… same …
Except swap out your Keurig/Nespressos and swap in @damiano’s semi-auto machine that gets regular use.
The couple of Nespresso machines I’ve tried I’ve thought made pretty good espresso-style drinks. On par with moka, but less hassle.
Oh yeah. Forgot I have that one too.
Oh you mean the Nespresso I use every single day?
Have a look at my response about damianos machine. Glas it makes them happy but that machine isn’t going to work for me.
Yeah, I read your response before I replied. 
I’m not trying to convince you to change. I was trying to say I have all of the same coffee equipment except all your capsule machines. And that, instead of those three, I have a “slow” semi-auto machine.
1 Like
Sorry, read it differently…no harm, no foul
1 Like
That is seriously impressive. I thought using a Bialetti was fast, probably about three minutes to make the coffee, including microwaving and frothing the milk while the coffee percolated into the upper chamber, but yours blows it away plus not requiring work or attention.
1 Like
The US is finally getting the same caliber of “consumer grade” home espresso machines that Europe has had for over 50 years. My first machine (15 yrs ago) was a Quick Mill 0930 semi-automatic that a shop in California was importing to the US. It used an innovative uni-cast thermoblock heating unit and was just as quick as today’s better US-available consumer units. I used it continuously for 10 years before upgrading to my “slow” E-61 Andreja. Quick Mill is still pushing the thermoblock envelope with a decent array of consumer-level machines.
That 0930 semi-auto machine and its companion grinder were a $750 combo at that time. For comparison, a friend of mine recently bought this fully automatic Gevi espresso maker and grinder pair for $200. Not only does it make darn good espresso, but it’s got a host of electronically-controlled brew modifications so you can tailor your full-auto shots!
2 Likes
Morning all…today (29 Aug) Woot.com has Nespresso Vertuo machines for under $100.
1 Like
Why not leave the espresso machine on 24/7? Will it make a significant dent in your energy bill? I leave mine on all the time and it does cause a bump in the fees but not as much as I would have predicted. Currently it needs a small repair so it’s been off for a few months until I get around to ordering the part.
2 Likes
I had not even thought of that. I just started reading up on how much constant draw an espresso machine uses and some of them have the fast start option for quick coffees that draw 120 watts, 24/7. That is not a huge amount but 120 * 24 = 2.88 kWh or 45 cents a day if you are paying 16 cents an hour for electricity. I am trying to find out if my Illy draws that much but I am not sure. It does have a Power Saver feature if you leave the switch on that will turn off the machine in 10 minutes so I think it is actually powering down. Plus it takes 45 seconds to warm up every time I brew an espresso.
Vampire draw from appliances that appear to be turned off really adds up since so many of them do draw small to medium amounts of juice for various reasons.
I never thought that my espresso machine would be one of them.
1 Like
I’ve never done the calculations, but heating up an E61 group head isn’t cheap. The money isn’t that much of an issue in itself, it’s just a waste of energy to leave it on every afternoon for maybe a handful of extra espresso a week. I’ve pretty much made up my mind in getting a new machine with powersave settings… 
2 Likes
What type of machine? And do you drink espresso throughout the day? I only drink it in the morning, so there’s no reason for me to keep my machine on for the other 22 hours of the day. My cousin has his E-61 machine on a timer, so it’s warmed up and ready to go when he wakes up. Oh, and is your repair related to keeping it on 24/7?
2 Likes
I don’t own a Keurig because the pods aren’t recycled properly and I use a reusable filter in my drip.
1 Like
If anyone is looking at a Nespresso machine, i was just sent a referral code for $40 off a machine for up to 10 friends. Use YHHEUF at checkout for the $40 discount.
Full disclosure: it gives me a $20 discount on capsules, which I may not even use…just passing on the discount.
3 Likes
From Keurig’s official statement in the article, it seems they’re only idealizing the #5 plastic cup, and ignoring the aluminum top that’s bonded to it and the coffee grounds and filter media inside it. Who’s going to separate and clean the plastic before tossing it into the recycle bin? Even if I did, my city has so-called “single stream” recycling (even that’s not 100% accurate) and has said that items “smaller than your fist” tend to cause machine jams (they want you to leave out small items).
I was in a situation at my last job where the only practical option was to use the company’s Keurig machine. I bought one of Keurig’s reusable pods and brought in my own coffee. I was surprised at how good the coffee tasted! The nice thing about Keurig’s design is that it has extra room for the grounds to expand (and you can add more than the usual amount of coffee), so you don’t end up with the pod exploding open in the machine and spraying grounds all over.
2 Likes
I got the Illy iperespresso machine and disliked the plastic pods so I got a re-usable steel pod off of Amazon. It worked really well for a couple years, so I got to use my own freshly ground coffees in my favorite espresso machine. But after a few years it slowly started to leak more and more from the top of the pod housing. I got a replacement steel pod but it still leaked so I took the machine to a coffee machine repair place and they said the housing was worn slightly and could be replaced but Illy did not sell that particular part.
So I am back to using plastic pods because they flex enough that they do not leak, or so I guess.
Argh.
2 Likes
Under that scenario you did what was sound and practical to enjoy coffee at work. Awesome. But on a mass scale, the damage is already substantial and I’m not going to start buying a Keurig now. Even those refillables wind up getting tossed. Nothings perfect… but my answer was to respond to the OP. Obviously, we all have are approaches. I buy beans, grind, brew and stopped buying coffee from retailers premade (D&D, Starb’s, etc).
3 Likes
Now you need a Potsdam boiler…
It’s a LM Linea 1EE. There’s a thin copper tube from one of the boilers that has a micro leak. I don’t know what caused it.
I drink one coffee per day. What is the timer your cousin uses? Sounds like a good concept though I’m not sure it will work in my house but I’d like to try.
1 Like
My cousin said he got it from Home Depot, but that it was “very old, probably not made any more.” He also said “it says ‘My Ts’ on it.” My guess would be that it’s a standard away-from-home style timer. His machine is a QM Andreja Premium with a 1500 watt boiler. I don’t know if there are wattage ratings on timers that might need to be considered?
1 Like
