco, close cousins and distant relatives. Some good nuggets worth consideration for sure. I really truly appreciate all the engagement.

As of now I'm still on the Sorrento path of righteousness, time will truly tell if I stay the course!

As anticipated there may have been some misreads on my comments regarding craftsmanship. As I tried to state in the opening post, handmade does not equate to poor tolerances or fit, unbelievable high level tolerance can be held "by hand" with the right people, tools, set-up and critically, time. As mentioned I don't fault Bosco for their specific result, I see it as a choice being made that is indeed reflected in the cost. I was plainly calling it out as a reality of the circumstance that is certainly not a positive.

Separately there has been some talk about "bling". I would like to clearly go on the record that bling is unequivocally not what I am searching for with this purchase. Excellence in craftsmanship does not under any circumstances have anything to do with "bling" or purely aesthetics of the outer skin. Ironically, adding "bling" in a traditional sense is an age old design trick to mask poor craftsmanship.

I think i understand what you are saying CaptainAhab. It does occur to me though that if at this present time you already feel that the bosco craftsmanship is less than what it could have Been or what you clearly expect from your standards, that feeling may not go away aftee you have boight a sorrento. Especially where there are other machines that will have better workmanship and precision and which deliver at least the same level of traditional looks and performance that you value (eg the pompeii/alex)...

On aesthetics, IMHO i dont think that "bling" has been what most of us have been talking about. I define "bling" as pure frippery that has no functional aspect at all but are just there purely for looks alone but has absolutely no connection with utility or function. Frankly I cannot think of too many espresso machines whose looks aren't connected to some degree to their functionality so the idea of bling for its own sake r limited to its outer skin doesn't seem to me to apply as much to espresso machines.

For example, the nurri's alignment which makes it look like a bird of prey crouched on your counter is also a function of its design which has been designed to make it not require any counterweight to offer the force of the pull of the lever as well as to reduce its front profile. The nice wood or stainless steel or even copper side panels not only look nice but they are easily and quickly removable to allow easy access to both sides of the internals of the machine. The paddles that are connected to the grouphead are the means to control the pump and the termination of the shot by hand but have been shaped also to look aesthetically like the facial feathers of a raptor (at least to me!). The deliberate attention to aesthetics is definitely always there, and to a greater degree than most other machines, but they are made in service always of the function and are never just for bling purposes alone. The same is true for a kees van der westen machine and any other nice looking espresso machine I can think of, though the degree of attention to aesthetic would obviously differ.

One more machine to consider/reject - from Monaco, the Conti CC100 PM 1-group - with the amazing Conti lever group. (This image shows the optional long lever.)

You could also buy a spraycan and give a machine/grinder the look you like. Will set you back 10$.
You could sdo this with any chroombox.



Moderator note: Off-topic posts moved to: Nurri customer contact