Gaggia Classic or Ricolini espresso machine ?

pblakeney

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I'm certainly not a coffee snob, but I do like a good espresso. For me, beyond at least semi-decent beans, that comes down to the crema. If it doesn't have the crema then it's not an espresso and in order to get that you need a machine that brews through pressure. I didn't always get that right with the Gaggia, which frustrated me.

This really is all you need.

vermin

notsoblue wrote:

Levi_501 wrote:

Go for a Bialetti stove top jobbie.

http://www.bialetti.it/uk/catalogue/pro ... p?id_cat=4

I've had a couple of these. They're pretty good, I'd recommend getting a stainless steal one over the usual (zinc or aluminium?) type.

When I pointed those out a few weeks ago, I was hastily rebuked for spoiling my Christmas surprise. :P

jonny_trousers

The quality grinder thing is new to me. I have an electric Krups thing and I have no idea whether it's decent or not. What kind of a grind do you want for espresso? Very fine?

adam0bmx0

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

I can make a mean Espresso, Americano or latte art'd girls drink with that little set-up. The Rocky is a conical burr grinder. You'll not get a decent grind out of an electric blade etc. You'd be better spending 10 mins with a hand grinder if really doing it on the cheap.

The Rocky isn't a conical grinder, but a flat 52mm burr grinder, but yes, better off with a hand grinder than cheap electric blade, you want two things from a coffee grinder ultimately. 1. is to be able to grind fine enough to extract coffee properly, by being fine enough so you create pressure etc when pulling a shot on an espresso machine, and 2. is for all the coffee grinds to be consistently the same size.

This is my set up, but have sold the Rocky grinder now, you can see the size difference against a 64mm burr commercial grinder;

Initialised

Can I have some opinions on the Sage machine that Heston Bloodymental if currently flogging?

The wife wants the Sage for Christmas but having run commercial forums etc... I'm naturally cautious of both forum/customer review trolls, paid-for reviews and celebrity endorsements.

Does anyone have one?

adam0bmx0

Initialised wrote:

Can I have some opinions on the Sage machine that Heston Bloodymental if currently flogging?

The wife wants the Sage for Christmas but having run commercial forums etc... I'm naturally cautious of both forum/customer review trolls, paid-for reviews and celebrity endorsements.

Does anyone have one?

I use/browse this uk forum, Sage review below;
http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.ph ... ave-sinned

Also search the site for other reviews

Initialised

adam0bmx0 wrote:

Initialised wrote:

I'm naturally cautious of both forum/customer review trolls, paid-for reviews and celebrity endorsements.

I use/browse this uk forum, Sage review below;
http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.ph ... ave-sinned

Also search the site for other reviews

Yeah, a good review from a former critic... suspicious... Having worked in social media marketing I've got an eye for sponsored BS and regurgitated press release drivel. I used to spout the stuff myself. You know some companies (no, not a Taiwanese GPU designer) pay a worldwide army of people, as part of their PR budget, to vouch for their products and slag off competitors products, without disclosure, on forums and social media. It's cheaper than mainstream advertising or celebrity endorsement, it works like word of mouth but much quicker and appears non-affiliated and therefore genuine. Some companies have even paid vendors/resellers to slag off and not sell their chief competitors products. I've been on the receiving end of PR departments after posting true but negative results and it's not a nice place to be... So in my experience a former critic could easily be flipped with legal pressure, a bribe (like free hardware) and the speed with which he flips between machines suggests he's either loaded or paid in machines to "test". A company I worked for in the past used to pay people to amend Trustpilot ratings, delete negative posts, even formed advertising relationships with disgruntled, but vocal, customers of the back of negative reviews on video sites. All those user Reviews, don't trust the feckers.

This is why you should ask about bikes on car or computer forums and ask about computers and coffee machines on bike or car forums, not coffeeforums. Why do you think that some chains get slated on here? #IblameWiggle is a social media marketer's wet dream and much cheaper than Halford's advertising input into the upkeep of BikeRadar.

Not that I'm cynical or paranoid!

I just want experiences from people within this community as they are unlikely to be a mouthpiece for the product. If I worked for Sage I'd have searches set up so I'd know who was talking about my products but a site like this might go under the radar whist Coffeeforums would be a prime target for viral/social marketing.

sloppyschleckonds

justcoffeemaker wrote:

I'll go with the ricolini espresso machine though

Read my review on my blog, might help you: https://justcoffeemaker.com/best-espresso-machines-reviews/

Welcome to the forum. And for resurrecting a 4 year old thread.