Good to see some new equipment reviews. This is what first attracted me to coffeegeek and it took more than a year before I actually started posting. It's still my favourite part and good to see the master hasn't lost the touch.
Hoping for more to come....
Thomas
Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water. ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
I've seen this in a few shops around NYC. It looked really nice from far away, but I was incredibly dissapointed with the clear plastic dome and water reservoir as I got closer-- both seemed to be made of a cheap plastic material and had visible seams.
I don't think the plastic is especially low grade. It appears to be the same stuff used in the electronic Santos brewers. Seams? Not an issue for what they are.
What is an issue that became evident after I completed the First Look is how the water bottle adapter leaks - after about 3 or 4 bottles of Evian water, I can't use the thing any longer... the one way ball valves in the adapter that allow for air to go back into the bottle don't seal properly, and you end up with a slow flood on your countertop. Doesn't occur with the included reservoir, but sure does with the adapter and a water bottle.
modernist1 Senior Member Joined: 4 Jan 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat May 14, 2005, 10:11am Subject: Re: Bodum Granos Automatic Espresso Machine
Mark -- This machine has a thermoblock heating system, actually. Looking forward to the full review of the Granos. Whatever its faults, the design is stunning.
mattyj Senior Member Joined: 5 Apr 2004 Posts: 1,091 Location: Sydney Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Expobar Office Pulser Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Hario Mocha 3 Cup ... broken...
Posted Sun May 15, 2005, 5:47pm Subject: Re: Bodum Granos Automatic Espresso Machine
The components on this machine - pressurised filter baskets, the black plastic distribution disk in the bottom of the portafilter, the steam arm/frothing aid, even the water pickup in the reservoir, and the way that hot water is delivered through the steam arm - are identical to the old sunbeam (old, now that his new one is coming out) that Paul Bassett endorses - the Sunbeam Aromatic - a thermoblock machine.
If this machine is a thermoblock, then i'd guess that they've just got a sunbeam, taken it apart and given it a new body.
heck, sunbeam did it to krups! don't see why bodum can't do it to sunbeam...
edit: oh yeah, and the sunbeams have the pressure release thingy going into the drip tray as well, when you finish brewing the shot, there's a huge gush of steam into the drip tray.
yeah, it looks damn sexy alright - i've seen some close up pics of it pulling a few shots - gorgeous! but ...
... the whole thermoblock thing is a bit offputting. Even if it's capable of producing stable temps for the brew water, there's still a whole stigma attached that I'm growing tired of. That and people can say that it's thermally stable, but then people can say anything really. Especially if they know it will make them a bit of money.
Thanks for your review and retaining an eye on the low(er) end of the market. As more and more of the 'artisan' roasters are coming up with pods now (intelligensia, supreme bean, etc.) there remains a need for equipment that maximize the resulting pour.
One comment on the issue of pressurized baskets for pods. I currently use a Melitta 1,2,3 spresso at work for afternoon doubles and the in this no-basket system, the entire pod is saturated from the start (using a vertical press), yielding brown, caramel colored pours right away. The downside is a shorter pour overall (and the single source pods) but I'm looking forward to rehabbing a Solis SL 90 (including the temp mod) to replace the Melitta ;-)
I've just had to retire a Krups Programatic 4000 (I think) after the thermoblock started leaking water. While by no means a pro machine, it did use single wall filters, so I could tamp to my heart's content and would get a "proper" pour.
I've bought a Granos and the ONLY thing I don't like is the pressurised filter baskets.
Looking at the construction of the filter basket it appears that carefully drilling out each of the 45 small indentations on the underside of the basket will effectively take the second filter out of the equation. I don't want to try it until I can get hold of a spare set of baskets but I'd welcome comments.
I've got a Reg Barber 51mm tamper which fits well - I reckon a 51.1 or even 51.2 would fit, as I measured the basket to be 51.32mm (minimum) but I didn't want to take the risk given the cost of shipping the tamper backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.
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