Something a little different, I bought an Espresso machine today (excuse: for my parents, reality: I love coffee) after a week of solid googling and talking to random Barista's at cafe's. It was a tough call but here were the top 3 contenders:
- Rancilio Silva -> 15 Bar (Brass Boiler)
- Gaggia Classic -> 17 Bar (Brass internals? Aluminium Boiler)
- Saeco Via Venezia -> 15 Bar (Stainless Steel Boiler)
Now lets clear something up first, I am in *no-way* experienced in Espresso Machines, so I had a few friends (thanks!) & Google telling me what to look for. At the start I thought the "Bars" we're the standard benchmark (like a processor in a system/Kw of power in a car) but alas its only the start.
The Saeco was later written off because of its stainless steel boiler, which left the Rancilio and Gaggia and seeing the following the Rancilio had I opted to buy that unit. It wasnt easy finding a store - most had sold out of units and had a 2-3 week wait and me, I never wait that long. Eventually I came across
Mocopan in Preston (Melbourne) who had a fresh 108 units of the Rancilio sent from Italy on Thursday. So off I went, asked several stupid questions and came out of the store with the
Rancilio Silvia,
Rancilio Rocky (Grinder) and the base thing to make it look cool. All up a nice $1300 investment (the fine ladies at Mocopan threw in some free coffee and cups, jug and I bought some Cappuccino mugs to get me going).
Now I realise I'll have to learn how to use Ms Silvia and learn what buttons to push to get her steaming and produce some creamy yummy coffee (hmmm...)... SO I've started yet another new topic on this blog titled
n00b Espresso Extraodinaire! to document my journey at learning the tricks of the trade of using an Espresso machine. I'll try and keep that updated when I start using the machine more regularly:-)