Re: Izzo Alex review

In article <4vqbg8F1c0il7U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Bertie Doe" <montebrasite4@xxxxxxx> wrote:

"Lloyd Parsons" wrote in message The boiler pressure on
mine was set to 1.4 bar. At that pressure, HX flushing takes a fair
amount of time and quite a bit of water.

I was able to pull a superb shot on the second try. Flushing took about
40 seconds and then a pull of 25 seconds produced the very finest
espresso shot I have ever had the pleasure of tasting.
<snip>
I also cranked the boiler pressure down to 1.1 bar from a recommendation
on one of the forums. This resulted in a much quicker flush, about half
the time and water.

Hi Lloyd, I'm a Zaffiro owner, so I'm a sucker for E61 machines, but ChrisC
also has the La Spaz 2, weren't you tempted to go the extra $400 for the
twin boiler? as so much these days is made of temperature targets for
varieties or roast.

Congrats on getting your flushing down from 40 secs to 20, but dosn't this
make pinpointing a temperature target, a bit of a lottery? I assume the time
that the p/f sits in the group, post flush, is pretty critical too?

Suppose your 3 fav origins/blends were perfect at 197, 200 and 203F, what
would the boiler pressure increments likely to be? or would you regulate
flush times? TIA.

Bertie

I was already stretching my planned budget with the Alex! And I was
locked into the idea of the HX/E61 combo. The only 2 boiler machine I
considered was the Brewtus, but frankly I think it is overpriced and the
dealer has a spotty service reputation.

My routine is pretty simple for a single pull. I grind the beans, then
flush and pull the PF to fill and tamp. Total time PF is out of the
grouphead is about 10 seconds or so.

The very few times I do back to back pulls I use multiple filter baskets
so swap out time is negligible. The beauty of the HX is that it is
pretty stable once that first flush is done as long as you don't dawdle
around, imo.

As to temp differences, my tongue is just not educated enough to notice
a couple of degrees difference in brew temp. But when doing a flush I
wait for a steady, non-sputtering stream and count to 10 then pull. I'm
consistent in that, but I couldn't tell you the actual temp 'cause I
haven't bothered nor have I seen a reason to. I'm pulling great shots
for straight and Americanos and my Cafe Cremas are scrumptious.
.