Well today is day one of my upgrade from a 4 year old starbucks barista to my brand shiny new Brewtus III-R with Compak K-3 touch. At my office we enjoy a La Spaziale mini vivaldi S1 and I had been trying to attain something close at home by mod'ing my barista, haha I know..waste of time right? well I finally bucked up and am completely blown away by the Brewtus III-R. Exceeding expectations is the understatement of the year!
After a GONG show of staring at the plumbing isle of Home Depot trying to find the right fittings to put everything together I have finally arrived at a Softened, Filtered, Regulated water source. I heeded advice found here and all over the web by utilizing a smooth drain hose instead of the ribbed one supplied. A slight bend in that tiny drain spout lined it up with the drain pan hole. A few sink bound shots to get the grinder dialed and HOT DAMN!!! it's now 3:19AM and here I am...wide awake and lovin' Brewtus!! The Compak is also a noticeable improvement over the Rancilio rocky I use at work. I live in Canada and purchased the kit from Z-Cafe which included the B-III-R, K3-Touch, softener-filtration system, and a few other little bits and pieces. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Z-Cafe to anyone in Canada looking for espresso gear and AMAZING customer service. These guys gave me great advice, a great deal, free FEDEX shipping...AWESOME!! Now I must admit that the steaming ability is far less than the mini Vivaldi, but this was already a well documented issue regarding the Brewtus, and I think I read somewhere that adjustments CAN be made to the steam boiler pressure to give'er a little boost. I'll need to geek out a little more on this topic. I'm definitely looking forward to a long and loving relationship with this machine.... On Apr 29, 11:11 am, arcangel6 <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > I was wondering if owners of the Brewtus III-Rotary or III-Vibratory > had any comments or impressions about the machine after having used > it. I own a III-R and have to admit the machine really exceeded my > expectations. Of course a decent grinder goes a long way in making the > experience. I should add that the first machine I got from WLL had a > leak in the brew boiler; however, the stellar attention and resolution > I received from Todd S at WLL made the experience almost painless. > They promptly replaced the machine as I have mentioned in a previous > post. My hat is off to Todd and WLL. > > This was a BIG step up for me from a Gaggia Coffee Classic w/ ESE > Pods. It was a much smoother transition than I was expecting. My > thoughts in brief, this machine like many in its class is built like a > TANK! I have been inside the machine and found it very well > constructed and laid out. The insulated dual copper boilers were > impressive. > > I found the temperature control, from the electronics to the double > boiler configuration was exactly what I expected. Making multiple > shots for guests was no problem at all. Shot to shot temperature > consistency was wonderful. The precise temp control also made > 'tweaking' different blends a pleasant experience. The Brewtus III-R > plus the use of an Espro tamper with a bottomless portafilter and > triple basket helped me get past some of the initial issues that > someone with my lack of experience might have. > > It is worth noting that I resisted the idea of plumbing in a machine > for sooooo long but now could not imagine using it without it plumbed > in. I setup a commercial grade water softener system from Chris Coffee > since I live in an area with some of the hardest water in the USA. > Chris was extremely helpful as well. Yes, the filtration system > requires some upkeep and expenditure but not having to worry about > constantly refilling my system…..all I can say is ahhhh! > > The rotary pump is probably my favorite aspect of the machine because > it is so quiet. I am sure the III-V can produce equally good coffee as > the III-R. In fact, almost any machine can produce great coffee given > the right bean, grinder, grind, etc. However, the near whisper quiet > functioning of the rotary pump really put this machine over the top > for me......yes, it is love! > > As for drawbacks of the III-R, I would say the drip pan design could > be improved but I can live with it. I think better drain hose > positioning in my setup could help prevent the occasional overflow > from the plastic bowl beneath the pan but it is the best I can do > given the space. In addition, the ribbed plastic drain tube can harbor > LOTS of grinds. However, that can easily be changed. > > Another minor issue is a little drain port that exits the machine just > below the backflush port of the E61 group. When the machine arrived > the port was dripping water onto the top tray and missing the 'hole'. > It was a simple fix. I carefully bent the spout out slightly so the > port was now dripping into the cut out in the top tray. > > In retrospect, if I had to do it all over again I would definitely buy > this machine again. I'd love to hear from other Brewtus III owners. > > Regards, > > Joe --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
