Knowledge of coffee machine selection and purchase espresso coffee machine

I started writing this article in June this year, and I already felt that the coffee machine was coming to an end, so I wanted to start studying how to choose the next coffee machine. Almost half a year has passed, the research does not know where to stop, and the article is also settled under many draft articles. Finally, one morning witnessed by K and D together, about two months ago, the old machine proclaimed its own death in the form of self-explosion. As the weeks went by, french press couldn't make up for the yearning for espresso, which made the purchase of new machines urgent.

The time spent dreaming of buying a better coffee maker has been calculated in years. This unclear model of the Capresso can only be regarded as a small toy. It is almost lacking for any good machine. The only advantage may be price and ease of operation. However, after following me for at least ten years, although it can not extract the essence of dreams, the finished product is not so bad that it cannot be imported or controlled, and the occasional masterpiece has become an unexpected surprise in life. For many years, I have been interested in Rancilio's classic home phone, Silvia. Frankly speaking, this should be enough to meet my needs at this stage in terms of function and performance. But the material desire is infinite, and it will always be a valid argument in me. In recent years, I have seen many so-called prosumer models, and the styling alone has completely moved me (appearance is always a priority, features, performance, etc., are usually excuses for persuading myself to buy them), which makes me seriously consider the possibility of going up directly. The old argument of the little devil in my heart: I will want a better model in a few years, since it is better to save money on the middle springboard and hurt for once. A good machine can be used for many years, but in fact, on average, a cup of coffee is still very cheap; buy early and enjoy early.

I don't know where the word "prosumer" came from, but the literal meaning is obvious, that is, it can satisfy consumers who think they are professional but cannot afford to buy commercial models. However, there are at least a dozen coffee machines classified here, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and the prices range from "minor pain" to "big blood loss" to "kill me" with chaotic distribution. In such a situation where there is no time to carefully choose and study, the fastest screening method is to use price as the first hurdle. After all, it is sad to look at things that you cannot afford for a long time. A machine like the The La Marzocco GS3 is very attractive, but the price of the Elektra A3 alone is enough to scare the crap out of me, not to mention the fact that it is even more expensive. The more acceptable range is about $1500, and the price that can be bought with eyes closed should be less than $2000. Beyond this price, I think my hand will shake so much that I can't press the button to confirm the purchase.

However, such a price falls within the normal price range of most prosumer models, and there are not many options that can be screened out. After all, you have to understand the focus of your real needs. All the relevant knowledge reference data, mainly from the Internet, in addition to google God, CoffeeGeek has a very practical procurement guide, which contains a lot of things to consider buying a suitable coffee machine. Another reference website is Home-Barista, although the review of the coffee machine is not the most complete and may not be updated frequently, but the introduction of the machine is exhaustive, not to mention there is a resource-rich discussion forum for reference.

The biggest classification item is probably the method of operation, from fully automatic to fully manual are two extremes, for people like me who do not want fully automatic machines to take away the romance of making coffee, but are afraid that fully manual machines are too complicated, semi-automatic (or semi-manual) machines are of course my priority. It's just that different manufacturers have different definitions of "half", so basically as long as they can provide a certain degree of freedom in operation, I classify them as semi-automatic machines, and such machines are what I will consider.

Then there is to make a distinction according to the type of boiler, a single boiler machine is actually enough for me who almost only drink espresso, but it is also a good choice if I can have usable steam to beat milk at the same time. Heat exchange (Heat Exchanger,HX) and double boiler (Dual Boiler,DB) machines can basically make coffee and milk at the same time (or in a short period of time). However, in addition to the high price of the DB model, it is said that when buying this type of machine, it is best to pay attention to whether the 110V voltage of the general household socket in the United States can effectively and effectively provide the power needed by the machine. Generally speaking, many manufacturers of the same series of machines, will be out of HX and DB version, DB machine because in the same size of the body, stuffed into two boilers, one filled with hot water, one filled with steam, so the size of the two boilers is naturally much smaller than the single boiler of the HX model. In fact, this problem is not very serious to me, because I usually cook up to two cups, and the boilers of both models are large enough to meet this demand. However, one of the advantages of the DB model is that generally speaking, the two boilers have separate switches, so when there is no need for steam, you only need to turn on the hot water boiler, and the heating speed becomes faster because the boiler is smaller. Another point, most people's suggestion is that the DB model had better be added with PID (simply an electronic device for temperature control), while the HX model is not very necessary. Frankly speaking, I don't know the actual reason. In terms of price alone, machines that have been installed with PID usually cost 100 to 200 yuan more, which makes the price of most DB models easily close to the tipping point that makes the purse tense. Although the HX model does not need PID, but it needs an extra cooling flush procedure when cooking, and it has not been carefully studied what this means, but it is simply "diligence can make up for poverty". As far as the type of boiler is concerned, DB or HX will be in my consideration, but the price of the DB model will make me have to give up some excellent models.

