Yeah, I noticed the knobs, but am not sure either whether that is indicative of the higher quality valves. It also does seem much narrower than my Anita (which is about 3/4inch narrower than the AP) and seems much closer to the width of Alexia. If the La Cora does indeed have the higher quality valves and a good size boiler I think this is a great find, thanks to ChicagoSandy, since I haven't seen it mentioned here yet...and they are only about a half hour away from me too...darn.
I'm going out there tomorrow to have a look and a demo (and if I like it, bring one home--they don't deliver to Rogers Park/Edgewater till Thursday). I am not too concerned about smaller size--but I do like the AP valves, dual gauges, and no-burn steam and water wands (though I sure miss those ball joints on the Silvia and Livia). On Quickmill's site, the AP and Anita seem to have the same size tank and boiler, though the AP lacks the Anita's "legs" and deeper drip tray. Could be that Quickmill integrated those from the Anita into a modified AP. I might have gone for the LaSpaz S1 (under $2K) but for the plumb-in (or Flojet) requirement; they claim it's a 110V machine. But IIRC, the LaSpaz takes a smaller PF and none of my baskets or tampers would fit.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
Drove out to Countryside today and demoed the La Cora. Met with John Cora (the owner), his son Mark, and their salesman and trainee. The machine is indeed an Andreja Premium. Cora had been using a Rancilio Audrey at home (he used to be partners with one of the Rancilios) and when they parted company, he decided he wanted an e61 HX machine. He consulted with Quickmill with the AP as a template; and gave them his wish list of features: deeper drip tray (1 L), elevated legs, heavier steam and water knobs, thicker steamwand and longer hot water wand, both no-burn, dual pressure gauges for steam and brew, and a port in the top cover for filling the tank without having to remove the top cover or even the cups. To hold down the price, it's about as wide as an Anita, with the Anita's slightly smaller 2.5L tank (rather than a gallon). We waited till we brought it up to temp and then dialed in the grinder (using Danesi beans, for which they're the distributor) till we got a pair of killer ristretti. I'll post a picture as soon as I get it home (I'm in a hotel and it's in its box in my car trunk--a new one, not the floor model) and set it up tomorrow. The price was $1395 plus tax--smack dab between an AP and Anita from other sources, but no delivery charge (they could have delivered it free to me next Thurs, their N. Side and Near N. Suburban delivery day, but I didn't want to wait). If you are outside the Chicago area, the shipping charge (they insist on at least double-boxing it for UPS delivery) plus tax would not make it as good a deal; though outside IL you'd probably pay as much for shipping as I paid in sales tax.
Wow, that is a great looking machine. I have heard of Cora but never realized they were in Countryside and had all sorts of equipment and stuff. I will definitely check their site for future items as Countryside isn't too far away. Have fun with your new toy!
Cora is indeed a cool place--machines galore (multi-group retro Elektras, a PID'd auto 3-group La Spaz as well as the S1, one-group commercial machines, the usual complement of superautos, but big sturdy ones; a Micro Casa a Leva, even a strange futuristic semiauto single-boiler designed by an auto racer--though it's not really a serious machine); accessories, syrups in flavors I had no idea existed, Italian hot chocolate (I was given two packets), moka pots, teas (including those Numi flowering tea balls), gelato mixes and mixers (they have a gelato training room!), panini presses, and of course Italian wines--small producers available nowhere else in the Midwest and some nowhere else in the U.S. I get the feeling that I will be getting a lot of supplies there--they hava a sugar-free dark chocolate sauce to die for, and oh those teas! (We shared a pot of Dragon Lily white tea). I am so glad they're less than an hour away (except in rush hour)--near my husband's medical office, in fact--and I can get service whenever I need it.
Will post the specs as soon as I get home. Gotta buy a raft of bungee cords, though, so I can secure it in its box to my little hand truck in order to get it safely upstairs from the garage to the house.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
Posted Sun Apr 13, 2008, 11:31pm Subject: Re: Quickmill "La Cora?"
Well, no specs to post.....I can't find my freakin' tape measure. But let's see--in the rear with the cup flange, about as tall on its little legs as Silvia is atop the one-drawer base I'd bought for Livia, and in the front about only a half-inch taller; with the PF in place, twice as deep as Silvia; and a couple of inches wider than Silvia but not quite as wide (IIRC) as the Livia. My son & I wrestled the box out of the car and on to my little hand truck (transferred a bungee cord from a flimsy luggage cart), and the two of us managed to safely get it up the stairs into the house. Opened the box and found to my chagrin there was no owner's manual (fortunately, a raft of nice folks on the SM's Homeroasting listserv rectified that). Jettisoned what seemed to be layers of styrofoam, extricated the boxful of portafilters (single and double), blind filter, water port cover, Frankentamp (scoop with a tamper at the other end of the handle---my cats looked at it and me as if to say "What do you expect us to do with THIS?"), and finally reached LaCora, swaddled in plastic wrap. Took a deep breath, put one hand under its rear and the other under the group, grunted, and in one motion lifted it to the counter. Cut away whatever plastic I couldn't pull off, took out the tank and washed it (boy, did it need washing!), filled and replaced it, plugged in the cord and flipped the power switch.
Aaahhh, the sound of a boiler filling. Just when I was afraid it wouldn't stop (20 seconds but it felt like an eternity), it did stop. Didn't know enough to turn the power off for five minutes (remember, I had no manual yet to tell me that), but no harm. After 40 minutes, pulled my first shot of 4-day-old Monkey Blend, updosed like I updose Silvia, and promptly choked the machine. Dumped the puck, dialed the Mazzer back a couple of hashmarks, dosed only to slightly heaping, tamped again (this time to about the spring line on the basket) and tried again. Aha--perfect twin mousetails of deep amber appearing at about 15 sec. Should've drunk the shot plain, but had to try steaming. Big thick steamwand with 2 holes--enough power to steam 4 oz. in a 12-oz. pitcher in under 10 sec., but it didn't get away from me like with the Livia.
After two days I have gotten into the rhythm--the cooling flush, the lever flip, the PF wiggle, the water backflush. Of course, that uses up more water than Silvia did--but so did Livia, with the "warming flush." And to my relief, the Silvia's naked PF fits it perfectly! What a joy to steam exactly when I want to and not have to bleed ounces of water out the wand! Did a stellar job on freshly roasted decaf espresso (my blend of Brazil, Ethiopia and Java) too. I think Cora and I will get on well.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
OK--found the tape measure. Here we go: Height: 15" in front, rising to 16-1/4" in the back Width: 10" overall. 8-1/2" drip tray and the facade Depth w/o PF: 17-1/2" Depth w PF attached: 21-3/4"
So I think it's somewhere between the Andreja Premium and Anita in width.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
OK--found the tape measure. Here we go: Height: 15" in front, rising to 16-1/4" in the back Width: 10" overall. 8-1/2" drip tray and the facade Depth w/o PF: 17-1/2" Depth w PF attached: 21-3/4"
So I think it's somewhere between the Andreja Premium and Anita in width.
Ha...my Anita is about 10-3/4in. wide...but, no matter...if I knew the La Cora existed I may have just gone for it. At the time I wanted the AP but it had just gone up in price so I settled with Anita...not that I mind settling with her she's a great machine. La Cora is almost in between the Anita and AP in price which at the time I would have jumped on it. Congrats again on the find!
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