Perfect prosumer machine for great espresso, steampower, features and good price !!!!
Positive Product Points
Perfect espresso, cup after cup. When things go wrong, it's my own fault... Big chrome front grouphead for perfect temp control Two boiler system works perfect, specially for cappuccino lovers. Full features: digital temp, 2 manometers, anti burn steam wand, waterfilter, big driptray. optional direct water connection. Impressive machine, thick steel, very heavy, parts of high quality, big knobs for steam and hotwater...all solid and professional quality. Good price paid for this kind of dual boiler machine: 1299 euro
Negative Product Points
Some people may like Italian design better...the Spanish Brewtus is not very subtle... The warming up time is quite long due to the 2 boilers, about 15min No water level indicator, so the machine can shut down when the reservoir gets empty, during your coffee shot (but this is a common feature on all machines I've seen...so not really a brewtus problem)
Detailed Commentary
I did a long investigation before buying this machine. In Holland there are a lot of machines in this price range. After a long time I discovered the Brewtus and liked the 2-boiler idea with digital temperature control. And with the features it's a winner when you compare it to the other brands. Right now I'm working with the Brewtus for a few months and I like it very much. Great coffee and steam power!! And it's not difficult to work with it, my wife is not a barista at all, but she also makes great coffee. So don't worry if you're only a starter... You can feel the quality by its weight...watch your back!! It's all steel from thick quality, with two big copper boilers in it, large waterreservoir of 3 liters and a huge driptray. This makes it a very good machine for (starting) home baristas.
One thing is really important with this type of professional machine: the right coffee grind. You only get the perfect 25sec shot if your grind is really fine, special for espresso. This makes it important to have your own professional grinder (otherwise your grind is not fine enough); or buy daily fresh coffee at a good coffee shop. Just buying normal grind from a shop won't work, it will be too coarse and your coffee will come out much too fast like in 10sec, with no taste and no crema!! So my advise is to spend some money on a decent grinder, this works the best and you can udjust the grind just the way you like. A good grinder like mazzer, cimbali, macap will last a very long time so this is worth every penny.
A nice bonus of the dual boiler design is the ability to turn up the pressure of the steam boiler, so I get more steam power for my cappucino and latte. Because the Brewtus has a dedicated hotwater/steam boiler I can do this without affecting the brew temperature of my coffee. Inside the Brewtus there's an easy turning knob to adjust the steam pressure (up or down). Ask your dealer to handle this, or if you're technical do it yourself. The nice thing about this is, you can adjust de power according to your (developing) steam skills. In a standard HX machine with only 1 boiler this is not possible. Turning up the steam pressure in the boiler would give a higher brew temperature and will burn your coffee, so this is not an option. And futher on, don't be fooled bij tests where another machine has some beter steam power than the brewtus. Just turning up the pressure from 1,0 to 1,2-1,4 bar and the brewtus will blow other brands away ;-)
What I also like are the insulated boilers. Big deal? Well, I like these details of smart engineering by Expobar. It has some benefits;
I save energy, this is good for my wallet and saves the planet
The heating elements and electronics will be used less to heaten up the boiler, so improving the lifetime of these parts.
The heat stays where it belongs: inside the boiler. The rest of my machine stays cooler (inside and outside). This also prevents a common 'problem' of HX machines, where the water inside the reservoir gets very hot due to the warm boiler next to it. The HX-principle is based on cold water from the reservoir (and not warm) running through the hot boiler. Otherwise the brew water coming out of the grouphead can be too hot and burn your coffee.
One thing to remember for these kind of professional machines: maintanence is important to prevent technical problems and expensive repairs. Limestone and coffee dirt can ruin my expensive machine if I don't do anything to clean it. So backflushing and using anti limestone is the way to go. If you do this every few months, your Brewtus (or another E61 quality machine) will last over 15 years.
Buying Experience
I bought the machine in Holland from www.casabarista.nl they provided great service. They explained all about E61, HX machines, how to make perfect coffee, cleaning the machine.... These boys are really espresso lovers, and know about machines. They were restorating two original Faema E61!! When it's finished I'll buy one of those ;-)
Good price paid of 1299 euro. Normally the brewtus is about 1600 euros in Holland.
Three Month Followup
Hi, espresso lovers. Well, I wanted to follow up my last review. How's the Brewtus II? Still going very strong! I've been working with it for about a year and it never lets me down so far. More and more I like the full features on the machine: huge driptray, automatic waterfilter, double steamwand, big E61 grouphead, double boiler (which is the best technical design for an espressomachine, if you use steam for foaming milk). This gives me daily pleasure and constant coffee quality. I must say the temperature adjustment is very important when working with different beans. Every type of bean and brand you use will have the best result given the right temperature. With the Brewtus this is a piece of cake, you just adjust the temp; and bingo the right taste will follow! For a (starting) barista this is a great feature.
A week ago I went back to my supplier to check out a new grinder. They we're just preparing a Brewtus to ship to Scandinavia, it seems Expobar is hard to find in those countries (with a good price). What surprised me, they took the machine apart, checked internal parts, electronics, pump pressure, temperature, coffee quality. So fully tested it before shipment. That gave me the warm feeling I've made the right decision buying with these guys. They know what they're doing and daily work with these E61 machines. They don't just ship a box from the factory (with hidden problems) like a webshop would do. When you spend +1000 euro you just want this kind of service and the assurance your shiny Brewtus works the best!! Feel free to contact rolf@casabarista.nl he's one of the owners and will help you out. Ok, enough said, I'm gonna make me a nice cappuccino...cheers.
