Posts by Mark

Kyle, the owner of Baratza, dropped by with an early version of their new Forte grinder. Based on our initial experience with it, we think this will be a great option for those considering “small commercial espresso & brew grinders.”

A quick summary:

• Beautiful glass touch screen. We found it to be intuitive and very easy to use. You can grind by weight, then toggle over with one click to see the precise time it took to grind that weight of coffee. It’s lightning fast and the colors and layout are very pleasing. It felt expensive.
• Substantial solid zinc housing. This grinder is heavy, and the quality of the all metal housing gives it remarkable heft.
• Nice new hopper design. The rotating chute “stopper hopper” is strong enough to slice through any coffee beans that get in the way. It also scoops very closely to the actual burrs, leaving very few coffee beans left in the grinder.
• Improved portafilter holder. The new solid zinc portafilter holder is a major upgrade from the current models.

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The Rocket R58 espresso machine brought a lot of ooh’s and ah’s when it was announced last year. The joy was short-lived, as the first batch of machines had an extremely high damage rate in shipment. The problem was identified as weak welding joints on the front drip tray, causing the machine to buckle and warp when shipped via UPS ground. Rocket took the feedback and retooled the design of the drip tray, and I’m happy to report that the redesign has fixed these issues. The drip tray connection to the main housing is extremely rugged with no discernible flex.

A lot of prosumer espresso machine customers are carefully reading reviews of this machine and comparing it to the Izzo Duetto 3. These machines are very similar in features, quality, and price, and buyers that might Google “BMW 7 series versus Audi A8″ may find themselves with a similar list of small differences that nonetheless add up to one machine being more right than the other.

I spent some time pulling shots and steaming milk on the Rocket R58, and here’s my quick take and an overview of the few small differences:

PID CONTROLLER
The removable PID control module is a very clever feature as it completely removes any LED lights from the front of your machine, maintaining an analog purity that is not often found these days. The background of the module is almost midnight navy, with crisp white text shining through. It’s Apple-like in this way, but the user interface of this module needs improvement. I could not figure it out without referencing the manual, which is one key test for me. It’s still a good feature, but on future designs I hope Rocket invests the effort to make this UI completely intuitive for the non-techie to figure out.

DRIP TRAY
As mentioned, the new drip tray design is extremely solid, and compared to the Izzo Duetto 3 it has a low profile, making it a subtle feature of the design when looking at it straight on. The Duetto has a very tall drip tray, giving it a heavy, solid appearance. Your personal tastes will determine which is more aesthetically pleasing, but keep in mind that this does carry through to capacity. If you’re like me and like to use the group head to rinse your portafilter and shot glasses, you might make 4 or 5 drinks before needing to empty the drip tray. The Duetto 3 has probably twice the capacity.

The R58 drip tray is similar to the Giotto – sheet metal with drilled out holes. The Duetto has a stainless sheet design, similar to cookie cooling trays. I prefer the Duetto design, but again this is personal preference.

CUP GUARD
The R58 has a unique welded metal cup guard. It looks hand formed, which is a nice contrast to the very clean, modern lines of the rest of the machine. I don’t mean hand-formed in a cutesie way, but just that you can see the slight imperfections in how it’s welded together. I like this a lot.

The Duetto uses the newly added “hand rails” for two purposes – as handles to lift the cup warmer and and as a cup guard.

TECHNICAL DIFFERENCES

There are other differences between these machines. The Duetto weighs 72 lbs while the Rocket checks in at 64 lbs. The heating elements in the R58 are both 1400 watts, while the Duetto steam boiler is powered at 1200 watts and 800 watts for the espresso boiler. The R58 is also only a 15amp machine, while the Duetto can be run in 15amp or 20amp. For most people, these differences will not noticeably impact performance. If you’re interested in more technical details or comparisons, give our espresso tech Ken a shout. He’s at tech@clivecoffee.com.

CONCLUSION
Feel confident picking either machine based on a gut level instinct, or even a silly little issue like the drip tray design or PID controller. Either machine will deliver great espresso for years to come.

PS: I also tested out some new precision shower screens and portafilter baskets that will be available soon. Together they are a really nice upgrade at reasonable price. I found it much more forgiving to pull a bottomless shot that coalesces into a perfect inverted cyclone of mahogany espresso with zero spritzing.

