emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,722 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Fri Aug 24, 2012, 7:43am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
Thanks for sharing that link! I actually copied Mark's comments to save in a text file on my PC for future reference. Being a complete amateur, and living in somewhat of a shell from the coffee world (except for my participation here), I had no idea that Mark had previously been a USBC and WBC judge. Obviously, I know him to be "the man" because of this site, but I didn't know his whole background (and probably still don't).
qualin Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 464 Location: Calgary, AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto 3 Grinder: Mazzer Mini Elect. Type A Vac Pot: Looking to buy Drip: Manual Roaster: Considering?
Posted Sat Aug 25, 2012, 1:25am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
Now I want to be able to precisely control my brew temperature to see how much of a difference 1 degree can make, especially when Mark says that roast and dose interact with each other to require a temperature adjustment.
It makes me wonder if I should either just PID my Silvia, save my pennies for a BDB or just really save my pennies and go for a La Spaz...
scanfield Senior Member Joined: 21 Nov 2011 Posts: 170 Location: Texas Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: La Nuovo Era Cuadra Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Sat Aug 25, 2012, 8:21am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
If it were me, I would probably save up for a BDB. Mark speaks very highly of them and his opinion carries a lot of weight with me. I own a Cuadra that I like but if it broke, I would replace it with a BDB. Williams-Sonoma does 30% of sales occasionally (usually at year end) and I would wait for a big sale to buy.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,681 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Mon Aug 27, 2012, 6:20am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
While the BDB is looking like it may be OK, my PERSONAL opinion is that it is still to early to buy one. The positive comments from Mark in my OPINION were not so much that the BDB is the BE ALL, END ALL machine, rather that is is a positive step in a good direction.
B has had a LOT of quality issues over the years and with this ONE machine, they MIGHT have gotten it right, I am still waiting to see what happens. They made some design choices that I know I feed at odds with such as not being able to descale the machine. Yes I know about the disposable filters but still .......
I would save a bit longer and buy what is KNOWN to be quality. Just an opinion, yours may be different, like I try to say with all opinion based posts, YMMV!
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
scanfield Senior Member Joined: 21 Nov 2011 Posts: 170 Location: Texas Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: La Nuovo Era Cuadra Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Mon Aug 27, 2012, 7:42am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
calblacksmith Said:
The positive comments from Mark in my OPINION were not so much that the BDB is the BE ALL, END ALL machine, rather that is is a positive step in a good direction.
The conversation continued on Twitter. There Mark said his under $1000 machine recommendation is the BDB and it is the only Breville product he recommends. For $1000, nobody would expect any espresso machine to be the BE ALL, END ALL machine.
Mark also said this here: I agree - there's a lot of cynicism just for the sale of cynicism in some of the forum posts. I just shake my head. I have two BDB machines - a preproduction and a production model - the prepro had some issues, but none have cropped up in the production model.
I honestly think some folks in the HB / CG community are pissed they spent $2500+ on some machines, or $6500 on a GS/3 when the BDB does as much or near as much as those machines for a lot less. Sure it has plastic and consumery stuff, but inside it is a BEAST. It is also more temperature stable than my GS/3. Though not as stable as my Speedster is.
CMIN Senior Member Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 505 Location: South FL Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Crossland CC1 Grinder: Baratza Preciso
Posted Mon Aug 27, 2012, 8:34am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
scanfield Said:
The conversation continued on Twitter. There Mark said his under $1000 machine recommendation is the BDB and it is the only Breville product he recommends. For $1000, nobody would expect any espresso machine to be the BE ALL, END ALL machine.
Mark also said this here: I agree - there's a lot of cynicism just for the sale of cynicism in some of the forum posts. I just shake my head. I have two BDB machines - a preproduction and a production model - the prepro had some issues, but none have cropped up in the production model.
I honestly think some folks in the HB / CG community are pissed they spent $2500+ on some machines, or $6500 on a GS/3 when the BDB does as much or near as much as those machines for a lot less. Sure it has plastic and consumery stuff, but inside it is a BEAST. It is also more temperature stable than my GS/3. Though not as stable as my Speedster is.
Not surprised. I know some still want to hark on Brevilles quality but with the start of the Smart Grinder, then the BDB, I think they've changed around big time. I heard even the retailers for the BDB haven't had any trouble machines come back, some minor stuff in the beginning like the OPV but these seem to be solid machines, vs some other machines that cost 2/3k+ and have had quite a few complaints and issues through the last year. My friend got his last year and they use it hard multiple times daily, hasn't skipped a beat, it's so consistent too. For the money it's just unbeatable, I was going to get one as well but too hard to pass up the deal I got on the CC1.
The only negative thing I can think of is the whole sending in for service every 3 years (or was it 4?), but I know Breville is working on a system to have centers in various places of the country for service for not just the BDB but other products. I think if they come out with a better version of the Smart Grinder that's geared more towards the espresso end than right now, they'll hit it out of the ball park.
There's an awful lot of discussion about coffee on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. It's only natural to go where the engagement is. How many regular posters are there on HB or CG? Maybe 100? It would be interesting to see what the traffic numbers are like. Are forums dying?
Posted Mon Aug 27, 2012, 9:16am Subject: Re: Mark Prince Gives Leo Laporte Some Great Advice
scanfield Said:
There's an awful lot of discussion about coffee on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. It's only natural to go where the engagement is. How many regular posters are there on HB or CG? Maybe 100? It would be interesting to see what the traffic numbers are like. Are forums dying?
Depends on your level of involvment/interest. It's really hard to keep a focused discussion going on any of the places you name, and they are, by definition, evanescent. Forums provide archives of knowledge that can be searched. Social media and microblogging, not so much.
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