The best in commercials machines

FullSpeed

Hey,
I'm doing a bit of student research on commercial coffee machines, and i thought this would be a great place to get second opinions. I have been working within the coffee industry for the past 4 years at various cafe's and coffee shops, so i'd like to think i know the ins and outs of coffee making. My question is directed to all other coffee makers who work on commercial coffee machines, prefferably machines with two groups or more.

What i'm trying to find out is: what are the pros and cons of the machines that you have used either in the past or currently.

For example, i have used a three group La Marzocco in the past and loved it because of the two boiler system, where the steam would not lose pressure from pumping out too much espresso. And also because of the size of the machine and you could stash espresso catchers and cloths underneath the machine. But i didn't like the size of the drip-trays, because there is no space beyond the groups.

I look forward to hearing some opinions, thanks

nzroaster

There are 2 types of machines available, both with pros and cons. The twin boiler machines,of which my opinion is that the Marzocco is the best, have the pros you mentioned. The con is that you group water sits in a boiler which turns on and off, water can go stale and it is in direct contact with the heating element, therefore sacrificing water quality. And we know how important that is. The other type is the single boiler with heat exchange. The pros of these machines is clean group water forthat perfect espresso. However the cons are possible inconsistent group temperatures. The best of these are the Cimbalis(again my opinion). With a good machine of either you will experience fewer of the cons than with a cheaper machine.

FullSpeed

Right, cheers. I've never actually used a cimbalis before. Do you know what it's like in terms of ergonomics and space? Also, the point you've made with the Marzocco, i was not aware of. I guess to use them, you really do need to thrash it and have a high volume output to avoid the water being blemished by the heating element. (hehe old kettle water) Recently, we've been using a ECM michaelangelo. And we had a few problems with the group temperature's to begin with, but now it's held up quite well. Except for the occasional hissy fit, that i notice when i'm temperature surfing. But i'm not big on the steam pressure we have, i'll get quite a busy patches where the pressure seems to slow way down, and customers have to wait too long as a result.

nzroaster

i've never worked on a Cimbali as a barista, only the tech side and had a few in my QA Lab at previous postion. They are truly the Rolls Royce of espresso machines. Find a dealer and go have a look if you worry about ergonomics.