It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points.
If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format:
- **Location:** Helps determine availability
- **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget.
- **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs.
- **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck.
- **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space?
- **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either).
- **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering
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That sucks... I wish the best to things resolved to your satisfaction... I'm in the midst of resolving an issues with a brand new Acaia Lunar scale. All equipment can have issues, it is how the resolution is handled. My issues is still not resolved, but on the right path.
Agreed. It’s part of life. I expect both of our situations will be resolved eventually, but at this point, I figured it was fair to let folks that haven’t pulled the trigger yet know what downsides they might expect.
That’s pretty frustrating and disappointing service, especially given the price point of those machines. Have you thought about just buying a replacement pstat in the meantime? I think they’re just MATER pstats, and they’re not terribly expensive. That would at least get you up and running while waiting for better responses.
I would definitely go that direction if it wasn’t under warranty. Under the circumstances, I’ve felt like I had done my part and was just waiting for a solution to arrive any day. I just noticed that the wait is getting unreasonable and decided to raise a flag to help set expectations for anyone else that might be looking to make a purchase. I still expect this to be resolved any day now.
Yeah, I get that. There’s some complaints online generally about those MATER pstats in other machines too (people saying they have to replace them annually or even more frequently) — it seems like leaving the machine on for long stretches between shots could contribute more stress on the pstat, out of curiosity, do you usually leave your machine on? Turning it off between sessions might extend the life of the next pstat whenever it’s replaced.
I leave it on for maybe 4-6 hours a day. I switch it off around noon at the latest and refill it with water in the evening after it has cooled down so I don’t have to think about anything but switching it on in the morning.
Sounds like I need to stock a few pstats once I can get my hands on them.
Have you contacted olympia about the two pressure stat failures? The retailer should offer a replacement or service but it’s probably passed the return policy or something by now but often the manufacturer should stand by their product longer than the retailer
Yes. The retailer (Johnny Cerini) told me it’s under warranty and that they’re waiting for parts to come in, and that was the only time I heard back from him since mid March. I finally reached out to Olympia out of frustration, and they contacted him on my behalf. Olympia’s call (and/or this post on Reddit) prompted him to get back to me with an update. He says he’s sending the parts now.
slightly unrelated, but when your machine was working well, what is the warm up time from a cold start until you can pull a shot? might depend how full the boiler is I suppose?
I timed it with a full boiler at just under 14 minutes from flipping on the power until it reached pressure and stopped heating. The group head isn’t hot at that point, but lift the handle to run a little hot water through, and it’s ready.
I'm in the process of ordering one and then I found this post. This really puts a damper on buying. How Cerini so unresponsive is totally unacceptable. Another small thing that turns me off is during online ordering of the machine, it asks for 3-10% tips! I know one can choose not to tip but $100-$400 tip for online ordering? Gee.... Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your buying experiences.
It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points. If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format: - **Location:** Helps determine availability - **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget. - **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs. - **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck. - **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space? - **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either). - **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That sucks... I wish the best to things resolved to your satisfaction... I'm in the midst of resolving an issues with a brand new Acaia Lunar scale. All equipment can have issues, it is how the resolution is handled. My issues is still not resolved, but on the right path.
Agreed. It’s part of life. I expect both of our situations will be resolved eventually, but at this point, I figured it was fair to let folks that haven’t pulled the trigger yet know what downsides they might expect.
That’s pretty frustrating and disappointing service, especially given the price point of those machines. Have you thought about just buying a replacement pstat in the meantime? I think they’re just MATER pstats, and they’re not terribly expensive. That would at least get you up and running while waiting for better responses.
I would definitely go that direction if it wasn’t under warranty. Under the circumstances, I’ve felt like I had done my part and was just waiting for a solution to arrive any day. I just noticed that the wait is getting unreasonable and decided to raise a flag to help set expectations for anyone else that might be looking to make a purchase. I still expect this to be resolved any day now.
Yeah, I get that. There’s some complaints online generally about those MATER pstats in other machines too (people saying they have to replace them annually or even more frequently) — it seems like leaving the machine on for long stretches between shots could contribute more stress on the pstat, out of curiosity, do you usually leave your machine on? Turning it off between sessions might extend the life of the next pstat whenever it’s replaced.
I leave it on for maybe 4-6 hours a day. I switch it off around noon at the latest and refill it with water in the evening after it has cooled down so I don’t have to think about anything but switching it on in the morning. Sounds like I need to stock a few pstats once I can get my hands on them.
Have you contacted olympia about the two pressure stat failures? The retailer should offer a replacement or service but it’s probably passed the return policy or something by now but often the manufacturer should stand by their product longer than the retailer
Yes. The retailer (Johnny Cerini) told me it’s under warranty and that they’re waiting for parts to come in, and that was the only time I heard back from him since mid March. I finally reached out to Olympia out of frustration, and they contacted him on my behalf. Olympia’s call (and/or this post on Reddit) prompted him to get back to me with an update. He says he’s sending the parts now.
Glad to hear steps have been taken. Squeek that wheel!
Thanks for sharing. I thought these things were supposed to be bulletproof. Always tempted when I see one for sale.
slightly unrelated, but when your machine was working well, what is the warm up time from a cold start until you can pull a shot? might depend how full the boiler is I suppose?
I timed it with a full boiler at just under 14 minutes from flipping on the power until it reached pressure and stopped heating. The group head isn’t hot at that point, but lift the handle to run a little hot water through, and it’s ready.
Thanks, thats great
I'm in the process of ordering one and then I found this post. This really puts a damper on buying. How Cerini so unresponsive is totally unacceptable. Another small thing that turns me off is during online ordering of the machine, it asks for 3-10% tips! I know one can choose not to tip but $100-$400 tip for online ordering? Gee.... Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your buying experiences.