Good problem to have. Wish I had this problem here at the office. There may be someone on the list who can speak to this, but home roasters will probably be hands-on baristas. You're talking about a commercial superautomatic espresso machine. If I were in your shoes, I'd want to find out what the most popular commercial superautomatic machine is in Switzerland and/or Italy. Schaerer and Thermoplan machines (both Swiss) are evidently popular in the states, from the number of refurb machines available. No idea about how these compare to other machines or a decent barista. Both have models that look like they sing, dance, and maybe shave chocolate and do swirly-patterns in the foam. You should also look into installation (220V power + water + drain(?)) and make sure about a good local company to service the machine. On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 9:27 AM, Michael Burer wrote: <Snip> Homeroast mailing list Homeroasthttp://lists.sweetmariascoffee.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast_lists.sweetmariascoffee.comSweet Maria's Forum Our new Coffee Library |
The Capresso Jura line makes a pretty decent cup of coffee and an acceptable espresso/espresso-based-drink. If you have a Sur La Table store near you, they usually have them set up for demo, so you can try a cup and see how you like it.http://www.capresso.com/automatic-coffee-centers.shtmlAt a lower price point, Nespresso makes a nice pod based machine. They have a wide selection of pods and offer special releases each year, to keep things interesting. They're line of machines does include one which does milk-based espresso drinks. Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma usually have these set up for demo.http://www.nespresso.com/us/en/coffee-maker-list-NespAs somoene who has had very little luck with making espresso, myself, I've been very happy with the nespresso machine and pods. While it is not as good as a great coffee bar, it's better than 95% of my coffee options. On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Steve Hamm wrote: <Snip> Homeroast mailing list Homeroasthttp://lists.sweetmariascoffee.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast_lists.sweetmariascoffee.comSweet Maria's Forum Our new Coffee Library |
Our office in Seattle has an Avalon Gourmethttp://www.americanvendingonline.com/onecup%20pages/avalongourmet.htmlThere are about 65 or so people in the office. I hear there can be a line at times in the morning, but it's not too bad. Operation is relativly simple, choose one of three coffees loaded into a hopper from the top, choose the cup size, type of coffee, 'strength', etc and it grinds/brews/dispenses. I was pretty dubious the first time I saw it, but it doesn't do too bad for an office machine (better than our Mr. Coffee in the Portland office). My guess is they have a service contract with the vendor who comes and cleans it, replaces the consumables, etc. Demian On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 12:16 PM, Seth Grandeau wrote: <Snip> Homeroast mailing list Homeroasthttp://lists.sweetmariascoffee.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast_lists.sweetmariascoffee.comSweet Maria's Forum Our new Coffee Library |
Thank you for the recommendations. We looked today at a Jura Giga 5; that may end up being our machine because of price point + features. The local retailer provides good service after the sale as well. If anything interesting develops I'll post the news here. Otherwise, press on, friends! Michael Burer On Jul 17, 2013, at 2:31 PM, Demian Ebert wrote: <Snip> Homeroast mailing list Homeroasthttp://lists.sweetmariascoffee.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast_lists.sweetmariascoffee.comSweet Maria's Forum Our new Coffee Library |