Cappy wrote:I received my Strietman CT2 about 10 days ago, hurray! My CT1 I've been using happily for a few year moves to my vacation place.

The many incremental improvements of the CT2 are appreciated. So far what I have noted:

* The attachment brass knob for the piston arm is cool, instead of a fiddly bolt and washers
* The slightly bigger handle on the portafilter feels good on the hands
* The lower drip tray is convenient
* The tighter temperature range is excellent
* The fully stainless steel internal walls are going to be even easier to clean

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Such a beautiful and functional piece of art! Congratulations!

While I admire the artistic design of the Strietman, does it bother anyone else but me that for a long time it has seemed like an expensive work in progress? To me lining the CT2's copper, which is toxic and unattractive when it corrodes, with stainless steel should have been done from the beginning. One thing I admire about Paul Pratt's Cafelat Robot is he basically stated that he tried to work out all of the kinks in it before offering it for sale. He admittedly has made an available upgrade with the pressure gauge, but the Robot is still perfectly functional without it and does not need a "Version 2" or "3." All of that said, this current version of the Strietman looks quite nice. I just don't like the idea of turning early adopters of a product or technology into guinea pigs, even if they are are willing to part with thousands of dollars to be one.

LewBK,

1) No copper on the interior of my CT1
2) Cafelat Robot is cool, but the work flow is a bit medieval compared to the Strietman.
3) Were you one of those guys who complained when the incremental improvement of seatbelts was introduced?

That doesn't look like steel on the interior to me: http://strietman.net/wp-content/uploads ... 80x853.jpg If it's brass and not copper, it often contains lead--equally toxic--and is prone to tarnishing, staining like copper.
But this does look like steel: http://strietman.net/wp-content/uploads ... 80x853.jpg
The toxicity of copper and brass and their tendency to tarnish and stain are well known. It shouldn't have taken multiple iterations of an expensive product to conclude that. Given the knowledge that already existed, I would respond that if someone offered you a car with seatbelts and one without, which would you choose? Pratt took technology from the past, studied it and improved upon it with the Robot, and didn't sell it until he was sure he had a finished product.

It's lead-free brass.

The Robot doesn't look finished to me. It looks rinky-dink. I would recommend waiting for a more robust Version 2.0.

My understanding is there is really no such thing as completely "lead free" brass:

https://aquatherm.com/tech-bulletins/id ... s-fittings

https://www.caleffi.com/usa/en-us/blog/ ... whats-deal

https://www.grainger.com/content/safety ... mbing-bill

Brass marketed as lead-free is still often not considered suitable for drinking water in places like California. It would be easy to say people are over-reacting in their concerns and who cares about a little lead? But there is one group of people who does tend to care about such things--hipsters, and especially wealthy hipsters. Who would be the perfect end consumer for an expensive bespoke manual super-cool espresso machine? Wealthy hipsters.

Easy solution for all wealthy hipsters who are reading this thread - buy the CT2 instead of the CT1.

True, but my point is why not get it right in the first place? Even if one doesn't care about toxicity issues, the tendency for copper and brass to stain and corrode is well known.

If you follow the Strietman history you will see it was presented as an almost avante garde art project. This is a craftsman building a high end piece of art and functional espresso machine as one. That is why it was mounted on the wall in the first place. The original prototype looked like something that belonged in a steam engine museum.

The creator (Wouter's) daily machine is a La San Marco spring lever machine. Perhaps that has changed with the CT2 idk.

Look at the Monolith. The fact people were paying thousands for a grinder with clunky adjustment lock that simply squeezed the material together to tighten the thread was suprising to me but the market supported it and now with additional funds improvements were made. I don't see many people complaining about the copious amounts of aluminum used in the monolith either. Yet that is the easier and cheaper material to machine on.

I love the Strietman and incremental changes help support and drive innovation with his operation. I cant wait what he comes up with next perhaps modern version to compliment this sort of steam punkish retro version.

Well said truemagellen. The Strietman is a beautiful machine, amazingly built, and a joy to use. I have found that there are certain things that you buy that are, simply, worth it. The grand piano I bought in 2002 is a good example. What an incredibly silly thing to waste money on; you can get an amazing digital piano at a fraction of the price that probably sounds just as good. But the grand piano is a joy to play and gives me happiness every single day. The La Pavoni Europiccola I bought in 1999 is a similar example. Stupid expensive for me at the time and a considerable investment (and in today's dollars not all that much less expensive than the Strietman today). I am only 3 or 4 weeks into this new machine, but I am quite certain that the CT2 is that kind of purchase. I fully expect the Strietman espresso machine to be the last espresso machine I buy.

And copper? Really? Oh for pete's sake. I grew up with copper pipes delivering all the drinking water, people drink caustic beverages from copper cups (Moscow mules), the La Pavoni lever machine has copper tubing in it. Driving a car to the grocery store, skiing down a black diamond mogul run at the local ski hill, and riding my Boosted board (electric skateboard) to work on sunny days pose a much greater risk to me than a copper water container on an espresso machine. Hehe. 'Tis a funny thing sometimes what people worry about.

And because I can't get enough of the bottomless portafilter, here are a couple more lame pictures I took this morning of the CT2 delivering another shot of poison (aka caffeine to my cup) . Hehe.

Just starting to coalesce:


And coming together nicely: