re: Coffee Thread

quote:

---

Seeing y'all talk about the Legato has me intrigued. I know it's been around Asia but still relatively new. The price point is pretty hard to beat. I know it doesn't have an OPV but I'll install one. Just seeing if y'all would purchase again? I'm thinking that or the Profitec Go. German/Italian built with a great history

---

I like it but I’d probably buy a Bianca instead. I’m an a-hole though. Maybe that’ll be my next step.

Between the Legato and the Profitec: if budget isn’t a concern, I’d go Profitec. The one advantage of the Legato is using a thermoblock for steaming which eliminates single boiler temp surfing. Though if you’re used to a Gaggia, that may not be a deal breaker for you.

If you do go Legato, just know that installing an OPV will void your warranty. It’s also really not necessary and you can control pressure via flow control.

Alternate candidates: Turin also has a dual boiler available for $800 or $900. So I’d put that in contention if you’re in the Profitec price range. Lelit Victoria is another good machine.

The only thing I’ll say re: warranty is if one of the things holding you back from the Legato is reliability of an unknown Chinese brand, then the warranty should rank high.

Yes, oddly, the dual boiler machine appears to not have a PID. It is also a 15bar pump. So while it’s got the perks of a dual boiler, it’s not perfect.

I think given your criteria, it’d be hard to not go Profitec Go. I will say I really enjoy my Legato, but I also was concerned with reliability. Not going to mess with an OPV until my warranty is up. Instead I dialed the flow down to 4ml/s and I find myself having to grind finer as my usual puck prep wouldn’t get me above 5 bars of pressure. The flow control works.

Yeah I’ve watched some teardown videos and they all say it’s built far better than expected.

Whatever you get, make sure you get a good grinder to pair with it if you don’t have one already. Most important piece of the espresso puzzle.

Where can I find some info on the boiler issues, Girth?

Reddit has a ton of info about it in the Gaggia subreddit. Just scroll down and you'll start to see a bunch of threads. There must be 15-20 threads about it but no new threads as the topic has been beaten to death.

Gaggia Subreddit

Anything SCA Certified is solid. Depends on budget though. Get a decent burr grinder and buy whole bean.

I have a Braun Multiserve which is nice because you can brew as little as one cup (directly into a cup) or a full pot. Used to have an OXO which was great as well.

Amazon Link

Amazon is having a sale on Breville Barista Machines. I don’t have any experience with these machines but wanted to pass it along.

What kind of roast are you putting on them and how are you brewing the coffee?

I think I enjoy the dark roasts more. I do have a nice light Haitian bean that is nice and bright for a change of pace but I’m gravitating to the dark roasts.

Been drinking Community and French market coffee forever. Any recommendations for coffee from central america and caribbean area? Recently went to honduras and tried cafe oro which was excellent. What else have you tried and is it obtainable in the US?