by bruceb » Wed Dec 02, 2015 6:23 am
Perhaps someone will come along with a good recommendation, I certainly can't make any. My experience with these machines has been negative from the beginning, and the sad fact is that it matters not how expensive the machines are they are basically all the same. Aside from the most inexpensive machines, most are manufactured by one of a small number of companies and are internally the same. The difference in price reflects nothing but the external design.
That said, the reasons these machines cannot be recommended are at least two fold, and have one in the same cause, a terrible build quality. As a consequence, in spite of being relatively expensive they do not work well and secondly, they tend to fail (stop working) in short order. Repairs are also very expensive and often take weeks or months, depending upon your location and the shops available.
The fact is, what a machine like this has to do is technically very demanding. They must grind the beans well, control temperature accurately, distribute and tamp the ground coffee, time the various processes exactly and either be self cleaning or easy enough for a non-technical person to regularly clean. It is not possible to build a machine that will accomplish all those tasks reproducibly for less than the price of a good used car. If you disassemble even the most expensive of these machines you find a primitive, under-dimensioned grinder, plastic tubing, plastic gears, a simple heating block and a "brew head" that does not deserve the name. The results of all this are quite predictable. The electronics are quite complex since they need to control the various tasks the machine must complete, are subject to heat and moisture and are often controlled themselves by very sensitive touch pads that are prone to short lives.
Primarily, because of the poor grind quality, the coffee the machines produce, even when brand new and properly adjusted, is mediocre. But even more disheartening is the tendency of the machines to break down within a relatively short time period and to be very difficult and expensive to repair.
This is not to say that a good bean-to-cup machine cannot be built. There are a number of commercial machines that do quite an admirable, if not perfect job. They are built of metal through and through, have the grinder internals of a commercial coffee grinder and the plumbing of a commercial espresso machine. They cost more than the price of a good used car and must be regularly maintained and adjusted by a professional service man.
For these reasons I cannot recommend a home bean-to-cup machine to anyone. A Technivorm or other temperature controlled coffee maker is a much better solution and will operate for years without problem.
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters. I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!