Brief Review of Coffee equipment and Evaluation of La Marzocco GS/3 MP use in Coffee making Communication

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La Marzocco is a national treasure brand in Italy, which has a history of 90 years by 2017, as long as our army was founded. The GS3 coffee machine should be the dream model of many enthusiasts, and its predecessors have shared what is worth buying. Three years ago, it was a particularly extravagant existence. Rolls-Royce, known as the coffee machine, is still very professional. I am in Beijing, and many independent boutique cafes in big cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou use this machine as a shop machine, which shows its professionalism. Each GS3 is handmade in Florence, Italy, with nameplates engraved on the side of the fuselage. Since GS3 began production, there are only more than 50, 000 units in the world. Its domestic price has also risen with the devaluation of the RMB. Purchased in the second half of 2017, the authentic products should already be more than 50, 000. In 2017, the new GS3 replaced the hot-proof steam pipe and added a real-time pressure gauge with a bubbling head in the original factory, so you don't have to buy your own Strada accessories to modify it, but the original pressure gauge will rotate with the boiling blades, which will be discussed later.

I. the main functions and advantages of GS/3 MP

First, the saturated brewing head has good thermal insulation performance. The so-called saturated bubble head is a cavity connected to the boiler to fill with hot water, while the water pipe connected to the pump for pressurized extraction is embedded in the bubble head, which is equivalent to a real-time water bath, thus ensuring the stability of the extraction water temperature. GS means saturated brewing head, which has been available since the first generation of GS coffee machines appeared decades ago, and now almost all La Marzocco machines are saturated brewing heads. The founders of other top brands of coffee machines, such as Kees, Synesso, Slayer, etc., either work alone from La Marzocco or used to be their distributors. No matter how innovative other technologies are, they all use saturated brewers without exception, which shows that this technology has been around for a long time.

Second, the extraction pressure of rotary pump is stable. The machine has a rotary pump with low noise, and there is a pressure gauge on the fuselage showing the pump pressure, which shows that the output of the pump pressure in the whole extraction process is very stable, thus making the extraction process very stable, which is reflected in the fact that there is no problem with the operation. the extraction flow is very smooth, and the stability of the water flow can be seen by a bottomless handle.

Third, the brewing head has a pressure gauge that shows the cooking pressure in real time. GS3 has a built-in pressure relief valve to relieve excessive cooking pressure. The MP version can change the actual pressure into the cooking head by adjusting the angle of pulping, thus continuously adjusting the actual cooking pressure (the pump pressure always shows 9bar). In this way, we can visually pre-soak with 3bar, extract the front segment with 9bar, then extract the rear segment with 6bar, or extract a cup of non-bitter lungo with 6bar throughout the process.

Fourth, the effect of steam dispelling milk is good. The steam of the top coffee machine is easy to use, and the steam bar of GS3 naturally belongs to the category of easy use: the steam bar is long enough to adapt to milk tanks of different sizes; the angle of the 4-hole steam sprinkler is reasonable, the opening size is appropriate, and the foaming and cutting time is relatively reasonable; compared with the single-head coffee machine, the steam volume is sufficient and relatively dry; the relative position of the milk jar and the coffee machine is very comfortable under the best blowing angle. The steam switch is easy to use, and the new model adopts double-layer hot-proof steam pipe. I later replaced the 4-hole steam sprinkler with Synesso's 6-hole steam sprinkler (need to use raw material belt to prevent steam leakage), cutting and beating cotton more smoothly, of course, the hot mom's own steam sprinkler is actually good enough.

Fifth, the machine has automatic start-up function. I think this function is very useful to me. We office workers have a tight time in the morning. In order to have a cup of coffee, I used to set an alarm clock half an hour earlier, get up and turn on the coffee machine, and then go back and get confused for half an hour. Then get up and make coffee. With the timing boot function, you don't need it. After getting up, the coffee machine has been preheated and you can make coffee directly.

Second, the deficiency of GS/3

The GS3 is not a perfect model, and it also has its shortcomings, which mainly include the following points:

First, the human-computer interface is not easy to use. A small LCD screen, a lot of buttons, many functions are hidden more deeply. Of course, the coffee machine is based on stable mechanical properties as the most important, so this can be tolerated.

Second, the warm cup plate does not block the crossbar of the cup. I like to put many cups on the warm cup plate, some cups can be placed stably, and some cups can easily slide down. I always worry that the cup will fall and break without a crossbar. After all, every professional coffee cup is worth a lot of money.

Third, there are screws in the middle of the water diversion network. This is actually a bone in an egg, and most of the coffee machine water distribution networks on the market have to be fixed by screws. Although the E61 bubble head does not have a diversion screen screw, there is no hole in the middle of the water diversion network, so it is of little significance to cancel the screw. In this detail, the good work should be kees, the screw in the middle of kees's coffee maker water distribution network is actually removed, so that the brewing water is sprinkled on pressed powder like a shower head. Hot mom's machine, although the cooking quality is already very high, but since it is a top-notch machine, it would be better if the screws can be removed.

Fourth, the brewing head will leak for a long time. I have heard other friends who use GS3 say that it does not appear on my machine, probably because I am at home, while the friend who leaks water is for commercial use, and the output is more than 100 times worse. But don't worry, the leakage of the bubble head is due to the aging of the three sealing rings inside. This sealing ring is already consumable, so you can replace it with a new one, and the method is not difficult. If you use it, you basically don't have to worry about leakage.

Fifth, the new bubble head pressure gauge will turn. There was no real-time monitoring of the bubbling head pressure in the previous GS3, whether it was the MP version or the AV version (note that it is not a pump gauge on the machine). Later, after the Strada came out, some players found that the pressure gauge kit on the Strada bubble head could be installed on the GS3, so that the actual cooking pressure could be monitored, thus making the variable pressure function of the GS3 visible, so some friends installed the pressure gauge on the old GS3. After the pressure gauge was installed at that time, with the rotation of the cooking paddle, the meter would stretch up and down, but its surface was always directed at the barista and the effect was very good. The new GS3, the price increases at the same time, the original factory has its own bubble head pressure gauge, which is originally a good thing, but I do not know if it is a spicy mother's engineer head cramp, this pressure gauge and Strada will turn with the cooking paddle rotation (not up and down expansion), so the surface is not always directed at the barista, the barista has to twist his head to read, although the angle is not very big, but still very awkward.

Third, other words you want to say

Generally speaking, the friends who choose and buy GS3 are usually quasi-professionals who have high requirements for coffee, and they should also be well-informed in coffee equipment. There are not many choices for single-head machines at this level: more expensive ones are Kees Speedster, single-head La Marzocco Strada, single-head Slayer, single-head Synesso, and cheaper is La Marzocco Linea Mini. Compared with these machines, the prices of Slayer and Synesso are too high; Strada has a fatal wound with too much water output (which can be solved by replacing the current limiting valve), and it is not easy to buy in China in 2017; the single head Kees has no variable pressure function, the rotary pump is external and does not have a water tank, there must be water and water, and household use is not very convenient. Although Mini is also a cost-effective machine for spicy mothers, but its cooking and pulping is fake MP, there is only one extraction pressure, the playability is not high, and it is a mother boiler, and the capacity of the brewing boiler is small, so it is better to add ten or twenty thousand for GS3.

In addition, I feel that the purchase of coffee equipment must not be original, must believe that a good reputation of the machine is generally not fatal. And the high price of cool machines are not necessarily easy to use, such as Strada due to the water output is too large, the first 10 seconds of brewing water more than 120g, it is very easy to cause insufficient extraction, but also easy to cause pressed powder perforation, while the water output of less than 80g machine, extract deep-roasted coffee beans and easy to bitter and smoked. GS3 as a high-end machine with a good reputation, I personally measured 90g of water output in 10 seconds, which can be regarded as a panacea machine. Although manual variable pressure extraction is not easy to copy, you can also change the pressure freely if you are skilled in operation (the effect of variable pressure on the taste of coffee is by no means a gimmick, which will be mentioned in later posts in this series). Although Strada and Synesso variable pressure curves can be copied But its mode of operation is also to control the pressure according to time (that is, how much pressure is extracted for how many seconds), and in practice, a more effective way is to change the pressure according to the liquid weight (that is, in the case of a certain amount of powder, how much pressure to extract how much liquid), so I think the money paid by Strada and Synesso does not matter, and the Strada gear pump is quite easy to break. The money saved is not as good as buying good grinding and good beans.

In addition, the improper use of this level of machine is also a disaster, such as regular backwashing, regular disassembly of water distribution network cleaning and other maintenance links are necessary, of course, we can not simply use tap water or Brita filter kettle filtered water. Using a professional water filter to filter tap water is the best, which can achieve the ideal TDS and pH, but as far as I know, if the water quality in Beijing wants to meet the requirements, the filter may cost more than 5000 yuan, and the filter element, which accounts for the main cost, has to be replaced regularly. Therefore, I think it is more cost-effective to buy water for household use. Although it is not as effective as high-quality filtered water, it can still be used. I use Nestle excellent work.

In addition, the top coffee machine brings not only the top coffee taste, but also the pleasure of production and visual and tactile satisfaction. There are too many factors that affect a cup of coffee: raw bean quality, roasting process, cooked bean storage, coffee grinding, cloth powder pressing, pre-extraction, looking at large and small cafes, how many are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment but use junk coffee beans? Even with beans, it is the barista's skills that really affect the extraction, and there are also a lot of cheap gadgets and tricks that can effectively improve the quality of coffee on ordinary machines, so if it's just for drinking at home, don't use state-of-the-art equipment. And drinking your own coffee doesn't need to be that demanding, and it's probably better than what unqualified baristas in cafes do with top machines: I used Nuova's Oscar coffee machine and MMG bean grinder, used good beans, used some gadgets and used some tricks, and the coffee tasted really good! I remember reading an article written by a foreign professional photographer a long time ago, probably entitled "Why don't I buy expensive equipment", which mentioned that you should try to hone your skills so that they are worthy of your machine. So I often reflect on whether I am worthy of using these devices. However, I have reservations about the previous seniors' post saying that it is not recommended to buy an espresso machine at home, which will be shared with you in later articles involving skills.

Finally, although I like it very much, coffee is just a drink. There is a commercial purpose behind many ideas and behaviors of boutique coffee. Therefore, don't take it too seriously. It is not good to be faked by others.

The above is the first article in this series, which only represents my personal views (my opinion may also change). If there is something wrong, you are welcome to communicate and correct, and the friends of Didu are also welcome to meet offline to communicate and have coffee together. There is a follow-up to the series of essays, please look forward to it.