woot.com ...

[jaymz]

... has a "Breville 15-Bar Die-Cast Espresso & Cappuccino Maker" on there for 149.99. any opinions about this brand/model?

[Mister Moo]

If it was worth a shit it'd be the goll-danged holy grail of espresso. I have a Breville electric kettle for water boiling; it has failed (under warranty replacement) twice in less than 18-months. It looks nice, though, sitting on the counter. Low end espresso machines are barely, if equal to, the quality of a $20 stovetop mokapot or (in my recent re-estimation) a $30 AeroPress. The fact is, high end espresso machines are hard to justify for anything except productivity compared to a well-operated mokapot - this according to someone with a high-end espresso machine and five or six mokapots. Garages, basements and backs-of-kitchen-cupboards are filled with espresso machines that never really wokred very well. Then, of course, there is the "With what will you grind your coffee?" issue.

Caveat emptor. One man's opinion.

There are 132 comments at the web site, including:

I bought one of these, and I can safely recommend to STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM THIS MACHINE. It's worth its weight in scrap metal and nothing more.

While it looks pretty good, the number of things wrong with this machine are truly incredible. It is made of 100% pure failure. There are lots of subtle little problems like the fact that it's *not* possible to hold the filter basket in place while you bang the grounds out-- you have to scoop the grounds out or retrieve your basket from the trash. Or the fact that you can't pause while steaming milk without it venting the system and having to start warming it up again from scratch. Or the fact that the scrap water tray will indicate that it's full, but not until after it's so full that you can't carry it to the sink without spilling. Or the fact that you have to actually PHYSICALLY UNPLUG the machine whenever you're done making coffee, because the fancy LED-lit software-only power button doesn't actually cut the power off, so it will randomly start up in the middle of the night, run its pump for a while and overflow the water tank onto your kitchen floor.

"Brilliant design!"

What the heck were those jerks who made this thinking? Why the bleep did I waste money on this incredible piece of carp? Don't make my mistake!!!!

[jaymz]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Low end espresso machines are barely, if equal to, the quality of a $20 stovetop mokapot or (in my recent re-estimation) a $30 AeroPress.

Since i just set my mokapot on fire this week looks like i might be in the market for an aeropress.

Would you say the coffee that an aeropress produces is stronger (caffeine content) than a moka pot?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by jaymz

Since i just set my mokapot on fire this week looks like i might be in the market for an aeropress.

Would you say the coffee that an aeropress produces is stronger (caffeine content) than a moka pot?

different. see pm.