For reviews on espresso machines, I recommend you go to
www.home-barista.com and/or www.coffeegeek.com. Lots of folks there who are serious about their espresso.
Cj
(Expobar) :-)

Be careful of hanging out at coffegeek. It's a little like finding this place for a kitchen renovation. Soon you will want an all white machine and debating whether to buy illy mugs for the pop of color or brown mugs to warm it up :)

Another vote for the Expobar. Mine is 10 and still going strong.

Thanks to both of you...I've been spending time on coffee geek and a couple other similar sites. I feel like a fish out of water. At least on GW I can feel a little more at home!

....runs off to Google Expobar.....okay.....WOW....so THAT'S way out of my league. Hats off to you! :)

Motodetroit, mine is about the same age. 1929Spanish, 10 years ago, Expobar was not quite as pricey as it is today. Still, very nice machines.

Cj

Hi, I have a Rancilio Silvia. I found that for the machine to make good espresso I had to buy the Rancilio Rocky grinder. Then you have to run some shots ( probably 10 to15) calibrating your grind to your machine. In addition there's a bit of experimentation involved to learn how YOUR MACHINE works best. It takes a little bit of trial and error, it's not automatic.

THEN...you get the machine nice and hot, you get your grind right, you get your amount of coffee right, you get your tamp right, and you run shot after shot after shot of the best, most delicious crema-laden espresso of your life. Day after day, forever. The machines are built basically to last forever. If you want better espresso, get ready to buy a commercial rig for $2000-plus. I love mine but it takes some experience to learn how to heat the machine and how to make good espresso. Sorry for long reply, I'm from Seattle and we get a little nutso about the coffee here. Let me know if you have questions and I'll try to answer as best I can.

Silvia is my cabin machine. She lives in my cabinet just in case these days. I got upgrade fever and bought a Quick Mill Andreja. I've had her for almost five years and love it. The double boiler prevents that dreaded upgrade fever.

After my Starbucks Barrista broke, I did all the research and decided on the Rancilio. I've had it for 2 years now and am happy with it. My brother, who is a true coffee geek (with multiple espresso machines, roasts his own beans, etc.) has told me that it can make a really good shot. Good crema, etc. I'm not as picky as he is and would like it to be a bit easier to master.

The steam wand works great (I often drink steamed milk in the winter) but since it is a single boiler, it takes time between shots to come back to the right temp. If you plan on making multiple lattes, one after the other, I would spend the extra $$ and buy a double boiler. However, when making 1 latte or cap, it works great.

I've found that, just as all the reviews indicate, it is as much about the grinder as the espresso machine. I did without a good grinder for about 7 months and then broke down and bought a Virtuoso Preciso. What a difference.

It never ends, first the machine, then the grinder, then the search for the perfect bean, and next it will be a PID. Just like, If you give a mouse a cookie.... So be prepared. It is great fun though.

Only down side: grounds really makes a mess. But well worth it. Good luck

I have a Gaggia Baby---5years old, going strong! We've moved it cross country twice and I think the gasket seal has dried out, so I have some leaking (normal wear and tear, I think?) Otherwise it's been great! I also have the Rancilio Rocky grinder. I ordered through Whole Latte Love.com very good customer service over the phone!!

We have the breville with the built in grinder and we LOVE it! We use it every single morning. Its been in use for three years and no problems. I couldn't find the model #, so I'm linking the one we have.

Here is a link that might be useful: breville

We have a Breville. But what I really want to share is the Scanomat! Have you seen this thing? No price has even been released. But please, do look, watch the video and be amazed!!!

It is pretty cool. It's a barista in a faucet. Check it out!

Here is a link that might be useful: scanomat

You guys are way out of my league. FWIW, I love my automatic Nespresso. Nice flavor, nice crema, no fuss, great customer service. My model is old, but looks like an early version of the Maestria. I'm not a serious coffee aficionado, just a fan.

Another vote for the Breville. We love it.

Breville owners: On the model with integrated grinder, does the machine do the tamping and can you program for 2 consecutive shots before dumping the puck(s)?

I have the Rancilio Sylvia and the Rocky grinder. Got it about 8 years ago, after doing a lot of research, and use it every day, morning and afternoon. As Ruthie said, you need to take the time to learn it. It is built like a tank and you have total control. We've upgraded the portafilter, the steam wand, and replaced a switch and the solenoid valve along the way, but the machine itself will go forever. I like simple rugged things, would never drive anything but a stick, and my range is a Blue Star -- so the Sylvia suits me well. I really enjoy the process of grinding, steaming, dosing, tamping, brewing every morning, but I can imagine that others would feel it to be too time consuming. It's like Jerry Garcia said about the Grateful Dead -- if you love i(them) you really love (them), but if you don't you really don't.

I don't have one -- we went with a Solis instead because the Silvia was tempermental about the grind. We hadn't had the experience of a better grinder and using one of those little grinders would make it nearly impossible to get a consistently good result. We bought a better grinder anyway. After years, we upgraded to a Jura super automatic that we bought refurbished and then bought another to get the "stainless" (also refurbished -- DH took the black one to his office) before they disappeared completely. I'm kind of attached to that movable brew head that allows me to steam and brew directly into a tall mug and I saw recently that they put in on a newer model. :)

What I did want to suggest though is to look at the models and reviews on Whole Latte Love and Aabree Coffee (now under common ownership, I am told), then call them if you want more info. All three of my machines were bought through them and they were very helpful with the purchases and any questions afterwards. They walked us through how we intended to use the machine, for what kind of drinks, how often and our needs (figuring out the coffee geek factor). They never steered me wrong. Their tech even walked me through a solder repair on the Solis so that I didn't have to send it in and be without it for a couple of weeks. A trip to the hardware store and 30 minutes had my machine running the next day. You just don't get service like that most places.

If brewing and steaming simultaneously is important to you, you will want dual pumps as well as dual boilers. Dual boilers with a single pump will allow you to go from one to the other without waiting for proper temperature to be reached, but not necessarily do both at the same time.

BTW, for anyone shopping, buying one of these machines will take a larger initial cash layout, but if you don't buy less and keep upgrading, these machines can wind up costing you no more than a standard coffee maker that seems to need replacing about once a year. We also figured that if DH went to Starbucks everyday to get shots of espresso, the machine would pay for itself between one and two years and all my cappuccinos would be free. Not bad when we've had the black Jura ten years or more and haven't bought a regular coffee maker in 12-15 years.

Saw this Jura model on Woot -- while they last -- and thought I'd pass it on for anyone who might be interested (I already have one too many machines). It is a refurbished, but nearly half the price of a new one ($599 vs $999). Looks like it is a superautomatic but without the second boiler. It would be good for folks who drink more espresso that cappuccinos or lattes or who are in such a rush in the morning that waiting between steams and brews (probably no more than 15-30 seconds) wouldn't be a problem. I don't know this machine, but I've been happy with Jura for more than 10 years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Woot

Okay, so here's my update.

Since we're dumping tons of money into the addition right now, I decided to go with the Breville. It's an improvement over my last machine, get's mostly great reviews on the web and hearing from some of you helped me feel good about it. I also had a coupon at Macys (who doesn't have a coupon for Macys?) so I saved another 10%.

When I do my next upgrade, I'm going to splurge for dual boilers so I can steam and brew at the same time. Alas....Silvia couldn't do that for me.

Happy brewing and steaming with your new Breville!
We've had ours (without the grinder) for six or seven years.
We used it every day and it is going strong.
Great machine!