Upgrade for coffee nirvana!

After close to two decades of service, I’ve replaced the Quick Mill Andreja Premium machine with a Bezzera Aria TOP espresso machine from iDrinkCoffee.com.  The new machine arrived in just a couple days.

The big upgrades from the old machine include:

  • rotary pump (plumbed in)
  • flow control
  • toggles for steam and hot water wands
  • PID
  • plumbed in drip tray

Aside from challenges getting the correct adaptor to convert the European threads used on the braided water supply hose to North American standards, the machine was easy to set up, and the factory settings of the OPV and PID worked perfectly for me.  I did contact iDrinkCoffee, but they had no adaptors in stock – at least they were able to let me know exactly what I needed.  Home Depot was a bust, but Amazon came through 🙂
Would think these would be included with any machine sold in Canada

The rotary pump is so much quieter than the vibe pump used in the old machine.  The steam power is very strong, and milk is heated and textured in well under 30 seconds!

I was very impressed with the machine settings from the factory – very little time was needed to dial in my current coffee – getting 44 grams of coffee in 30 seconds or so with the first shot I pulled and all the shots after- depending on how much I play around with the flow profile.  The pucks have been coming out well in one piece, and very dry, and most importantly, the shots have been exceptionally tasty!