We’ve upped the ante with some nice gift certificates on select espresso machines! These gift certificates are on top of the included gifts like Barista Starter Kits, extended warranties, and free shipping. Take advantage of this short term offer and get your order in by December 31st 2012.

Need help finding a machine? Check out our buyer’s guide, watch a few product overview videos, or give us a shout! We’re at sales@clivecoffee.com or 800.520.2890.

Our friends at Sprudge visited to talk shop and came up with a neat lil’ buyer’s guide for the home espresso fan. Take a look for some insider tips and more than a few car analogies!

Our holiday page is live! Our beautiful gift sets include everything they’ll need for great coffee and espresso at home and automatically include a discount.

Have an unusual request? Try Clive Concierge. We can:

• Manage multiple “ship to” addresses with just one credit card charge and order summary
• Manage the ship date so it arrives exactly on time
• Put together a custom gift box
• Manage large orders quantities including a discount and freight or expedited shipping

We are pleased to announce our new book, Craft of Espresso: A Guide for Home. We love to help aspiring home baristas choose the right espresso machine setup, then learn how to use it to make beautiful & delicious espresso drinks. This book is  an introduction to the fundamental principles of making espresso and steaming milk, but it’s also much more than that thanks to the collaboration of multiple talented people.

Hanna Neuschwander, author of Left Coast Roast, took our basic principles and wrote a beautiful guide that is approachable and useful.

From the introduction:

Coffee, black. Espresso, neat. A cube of sugar and a dash of cream. These are small drops in the bucket of human experience. But does anything straighten your back as well as a morning ritual? Is anything better than coming to your senses with your hands wrapped around a warm cup?

In an age of virtual everything, what could be more exotic than getting your fingers smudged with fresh-ground coffee, then bearing down, making a mess, and feeling old school for ten minutes a day? Coffee is either nothing—a brackish fuel, a necessary accomplice—or it is something: an education in taste, a way to be playful, a daily sacrament. Read from the comfort of an easy chair or while afoot in the kitchen, this book is a primer for those who want to tap into the somethingness of coffee through its most exalted method: the art of making espresso.

The illustrations are by Ben Blake of DrawCoffee.com. Ben has developed a distinctive style of sketching coffee & espresso themes and we are thrilled to have him illustrate the project. A sample:

The book is shipping this week. Order yours today!

The Izzo Duetto II has been a very popular machine with its e61 grouphead and precise PID control. Duetto III has just been announced and will be shipping soon!

We will have a full review soon, but for now here are a list of the updates on the Duetto 3.0:

• Beautiful New Body Styling (stainless steel curved panels replace the 1 piece outer body shell
• Smaller, Recessed Heater lights
• Large redesigned drip tray, holds 32 oz. of water.  It has a catch tray on back, easy to slide in, and no longer has the notch in the back
• Ergonomic portafilters with an angle
• Cup warmer tray, with better ventilation
• Cups Rails are now included
• Reinforced front to reduce flexing
• Discharge goes straight down instead of forward, silicone tube no longer visible
• Easy access Expansion Valve

Stay tuned for more.

We recently paired up with Megamouth Film & Design to create a new Clive Video Short. Inspired by a Chet Baker song (which provides the soundtrack), this is an homage to slowing down and developing a worthwhile routine, a ritual if you will. We love the ritual of making traditional espresso, and here’s our tribute.

For a long time, we’ve only sold the Technivorm brewer. It was the only high quality brewer we could find that was simple, reliable, and brewed at 200 degrees for 5-6 minutes, two important factors for delicious, flavorful (and not bitter) coffee.

The US market now has access to a European competitor of the Technivorm, called the Bonavita. It is available in both glass and thermal models.

As you would expect, a lot of people are comparing the two brands and asking our opinion of which model to purchase. The Bonavita and the Technivorm have similar claims to brewing time and temperature, so we did a side by side test of each brewer, and here is our opinion of the pros and cons of each:

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Ellanie and Ethan give it a go in the Clive Coffee showroom, using the Izzo Duetto.

If they can, you can too.