Pop-Up

I just got it and it’s been great. Super fast heat up time for coffee and heats up to steam mode in 30 seconds. I would do two espresso shots and then steam milk for both drinks instead of switching back and forth. Smaller boiler which accounts for the faster heat up time. Steaming wand is plenty strong.

Well if you're that set on it, I would go with the Bambino plus based on the fact that it can basically auto steam milk and heats up really fast. Coming from someone who just purchased a Quick Mill Pop-Up, it's a beautiful machine and I'd purchase it again, however it takes at least 5mins to fully heat up and the milk steaming is a learning curve. The same is to be expected from the other machines you listed. For the grinder, I would avoid the DF54 as it's prone to clogging and other reliability issues. I personally went with the Eureka Mignon Zero and I'm quite happy with it, absolutely solid and no faff. You could go with the Silenzio or Facile since you want a hopper and timer. Baratza Encore Esp/Pro could be another good option.

A dual boiler like the BDB or Silvano might not be necessary if OP is mostly making drink for themselves only though. I have a Quickmill Popup and it gets to steaming temp in 30secs. Hardly worth the 1000$ premium with the Silvano (in Canada) in my case, and I make 2 flat whites every morning.

In case anyone is confused, yes, the Pop Up has a three-way solenoid, and one leg goes to the drip tray. If I were to speculate about the post pull pressure, I'd look at the flow control valve. Also my Go doesn't go to zero after it flushes to the drip tray.

I've bought this, hopefully it works

Go with the Quick Mill Popup + DF54. Dream setup. Lance has a video on his YT channel about the Quick Mill

Solid machine, but overpriced for what it offers at this level. I used the Sage (same model) for 4 years and was quite happy with it—especially considering I bought it for around 300 Fr. Now I’ve upgraded to the Quickmill Pop, which costs 899 Fr. If you’re planning to spend that much, I strongly recommend going for the Quickmill instead.

Quickmill pop up instead of the mara. Varia vs4 or df64 or malkonig cheaper grinder instead of df54. Ikape convex basket instead of vst basket. Blind shaker instead of wdt. Timemore scale instead of maestri. Not sure what the kettle is doing there also, but I assume it's for filter, if not, would also not invest right away in one.

Quickmill pop up + mazzer philos

Hi-we have a popup and have struggled to make a good foamy milk. For comparison, I have a DeLonghi (super low end “!) espresso machine and I was able to make great microfoam so when I wasn’t able to do the same with a better” machine I was pretty distraught…I’ve reached out to Chris’s Coffee for guidance (not the seller of this particular machine) and the recommendation was to lower the temp of the steam however we’ve checked and it’s at the lowest temp already. We’ve probably made 50 cappuccinos and while the espresso has been great, the cappuccinos have not been great at all…we’ve tried super cold milk, tilting the pitcher, positioning the wand at the top then submerging the tip etc and all we can think of is that possibly the unit’s Steam temperature is just too hot…? I’m wondering if this unit is just not set correctly for steam…a lemon perhaps…? Do you have any input ?

Yes, we do purge and lately I’ve done a more gentle 2nd purge, doing as you suggest, a couple of purges. It finally seems that we are getting some good frothed milk and I can only attribute it to, yes a purge or two, but also adjusting the angle of the wand (or rather the pitcher itself)so the steam doesn’t screech and also keeping the wand tip at the very surface of the milk. Doing all of this I’ve consistently gotten great frothed milk now but I think the skill to do this must be way beyond what you would need for other machines. I think this must be because of the force of steam for this machine is extreme and this prevents the milk vortex from forming and then you end up easily overheating the milk. Add to this the need to use a smaller pitcher (because of the shorter wand) which only accentuates the vortex issue further. Having said all this, I do love this machine. Thanks!

I don’t have issues with back to back steaming. I occasionally have to hit the steam button a second time if I’m taking too long and the steam function times out but it’s not a issue as the machine gets right back up to temp very quickly. The only issue I have with back to back Capps is if I choose to do espresso then steam/froth and want to return again to espresso again. There’s a significant delay to be able to extract again as the temperature of the machine needs to drop back down to 199. Even if I purge the steam etc it still takes awhile…So I prefer to do the extractions/espresso for both drinks and then do two frothings for the drinks. I could froth once but I like to make sure each drink gets enough foam etc. I’m still having some issues with reliable froth/foam especially if I’m frothing 100ml or less. The manual does suggest not frothing under 100ml (or it’s somewhere close to that if I recall) so perhaps I am having trouble due to the low amount of milk…it drives me crazy but I just keep practicing…