Re: Latest GS3 news?

I quite agree that the grinder is quite important. I ended up with a
Mazzer Mini and it does the job. One of these days I want to upgrade
my espresso machine..

Shane


Ken Fox wrote:
<mrfuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1165965251.403276.40250@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
shane wrote:
Hi,
Greating from the only slightly frozen northland! Does anyone know
anything new about the La Marzocco GS3? I have been looking about ona
noticed that the great majority of the information out there about the
machine is six months to a year old. I see that the GS3 is listed on
the La Marzocco website as a machine that they produce.
I am just curious about the machine as it seems to have generated a lot
of hype. Anyone know if it lives up to the hype?

Shane

Earthlink's usenet access has been asleep for three days; so I'm trying
Google Groups. Forgive me if it loses the thread (literally).

GS3 speculation has been worried to death on Coffee Geek, coffeed.com
and homebarista.com. Anyone who wants to obsess about this machine can
look over there. It's safe to say this is the most anticipated machine
in many years. A bunch of us spent an afternoon with it at the SCAA
Homecoming in July in Long Beach. It performed spectacularly well. Once
the grinder was dialed in, each shot (and there were dozens) was pretty
much spot on. The buttons are well-protected, by the way, and out of
the usual spill paths.

Customers outside the U.S. have received delivery notices for later
this month (Dec. '06). In the U.S. and Canada, La Marzocco is waiting
for their UL and NSF reviews and approvals to be completed. When Kent
Bakke did his Homecoming presentation in Long Beach, he handed out
announcements promising first deliveries in "early 2007." So, they are
not even past due (yet), and it is ridiculously premature to compare it
to vaporware.

Because of its price (about $4,500 U.S.), it elicits strong feelings
with overtones of envy and contempt. Anyone who wants one needs to
contact the La Marzocco rep for their region. Anyone who wants to laugh
at anyone who wants one is free to do so here. But, the list of
laughees seems to be pretty long.


It's a serious machine and something to lust over, that's for sure. I don't
think it can possibly live up to its hype, but then I don't think it's
possible to build a machine, any machine, that could live up to the gushing
reviews given by a few people who've tested them in their houses. It WILL
offer "better" shots than most people could get without a whole lot more
effort.

That having been said, assuming a very good level of equipment, those who
have fine tuned their own setups to get the best possible out of them most
probably would not notice much improvement from a GS3. If you are a
tinkerer or enjoy hacking your own equipment, the GS3 would perhaps give
comparable results but at the expense of the "enjoyment" you get from
tinkering with your existing gear. In my discussions with other tinkerers,
my impression is that there are a bunch of us who enjoy modifying and
experimenting with the gear we have. For people like that, a GS3 would take
a lot of the fun out of the hobby. Most people aren't like that, however,
and would be perfect candidates for this impressive machine.

And don't forget, the espresso machine is only a relatively small part of
the whole process of ending up with great espresso. The improvement one
might get from going "up" from your typical semi-commercial heat exchanger
to a GS3 is dwarfed by the importance of the beans you are using, the
grinder you use to grind them, and your barista skills.

ken

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