I had a very similar situation as you.
Had a gaggia manual machine. The honeymoon period of being a barista died quick. I was left with a year of inconsistent and often lackluster shots - not to mention dirty countertops.
So I started browsing. My budget was around $1200 at first. The more research I did, I realized if I'm going to spend $1200 on a machine I want to be damn happy with it. So I did something stupid.. purchased a jura z10 for 4x my budget. I'm not rich by any means but I work a job where OT is plentiful. I'll be working the next 15 Sundays to pay it off.
Moral of the story is not bankrupt yourself. It's to write down exactly what you want and make sure you're happy with it cause once you start setting 'budgets', you are probably spending more than you should. For me, what I wanted most was convenience and I paid out the butt for it but I haven't had a moment's regret.
Kitchen aid KF7 or KF8
I have a Jura Z10 that I would recommend. It’s probably outside your price range, but you could probably get a refurbished one off their site for your range.
I'm in a similar phase of life, and went with the Jura Z10. It's absolutely fabulous. I've had it for a little over a year and make 2 perfect lattes every day with almost zero effort. It's my favorite thing I own.
I did not look at the Miele.
I use the glass container for milk. Since I only make 2 (sometimes 3) a day, it's easy to just grab out of the fridge when I need it. I keep the glass container full of milk in the fridge with the tubing attached and tied into a loose knot shape to keep the end of the tubing clean. It takes 2 seconds to pull it out and plug the tubing into the machine. I use the same container for a few days, then swap out for a clean one and wash.
Lets' be real here, if you spent time in this sub then you saw the negatives about the z10/giga 10 but you chose to ignore them. I am one of the nay sayers. The Jura E4 makes the same espresso as the z10. Lots of people have talked about the joe app being functional but not practical. No coffee phone apps are practical.
People in this sub are dumb half the z10 ravers don't want to admit they over spent for little performance over a Miele or Kitchenaid, the others rave about it because its bragging about how much they spent, meanwhile the z10 is half the price in most of europe. 95% of the people in this sub act like they are coffee experts swear by Super Creme and their choice of drink is 11 ounces of milk to 1 oz of espresso on a #5 grind. That isn't coffee. They don't get it any of it. They don't even know how to brew espresso. If it makes you feel better the giga 10 is even worse in terms of cheap plastic. I wanted the two hoppers though.
Your post seems more like buyers remorse. If you need help brewing ok espresso all you have to do is set the grinder to the fine setting and watch your ratios. Keep coffee on high strength 1.5oz max for espresso, 4oz max for coffee. If using dark roast keep the temp on low or Med. Hot water will make dark roast harsh.
Your Philips 5500 also has the flat ceramic burr, same as the 800 . A lot of Philips machines have the ceramic flat burr. They are not special and they are quite small. The kitchenaids are quite but the whole machine is insulated for sound. My jura has flat burr ceramic discs, they are not quiet and need a thick towel to muffel them.
You want a ceramic flat disc for a certain flavor profile and they tend to stay cleaner. Grinds on a super auto are not that great anyway so I think it would be difficult for anyone to pickup the nuances between a flat disc or conical grinder. The Jura z10 has a conical grinder while the Giga 10 has flat discs for example. The quietness of it is Philips marketing team getting way over their skiis.
95% of what Wired does is paid marketing. The other 5% of a review is lacking in depth and any sort of experience in whatever they are reviewing. They are fluff pieces designed for SEO and affiliate links.
Read my last sentence above " They are fluff pieces designed for SEO and affiliate links. " Wired has gotten worse and worse. Their opinions offer zero value to anyone who knows anything about what they happen to be reviewing.
I don't think you actually what I am saying, since you proved part of my point already. They don't know how to use the machines, they don't know the limitations or how to maximize. I owned a TK02 and it was terrible at making coffee then again espresso. Why is a coffee roaster testing their own coffee? Why would someone used to a semi auto, and hopefully have a nuanced taste for espresso blindly write a review of super autos? Conversely, why not have someone who has no experience using a espresso machine review the SanRemo YOU espresso machine?
**T**he article did not mention anything about how the machines were adjusted and why are they using specialty coffee? it is awfully specific and quite odd.
