Espresso gurus--need Superautomatic help

[RallyJon]

My wife got me a Gaggia Compact Digital for Xmas. I played around with it for a while and I love the functionality! I had an older inexpensive manual machine a while ago and gave up on it.

Anyway, the thrill ended quickly when I noticed it was leaking all over the countertop. The leak is coming from somewhere inside and exiting though a small hole in the bottom of the case.

I did some reading on the various coffee sites and apparently many of the Italian made superautomatics have serious reliability problems. Since this one is new, I'll just return it, but I'd be screwed if this happened out of warranty.

Any good long-term experiences here with superautomatics? Is there some brand that is more reliable than Gaggia/Saeco?

[Tobra]

I have a 20 year old Krups that has been heavily used and is only recently starting to have problems gettin' hot enough. Got it for $29.99 at William Glen(Huge gourmand type store)

[pwd72s]

Just a cheapy Krupps here as well. Maybe not gourmet, but I'm into it for the caffeine jolt anyway. I'd say it's at least 10 years old, no problems yet.

[Moses]

My superautomatic has been trouble-free for two years.

Check out www.wholelattelove.com or www.coffeegeek.com

Your Gaggia machine gets good reviews. It's a big ticket item. Take it back. It's new. It should perform flawlessly.

[RallyJon]

Got it from www.wholelattelove.com and they're sending out a new one. Took four phone calls, but I guess business is good.

What's scaring me looking forward is that owning an out-of-warranty high end Italian espresso maker might be like owning an out-of-warranty high end German car.

[JavaBrewer]

Ok I'll pipe in. I bartended for years in La Jolla CA and have made many many thousands of espresso drinks. There are two choices for the home machine - something reliable, or something automatic. The more moving parts on these babies the more there is to break. If you are worried about reliablity than get a total manual setup (look at what Tabs has) or for way less cash a Starbucks barista (what I have). Mine has been pumping out espresso drinks for 2 years now without a hickup. Forget anything that grinds, tamps, and dumps your coffee grounds unless you want to buy a new machine every year or so. EVERYONE that I know, and I do mean EVERYONE, that had one of those automatic machines experienced total failure within 16-18 months.

As a bonus the manual machines allow you to experiment with grinds and pull lengh to get your perfect drink.

[RallyJon]

Thanks for the advice, David, but the superautomatic functionality was a prerequisite to even having one in the house. As I said to my wife, I like espresso, but I don't need another hobby.

[tabs]

Geezus don't people listen.... I sat for hours reading about the different Espresso Machines on WWW.wholelattelove.com. I even e-mailed them and talked to them about machines. I called SALVATORE for christs sake before I selected a machine.

Even WLL thought the Salvatore was the BEST. Its HANDBUILT IN AMERICA.....using commercial machine parts, what the fk more can U ask for (They are built to order, so your machine has your name on it). Yep its expensive but I've used the thing for over 2 years without a hicup. But that Super duper whatyamacallit machine cost some dinero to....doesn't it?

I'd say there is about a 2 week learning curve with the Salvatore....ya learn how to hold the frothing cup at roughly a 17* angle with the frothing tip just submerged for the best froth...

The second thing is to buy a Mini Mazer Grinder, that thing runs so quiet you can't hear it. It will grind coffee beans from the size of boulders right on down to dust...If I were an adventerous soul I suppose I would try and find the ultimae grind for each type of coffee bean I use, but I just have set it and am done. One suggestion just grind the beans your going to use immediately.

To tell U the truth I never order coffee out anymore and when I visit friends their coffee just doesn't cut it anymore... So I guess the Salvatore spoiled me...
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Oh BTW: for our cheap SOB friends on this Board who are playing the Under Up Manship game...I too had a Krups French Press machine for over 10 years, before it gave up. I looked for another cheap machine to replace it with, yet remained unsatisfied with anything I saw. Then the one thing I noticed when reading the reviews by people who had bought High End Machines on WLL, was that many of them had graduated from cheaper machines and were very happy that they did. Like the difference between night and day.....

[RallyJon]

Well, if I get really into it later on I'll look at manual machines.

Whole Latte Love sent out a replacement and it produces very nice coffee once I got all the settings tweaked. It does let you adjust dose and grind, water temp, pre-brewing, etc.

Any recommendations for beans? It came with a bag of Lavazza which seemed too light, even when I increased the dose. I mixed it 50/50 with Peets Espresso roast, which is very dark and oily, and that's a lot better.

[Nathans_Dad]

Yeah, I am thinking about busting out the cappuchino machine that we got for our wedding and trying my hand at it. What beans to buy??