The above is basically the most important consideration in choosing a machine, and most of the other aspects are details, and most manufacturers will add the practical design that was previously missed when changing the model. To be honest, many machines are not very different. To be honest, the more research, the more confused. After a careful search, it is easy to find that the advantages emphasized by any manufacturer will often have hidden side effects. In the end, I think, after understanding the differences between these features, we have to examine the importance of these strengths and weaknesses to your daily habits.

First of all, many people like to change the water supply mode of the machine from a built-in water tank to an external water supply system. The biggest benefit of this function is that it saves you the trouble of adding water at 05:00, but it also means that there will be an extra cost of equipment to improve the water quality. At present, many manufacturers either launch two types of water supply models, or provide kits that can be replaced, and even Alex II, like Izzo, can switch between the two water supply modes at any time. At present, the machines with external water sources are not particularly attractive to me. Of course, it is an incentive to provide machines that can be modified or switch water supply modes in the future, but the bonus is limited for me at present.

Then there is the No Burn Steam Wand advertised by many machines, which simply means that the specially treated steam and hot water metal rods will no longer be as hot as the traditional metal rods. Especially after the traditional steam rod has finished beating milk, if the residual milk is not cleaned immediately, it will soon be boiled dry by a hot sprinkler, and it will become very difficult to clean up. However, Vibiemme, who continues to maintain traditional metal rods, believes that these new steam rods are often coated with materials such as Tiefu dragon in order to avoid high temperatures, because this procedure limits the amount of steam output. Whether such an argument is correct or not is open to question, but although this feature should be regarded as an advantage on the whole, since I have decided that the chance of milking is not high, then this design is almost designed for milking. Actually, it doesn't have that much of an impact on me.

PID mentioned earlier is also one of the factors to consider, if you really choose the type of DB, it seems that it is best to consider having a machine with PID installed. Except that some manufacturers have already added PID at the time of design, most of the PID of other models are installed by agents or downstream retailers. Although these companies should have rich experience, after all, with one more process, there is one more link that may go wrong. What makes me more concerned is that after such "modification" of the machine, there may be restrictions on after-sales service. Under the condition that almost all machines have to be purchased through the Internet, it will be very troublesome if only the retailer can provide after-sales maintenance, especially since most models are very heavy, and if the machines have to be sent back for maintenance, then the freight will be a considerable expense. Of course, the materials used by other machines are also very important, but the materials used for the machines at this price are basically not too bad, and the assembly quality, in fact, I think most of these machines are assembled by hand. no matter how good the reputation is, the manufacturers also have the opportunity to omit some details because of some human omissions. Perhaps the best way to overcome this kind of maintenance problem is to be familiar with the detailed structure of the machine, at least if you encounter problems, you can call for help on the forums of those coffee house websites.

In addition to the above details, there are many other things that can be studied and discussed, but the more you delve into it, the more you will find that the world of coffee machines is unfathomable, and knowing your needs is more important than knowing what functions each machine has or clever design ideas. What I need now is a machine that can stably boil a good espresso. It is enough steam to get rid of one or two cups of cappuccino milk. If we continue to study, I really don't know when we will be able to buy a machine. The two sentences I saw in a discussion article made me feel very mixed after studying for half a day:

9.8 out of 10 espresso machine owners here will say that they love their equipment.

6 out of 10 will upgrade within the year to something more expnsive.

The following is to consider the type of machine:

Bezzera BZ07 coffee maker

Expobar Brewtus III coffee maker

Izzo Alex II coffee maker

Quick Mill:Anita,Andreja Premium,Vetrano

Giotto and Cellini coffee machines

Prosumer coffee maker: Vibiemme Domobar

By reznor 2010