Posts Tagged ‘Semi-Automatic’Crew Review: Izzo Alex Duetto II
February 3rd, 2012
One of the more popular double boiler espresso machines on the market, the Alex Duetto II has a lot to love about it. The functionality is awesome — PID interface to set the coffee and steam boiler temperatures, easy access to switching between 15 or 20 amp, convertible water source so you can use either [...]  How To: Dialing in a Coffee Grinder
January 27th, 2012
A little bit of the ol’ science behind the magic! Dialing in a grinder is one of the most fearsome tasks for new home espresso enthusiasts, and we’re often asked for advice on how to get the hang of it. While we produced a video a couple of years ago that covers this topic, we [...] SCG’s Most Popular Coffee Gear – 2011
January 24th, 2012
Not that we’re encouraging you to keep up with the Joneses, but if you’re in the market for a new espresso machine, we thought it might be helpful to share which models sold the best over the last year. Broken down by budget, here is what other folks have chosen for their home espresso setup, [...] Milk Steaming Tips
January 3rd, 2012
One of the wiliest dragons to slay in the home espresso universe is milk steaming — there are basic tenets one must follow, but from there it’s just practice, practice, practice. The kind of machine you’re using will play a big part in your milk frothing success, as well as whether or not you’re working [...] Compare: Breville Dual Boiler v. Nuova Simonelli Oscar
December 28th, 2011
Yet another comparison match! Watch Gail walk us through the features on the Breville Dual Boiler and Nuova Simonelli Oscar, then pull shots and make lattes to show how they perform. New! Non-Pressurized & Bottomless Portafilters for Saeco & Starbucks Machines
December 23rd, 2011
The most popular mod/upgrade to Saeco and Starbucks semi-automatic machines is the non-pressurized portafilter, which turns a pretty basic machine into one that can produce shots that rival gear several hundred dollars up the food chain. When the last of them that Saeco had produced were gone, we knew we had to do something to [...] Crew Review: DeLonghi kMix Espresso Machine
December 9th, 2011
While their semi-automatic machines are fairly standard performers in the budget-value market, their design has always left a bit to be desired — featuring a lot of plastics and lower end casing materials. DeLonghi’s new kMix series of appliances (ranging from toasters to blenders to coffee makers to espresso machines — and more) have a [...] Compare: Breville Dual Boiler vs. Rancilio Silvia
November 21st, 2011
In another of our not-so-infamous grudge matches, we pit Breville’s new Dual Boiler against the tried and true single boiler Rancilio Silvia, featuring a PID retrofit. Other than having an additional boiler on its side, how does this new machine measure up against the Silvia? Watch as Gail takes us through the usual specs, features [...] Compare: Breville Barista Express vs. Rancilio Silvia
November 9th, 2011
After a couple of requests for this comparison model, Gail breaks it down for us: features, pros, cons, performance, etc. While the Barista Express includes a built-in grinder and a lower price tag, the Silvia + Rocky combo is a time honored tradition. Watch Gail go through their specs and whip up a latte on [...] Compare: Rocket Giotto vs. Nuova Simonelli Musica
November 2nd, 2011
We’d be hard pressed to choose between these two models ourselves, and we’ve had several customers ask us for a comparison between the two. The Rocket Giotto and Nuova Simonelli Musica are high end home machines with similar features and practical performance, but the Musica does have programming functionality and is NSF rated for use [...] |
