Breville's Espresso Line

[rotuts]

your space limitation 

 

may make it difficult for you

 

to improve significantly over the Silvia .

 

its the grouphead ( carefully heat managed by the machine ) 

 

and  bottomless portafilter that matches 

 

that will get you significant  improvements 

 

in your cup.

[rotuts]

Id call ChrisCoffee Monday

 

tell them what you had , 

 

explain your space limitations 

 

and see if they have anything that's

 

a step up that fits.

 

then go from there.

 

https://www.chriscoffee.com

 

that will save you a lot of research .

 

 

[weinoo]

20 minutes ago, rotuts said:

its the grouphead ( carefully heat managed by the machine ) 

 

and  bottomless portafilter that matches 

 

that will get you significant  improvements 

 

in your cup.

 

But if you recall from my OP, I'm not worried about improving the cup; I'm worried about improving my life. I already brew what I feel to be a pretty wonderful pour over - the espresso is just for fun!

[rotuts]

Id look at the Silvia Pro dimensions :

 

 

vs  the Silvia :

 

sd

[rotuts]

Pour over can be Excellent

 

but its not Life 

 

Espresso is Life 

 

all else follows .

Edited November 13, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

Avert thine eyes, Mr. @rotuts.  We gifted ole Miss Silvia to my nephew, as part of our trip to North Carolina over Thanksgiving.

 

She served well, but she was lonely and being left alone; now I hear she's having a party! In her stead...

 

 

The Breville Infuser (arrived last evening).

 

And the first shots I pulled were not bad. 

 

My decision was based on a few factors, not the least of which is you can literally turn the machine on and be playing with shots in 5 minutes.

 

And, if if it becomes necessary, Significant Eater can probably pull a shot with one of the pressurized baskets.  

Edited December 7, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[weinoo]

I'm kinda (but not too) surprised at the build quality (better than I expected, even with all the plastic involved); what's really cool is some of the uniquely engineered features, like the little compartment that hides behind the drip tray and the pretty damn large, and easy to see water reservoir.

[weinoo]

So my nephew and his girlfriend just pulled a first few shots with their recently gifted Silvia (looks like they bought a Rocky to go along)...

 

 

And damned if they're not already making nicer lattes than I ever did (or could)...

 

 

It's why youth is so annoying.

[weinoo]

On 10/6/2020 at 12:36 PM, weinoo said:

And - it continues...

 

Breville Acquires US Grinder Maker Baratza for $60 Million

Australian multinational small appliance seller Breville Group has acquired United States-born grinder maker Baratza for $60 million USD, including $43 million in cash and $17 million worth of stock.

 

 

 

And - it continues...

Breville to Acquire Italian Espresso Machine Maker Lelit for $124 Million

Quote

 

Australia’s Breville Group has announced plans to acquire Italian prosumer espresso equipment company Lelit in a deal worth €113 million ($124 million USD) in cash and shares.

According to a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange today, publicly traded Breville plans to acquire 100% of the Lelit group (styled “LELIT” by the company), half through cash funded from existing reserves and debt facilities, and half through fully paid shares in Breville Group (BRG).

The acquisition is expected to be finalized by early July. As part of the deal, the Lelit founders and other key members of the Italian company’s management team have agreed to join Breville Group.

 

 

By my count, Breville now has PolySci, Chef Steps, Baratza, Lelit and who knows what else.  They must have a lot of cash reserves.

[cdh]

I don't mind that at all.  Owning a Lelit has subjected me to the single point of English-speaking service in the US, and its surly employees... Breville seems more CS oriented.  I won't miss having to supplicate certain surly New Jersey guys for information that they have a policy against divulging... like measurements for parts.  (btw, I'm not happy to pay a 10x markup for stupid stuff like o-rings and gaskets... but certain surly "no measurements" policies did inspire me to get a caliper and take my own damn measurements and go to the hardware store.   

[paulraphael]

From what I gather, aging with an espresso machine is just hard work. Breville has great customer service, but once the thing is out of warranty, it may be difficult to find parts. They're all proprietary.

 

If you go with an E61 machine, you have the promise of eternal life (high-quality, industry-standard parts that will be available forever). But people tell me it can be almost impossible to get service. There are so few people in this country who know how to work on these things, they're perpetually backed up, and they give priority to restaurants and cafés who have service contracts.

 

My friend's Profitec machine has been out of service for over a year while he waits for an opening from the one guy in the midwest who works on them. His wife has started to go down youtube rabbit holes and attempted to replace parts, with very mixed results. 

 

Edited to add: this all stacks up in the Breville's favor, if you want to be completely rational about it. You can probably replace the thing for the price of overhauling an E61. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by paulraphael (log)

[weinoo]

30 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

Edited to add: this all stacks up in the Breville's favor, if you want to be completely rational about it. You can probably replace the thing for the price of overhauling an E61. 

 

Timely, as I just pulled a nice shot with my Breville Infuser and George Howell's Alchemy beans, roasted 5 days ago.

 

Since I hadn't used the machine in a while, and certainly not since replacing the burrs on Rocky, it took 2 lousy shots before a fully drinkable one.  But that's all part of the fun!

[Deephaven]

Didn't realize this was an old thread...and almost quoted some old posts.  For anyone in this position now I would highly recommend looking at the Decent DE1.  I recently upgraded my quick mill machine and can't believe how much easier it is to pull consistent shots.  Side benefit of pulling great light roast extractions as well.