I picked up a Barista espresso machine today and have been very pleased with it so far. It's a definite improvement over my old Briel Lido. However, they had a Ascaso Dream espresso machine for somewhere in the $400-450 range (can't remember the exact price) that I'm considering going back to see if I can get a 30% discount off the display model and/or the employee discount on it. The Barista pulls fine shots for a PPF machine but I really want to step up to a machine that can pull excellent shots.

Also, regarding grinding, I use the KitchenAid ProLine burr grinder that I purchased from a previous deal posted on FW (http://www.Amazon.com/KitchenAid-KPCG100NP-Coffee-Grinder-Nickel/dp/B000JLFLXQ/) and set it on the finest setting, "8". The grinds it produces are fluffy due to the design of the grinder so I fill the basket with grinds, level it off with my finger, and then tamp it down until I have about 1/8" of clearance. This produces a ~1.5oz shot in ~20 seconds which very close to my goal. The quality of the shots I've pulled with this machine so far have been above the average quality that I've received from most area coffee shops but still well below the quality that a highly trained, highly experienced barista can pull with the right machine.

Found a picture of Starbucks/Saeco machine:

Does this looks familiar

I think this is a classic design and it's about 20 years old, take or give a few years. WOW!

bping2 said:Got a display unit today. I paid and an employee helped me carry it to my car. When he was placing it in the back seat, he picked up something from the floor that looks like a red rubber o-ring (about 2 inches in diameter). Is THIS part of the machine? My guess is that it is the rubber gasket mentioned here. How to install?
When I look inside the portafilter, there is a grey/black plastic disk attached at the bottom. The disk is not quite fitted against the edge or bottom of the portafilter, so I'm thinking that I have to push this o-ring to fit between the plastic disk edge and the portafilter.
Any ideas?
My friend and I were screwing around with the portafilter and removed the red rubber ring. Naturally, it leaks without the ring in place. So you are correct, you need to push it so the indentation of the ring fits into the plastic disk. It's not easy! We used a butter knife to help wedge it in place.

bkarma said:Local store had 3, I got 2. Thanks OP!

@ $99? Someone posted earlier about a $50 price and at that price, I'd buy one just to have a spare for the one I already own.

buckeyebk said:I went to 2 different Columbus stores and neither were selling them for $50.
Well maybe my friend was being unclear in her pricing. They may have had a demo (10-30% discounts from thread) and may have been offering the partner discount of 30%. This could bring the price near $50 if they simply wanted to get rid of them. There is ~50 locations in Columbus, so I apologize for not knowing which one has the demo models.

e6toeknee said:bkarma said:Local store had 3, I got 2. Thanks OP!

@ $99? Someone posted earlier about a $50 price and at that price, I'd buy one just to have a spare for the one I already own.

Don't know where you're located, but I just returned one to the Allen Park, MI store because it was the display unit but they did not sell it as such. They sold it as new. I went home, opened it, and it had coffee spills, it was missing a few parts like the filter cleaner, the scoop and the filter for the pod. The manager said new ones will not be marked down below $99, and looks like nobody has been able to confirm the $50. If someone wants a spare maybe she'll give a discount on the display unit. The way it was, I don't know if it was a useful unit or not so I had to return it...may be good as a spare though.

HokieOkie said:bravo261 said:i hope you know exactly what product you are disparaging, instead of hating on the big guy just for fashion of it, or even snobby

pianomatrix said:DylanG said:The Starbucks Barista for $199 is a good deal. It's about as cheap as you can get for a pump driven machine that is capable of making real espresso.

Um...not sure about that. I definately wouldn't spend $199 on a Starbucks machine. You could get a Gaggia for that money.

Umm..pianomatrix is correct. I also would not spend $199 on a Barista...like pianomatrix says, the baseline Gaggia has a true BRASS group, a real commercial 58mm portafilter of solid brass,commercial rocker switches, 1375 watt boiler,cup warmer,etc. In the Saeco/Gaggia comparison, recall the Gaggia INVENTED the modern pump espresso machine, forchrissakes!Ford invented the modern production car but you don't see me driving around in one.

iwearnosox said:Ford invented the modern production car but you don't see me driving around in one.

I have a '70 and a '75 Ford F250's as worktrucks, and it's my 2002 Dodge Ram that gets the most of my maintenance budget spent.

sholling said:So what's the consensus - to tamp or not to tamp? The local Starbucks says it's self tamping, yet some say lightly tamp. Okay espresso pros - which is it?

No 'real' tamp needed, pressure during extraction in the PPF is controlled by the spring, not tamp. I tap a full load on the counter to gain a little headroom, but even this isn't all that necessary since there is no real expanding puck. Over the holiday weekend, I'm stripping out the pressure components from the PF to see what this machine can really do.

HokieOkie said:edit: oh...and a 3-WAY SWITCH! IOW, you are getting a real machine for $199...Barista can't touch it.


More on gaggia hereYou mean a 3-way solonoid valve? According to the link you posted, the intro Gaggia does not have that.

At the same price point, the relative merits of each machine could be debated (e.g. I like the SS boiler in the Barista, 2-yr wnty is nice). But at half price . . . . I'll keep the Barista.

Keep the advice coming.