Diletta - Bello

The Rocket is a terrible deal. Nearly retail price for a used machine. IMO the Diletta is a much better option between the two. Specs are nearly identical, and with the money saved they can get a really good grinder. Edit: whoops the Rocket retails for $1850. But seems like it regularly goes on sale for around $1500-1600.

Diletta machines are manufactured by Quick Mill, which is an Italian company. SCG just paid Quick Mill to have them build a custom-branded machine so they can sell it exclusively on their site.

[seattlecoffeegear.com](http://seattlecoffeegear.com) has a large selection, and also a lot of demo videos and info. I started with a Rancilio Silvia, still have it at work, but after several years upgraded to a better, bigger machine (Diletta Bello). That has been totally great. You will need to buy a good grinder too. But, it is so much better to be able to make a great espresso or mocha at home.

Love my Diletta Bello, it’s a beast!

As others have said you have to be careful buying a used machine at this expense. The reasoning for the person selling the diletta bello machine seems very weird to me especially selling it at 50% off. Definitely have them show you it pulling a shot in front of you and using the steam wand. You will have to kinda trust your gut to see if you trust the person selling or not at the end of the day. Assuming both machines work well I personally would go with the Diletta Bello. Half the price with essentially all the same basic features (both are heat exchange machines with some preinfusion, neither have a PID which is surprising given their price). Both seem to have similar build quality, but that is just coming from me taking a quick peep at the technical data sheets, so I don't fully know. That said, at $1500 you can buy a new machine of the same/similar quality with a warranty (although when you factor in taxes and shipping you'll be looking at closer to $1200 machine prices which does limit some). BUT, if you don't have a grinder, getting the Diletta Bello at that type of deal and splurging on a nicer grinder will get you the best possible coffee in cup (grinder more important than machine imo).

Unless you already have one, I'd suggest investing a good chunk of money into a grinder before saving for a machine. If you do a lot of milk drinks, I'd suggest a dual boiler or heat exchanger machine. You have options like La Marzocco Linea Micra or the Profitec Move for a simple dual boiler with programmable timed shots with pre-infusion, probably closest you'll get to a commercial style machine at home. Honestly, it's all you really need. Another option would be something E61 based, like the ECM Mechanica Max, or the Profitec Drive, Diletta Bello/Alto, etc... The issue with these machines is temperature stability and having to flush some water to stabilize things, but once you do the machine has tons of power and allows for things like flow control so you can really take control and dial in everything. They also have that beautiful mirror polish and old-school looks. And then you have machines like the Decent DE-1, Sanremo You, Wendougee Data... The machines are really more of a computer than an espresso machine and allows you to control every variable from the touchscreen so you can go all Mad Scientist with your espresso with flow and pressure curves, temperature curves, custom profiles. It's a really cool cutting edge tech!

Buy the diletta and use the remainder of budget for a grinder.

I'd get the Diletto and a good grinder. I disagree with buying new just because. Not much you'll get for a grand would be near the quality. I did something similar to save some $, the good Italian machines are built to last, far better than anything you'd find from Breville, or similar popular consumer brands. Just be sure to match it with a quality grinder and you'll be good for years to come.

I’ll chime in about the Diletta. I bought one new from Seattle Coffee gear and at first I was pretty impressed. Has big water tank, tons of steaming power (little too much in my opinion), and you could steam and pull Shots at same time no problem. However, I started having major temperature fluctuations. I could pull 1 shot in the morning and the next shot I pulled was a mess, it was drastically overheating. It really struggled to keep a constant temperature to the point where I returned it for a Lelit Mara X. Much more stable with internal PID and you get a little better build quality for your money in my opinion. Only gripe is in brew mode I don’t have the steam power to steam/pull at the same time. If you steam directly after pulling it transfers the heat/pressure over and it’s fine. In steam mode you can do both but the temperature isn’t as stable. If you want a Diletta, I would pay the little extra money get the + with the PID. Or at the very least by a thermometer for the group head to help.

Was my understanding that Diletta was made in collaboration between Seattle Coffee Gear and Italian manufacturers with their products being handmade in Italy. Wouldn’t exactly call it American.