Ahh no you are really stretching for that one. Those coffees are so light they might as well be cups of milk. The average consumer gets frustrated with the machines and return them. I had a tk02. It is not a espresso machine yet rated #2 here. Someone else just posted alot of good points on why this article was completely staged. But hey if you think this article was completely unbiased you are their demo, not me.
You can if you tried it. Not about being a snob as super autos a lower quality anyway but you can taste the difference in the grind and dose size after the ratios are adjusted. The z10s are a waste but a 15g KitchenAid/Miele or 16g jura on sale is a good deal. No one should pay more than $500 for a Philips. The new kf seem to be a bargain.
You know I couldn't put my finger on why in the world they would use light roast for this test. I think you put your finger on it. Do you see how light those coffee's are? How do you review a coffee machine when there is no coffee in your cup? The whole thing was bazar.
I did. Coffeeness drives me nuts with their top level "reviews". Not one puck pic. It looks look there's a high chance of it being identical. You are right though will need to weigh the pucks. The instructions didn't give any hints. They could have modified it to take a few more grams but I wouldn't count on the marketing along.
It's not a traditional inside part like a car engine. It makes sense when you look at the old part and realize that women take it out and wash it And used to have to live it. Look at the handle it's now super user friendly and say I'm the handle you can grab me. They also no longer need to lube it. They updated it to make it less technical. Tooling wise most of the parts are the same so little cost big perceived impact. Otherwise I'd agree with you. Well see though.
Jura has a 16g max dose. Miele/KitchenAid/Melitta 15g. Gaggia 11g, Delonghi 12g.
I have a semi too and I would never go back to less than 15g dose on a super auto for the serving size alone, then again flavor. I've tried them.
Also no one should pay more than $600usd for a gaggia or at all. They are glorified Philips machines. The steam wand in them (and Delonghi) are under powered, the dose size is too small.
Tom doesn't get into the machines as people think he does. He's spread misinformation too as if Delonghi was paying him. In stead of creating original content he'll remake other old you tube videos.
Chances are you machine is not bad. The larger a puck is with a fine grind the more resistance it has. There's no way the ninja will put out espresso with a 20g fine grind puck. None. My hypothesis anyway. That is where the auto grinder comes in. #1 cause of returns IMHO is from people grinding too finely clogging the machine and having extraction issues. The auto grinder probably helps to stop that by limiting the grind.
My guess is the grinder uses a limited fixed ratio grind setting based on users strength/volume settings. Large latte drinkers would be indifferent to it to poor grind. Latte drinkers with 2 pumps is ninjas target demo. Espresso grinders can either grind for espresso or drip, not both.
You just need to get your feet wet. Get a kf5 or whatever in the insiders pass.for like $600. I have a kf8 and a jura. Not sure if get another jura. Set the machine to the second finest grind, temp low. Then adjust the volume to taste. If you like dark roast try peets espresso forte. Med. Roast Starbucks espresso roast. You just need to get your feet wet. It's great coffee, you save money but not using pods.
89% of the people in this sub are heavy milk drinkers but don't want to admit it. I spent months figuring out why all the "awesome" recommendations like super crema were terrible. Everything is great when it's mixed with 8ounces of milk and syrup Probably like this ninja.
Whirlpool has it. It's like a friends and family discount thing. It came out after I got the kf8. Start a new thread and ask for a insiders pass. You can search for insiders pass too for more information. Jura, KitchenAid/Miele are the best super for black drinks. They have the largest dose size and best grind. You'll get better/larger drinks than the pods even the philips LoR. The KA you can get the best deal on. Espresso needs a fine to extract the nuances under pressure. Most machine will either clog too easily before you get decent espresso or not grind finely enough. Not fine enough with a small dose means weak coffee. If you notice your pods use a fine grind.
I should say the new compact ka machines just came out but people are saying the are the same quality as the full size, same brew unit ect, haven't tried it myself. The kf6-8 are the full size machines.
People in this sub just group think and most people haven't tried more machines than the one they own. For instance, a lot of people trash the Bosch 800 but I know for a fact it makes espresso as good as a zura z10 as I've tried them both side by side and in fact a few of us thought the Bosch was better and is about $4k cheaper if you get it on sale. I've also tried the top end kitchenaid but not side by side and remembered thinking it's not any better.
Point being, I'm not surprised on your analysis here.
4bidden-hands
