Coffee geeks - I've seriously upgraded my machine...
 

From one of these:

http://blog.cheekyliving.com/wp-cont.../09/gaggia.jpg
(A Gaggia Classic - mine had the pressure reduction mod and Rancilio Silvia steam wand mod)

...to one of these beauties:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/001...etto_large.jpg
(An Izzo Alex Duetto MkII)


The difference is incredible.... my espresso is now fantastic, my microfoam is perfect and therefore cappuccinos and lattes are awesome. I poured the best Americano I've ever consumed on Sunday evening - it was incredible. Honestly.

The Alex will go from cold milk to cappuccino ready foam in less than 10 seconds!

One of my coffee fancying neighbours that often pops round for brew said that he wasn't expecting to taste much difference, but also was genuinely amazed at the difference that purely the machine made.

Just FYI, the Alex is combined with a Mazzer Super Jolly and the perfectly ground coffee is accurately tamped with a lovely Espro tamper (Christmas present from the wife).

Coffee heaven... :)

Go and get yourself a kilo of Tanzanian Kibo Chagga coffee beans (£25ish per kilo) It will compliment your new machine quite nicely!!

Ha, rubbish - stick to Mellow Birds

:D:D

I've already got some nice stuff, that I'm using at the moment - which is around £17 a kilo... It's very good, but then with this beastie I struggle to get bad coffee from the £7 a kilo "Kirkland Starbucks" beans that I buy from Costco (actually very good, and very cheap if anyone's interested!).

My Gaggia made bad shots on a regular basis - temperature surfing and such like made it such a "hit and miss" affair. The Alex is in a different league, and makes consistent good shots very easy to achieve... In fact you have to work quite hard to get a bad shot from it.

...and it's also MUCH nicer to look it. It's all stainless (chassis), brass and copper inside as well.

Dude, sweet! :cool:

Of all people I knew you'd appreciate it....

How's the latte art coming on?

A quick warning to anyone who doesn't understand proper coffee, DO NOT Google said marvel of engineering to see what it costs, it'll be too much for you tiny minds! :D

LOL! :D

I can pretty much do the standard flower thing every time now, I bought a Motta Jug as recommended by my local shop. It's a bit small though so I was having to make two cups all the time, I've gone back to my old jug and it's not working out as well... to be fair, more often than not, I'll go into town cos it's easier! :D

LOL... yes, it's a 'significant investment' - probably the best way to put it.

A friend of mine came to see us at the weekend and upon noticing I had a new machine said "Oh, nice shiney new coffee machine - I guess that cost well into 3 figures?".... "No" I replied...

Thats a pretty serious bit of kit! as a coffee fanatic myself always wondered about a machine like that, just how much did it set you back if you dont mind me asking?

Looks very smart.:thumb:

Is this better than the fully automated one I use almost daily?

http://www.nexusdrinks.co.uk/images/...kbar_large.jpg

The great thing about it, is having a brew, then 10 seconds later, I can select an orange juice, we have other advanced machines where I work, one of them you press some numbers and 5 seconds later a Mars Bar literally drops from out the sky, crazy.

:D:D

Erm... 1800-1900 euros? :eek:

Im running a Tony Ferrino Mk IV phenomenon

http://www.taservices.net/jaybird/coffeemachine.jpg

Some of you might notice the Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza modified pump expansion chamber, I have also fitted :

Berlusconi wavey wand, with 10% pass back
Gianandrea Gavazzeni foaminator (the ltd edition series 4!!)
Giuseppe gullible super super happy

We've had this baby up on the dyno and it clocked cold to frothy in under 6 seconds!! - I reckon with a few more mods we can get it down to sub 5 !! :norty:



;):thumb:

10 seconds... :notworthy Mmmm, me want :thumb:

Loving the Tony Ferrino Mk IV phenomenon :lol1:

Along with this :D

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/...e-fountain.jpg

MrShades, where does one order one from please?
Cheers
Colin

still slumming it with one of these


http://www.italy-outlet.co.uk/foto/c.../pavoni-el.jpg

Thats not only a smart looking machine but a serious piece of kit. Sadly not an option for me, if I drink caffinated coffee I'm awake for two nights. And I so loved coffee too.

At those prices I shall be forced to stick with the instant!

Les :)

At the prices I've seen for this I'd hope it would wake me up with a BJ before handing my coffee to me ... :thumb:

Each to his own I guess.....

Dave

A salesman was staying in a small but nice hotel. At around 8 in the morning his door opened and in walked a very pretty young girl carrying a tray with a teapot, cup, milk etc on it. As she placed the tray on the bedside cabinet she deftly and swiftly caught the corner of the bedclothes and whipped them back. Before the guy could react, down she went and gave him probably the best blow job he had ever had. As it all finished she stood up wiping the corner of her mouth and went to leave the room. The man said before you go please tell me who you are?



She turned, smiled and said "I'm the Goblin Teasmaid"

MrShades that looks stunning.
I make do with an Aerobie AeroPress which I am seriously impressed with considering the minimal outlay.

Check out Bella Barista - For Lovers Of Good Coffee

Good one!

Les :D

Looks fantastic. :thumb:

I know so many people that spend at least £3 per day on coffee whilst in the office and it really adds up. They all say it costs them roughly between £600 & £700 a year. If that machine lasts over 2.5 maybe 3 years (depending how much you drink) you actually start making a saving.

Can you tell I can justify anything with a few caclulations. :cool:

How so unless you install the machine at work :) - my work would have a field day with such an appliance put into the kitchen. They complained when someone had a Tassimo machine in there over the weekend lol.

I do like a nice coffee and have a crappy £100 Krups Espresso Machine which is very hit & miss. Its also more the hassle of making one that puts me off as well especially if making for several people. Always fancied a bean 2 cup one but never got to the point of justifying the funds.

Simon

We have this one at work Buy Krups EA8080 Evolution Automatic Coffee Machine online at JohnLewis.com

One of the lads brought it in. We all use it and it is great and makes very nice coffee. If you can't have one at work you can always make one before you leave and put it in

Brugo Travel Mug Black: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

or

Thermos Thermocafe 2060 Steel Travel Mug, 0.4 Litre: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

I used to see people on the tube with those and wondered why would you but actually to be fair it isn't a bad idea. I normally sleep on the tube but a coffee would be good. :)

Ah... I may have employed a similar calculation myself - though the wife knows that I hardly ever drink coffee from chain coffee-houses, preferring to "do it myself", so that argument didn't really work very well.

"But IF I DID buy coffee from Starbucks and had two double espressos every day, at £1.70 each - £3.40 a day - £17 a week - £884 a year - ROI inside two years. Yes, I know I've forgotten the cost of the coffee beans, water and electricity but that's a few pence a day and I've got £139 spare!"; "What about the huge expensive grinder you bought last year?"; "Exactly - the ROI on that was covered last year..."

She still objected... quietly.

:thumb: :luxhello: I totally agree and it is very good logic. You see if you didn't "do it yourself" then you would have to resort to the likes of Starbucks. Once you taste proper coffee it is hard to go back to instant.

My Mr trained me into thinking that way and now I can justify anything especially good quality and expensive handbags. :lol1: